A note from the author: My name is Noah David Henson. I’ve been studying human muscular and skeletal anatomy since 1984, both as a professional illustrator and as a student of physical anthropology. I studied collegiate anthropology, including primatology and human evolution, from 1988 – 1993, with enough hours to establish a minor in the subject attendant to my BFA from Texas State University. I’ve been examining the bigfoot phenomenon, skeptically and with an emphasis on the aforementioned skills, in earnest since 2003. My intellectual interest in the subject goes back to my childhood in the 1970s and 80s. This paper constitutes a skeptical analysis of a digitized, B&W video version of the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film available on youtube, here (and embedded above). It’s 1:06 (m:s) in length, as posted by Youtube member Squatchinc on December 23, 2007, sourcing a digitally restored and enhanced video made by MK Davis.
This paper also references Part Two of the 1997 NASI Report on bigfoot, written by J. Glickman, Part Two, available at www.bigfootencounters.com.
Here is a breakdown of the progression of the 1:06 video, of which only the first thirty-three seconds are of interest for the purposes of this paper:
- :01 - :04 – Forward-then-reverse playback of the figure in forward ambulation
- :05 - :06 – Figure in forward ambulation
- :07 - :12 – Freeze-frame : Extreme close-up of figure’s facial profile (no crown visible)
- :13 - :17 – Freeze-frame : Extreme close-up of figure’s frontal face (with visible crown)
- :18 – :20 – Figure in forward ambulation with arms spread, turning back to look at camera
- :21 – :23 – Forward-then-reverse playback of figure in forward ambulation
- :24 - :26 – Figure in forward ambulation behind and between two vertical white trees
- :27 - :30 – Extreme close-up of figure’s right hand, with visible thumb flexion
- :31 - :33 – Figure in forward ambulation