Bigfoot in Maine: Q&A

 

Hi everyone! We had a great talk last night hosted by the Maine Historical Society on Zoom. I'll be posting a link to the recording as soon as it's available for those who missed it.

I will probably be receiving questions from attendees over the next few days, and I thought other folks might be interested in hearing the answers too, so I'll be posting them here as well as emailing responses directly.

 

Here's the first one:

 

Q: Have any remains have ever been found, or a skeleton, of one one of these 'creatures.' Any fossil evidence by chance?

 

A:  In answer to your question, to my knowledge no one in Maine has unearthed a known Bigfoot skeleton here. 

 

You may be interested to know that in the 1886 book An Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine on page 10 mention is made of the discovery of a giant skeleton some years before. We talked about that early on in the discussion. You can see that account on Google Books using this link -- just scroll ahead to page 10 and start reading from the top of that page.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=UUUsGkMSq24C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Discovery of remains is a compelling question for those of us inquiring into the existence of an unknown species in Maine. Does it mean that they bury or otherwise dispose of their dead in places where they won't be found? Or is it simply one more large animal that the efficient natural process of devouring and decomposition takes care of in the normal course of things?

 

Big questions! 

Ay, caramba! Cryptids!

Loren Coleman spoke up alongside some of New England's other premier cryptozoologists in the latest issue of the Portland and Boston Phoenix, part of an in-depth article about cryptids and their popularity in New England. The article includes a link to the "Cryptids in Maine" photo gallery that accompanies the story.

Coleman approaches each supposed sighting with healthy skepticism. Fully cognizant that pop culture influences cryptozoology — and vice versa — he always checks to see what's playing at local movie theaters before attempting to verify each cryptid report.

In fact, he says, "when I go talk to a Bigfoot crowd, the first sentence I say is, 'I do not believe in Bigfoot.' I accept or deny evidence. You true believers over here, you're very interesting, but that's not me. You skeptics and debunkers, that's interesting, too. But I really am the open-minded person in the middle.

"I've done a lot of screening, and excluded 80 percent of [the evidence] as misidentifications, hoaxes, or mundane. But there's still that 20 percent of what I feel is unknown. There's a lot of mysteries out there, and this one may interest you. Here's the data. You decide."

[Source]

The unknown is really the crux of the cryptid world. It is the thought that perhaps there is something that we haven't seen before that keeps us all looking.

Please feel free to check out my own photos from the Cryptozoology exhibit from a few years back, where portions of Coleman's International Museum of Cryptozoology were shown, as well as wonders and marvels from all over the world.

Illustration by Michelle Souliere.