More Photos From The Willow Creek 40th Anniversary Patterson/Gimlin Movie Celebration

(All of these photos are courtesy of Tom Yamarone.)

Photos from the Willow Creek Patterson/Gimlin Movie Celebration Part 1

(All of these photos are courtesy of BigfootGal and BigfootDad of Bigfoot Forums.)

Editorial: Yahoo News Gets It ALMOST Right

Yesterday, Yahoo News acknowledged the 40th Anniversary of the Patterson/Gimlin Movie with an article. I will present the full text of the article here, with special highlights:

40 years on, 'Bigfoot' film still the benchmark for believers

by Rob Woollard Sat Oct 20, 1:30 PM ET

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) - Forty years after two cowboys filmed an unidentified creature ambling through a California forest, hunters of "Bigfoot" say the grainy (this film is NOT grainy, except for the third-generation copies which are seen on some documentaries; the copy seen on Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, courtesy of John Green, is very clear, as are M.K. Davis' enhancements.) footage remains the cornerstone of their belief in the legendary ape-like beast's existence.

The subject of numerous hoax theories and investigations, Roger Patterson and Tom (should be Bob) Gimlin's film, shot at Willow Creek in the expanse of the Six Rivers National Forest on October 20, 1967, has been debunked, derided and dismissed.

But so far it has never been successfully duplicated, and it is that fact, that Bigfoot devotees say is crucial.

Daniel Perez, the editor of the BigfootTimes.net website and an avowed follower of the beast known as Sasquatch, describes the Patterson-Gimlin footage as the missing piece of the Bigfoot puzzle.

"This is the cornerstone of the entire case for Bigfoot," Perez told AFP. "People say 'It's just a guy in a suit'. Well I beg to differ. If it's a man in a costume, why can't anyone duplicate the film?"

Perez, who will address a conference of Bigfoot believers at Willow Creek on Saturday to mark the film's 40th anniversary, claims that enhancements of the original, jerky footage show the creature's muscles expanding, rippling and contracting from one frame to the next.

"You can't do that with a costume," Perez says. "A costume conceals rather than reveals."

Tom Yamarone, a member of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a US group of enthusiasts who record sightings and embark on hunts for the creature, echoed Perez's argument.

"The Patterson-Gimlin footage, despite it's shakiness, is what we would refer to as the gold standard for visual evidence," says Yamarone.

Yet others are not convinced. In his 2004 book "The Making of Bigfoot" author Greg Long claims to have identified the 'man in the suit' as a worker from Washington state, Bob Hieronimus.

Long also casts a critical eye over Patterson's role in the affair, noting the extraordinary coincidence that he had set out into the forest to shoot a documentary about Bigfoot and returned with footage of the creature

Robert Stein, an expert in trick photography, echoed Long's scepticism in an interview.

"Roger Patterson sets out to make a Bigfoot documentary," he says. "He immediately stumbled upon a Bigfoot. Not only that, he stumbled upon a Bigfoot that was out in the open in bright, clear sunshine, perfect weather for filming. He didn't just beat the odds. He gave the odds a royal whipping."

Patterson, who died of cancer in 1972, is portrayed in Long's book as a chronically unemployed rodeo rider determined to profit from an elaborate hoax.

Gimlin has always insisted the film was genuine, denying any knowledge of Long's claim that Patterson had in fact ordered a gorilla suit from a costume supplier.

And experts in special effects have questioned the 'man-in-a-suit' theory, saying the level of sophistication displayed in the film would likely have been beyond the reach of ordinary hoaxers.

Ryan Peterson, a freelance make-up effects artist who has worked on films such as "Mighty Joe Young" and "Men In Black," believes that if the film was a hoax, the perpetrators were operating years ahead of their time.

"In my opinion, the technology and artistry were not available in 1967 to create such a convincing Bigfoot costume," Peterson wrote in the Salt Lake Tribune this week.

Perez, a 44-year-old electrician who has been chronicling Bigfoot since childhood, says he is open to arguments that the film is a hoax.

