# What the latest about Bigfoot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136 "2008-08-15T20:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/21 "2008-08-19T20:54:01Z")
It sure looks like fraud. [http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com/HomePage](http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com/HomePage) > [@](#): > > THE FOLLOWING IS PART OF THE NEWS RELEASE GIVEN TO FOX NEWS > > Good afternoon. I am Steve Kulls Executive Director of [Squatchdetective.com](http://Squatchdetective.com) and Host of Squatchdetective Radio. > … > > On July 9th, 2008, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer placed a video on Youtube making the claim they had recovered the body of a Bigfoot body. > … > On or about August 12th, 2008, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer requested an undisclosed sum of money as an advance, expected from the marketing and promotion, and as a good faith gesture of the contract. > On August 14th, 2008, after signing a transfer receipt for the amount money requested and counting said money, Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer led the Searching for Bigfoot Team to a location and turned over a freezer with something appearing large, hairy, and frozen in ice. > … > Within the next hour of thaw, a break appeared up near the feet area. As the team and I began examining this area near the feet, I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot. > At that point we immediately contacted, Tom Biscardi [CEO of Searching for Bigfoot] and advised him of the situation and he began to take action on his end. Later that day, Tom Biscardi informed us that both Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer admitted it was a costume. They reportedly agreed to sign a promissory note and admission of what they had done, and set a meeting in their hotel room in California for 8AM on August 17th, 2008. > At that time I drew up the documents for Mr. Biscardi. On August 17th, 2008 Tom Biscardi went to the hotel where Dyer and Whitton were staying and found that they had left. At this time action is being instigated against the perpetrators of this fraud. Tom Biscardi asked us to contact you, the press, and share all that we have discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/22 "2008-08-19T20:54:15Z")
I’ll have to force my little boy to work day and night for me to make up the $100. Bwa haha! ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/23 "2008-08-19T21:07:13Z")
I have it on good authority from top unnamed government officals that the Bigfoot really is real. The “fake” Bigfoot fraud is a cover to prevent the predation of the remaining specimen, Whitten and Dyer wer e’disappeared’ to prevent them from spreading the truth to the world and a gorilla siut and possum guts were substituted for the real remains by the MIB. I have full evidence of these crimes and will present them all at a news conference just as soon as my advance check clears. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/24 "2008-08-19T23:46:15Z")
[QUOTE=Death of Rats] I have it on good authority from top unnamed government officals that the Bigfoot really is real. The “fake” Bigfoot fraud is a cover to prevent the predation of the remaining **specimen** ,… [/QUOTE] So…there’s only one? Might as well hunt it down then. Poor thing’d probably rather be stuffed than have to spend the rest of however without gettin’ any tail. Oh, right. They don’t have tails. I mean, it doesn’t have a tail, but if it weren’t alone it…wait…now I’m confused. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/25 "2008-08-20T00:11:22Z")
I’m feeling kind of let down, actually. I expected a denouement at least marginally more sophisticated than “grab the money and run like hell.” They’ll never get that book deal now. What happened, guys? Why the hell didn’t you disappear the costume and blame the aliens? You could have milked this for so much more. Tell me there’s some sort of convoluted ulterior scam to hook insurance money via the resulting lawsuit. There’s got to be more to it, right? At the very least, they should have taken the fake Bigfoot with them. No doubt the writers will correct that oversight in the forthcoming TV movie. I can see them now, driving their pickup like maniacs along the dusty Georgia backroads, headed for the state line, with the rubber Bigfoot propped between them. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/26 "2008-08-20T03:17:31Z")
I hope they catch these scammers and bring them to some kind of justice, but I can’t help feeling that if you buy a bigfoot body in a freezer, you should not be at all shocked when you find out it’s a Chewbacca suit. I think P.T. Barnum was too conservative when he said there was one born every minute. I think it’s more like a thousand every second. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/27 "2008-08-20T04:38:47Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I think P.T. Barnum was too conservative when he said there was one born every minute. I think it’s more like a thousand every second. [/QUOTE] Wasn’t there the quote about “after the war, \*two \*were born every minute”? I think it’s the advent of the Internet. I’m with **Terrifel** , I’m so let down by this. I wanted drama! Explosions! Hysterics! Bigfoot magically coming back to life! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/28 "2008-08-20T05:09:31Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] It sure looks like fraud. [http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com/HomePage](http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com/HomePage) [/QUOTE] That’s hilarious. “I’m Steve Kulls, and I’m a gullible moron.” Someone should set up a Darwin award for money. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/29 "2008-08-20T05:16:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] \ In other news, Generalissimo Bigfoot is still bullshit. \ [/QUOTE] [MST3K] Lancelot Link _alone_ set us back 100 years! [/MST3K] ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/30 "2008-08-20T06:37:17Z")
