The Big Three Part 3- Bigfoot

Bigfoot is without hesitation the most widely recognized western cryptid. I recently did a project with the Abominable Snowman and it was quite shocking to discover all of the many individuals (young and elderly) that could not tell me what the Yeti was. With this fact still on my mind I then asked them if they had ever heard of Bigfoot. Every single individual had heard of Bigfoot and could tell me a synonym to its name (such as Sasquatch).
This particular hominid often ranges in size between 6 and 17 feet tall. The issue here is that most citizens would consider any hominid report to be that of Bigfoot. This is not the case. The larger sized "Bigfoots" are listed under what we now call True Giants. The smaller ones worldwide are typically called Proto Pygmies rooted from Ivan T. Sanderson's form of classification called Proto Pigmies. Such animals include the Agogwe, the Didi, and the Sehite.
Bigfoot, however, encompasses any western United States or South Western Canada hominid that is about 7.5 feet tall. It has an uncanny habit to leave footprints that force the mind to wonder, what is going on. Some can honestly assume that they think that Bigfoot is one mass hoax that just refuses to be silenced, but they say that about nearly every cryptid. Its recognizable features have also become quite a curse. Everyone had heard of Bigfoot, but not everyone could testify to their belief of this creature. Because of their previous familiarity with Bigfoot, they had decided for themselves whether or not they could believe in it. This made it almost impossible to convince them otherwise. It is true that a lot of material regarding Bigfoot is hoaxes and that causes many people to forget to consider the actually convincing facts.
The first (and in my mind most convincing) bit of evidence is that of the Skookum cast. Jeffrey Meldrum pondered on this topic in his book Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science and his information is actually quite convincing. He suggests a certain pattern as to how the Bigfoot might have fallen into the suggested position. With these particular measurements were discovered about the Sasquatch. This was part of what led to the beginning of shows like the new Animal Planet Production Finding Bigfoot.
In order to diagram a typical Bigfoot report I have pulled this report from http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=29158. It said the following:
OBSERVED: It was june of 2008. I was walking from my uncles house back to a farm that was about a half mile away on university dr. in new philadelphia ohio, tuscarawas co. when I was walking towards the farm I heard what sounded like coyotes at first then it got real quiet then I heard a very strange sound it was not your usual animal sounI saw it (bigfoot) come walking out of the corn field. I would have to say it was about 7 to 8 ft tall long shaggy hair it looked like a over sized man with hair. I was walking on the road in front of it how I seen it was I heard the corn rustle as it stepped out of the corn field an I looked back to see what made the noise I started walking faster and when I got to the farm driveway my mom was there to pick me up and when she turned the head lights on the thing stopped following me stood there for a second then turned an moved quickly back into the cornfield it also made that weird noise again witch my mom also heard. 
For the extended version visit the above site.
Another quite famous occurrence in cryptozoology Patterson- Gimlin film. This was the father of the famous still photograph of an alleged Bigfoot swinging its arms back and forth. Unlike many cryptozoologists I do not trust in the validity of this film. Besides my own personal beliefs, I also have the support from the most famous cryptozoologist of all time: Bernard Heuvelmans. His explanation for his disbelief: the position of the hairs are inconsistent with what knowledge we have on a zoological level. Each species has a specific direction in which the hair is faced. There is no such pattern with this Bigfoot. I feel that that fact is enough to completely dismiss the theory, but there is another notable fact. Now that Patterson is dead, Gimlin has suggested that perhaps Patterson hoaxed the video and used Gimlin as a prop to convince the world of its truthfulness.
Bernard Heuvelmans did comment that this "obvious hoax" did not at all shake his firm conviction of the fact that Bigfoot does exist. There is an interesting fact that helps me be completely convinced of Bigfoot's existence. Albinism is a defect that causes an organism to lose all pigmentation. Its skin turns white and the eye color becomes pink due to complete lack of eye color leaving only the pink iris behind it. All species have Albinos and it would thus not be at all surprising if Albino Bigfoot reports appeared. Because of a shortage of Sasquatches (who's population was recently estimated to be between 500 and 750) there would also be fewer living Albinos and even less reported. In 1996, two Utah residents spotted an Albino Bigfoot. Such a fact is beyond fascinating, its science. I cannot possibly express to you all of the reasons for the Bigfoot legend to persist with infinite believers, but there is obviously some truthfulness to it.

