The Utah Statesman

Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: Debra Hawkins Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University biological services department speaks to students about whether or not there is scientific evidence that Sasquatch exsists.

It is not a matter of believing in Bigfoot, but it's using scientific evidence to prove his existence, Jeff Meldrum, author of "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science," said Tuesday to Robert Schmidt's ENVS 3600 class.

"Its very difficult in 45 minutes to give you a comprehensive package of the evidence that has motivated me to persist in this investigation. That is what this is, an investigation. It's not me trying to convince you that Bigfoot exists," said Meldrum, who works in the Department of Biological Science at Idaho State University.

Schmidt, an associate professor for the department of environment and society, said, "How do we assess the evidence for Sasquatch, or the Bear Lake Monster, or even the Loch Ness monster? Science gives us the tools for looking at the validity of the evidence."

Meldrum said folklore, prehistoric evidence and aspects of history convey the intrigue of the possibility of an unknown animal such as Bigfoot.

"Belief has no role as a scientific question. The question boils down to is there evidence for a biological species known as Sasquatch," he said.

Ever since there have been travelers, there have been tales of fanciful, even somewhat unbelievable animals, Meldrum said. He related the idea of describing a giraffe to someone who didn't know about giraffe and how unbelievable that would seem. Similarly, Bigfoot may seem far-fetched when all people hear are stories, he said.

Meldrum said the earliest recorded story about Bigfoot is the "Epic of Gilgamsh." He said that story and "Beowulf" both have accounts of a hairy wild man, which he said could be early accounts of Bigfoot.

He showed pictures of masks, tribal statues and paintings from different centuries and cultures, and he pointed out the possible correlations to primates and Bigfoot and the differences between both. He said depictions of a creature with very big, human-like hands and feet were showing up in various styles of pictographs.

Continued...

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