BigFoot

Origins:

Long before "Bigfoot" made tabloid headlines in the 20th century, Indigenous peoples across North America spoke of large, human-like creatures that lived in the wilderness. The Sts’ailes Nation of British Columbia called it Sásq’ets, a spiritual guardian of the forest. In the Pacific Northwest, tribes like the Lummi, Klamath, and Spokane described hairy giants who lived in the mountains and kept to themselves unless provoked. These stories weren’t isolated. Nearly every Native tradition includes some form of wild being, suggesting shared encounters long before modern cryptozoology was born. The term “Bigfoot” itself entered popular usage in 1958, after a Humboldt Times article reported on large tracks found near Bluff Creek, California. 

Sightings and interactions

Bigfoot sightings number in the thousands, with reports coming from nearly every U.S. state and much of Canada. Washington, Oregon, Northern California, and British Columbia remain hotspots, though regions like the Appalachians, the Ozarks, and the Great Lakes have their own legends.

Most people who report an encounter with the creature have seen it in the forest or on the road while driving. However, there are also people who have seen them on their property. If Bigfoot is looking for food or is just curios is unknown.  Bigfoot is considered to be peaceful in general, but there have been cases where they clearly seem to dislike human presence, even though there are relatively few reports of that kind. When Bigfoot is being aggressive towards people, they usually emit high-pitched barks and weird growls. Another more common tactic, is to throw pebbles and pine cones at people from a hidden position, in a way to scare but not harm people. 

Some people claim to have been abducted by Bigfoot, one of them is Albert Ostman. He claims that in 1924 he was pulled out of his sleeping bag by a Bigfoot and taken to a hideout, where he was held for several days.  Then after giving Bigfoot some of his snuff, the creature got sick and Albert had the chance to escape.

Evidence:

Among the more notable evidence are, of course, the incident at Bluff Creek, CA (USA) in 1958.  The “discovery” that made the name Bigfoot famous. Loggers found massive prints in the dirt. Years later, it was partially debunked as a prank. However, these footprints wasn't the first ones to be reported. As mentioned, many- if not most- native tribes have most likely noticed footprints way before the western settlers came along and claimed both the land and everything on that land, including different kinds of "discoveries". Like Bigfoot. 

The first Bigfoot footprints claimed by a settler, were reported by explorer David Thompson in 1811, and is of course the only thing that counts... Since then, many footprints have been found that may or may not have belonged to a Bigfoot. The largest ones found were up to 20 centimeters wide and 60 centimeters long. Because the footprints often show traces of sweat glands, calluses, and wear patterns, many researchers believe that the footprints come from a creature that resembles a great ape.

In 1967,  a  film-shot in Bluff Creek, CA, allegedly shows a large, hairy creature walking upright. It's now known as the Patterson–Gimlin Film.  Despite controversy, it remains the most famous piece of “evidence.” The film has been confirmed to be authentic, but it is not known whether it is the actual creature Bigfoot or a furry.

In the 1990s–2020s, in Ohio and Pennsylvania, hundreds of rural reports came in regarding night howls, broken trees, and hulking silhouettes watching hunters or hikers. In 2010, Sierra Nevada Mountains, multiple campers reported loud vocalizations and thrown rocks, classic Bigfoot behaviour. 

Witness Descriptions:

Most descriptions of Bigfoot are remarkably consistent. They tell of a large hairy creature, 7 to 10 feet tall with broad shoulders, dark brown, black, or reddish fur; shaggy and covering the entire body. Its face is humanlike but primitive, with sloped forehead, deep eyes, sometimes no visible neck. Many witnesses also report a pungent, musky odor. It's also quite shy, elusive, sometimes curious. It's often described to throws rocks, break branches, or emits vocalizations like howls, screams, or “whoops". Some reports include glowing red or yellow eyes, and a few describe psychic phenomena, such as feeling frozen in place or experiencing time distortion. While these details are debated, they suggest Bigfoot might not be just a biological animal, but something else.

Theories

Bigfoot sits at the crossroads of folklore, science, and the paranormal. Over the decades, a variety of theories have emerged:

The Biological Theory:  Some believe Bigfoot is a relict hominid, possibly a descendant of Gigantopithecus, a giant ape that lived in Asia. Others suggest it could be a species of early human, like Homo erectus, that migrated and adapted to life in North America’s forests. This could be true, however it's probably unlikely since humans tend to draw towards other humans, it's engraved in our brains. Even if Bigfoot would be another form of human species, it would still be slightly more drawn to humans than it is. The human curiosity is what has evolved us, but also destroys everything around us. Hence, there would have been more sightings and more tangible proof, as well as more interactions, according to me. I can be wrong, but from a behavioural point of view, the biological theory doesn't hold ground. 

The Supernatural Theory: In many Indigenous traditions, the Sasquatch is not flesh and blood, but a spiritual being, capable of shapeshifting, telepathy, or vanishing into other realms. Some modern researchers report correlations between Bigfoot activity and UFO sightings, electromagnetic anomalies, or interdimensional portals. As mentioned before with other cryptids, this is more likely, if we're going on the path of claiming Bigfoots' existence.  A spiritual or extra/interdimensional creature would have the ability to move through the realms in other ways that humans. To us, ut would look mysterious, magical and strange, but in the "many worlds" theory, realm-jumping or dimensional slips could be a possibility. 

The Archetype Theory: Some psychologists argue that Bigfoot is a manifestation of the human subconscious, a symbol of the wild, untamed part of ourselves. This theory is strengthened by the creature’s appearance in dreams, artwork, and hallucinations even outside traditional “sighting” areas. However, being an "archetype" doesn't rule out the possibility of other explanations. 

The Cover-Up Theory: There are of course, theories regarding the U.S: government and/or private organizations are actively concealing proof of Bigfoot. These theories point to confiscated remains, redacted research, or suppression to avoid panic, or protect national forests from tourism damage. It could also be, if it's true, a way of maintaining power over people and information control. 

Conclusion:

Since there is no evidence yet for the creature's existence, Bigfoot is considered a cryptid. But just because it hasn't been proved yet, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just that the proof so far, in form of photos, prints, fur, films and witness statements, isn't enough to conclude one thing or the other. What is clear though, is that something has been seen in the forests in the U.S. Sure there are a lot of pranksters and hoaxters out there, doing their very best to trick people, but despite that; all those folktales, encounters and experiences people claim to have, it counts for something. I believe that those people saw what they saw, but what that is, I cannot tell. Either it's a mass-hallucination spread among people throughout history , or it's something that scientists yet can't explain. I prefer the last one, life is boring if one only considers a strictly scientific point of view, I prefer to think that we humans don't know everything, we can't figure everything out, life and reality isn't what we think it is, and some people do have experiences beyond common scientifically proved explanations.