View Point # V0003

D-dirt,

I too, am slightly skeptical of the Patterson film, but I need to correct you on a few points.
First, Patterson did not claim that he was filming while his his horse reared. His claim is that the horse threw him and that he grabbed the camera and shot as he ran towards the creature -- this is the source of the shaky camera movement, not his horse rearing.
Second, I must ask: You commented that Patterson was a known con artist. This is the first I've ever heard of this. Where are you getting this information from? I'd be interested to check it out.
I agree that the frame enhancement of the film by Karl Korff, who did a thorough job of debunking the Billy Meier "Pleiadian" UFO case, was not convincing. The line up the back didn't look like a zipper to me at all -- it looked like the indentation of the creature's spine, like you see on the only other known upright walking hominid -- man.
I was unaware until a few days ago that it has been rumored for years among Hollywood special effects artists that Dick Smith, the man behind some of the most famous Hollywood monsters, is actually the one who designed the Bigfoot costume in the film. I discovered an article about this on another Bigfoot website (the name of which I can't recall at the moment). A well-known special effects makeup artist says that Rick Baker, who seems to be an expert at making gorilla costumes and is a protégé of Dick Smith's, flat out told him that Dick Smith designed the Bigfoot costume used in the Patterson film, and that Patterson had no knowledge of it -- it was a hoax perpetrated on him. Dick Smith is old and ill and offered no comment on this rumor, but Rick Baker's office reportedly said that Mr. Baker "no longer believes this story is true."
I find the concept of a hoax being perpetrated on Patterson to be patently ridiculous, for the simple reason that both he and Gimlin were carrying rifles on their expedition.
However, I must say that I'm intrigued by the GAIT of the man who has been accused of being the "man in the Bigfoot suit." One must admit it is very similar to the walk of the alleged creature in the film. His posture is not hunched over as in the film, but look at the wide swinging arms and the waddle-like walk. Intriguing, to say the least.
Also intriguing was the nervous double blink at the end of his denial on the Fox special, as opposed to the straightforward, steely-eyed demeanor of his accuser.
Let's face it... whether the Patterson film is real or not has absolutely no impact on whether Bigfoot actually exists. I myself have been a "true believer" for many years, but I'm starting to have a few doubts... In five years, Peter Byrne's million dollar research project found absolutely NOTHING of any significance. I realize that the northwest is still largely unpopulated, but it does seem that with the explosion of cameras and camcorders that someone would have managed to capture some footage of one by now.
I'm not ready to give up hope yet, but I am beginning to get skeptical.