Boy, they sure do teach officers to lie well, must come in handy on the dais. His story did kind of play as a police report and well honed witness box guiles. I didn’t believe for a minute it was true, but I wanted to believe. It sure did get my little nephew’s imagination and inspiration going, though. He kept asking if it was real, and I let him decide, “What do you think?”. I remember picking up that first Time-Life book about bigfoot and being amazed and having my imagination and sense of wonder embroiled. I saw the same thing in him and he was truly fascinated (and a little afraid) and we talked about all kinds of things… it was a lot of fun, and I could see the adventure sparked in him. (He’s kind of afraid of Monsters and Ghosts still, He hates zombies… Hehe!) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/31 "2008-08-20T08:51:55Z")
I predict Officer Whitten has a future in politics. ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/32 "2008-08-20T13:25:03Z")
Wasn’t there something recently about someone having proof of UFO’s and setting up a press conference to show the evidence? What the hell is going on with the world? Not only that stupid people try these stunts, but that _we let them_? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/33 "2008-08-20T14:33:47Z")
Okay, I don’t get it. I understand the whole sell the “bigfoot body” and run away with the cash fraud/crime. Separately, I understand the have a press conference, get famous for a hoax that discredits the true bigfoot people, get your fifteen minutes of internet fame for your prank. But I really don’t understand why these guys would _insist_ on a press conference, pose for photos with the “body” etc. when they are committing fraud. Why make sure that every news outlet has your name and photo, when you are gig to have to be on the lam for fraud. Especially the cop. Do cops get in _more_ trouble for shit like that than the average person. Presumably, his “hero cop” status provided extra credibility to the bigfoot people that may have made them more willing to trust the scammers and hand over their advance cash. Unless i’ts millions of dollars and they can forever go into hiding, I just don’t see how this scam would pay off. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/34 "2008-08-20T14:59:20Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] But I really don’t understand why these guys would _insist_ on a press conference, pose for photos with the “body” etc. when they are committing fraud. Why make sure that every news outlet has your name and photo, when you are gig to have to be on the lam for fraud. [/QUOTE] Why do people compete for going on reality shows which are going to make them look like idiots? Any TV presence is better than no presence at all. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/35 "2008-08-20T15:17:18Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] Why do people compete for going on reality shows which are going to make them look like idiots? Any TV presence is better than no presence at all. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but showing your face on a reality show for a crappy few minutes of fame is not the same thing as going out of your way to put your face on display when you are committing a crime. The cops could not possibly put out a wanted poster that reaches as many people as that stupid press conference did. Now everyone all over the world knows your name and face. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/36 "2008-08-20T16:02:05Z")
From [here:](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008125792_bigfoot20.html) > [@](#): > > What is certain is that Whitton, 28, on medical leave after being shot in the wrist by a robbery suspect this year, won’t be going back to work at the Clayton County Police Department. > > As soon as he heard Whitton’s Bigfoot was a big fake, “I terminated him,” Police Chief Jeffrey Turner said Tuesday. > > “He’s disgraced himself; he’s an embarrassment to the Clayton County Police Department; his credibility and integrity as an officer is gone; and I have no use for him,” Turner said. “His behavior is unbecoming of that of a police officer.” > > The chief said he wants to send Whitton his termination paperwork and get his uniforms back. However, he said, “We haven’t been able to get in touch with him.” ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/37 "2008-08-20T16:08:55Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] It’s neither. It’s an ape suit costume in the original box with some roadkill dumped in for good measure. Mark my words! [/QUOTE] I hereby declare **Musicat** psychic… or in on it. 😃 BTW, do you have any idea where I left my keys? ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/38 "2008-08-20T16:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=Gulo gulo] What is certain is that Whitton, 28, on medical leave after being shot in the wrist by a robbery suspect this year, won’t be going back to work at the Clayton County Police Department. As soon as he heard Whitton’s Bigfoot was a big fake, “I terminated him,” Police Chief Jeffrey Turner said Tuesday. “He’s disgraced himself; he’s an embarrassment to the Clayton County Police Department; his credibility and integrity as an officer is gone; and I have no use for him,” Turner said. “His behavior is unbecoming of that of a police officer.” The chief said he wants to send Whitton his termination paperwork and get his uniforms back. However, he said, “We haven’t been able to get in touch with him.” [/QUOTE] This just in: [quote=] Police Officer Kidnapped by UFOs–The uniform and badge of a Clayton County police officer has been found near a crop circle. Indentations in the ground near the clothing are “suspiciously similar to other verified UFO landing gear,” according to reliable sources. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/39 "2008-08-20T16:33:26Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] Actually, I saw the whole conference and I didn’t get that impression at all. The story and explanations were curt and straight to the point. and the bulk of the time Whitten and Dyer answered questions to the best of their ability. There was never any mention of their business, they didn’t shill for it once, except for the hats they wore that were illegible on camera. [/QUOTE] But was any scientific evidence presented? Also there was plenty of publicity of the claim, which you can bet they passed on to potential customers of their Bigfoot business. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136/40 "2008-08-20T17:10:17Z")
Turns out the latest bigfoot is a [rubber gorilla suit in a block of ice.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/20/usa3?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-latest-about-bigfoot/460136.md?page=3)