"A Non-Skeptic's View Of The PG Film"

 

 

(Editor note: Over the last few weeks, we have been presenting a skeptic's  point of views on this famous film taken in 1967. Now, here is a non-skeptic's point of view. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Rick Dyer, Frank Cali or Team Tracker members.)

 

 

I'm writing this to offer a "non-skeptic's" point of view on the infamous Patterson/Gimlin film of Patty. That's right, I'm a believer. That means I BELIEVE it to be a genuine film of a Sasquatch, I don't KNOW it is. Patterson and Gimlin are the only two people who can know that. Patterson's dead, but went to his grave saying the film was real, and Gimlin agrees.

 

This 1967 film has captured my imagination ever since I was a child. I grew up seeing the film on shows like "Unsolved Mysteries" and repeats of  "In Search Of" (my absolute FAVORITE show growing up) and reading about it in "Mysteries of the Unknown" and other similar books. I was captivated by this film and I still am. There's never been another film like it...that is until Rick Dyer's tent video.

 

There have been many things written about this film and is guaranteed to have many more things written about it. Some people swear this is a fake, a hoax and they can prove it. Bob Heironimus swears he was the one wearing the fake suit in the film. Other people say Heironimus is full of s**t and is just looking for a piece of fame. I happen to agree with that. He claims Phillip Morris made the suit he wore. Well, I've seen Morris' attempt to make another Patty suit and it looked ridiculous. I've recently heard a few things I want to clear up.

Bob Heironimus

 

One, that when Patterson's horse first saw Patty it flipped out and fell with Patterson in tow, falling on top of him and crushing him. And that somehow Roger was able to get up and run after Patty with his camera. This is just not true. Patterson's horse, upon seeing Patty, reared up, knocking Roger off it. That's all. So that is how he was able to still run after Patty. The horse reared up, it did not fall down and pin Patterson.

 

Two, that the original footage does not exist. All we have are copies and copies of copies. This is not true either. The original film DOES exist and has been owned by Patterson's wife Patricia since Roger's death in 1972. In 2008 Mrs. Patterson gave Bill Munns, a makeup artist, creature creator, and computer graphics professional, unprecidented access to the original film. He meticulously made a digital copy from the original, in the presence of Mrs. Patterson and a camera crew from National Geographic. I personally think the new digital copy is amazing.

 

Because until then all we had were copies of copies that became more distorted and grainy each time they were copied. But now we have a first generation digital copy. It's a lot clearer and cleaner, and Munns was able to do a lot with it, like make a 3-D model of the scene. For more information on this you can watch National Geographic's "The Truth Behind Bigfoot" (2010) and for more information on Bill Munns you can visit his website at  www.themunnsreport.com  or his youtube channel under the same name.

 

As time went by, new and advanced software has been developed that experts have used to study the Patterson film. Things like the creature's gait, bone structure, and musculature. All these things show me it's not a human in a suit. That a human's gait and bone structure and Patty's are not the same. These things take the argument for Patty's authenticity, beyond “it’s just is it a man in a suit”, or could a suit like that have even been made in 1967. I of course think the answer to that is no. And so do a lot of special effects creature makers.

But I'm not here to convince you the film is authentic. I am not an expert of any kind. I'm just a Bigfoot enthusiast who believes the film is authentic. And besides, by now you have already decided what you think about it. That it's real, fake, or you're just not sure. There are some things I think we can all pretty much agree on though. That it's one of the most controversial Bigfoot films of all time. It’s been 46 years later and the film is still sparking debate. And finally, that for many it was the film that first sparked our interest in Bigfoot.