"I would be willing to change my view on the subject of the film if they were able to duplicate it," he says. "But you expect me to believe that a broke cowboy and his friend Bob Gimlin make this sophisticated movie? Come on."

As you may notice, I put a few corrections in the article in bold letters. The point is, Yahoo News got it ALMOST right this time, except for a couple of minor mistakes, which is better than saying that Roger Patterson confessed on his deathbed that it was a hoax, as the media did after the death of Ray Wallace nearly 5 years ago. The media seems to be getting better, at least in some aspects, but still has a long way to go in their fact-checking, especially on the subject of Sasquatch. But of course, they still get it wrong in many other aspects of news, whether it be politics or entertainment or world news, or even news that happened across the street. But the writer of this article seemed to really care about the subject (with two minor exceptions) of the P/G Movie and for the most part did his homework. If we can convince the news media to keep getting it more right and more right, we might get more results and better reporting, not just on Sasquatch, but on other, more important pieces of news. Just something to think about.

Review: The Sasquatch Experience 10-20-07

This was a great show, with just myself interviewing M.K. Davis about the 40th Anniversary of the Patterson/Gimlin Movie. We talked about the new DVD he is involved with John Johnsen in. We also discussed M.K.'s theories on what he thought "Patty" was, as well as his methods on working on the film. Johnsen himself called in and we discussed his work on the documentary, as well as his legal wranglings (or lack thereof) over the film. It was a great show, full of great information. Our next show is tomorrow night, with no scheduled guest, but we may turn it into a combination continuation of a discussion over the P/G Movie and an open-mic. The show starts at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

40 years on, 'Bigfoot' film still the benchmark for believers

Some corrections on my "40 Years Ago Today..." Post from Roger Knights (Thanks, Roger!!!)

Hi Henry,

Thanks for citing me as an authority! I liked your post, but there
are a few things I didn't like about it, which I suggest you correct.
You needn't credit me:

1. Pendulous breasts. This technically (I think) only applies to
breasts that hang straight down--Patty's hang only 45 to 60 degrees.
I'd call them "matronly" maybe.

2. Patty's look of scorn (see Perez, p. 10): This was given when RP
had the camera off and was madly running after her. It wasn't caught
on film, but instead caused him to stop in his tracks and get the
camera going again. Both RP & Gimlin attest that the creature looked
back at them twice--but the first look-back wasn't filmed. Many
people don't realize this, so you should make a point of spelling it
out.

3. (based on Perez, p. 11-12): After Gimlin returned when Patterson
called him back, their next step was to chase down the horses (with
RP presumably riding behind Gimlin--your comment that they both
remounted their horses is incorrect), which had fled upstream.
Then they loaded a new roll and filmed the tracks.
Then they went back to the truck and got plaster.
Then they cast the tracks.
Then they followed the creature's footprints, eventually dismounting
and going up a rough, steep hillside, at which point they abandoned
the quest. (They had to get to town and get the film shipped.)
Then they went back and filmed RP holding the cured tracks.
Then they rode back to camp and drove to town.

4. Here is additional detail you might give: The rain started hard
about midnight, and P&G left at about 6 AM, arriving in Yakima about
14 hours later (confirmed to me by Gimlin), after dark, around 8 PM.

5. The third bigfooter present at the initial screening was Jim
McClarin.

6. I wouldn't say that "many" anthropologists and specialists studied
the film. Few would look at it. I'd change that "many" to "a few".

7. Lyle Laverty was interviewed by Jeff Meldrum and told him (it's in
Perez's newsletter--and Laverty confirmed it to me by e-mail) that he
photographed the tracks on Monday, the 23rd, which was his first
workday. He took four photos, one of which has become famous.

Back to the start: You might mention that the tree-root system was
"room-high"--Gimlin's words--and concealed their approach perfectly.

