Bigfoot Sightings

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Bigfoot sighting(s)

Link: http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp?id=621

In this article two children claim to have seen a Bigfoot in Wilson County, Tennessee. At the time of the claimed sighting they were each 12 years old. An investigator from the BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researcher Organization) looked into the sighting and met with the children. He claims that there is little doubt in his mind that they did indeed see "something" after hearing their story. One thing that I noticed is that there was no clear evidence that any large animal was even there in the fathers account (most notably the lack of footprints--the idea of Bigfoots giving off a certain odor is simply speculation given that no conclusive evidence has proved its existence). There are many variables that are unaccounted for in my opinion. The children are avid hunters according to the article and the fact that they spend a lot of time in the wilderness might lead some to believe their sighting may have some validity. However, perhaps they are falling into a similar trap that many studies can fall into--they are simply finding what they are looking for. It would seem to me that these kids were obviously well aware of the stories behind such creatures and this could result in them seeing it in the woods--they want to believe in Bigfoot. This claim, like many others regarding this topic, lacks compelling evidence but makes a good story for entertainment purposes in my opinion.

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This week in class we talk about how our senses can be deceived...Our brain fills in the blanks...This may impact what the children are sensing as well.

That is an excellent point. Something in the environment could have stimulated some sense of fear and then they may have just misidentified the creature and their brain would emphasize and to some degree create characteristics that may not have been there.

I thought that was an interesting story! Even though these kids were regular hunters who are familiar with their environment, it just goes to show you how your brain can still deceive you even in some of your most comfortable environments. I think that's pretty neat. The brain will trick us to see the things that we hoped or wished to see.

This shows how one can perceive something completely different from what actually is there. The children sensed it, but then perceived it in a completely different way. Bigfoot is an extraordinary claim, and therefore results in the need for extraordinary evidence. In the case of the kids' story, the extraordinary evidence is definitely not evident.

I don't think that the children actually saw a big foot. There has been a lot of people who claim they have seen big foot. In my opinion i think a lot of people just want to believe that big foot does exist, so when they see something they can't make out they assume and want to believe it is big foot.

The thing that strikes me is how confident the kids were in seeing Big Foot. Although that also raises an alarm to me that they may have really wanted to be the ones to spot Big Foot that anything that even resembled a perceived image of it would implant a very memory in their minds. My interpretation is that they may have saw an image that resembled Big Foot, and then convinced themselves that it was Big Foot.

The thing that strikes me is how confident the kids were in seeing Big Foot. Although that also raises an alarm to me that they may have really wanted to be the ones to spot Big Foot that anything that even resembled a perceived image of it would implant a very memory in their minds. My interpretation is that they may have saw an image that resembled Big Foot, and then convinced themselves that it was Big Foot.

You're exactly right - people see what they WANT to see. Kids can be especially biased because they have great imaginations, when in reality it was probably just a bear (or maybe an actual person; lately there have been a lot of homeless people camping out in the woods in Tennessee due to job lay offs in the past couple of years). People don't take into account Occam's Razor: if there is a simpler explanation, it is probably that explanation.

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This page contains a single entry by aaron035 published on February 5, 2012 10:18 PM.

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