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| UPI - Derek VonHatten |
By Derek VonHatten
When I was young I watched a lot of the Discovery Channel, Animal
Planet, National Geographic, anything that told stories of the world and
animals. I then watched a Documentary on the Patterson Gimlin Film, I was from
that day on interested in the stories behind Bigfoot. I was about 8 years old
and asked my Mom if she believed he was real, she said he sure could be. I have
believed he could exist from that day on, and watched, and read more about him,
all I could. That, in turn, turned me to ghost hunting, an interest in UFO’s,
and all aspects of the paranormal really. That's another story though, well many
more stories any way. I am here to talk about my quest so far to find Bigfoot,
and my theories on where they could be, why we haven’t found him, and
why there are no dead bodies. I will also venture into a bit of my past and our
groups methods.
To start out, some of my past. When I was young I started to read
many books, my favorite authors being Loren Coleman, and Jeff Meldrum. Those
two authors in my mind have the closest theories to my own. I read these books
and began to believe more and more, Bigfoot has to exist! So I watched more
documentaries, and researched more histories, learning that the story didn’t
begin with the Paterson Gimlin Film, only the name Bigfoot coined by a the
reporter that brought the story forward. Sasquatch was an ancient name used by
Native American tribes of North America, and that was only one of many names! I
came to learn that Sasquatch is not a recent known, but an ancient one, past
down for generations in Native American Tribes, all a little different, but all
had one similarity, the wild man. Then looking further into this, I found that
cultures all over the world had their own version. The most famous being the
Abominable Snowman or Yeti, known to inhabit the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet,
this version of Bigfoot also received public attention in 1921. After I learned
so much I decided to go look for this creature one day, but not after I started
my paranormal research group called Untitled Paranormal Investigators or UPI.
We began this in 2007, meeting Ron in 2008 and our group ran from there. It
wasn’t till after I met Ron that he renewed my interest in
Bigfoot, and we began to pursue the subject. To this day we are still searching
for great evidence, Ron is our center of Bigfoot research due to his history
with other researchers in Utah, and the BFRO. He has successfully collected a
few three toed tracks, reports from all over Utah, especially South Eastern
Utah, and has seen Bigfoot himself, which I hole heartedly believe. I only hope
one day I get to run into this elusive creature, and find the evidence to prove
he exists if not only for myself and maybe everyone!
Enough about my past, a little about how UPI goes about this.
When we receive a report, we dispatch a member to check it out, usually Ron
Johnson. He has the most experience in the field and usually receives the
reports. If Ron finds the report to be compelling enough to look into we make a
date to go and stay a few nights. Not always so easy as most of us work full
time jobs, when we get the date set we head to the area of interest and set up
a base camp. We then hike the area for miles searching for evidence and
documenting the sighting area’s. We also try and interview the
person that had the sighting, also not always easy because many people are
afraid to come forward to give a full report. Seeing a Bigfoot is viewed as
crazy to the norm, so we like to keep our clients identities safe. We never
disclose their name unless given permission to do otherwise. After we conclude
our investigation we take all, if any, evidence and the story and put it out
there for all to see. If we find any evidence such as tracks or hair we take it to the proper entities to examine them,
and place them out there on the web for all to see as well. The main objective
behind our group is to put this evidence out there for the general public to
see, we then let them decide what to believe.
My personal theories to answer a lot of questions many always ask
are as follows. To answer the question of why hasn't he been caught alive with
all the people in the woods, or shot by a hunter? My answer is, there are
thousands of square miles of forest, desert, and wild lands in North America
alone that is often vacant of humans, and very few Bigfoot in North America. If
this creature is highly intelligent, then he could avoid anyone that they hear
or see in the woods. Deer, Bear, Cougar, they all succeed in evading humans to
a point, and they do not harbor vast intelligence. The Mountain Gorilla of
Africa was known by Science to be a myth until its discovery in 1902, only 60
years before the Patterson Gimlin film. So many new species are discovered
daily, the day will come soon the find proof of Sasquatch. So if there is so
few Bigfoot, and such a massive habitat no wonder why we haven't found him,
especially if he hides from view. I also believe they travel in family groups,
perhaps up to five in one, and maybe one of these groups per state or two that
has a volume of common sightings. Utah has had a flurry of sighting in 2012 to
2013 in South Eastern Utah, our own Ron Johnson including. I believe these
Sasquatch could have migrated from the high Uinta’s or Wasatch front,
even Colorado in a family group in search of new feeding grounds. If Bigfoot
are always on the move, only residing in one area for a short period of time
then we only get that window to research them. So my answer in short is, they
move in family groups across vast amounts of forbidding terrain to avoid human
eyes. We think we have some to research, then they move on.
Another common question I get is where are the dead? Usually
being veteran outdoorsman asking me this I answer, how often do you run into a
random dead cougar, or bear? They usually say, “never”.
So then I answer, I do know they are found, but imagine only one passing on per
1000 square miles in the most remote place you can find. A body decomposes
within days in the mountains, bones then spread from hell to high breakfast by
predators. Good luck ever finding that dead body unless one is hit by a truck
even then there are reports of that happening only to have them disappear. One
more thing to add to this, what if they are intelligent enough to bury their
dead? Chimpanzees, elephants, and even magpies are know to hold some kind of
ritual for their dead. Image a Sasquatch, they must have an intelligence to
have been at our side this long and not been caught, and had such a prevalence
with Native Americans and other cultures world wide. I believe they are smart
enough to at least hide if not bury their own dead. There are even stories of
hunters killing a Bigfoot, knowing where the body was only to find it gone the
next day. Showing that the other must have come back for it.
Those answers pretty much sum up my theories, I believe Sasquatch
travel in family groups within a massive expanse of land. They possibly bury
their dead, and are extremely intelligent, enough so to know that human are no
good, and to stay out of their reach and prying eyes! So why not, I completely
believe in the Sasquatch of Native Americans, Bigfoot of today’s
North American west coast, Yeti of the Himalayas, Wendigo of Canada, Yowie of
Australia, Skunk Ape of the North American deep south, Orang Pendek of Sumatra,
Yeren of China, Mapinguari of
South America and all the others out there one day to be recognized by science
and protected forever. In my mind there is no way that for thousands of years,
these creatures are merely folk lore, legend, and stories, rather I believe
they are all real, hidden creatures waiting to be found.
Ron Johnson
Kevin Allridge
Ron Johnson
Kevin Allridge