Roger 

40 Years Ago Today...

40 Years Ago Today...
By Henry May, Based On Information Gleaned from Sasquatch: The
Apes Among Us By John Green, Meet The Sasquatch by Chris
Murphy In Association with John Green and Thomas Steenburg and
Personal Testimony From Bob Gimlin
Roger Clarence Patterson and Robert Emory Gimlin, two
cowboys/ranchers from Yakima, Washington, were riding through Six
Rivers National Forest in Del Norte County, California, 150 miles north
of San Francisco, shooting a documentary on Bigfoot. At around 1:20
P.M. Pacific Time on Friday, October 20, 1967, Patterson and Gimlin
encountered a tree root system in the dirt, almost like a crow's nest
with logs jammed together. They rode around this, and encountered a
large, hair-covered creature standing by Bluff Creek. The creature,
startled, began to walk away. The horses went absolutely ballistic, and
began to buck. The packhorse ran away, as did Patterson's steed,
after it either threw Roger off or he jumped off, but not before
Patterson grabbed his movie camera out of his saddlebag. Gimlin was
able to maintain control over his horse eventually after a mighty
struggle. Patterson, on the chase after the creature with the camera,
stumbled several times and even fell on the uneven terrain, which
caused him to have to switch his camera off a couple of times (those
who have watched the film in slow motion have noticed at a couple of
junctures blank spots in the film, which indicate the film was stopped
because either Patterson's finger slid off the trigger or he was
conserving film). Patterson finally steadied himself on a log, and
filmed the creature walk across his field of sight. Gimlin had by this
time established control over his horse, and crossed the creek on his
horse, at which point the creature turned and looked at him, revealing
two large, pendulous breasts swinging and undulating (as seen in
Frame 352, shown here). The creature gave Patterson a look he
described as a look of contempt and scorn, as if, in his words, "You
know how it is when the umpire tells you 'One more word and you're
out of the game!' That's the way it felt." (He told this to John Green,
who quoted Patterson in his chapter on the Patterson/Gimlin Movie in
his opus Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us). Gimlin dismounted and
removed his rifle from its scabbard, but did not point it at the creature.
The creature kept on walking, being filmed by Patterson, until
Patterson ran out of film. Gimlin intended to chase the creature down,
but Patterson called him back, not wanting to be left alone out there
without his horse or rifle in case of attack. Patterson and Gimlin then
cast a couple of the creature's tracks, and then reloaded his film
camera and filmed the trackway. Patterson and Gimlin remounted
their horses, went and retrieved the packhorse and followed the
creature's tracks for several miles until losing them among the rocks.
Later, Bob Titmus investigated the site and found tracks leading to the
hillside above, where it appeared that the creature had sat down and
watched Patterson and Gimlin. Patterson and Gimlin then went to
Willow Creek and called Al Hodgson, with Patterson excitedly
exclaiming "Al, I got a picture of the son-of-a-buck!" They met Al at his
general store and went to Hodgson's home to discuss the events of
the day. After that, they went to a local airport and had the film flown to
Yakima to Patterson's brother-in-law Al DeAtley to be processed in
Seattle. Then the pair went back to their camp, but were surprised by
a late-night torrential downpour. All of their equipment got wet, but
Gimlin remembered the tracks left out on the sandbar and went and
covered them with pieces of bark. Patterson and Gimlin, in Gimlin's
truck, left the area as quickly as possible, encountering mudslides
which threatened to push them off the mountain roads. They reached
Yakima on Saturday the 21st, and Gimlin went home to rest as he
caught a bit of a cold in the rain. Patterson also went home to rest.
The next day, October 22nd, a Sunday, Patterson, along with John
Green, Rene Dahinden and DeAtley all studied the film in DeAtley's
basement (Gimlin was still at home resting). Many anthropologists and
specialists studied the film, and most called it a hoax, but could never
figure out how it could have been hoaxed. Lyle Laverty went to the
filmsite Saturday the 21st, and took a rather famous photo of a track
with what was described later as a mid-tarsal break, and Titmus went
there about 9 days later and cast some of the best tracks of the film
subject, including the one with mid-tarsal break. 40 years later, it is still
the center of debate, whether it is called the Patterson Film, the
Patterson Movie, the Patterson footage or (phrases coined by Rene
Dahinden) the Patterson/Gimlin Film or Movie. Roger Patterson died
of Hodgkins' Disease on January 15th, 1972, going to his grave
swearing to the authenticity of this film. Bob Gimlin still lives in
Yakima, quiet and private, reticent to give interviews, still attesting to
the authenticity of the film. The most prominent current investigators of
this film are M.K. Davis, Chris Murphy, Daniel Perez and Roger
Knights. We celebrate this amazing footage today and every day.
Happy 40th, "Patty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Review: The XZone 10-19-07