The Big Three Part 2- The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster is most likely the most well known cryptid in the entire world. The mystery began in 565 A.D. when Saint Columba saw a boat capsize due to a disturbance in the water. He commented:

"...[He] raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, 

"Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed." Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes..."  

The creature attempted to destroy a man inside the canoe, but after the commandments from the saint were issued it went back under the water. Most people consider this report to be fictional in order to feature the power that Saint Columba had over the so-called "evil" creatures of the Earth. Although this was how the story began it certainly does not end there.
The story became considerably more famous after a circus owner issued a 20,000 pound reward to anyone that could bring him a specimen of the Loch Ness Monster. After this reward was issued, the nickname "nessie" became popular. According to unconfirmed information, the circus owner ordered to place an elephant in the water. If this is true, then many people could have become completely convinced that there is some sort of creature in Loch Ness.
Even if this was true, then how might you explain all of the more modern reports? There is no way to do so unless you remark that every sighting is the offspring of a hoax. Completely reliable individuals have spotted nessie and died swearing that they told the truth about the Loch Ness monster. The mystery persists with complete reliability of eye witnesses.
The surgeon's hoax was a photograph that featured a toy submarine submerging, but it convinced all of Europe that the Loch Ness Monster was a completely normal phenomenon. Now, people use that particular fact to condemn the mystery of nessie. Nevertheless, the average citizen should consider it with less skepticism and I would hope that this fact is being considered by all that read this essay.

The Big Three Series Part 1- The Yeti

The Big Three of cryptozoology are the three most well known cryptozoological animals according to western knowledge. Most people that are questioned concerning any one of these Three can honestly inform the surveyor that they are aware of these animals case. However, they also receive infinite scrutiny from researchers. As it turns out, the more famous the cryptid is, the more skeptical readers are (it runs by the same principle as the tabloids: the more famous the celebrity the more "material"  is available). Of all of the Big Three, the Yeti is perhaps the most famous on a worldwide scale.
The Yeti is a most fascinating creature that has a long history of interesting artifacts. It is to my belief that the Pangboche hand is by far the most controversial, yet interesting, artifact of this mystery. On the well documented Tom Slick Expedition, Peter Byrne scheduled a meeting with the lamas to see and examine the Pangboche hand. the results were not disappointing. He sent this letter to Tom Slick after the examination:
  

I shall not go into detail here how we got the thumb and right phalanx of the Pangboche Hand. I shall only say that we have it and the lamas of the monastery do not know that we have it. Because they do not know that we have there can not be any news on this or any publicity for some time... The Pangboche hand is still complete, as far as the lamas are concerned. It still has the thumb and index procimal phalanx. What they do not know and what they must never know is that the thumb and p. phalanx on the hand, at present, are human ones which we switched.

The hand was hidden in none other then Jimmy Stewart's girlfriend's suitcase and they were able to get it past Nepalese customs. It was examined and noted that it did resemble a hominid's hand. Whatever it was seemed part human and part gorilla. Perhaps that is what it is: a freak hybrid, but the possibilities are slim. What it most likely is is a Gigantopithecus blacki, a species of hominid that was thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago. It stood about 9 feet tall and resembled modern reports of the Yeti. It has similar footprints also. Most modern cryptozoologists sit around pondering the possibility of the Gigantopithecus blacki. It truly does make for a perfect theory.
N.A. Tombazi also had an interesting report concerning this member of the Big Three. He said
"Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhodendron bushes. It showed up dark against the snow and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes." This creature became even more strange with this report. But the stories were becoming scoffed at by the mainstream scientists of the day. The reports were becoming legends. This caused major skepticism. Reports would now become myth and they were passed of as hoaxes. Today more scientists have accepted that there most likely is something in the Himalayas and it is no hoax.