In the Shadows – Patterson -Gimlin Film - Article 29
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- Published: Wednesday, 30 March 2022 18:21
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Most folks are aware of the famous footage of a purported Bigfoot walking across a creek bed from the 60s that was captured by two men, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin. It’s been highlighted on nearly every TV show about Bigfoot since then.
What most people outside the Bigfoot Community are unaware of, is the constant debate within the community about the authenticity of the film. There are multiple camps concerning the film, one that it was a hoax, one that it’s real, and others that have evolved over the years to include a massacre of Bigfoot at that location and that Patty (The nickname of the Bigfoot in the film) was hobbling due to a gunshot to her leg.
There have been several men who have stepped forward making claims that they were either in the suit, or they created the suit, but none have been able to offer any substantial proof to back up these claims. Phillip Morris, a costume maker on the East Coast tried to recreate the suit he claimed he made with modern day techniques and failed quite miserably, and the gentleman that has claimed to have been in the suit, Bob Heironimus may have the same general walk that Patty may have shown, but even his claims are suspect without lack of evidence.
The only man alive today that could tell for sure what happened that day, Bob Gimlin, has stated time and time again, that if it was someone in a suit, they did a pretty damn good job and he didn’t know about it if it was. But if it was someone in a suit, they were taking their lives in their own hands, as most of us around Adair County knows someone who would shoot something hairy running through the woods without hesitation. Even during the filming of Star Wars, when they shot footage of Chewbacca the Wookie in the woods, they had nearly a dozen people in orange vests making sure a hunter did not get close enough to pour lead into a 7-foot-tall hairy creature in the woods.
There have also been claims that Roger Patterson had made a death-bed confession that he had hoaxed the entire incident, this was untrue, Roger Patterson ultimately went to his grave under the firm belief that he had filmed a Bigfoot. Another claim of a deathbed confession was that of one of Hollywood’s leading make-up artists, John Chambers, who did the make-up for the Planet of the Apes movies in the 60s and 70s, this again was just another rumor that circulated where John claimed to have done the make-up for the Patterson-Gimlin creature. His confession was more of an admission that he did not do the Patty figure in the film.
Later on, decades later, an individual named M.K. Davis would proclaim that there had been a massacre at the site of the Patterson-Gimlin Film, in which multiple Bigfoot had been shot and killed. This claim would meet with ridicule from others in the Community as he based this on footage that was filmed miles away of another incident and claimed that he seen pools of blood and Bigfoot pelts on the ground in a nearly 40-year film.
So what is the truth behind the Patterson-Gimlin Film that is seen nearly everywhere and is the basis for most people’s rendition of what a Bigfoot looks like? The only man that could tell us for sure, is Bob Gimlin and he may not be with us much longer as he is in his advanced years, he was the only one that we know for a fact was at the site that day when it was filmed.
While there hasn’t been any real footage that could compare to the Patterson-Gimlin Film, it’s up to the current field of Bigfoot Researchers to get out there and obtain that footage. What makes it very tricky however, is that computer graphics has advanced so far ahead that nearly anyone can fake footage of a Bigfoot, and many have tried. If anyone shows you footage of a Bigfoot, especially if it came from Facebook or YouTube, it’s a sure bet that 95% of that type of footage, should be considered fake.