USA Sasquatch Reports Update 3/18/24

The Sasquatch Data Project is 400+ reports deep into organizing all the BFRO reports into one dataset that can be used by anyone to perform scientific/mathematical analysis on. I just finished up the Oregon reports and have begun parsing the North Carolina data. Here’s a lil Part 1 update on how things are looking so far. 

It’s important to note the data presented here is ONLY looking at “Class A” visual sightings of sasquatch(s). These results do not include “Class B” reports (vocalizations, footprints, wood knocks, etc). Also, you’ll notice the numbers don’t always add up to 213, the current number of visual bigfoot sightings. This is due to the report not containing the data, therefore it is null. Alright, let’s dive in!

So far the top types of encounters include “At Distance” (the sasquatch was seen at a distance by the witness either for the entire encounter OR initially) with 60 reports, “Observing the Witness” (the sasquatch was initially noticed by the witness as the sasquatch was observing her/him) with 47 reports, “Road Crossing” (the witness saw the sasquatch crossing a roadway) with 45 reports, and a tie for 4th place, each having 16 reports,  “Standing On Road” (the sasquatch was seen standing on the road or very close to it (<5 ft)) and “Residential” (the sasquatch was seen in close proximity to someone’s residence). The good news is, you’ll most likely see the sasquatch before it sees you. The bad news is, all the data is not in yet and the roles may reverse. Keep that in mind next time you’re in the woods alone 👀 In all seriousness though, it’s worth noting that encounters on or near a road actually outnumber the current leader, “At Distance”. There’s a number of reasons why this might be the case. Potentially, it’s just a numbers game. It can be inferred that there are more people who travel on the roadways over being in an environment where sasquatch might be living (hiking, camping, mushroom hunting, etc). Another reason might be that the roads give sasquatches a relatively clutter-free way to travel, therefore they might use them more frequently, increasing the probability of being seen. Or something entirely different. It’s not clear yet, just some food for thought. 

When it comes to the “best” time to have an encounter, fall is barely in the lead with 77 reports, but summer is close behind with 75. Winter and spring are trailing with 30 reports each. These numbers DO NOT necessarily mean your chances of seeing a sasquatch during the fall or summer are more than spring or winter. A number of factors could influence this. One of which being that more people are typically hiking/in the woods during those seasons because of the nice weather. Therefore, more sasquatches would be seen. These current results might also be dependent on your geographic location as well. For example, in Oregon the majority of sightings happened in the summer, 48 to be exact. Whereas in Alabama, the top season for a sighting was fall with 23 reports. Once all the data is in, it will be interesting to split this category up regionally and begin thinking about influential factors. For now, we can only speculate.

Studying the moon illumination statistics over time will be one of my favorite parts about compiling this dataset. I often hear bigfoot researchers say sasquatches are more active with a brighter moon, but they do not have the actual data to back it up. It’s just words at this point. So far though, the data does lean this way. Even though the average percent of illumination is 60%, 51% of Class A sightings have happened when the moon was 80% or more illuminated. Only 21% have occurred when the moon was 20% illuminated or less. There might be an explanation for this that does not involve the activity of sasquatch, though. Obviously, you have to actually see a bigfoot to have a sighting. Humans need light in our visible spectrum to see. Therefore, a brighter moon would make it much easier for a human to see a bigfoot. This definitely is a factor in these percentages, but once I go through more data I can perform statistical analysis to calculate a correlation coefficient between high and low moon illumination to sasquatch sightings.

Moving on to the physical attributes of sasquatches, the average height, weight, and shoulder width were not surprising to me and I think need little explanation. Something the average does not describe, though, is the differing heights of sasquatches in sightings where multiple bigfoots are seen. This is going to be the topic of a future blog that I’m really excited to share. The body build is described as being overall muscular. A “V-shape” could also fit under this category, but enough witnesses have specifically described this body type I wanted to designate it as its own category. Then we have reports that specifically called out a sex of the animal. It is important to note that I have only included reports where either gentalia or breasts were seen. I did not include reports where the witnessed assumed a sex based on looks or “vibe” they got from the animal. Only having 7 reports to go off of, not much can be said as things stand now.

