This one is tough. First, you have animal experts and cryptozoologists claiming how realistic the "bigfoot looks."

But then, you have someone claiming they put on a suit and did it as a hoax to make money.

I'm going to go with … HOAX! /ohmy.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

I may have to go with Hoax on it as well! Whatever is in the film obviously is aware

of whoever was filming. With that in mind it has been my experience that when an

animal, human,or any creature seeks to distance thereselves from something they all

have the forethought to move "away" from whatever that may be. Had this film shown

a ? Bigfoot ? moving away from the camera and occasionally glancing back over it's

shoulder, I would have been more inclined to believe its authenticity. Just an observation of

mine. Also had the creature in the film been filmed moving away from the camera instead

of parallel to it we may have been able to see the zipper in the back of the costume.

There is no doubt that huge humanoid creatures have been observed in numerous locations throughout the world throughout history. I have no doubt that they exist whether natural, dimensional, or extraterrestial. The Patterson-Gemlin film is one of the most debated films on hairy humanoids ever filmed. I think it is real, no one has been able to debunk it. Even if is eventually determined to be a well crafted hoax it will not change my opinion on their existence. The majority of the accounts basically have a lot of the same characteristics when describing the creature and the chances that all these people are observing a known animal is remote as best. Now there are going to be skeptics that don't believe in the existence of any of the unknown creatures which I understand but there are too many reports to dismiss them all as known creatures that have been misindentified in my opinion.

I actually think that because they had two people come forward – a costume guy and a guy in the costume – who said that they were part of the hoax, it is most likely that this is a hoax. I know a lot of people aren't convinced, and they believe it is real. But also, the guy went out looking for bigfoot footage and got it – which seems a bit suspicious to me.

That doesn't mean that there is no bigfoot anymore than the bigfoot in the freezer guys are proof that bigfoot doesn't exist. I just don't think that the footage is evidence of bigfoot based on all of the analysis I've seen on different websites. I haven't seen anything that convinces me otherwise.

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This was only one of the many rumors involving John Chambers and John Landis and was never confirmed by Roger Patterson or Robert Gimlin. This footage has been analyzed to death and no one has been able to verify whether real or not. I think it is real but can see why a lot of folks don't. Most people don't want to think outside of the box so to speak and think everything they have come to know and understand about this planet is limited to the parameters they have always been taught. That they are 100% fact and have a hard time with events that defy what we know as "real".

I have viewed this footage many times, and over the years and I have leaned both ways on it. However, as Ryan said ealier, I think it's something that will never be decided as there just is not enough information to make an informed decision. I would just like to say that if it is a hoax….they were good…REALLY good. The part that throws me is when Dr. Jeffery Meldrum did his analysis of the film, he discovered what appears to be a possible hernia in the right thigh of the alleged creature that bulges whenever the creature takes a step. This really made me go hmmm…as once it is pointed out, you can see it bulge. As I said before, to do something like this, they were VERY good. I'll be dealing with alot of this in my September article as it will chronicle the various cultural beliefs in apelike creatures around the world, and alot of historic encounters, some dating back to the 1500's.

Okay, the hernia. Anyone ever followed the pattern of fabric in a "fur suit"? Fabric that is ill-fitting moves in ways contrary to the body. Maybe the "hernia" was a result of a bad fit. ?

It could be, but if you slow the footage down, and watch for the contrast of sunlight on the hair of the legs, you can actually see muscle banding as the the creature/person places weight on the leg to move forward. It is possible to observe the muscles of the thigh tighten as it does this. It is at this time that the bulge occurs, and it is in the same place on the thigh everytime and assumes the same shape. I would assume that if it were ill fitting fabric, the shape would vary as the creature/person took different steps to adjust to the changing terrain. I have an extensive medical background, and have observed this type of hernia in the quadracepts of the thigh before, and actually it is quite common. Another thing, as I mentioned earlier about seeing the muscles, there is a band like muscle that crosses the quadracepts known as the sartorious muscle. If you watch the legs as the creature/person takes a step, you can actually see it flex. That's either some very thin material, or……

The advances in technology can be both a curse and blessing in this field. It enables us to re-examine older data/evidence for clues we would never have been previousily able to unlock. Sadly, it opens the door to a more unscrupulous type as well.