Photo via Great Florida Bigfoot Conference/Facebook
The Great Florida Bigfoot Conference invites both skeptics and believers to North Central Florida to test theories and learn from researchers, investigators and authors.
The conference kicks off 9 a.m. Saturday, June 8, at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online.
This year’s conference features presentations from esteemed enthusiasts like Daniel Lee Barnett, a 14-year-old cryptozoology enthusiast; Matt Pruitt, an author and podcaster dedicated to Bigfoot research; and more investigators discussing recent findings and encounters.
The conference will offer exclusive Great Florida Bigfoot Conference merchandise for sale, as well as cryptozoology equipment, outerwear and Bigfoot-related products.
Bigfoot has roots in various Native American folklore, with modern “sightings” of the tall, hairy creatures dating back to the 1950s. Reports have described the cryptids scaring hikers and campers. These encounters led to a subculture of researchers, believers and enthusiasts dedicating their lives to the search for Bigfoot — and many will be in Ocala this weekend.
For centuries the mystery surrounding Bigfoot has captured the imaginations of people across North America, but one data analyst now says there might be simple mathematical equation to explain the sightings.
In a new preprint study published online in bioRxiv, data analyst Floe Foxon writes that many sightings of elusive Sasquatch-looking figures could actually be black bears walking on their hind legs.
The study, poetically titled “If it’s there, could it be a bear?,” suggests that supposed Bigfoot sightings in Canada and the U.S. tend to increase when there’s a high population of black bears.
“Sasquatch sightings were statistically significantly associated with bear populations such that, on the average, one ‘sighting’ is expected for every 900 bears. Based on statistical considerations, it is likely that many supposed Sasquatch are really misidentified known forms,” Foxon wrote.
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In coming to his conclusion, Foxon looked at existing Sasquatch sightings data across North America, running statistical tests against bear populations in each province and state while adjusting for land area and human population.
A map created to back his findings shows Bigfoot sightings overlapping with black bear populations, particularly on the West Coast.
Choropleth maps for sasquatch reports, black bear (Ursus americanus) populations, and human populations in the United States and Canada.
Floe Foxon
However, Florida and Texas seem to report a lot of Sasquatch sightings despite low black bear populations, and Floxon explains that in those cases people are likely spotting other animals or, perhaps, even other humans.
And while Foxon has offered a reasonable explanation for Bigfoot sightings, there’s another mythical monster folklore that he can’t quite explain.
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Trent University Sasquatch Society in Peterborough on the lookout for Bigfoot
In a separate preprint paper, also published online in bioRxiv, Foxon used math, once again, to demonstrate that the Loch Ness monster probably isn’t an eel, like many have hypothesized over the years.
He told the Telegraph that spotting a three-foot eel in the loch would be a one-in-50,000 chance, so spotting an animal close enough to be even considered the size of Nessie would basically be zero.
Although the chance of finding either is “vanishingly unlikely,” Foxon told the Telegraph, it “would be arrogant to say there is no chance.”
Foxon’s theory likely won’t stop people from ongoing attempts to prove Bigfoot’s existence. For decades, enthusiasts have been hunting for the folklore beast in the hopes of capturing airtight photo or video footage.
And while more and more North Americans have become interested in the beast’s existence over the years, the legend in Canada is rooted in Indigenous history, and the First Nations consider the mythological creatures sacred.
Each tribe has its own set of beliefs. For the Sts’alies Nation on the West Coast, the Sasquatch is a protector of their land and an entity not to be meddled with, while the Haida people view it as a supernatural being to be respected.
To date, wildlife government agencies in Canada have not acknowledged the existence of Sasquatch, and the mythical creature remains the stuff of campfire stories and conspiracy theorists.
A data scientist thinks he’s solved the mystery of Bigfoot ― not by searching for the creature out in the wilds, but by examining the math instead.
In a new preprint study published online in bioRxiv, data analyst Floe Foxon says many sightings could actually be black bears, which can be roughly the size and shape of a Sasquatch when walking on their hind legs.
He’s even come up with a simple formula:
“Sasquatch sightings were statistically significantly associated with bear populations such that, on the average, one ‘sighting’ is expected for every 900 bears. Based on statistical considerations, it is likely that many supposed Sasquatch are really misidentified known forms.”
“If Bigfoot is there,” he writes, “it may be many bears.”
The study includes a map showing black bear populations and Bigfoot sightings overlapping in some places, especially the Pacific Northwest.
But it also shows two big exceptions: Texas and Florida. The two states have had plenty of Bigfoot sightings, but Texas has no real bear population and Florida has only a small presence.
Those, he wrote, could be explained by other animals or even people mistaken for Bigfoot.
“Usually when people say they’ve seen something like Bigfoot they aren’t lying about what they think they saw,” he told the Telegraph newspaper. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t mistaken.”
Foxon’s analysis cites previous studies, including a 2009 report published in the Journal of Biogeography that also found a distinct overlap between black bear populations and Bigfoot sightings. The authors of that study wrote that the overlap suggests “that many sightings of this cryptozoid may be cases of mistaken identity.”
But while Foxon thinks Bigfoot sightings might be explained by bears, he has also debunked a common explanation for another mysterious creature: the Loch Ness Monster.
He told the Telegraph that spotting a three-foot eel would be a one-in-50,000 event in the loch. For an eel that’s about 20 feet or more ― big enough to be mistake for Nessie ― “the probability is practically next to zero.”
Parks officials in Pennsylvania say they don’t know who’s posting signs warning of Bigfoot activity in the area, but it’s not them. They also threw cold water on the notion that Sasquatch might be making a home in the Keystone State ― or anywhere else for that matter.
“Bigfoot is not real,” Wesley Robinson, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, told PennLive.
The signs state that there have been “encounters” in the area and call on visitors to “observe elevated park etiquette, be cautious of your surroundings and to keep the location of any small children/pets within a tighter scope of awareness.”
They also warn: “Do not approach the creature.”
Robinson added that the signs, which have been turning up for months in “many parks,” are removed whenever spotted.
Visitors have been posting images of the signs on social media, including one that drew a response from the conservation department, which runs the state’s parks:
Nope. Rangers are aware and are removing them and investigating the situation. These were not posted by DCNR and is an unauthorized use of our logo.
— PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (@DCNRnews) August 19, 2022
The agency’s claim that “Bigfoot isn’t real” is unlikely to end the debate about the cryptid anytime soon as searching for Sasquatch remains a popular pastime in parks around the nation.
Oklahoma lawmakers even proposed a Bigfoot hunting season ― complete with a cash prize ― not to kill the creature, just to find evidence of it.
While the majority of Bigfoot sightings seem to take place in the Pacific Northwest and California, Pennsylvania has had its share of Sasquatch activity over the years. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization has 124 “credible” sightings in Pennsylvania listed in its database, including someone who claims to have seen two ― and heard more of them whistling ― near his cabin in Harrison Valley.