Something that stood out to me instantly was the 50/50 split on the head shape. The head shape seems to be a hot topic within the bigfoot community, so I’m excited to see how these numbers evolve over time. Most reports did not note the shape of the head. Is this because it resembled a more “human” shape (rounded) so it did not stand out as being noteworthy or odd to the witness? Or maybe in the shock of the moment that was the absolute last thing on their mind (probable). Not sure, but this is what we have to work with. 30 reports. I’m interested to see if this trait varies regionally and how that might correlate to potential food sources in that area. The proposed sagittal crest that creates the conical head shape is typically seen in apes consuming things like root matter, sticks, and tough vegetative materials. They need very strong muscles to chew such coarse foods. Would the differing diet of sasquatches in various regions of the country influence the shape of their skull? One study found that a sagittal crest is also associated as a sexually dimorphic trait in apes. Balolia et. al found that 93% of G. g. gorilla males had a sagittal crest, while only 58% of females had one. They also found the size of the sagittal crest was dependent on age. Younger apes had smaller sagittal crests. It’s unclear at the moment how this relates to sasquatch, but it is worth keeping in mind. This does NOT mean we can assume the sex or age of the sasquatch based on whether or not it has a conical shaped head. Again, this is just information to keep in mind but not influence our perception of sightings and make assumptions.

Posture is another trait that is of particular interest to me. A total of 29 reports mentioned either a “hunched” or “stooped” posture while the animal was moving bipedally. I am interested in how this ties into arm length. The more lean in the stance, the longer the arms are going to appear while in a bipedal position. So, are the arms actually reaching to the knees or is it just how the animal is standing? Long arms are often reported by sasquatch witnesses, which would make sense since they have been reported on occasion (twice so far in my investigation) to move quadrupedally. My thinking is that the arm length is probably longer in respect to their height than what we would expect of a human, but is exaggerated by the stooped posture. 

The nose shape has mostly (I use that word lightly) been described as “flat”. This does not mean flat like a gorilla which lacks a protruding nose. This descriptor is more like that of a human with a flat nose. It is interesting that every report that describes the nose says it is human-like as opposed to something you might see on a gorilla or orangutan.

A foul smell during a sasquatch encounter is another trait that is often talked about within the bigfoot community, but does not appear to be as common as one might think. So far, only 11% of reports mention a foul smell. To be fair, though, as we learned earlier most of the reports are encountering the sasquatch at a distance, so if there was a smell being produced by the animal, it might be too far aware for that to carry to the human. A more useful statistic would be to look at only close encounters and calculate a percentage. When I add more data to the spreadsheet I will look at that.

Another topic of debate is the supposed “eye shine” sasquatches are reported to have. Personally, I do not think they possess eye shine, but I also have no explanation for what people are seeing. The top color for eye shine is white with a resounding 3 (!!!) reports. One road crossing sighting from a semi-truck driver in Oregon specifically noted that eye shine was not present. Obviously, none of this is compelling one way or the other. Eight reports noting eye shine out of the 200+ sightings are not nearly enough data to make any assumptions or guide our insights into this phenomenon. 

The lack of a prominent neck is another physical trait that has become a classic sasquatch descriptor. The complete lack of neck vertebrae seems highly unlikely to me, but the data so far does suggest (again, I use this phrase lightly) that the neck is significantly shorter than a human’s. Out of 20 reports that mentioned this, 16 noted there was “no neck”. In cases where a neck was mentioned, they described it as being very short. I have yet to come across a report where the witness claimed the neck was as long as a human’s.

Moving on to skin and hair color, and hair length, the skin color is typically described as “dark”, black, or grey with a leathery or oily appearance. It is mostly likened to that of a gorilla in the reports, but it varies on how the witness describes the color. The most reported hair color is, slightly surprisingly, dark brown, only beating out black by one report. “Generally dark” is another popular descriptor. I assume this includes either dark brown or black but the lighting conditions were lacking and a specific color could not be observed. With all this in mind, sasquatches are typically seen having darker hair colors so they are not surprising results. There are exceptions, though. In Alabama, multiple sightings of white and blonde sasquatches were reported within a particular region. Could it have been the same sasquatch? Or maybe there is a genetic line in that area that produces blonde bigfoots. It is interesting that this color was reported by different individuals at different times, lending to the credibility of the sightings.

Last but not least, it was found that the average hair length is 5.3 inches so far. There were not many reports to contribute to this average, so this result should be taken with a grain of salt.

Though the project is well into sorting through all the reports, in the world of science and data analysis, we are nowhere near the point of having enough data to make any assumptions, let alone firm statements on any of the suspected traits of sasquatch. With more time, and data, we will get there though! If anything, this investigation allows us to display just how prevalent bigfoot activity is in general. Also, my goal is to help other sasquatch researchers, especially those who follow up with witnesses, get ideas on questions they should be asking and details to look for while conducting investigations. One of the things that has stood out to me while going through the reports is how little information is gotten from the witnesses about the sasquatch itself. There is a ton of information regarding the setting and circumstances surrounding the sighting, but surprisingly little information on the physical and behavioral traits of the animal. I’m currently putting together a resource that will hopefully help investigators derive as much data from their witness interviews as possible. As citizen scientists, we need to constantly be looking for ways to improve our investigative methods! It’s critical to the subject as a whole, and plus it’s fun to learn something new. 

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Or, if you’d like to submit a sighting report, go to “Contact” and fill out the form!