Review: The XZone 10-19-07

This was a rather interesting segment, with myself and Kal Korff discussing the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, and I got to talk about how I thought it was real, and Rob and Kal countered that with their assessments of it. Bill Green called in and he and Rob had a rather spirited debate, in which they were both passionate about their positions (I mistakenly took this for rudeness instead of passion, and I apologize). It was very spirited, very intense between Bill and Rob, with neither side really gaining or losing an inch. Bill actually showed some rather good debate skills, to be honest. Pretty great show.

Review: The Sasquatch Triangle 10-18-07

This was a great show, with guest Daniel Perez who discussed mainly the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, his investigations into it, his relationship with Bob Gimlin (and an upcoming interview in the Bigfoot Times newsletter with Gimlin) and other aspects of the Sasquatch mystery. Thunderhawk called in and asked Daniel a question about his Mysterious Encounters appearance in which he definitely said on camera that this was the spot (referring to the actual spot the film was taken on). He also discussed other films and still photos he has seen and investigated. It was a great show, full of great information. The next show will feature John Horrigan once again, who will discuss the recent Mass Monster Mash. That show will air next Thursday at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

In Celebration of Bigfoot’s Patty

Sasquatch Experience Tomorrow...

Sean, James and I will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, with our guest M.K. Davis. The show starts at 8:00 EST/7:00 Central and can be found at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sasquatchexperience As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

Links for tomorrow's Sasquatch Experience Show

Links for tomorrow's Sasquatch Experience Show

Cryptomundo Headlines

Joey Bishop’s Patterson Bigfoot Link

Bigfoot Film: Happy 40th Anniversary

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/19/famous-bigfoot-film.html

Today is...

BOB GIMLIN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Happy birthday to the man who was partially responsible for the most intriguing piece of wildlife footage ever taken. Hope it is a good one for you, sir.

Sasquatch Triangle Tonight...

Don's guest will be Daniel Perez of the Center For Bigfoot Studies of Norwalk, California to discuss the 40th Anniversary of the Patterson/Gimlin Movie. The show starts at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central and can be found at the link to the right. As always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

XZone Radio Tonight...

At around 1:00 A.M. EST/12:00 Central, I will be appearing on the XZone along with Kal Korff, Bob Heironimus and Martina Tycova to discuss the Patterson/Gimlin Movie. The show can be found by scrolling down on this page and then clicking on the XZone logo. Should be an interesting show.

XZone this Thursday night!!!

I have been invited to appear with Kal Korff, Bob Heironimus and Roger Knights this late-Thursday night/early Friday morning at 1:00 A.M. EST/12:00 Central to discuss the Patterson/Gimlin Movie. I will be taking that invitation. The show can be found at www.xzoneradio.com Hope everyone tunes in.

Review: The Patterson/Gimlin Film Revisited

This documentary, now available on http://www.cryptovideography.com as a free download (it is not available for purchase, but if you ask J. or M.K. to make a DVD copy of it for you, they will). This is a really great and in-depth documentary, looking into M.K.'s work (at the time of shooting, 6 years in) on the film, basically a sit-down interview by J. Michael for the first 40 minutes. The last 20 minutes show us M.K. going through different files and showing us various things in the film he has found. The last segment (and the most dramatic) has M.K.'s blown-up poster in his backyard, where he does accurate measurements on himself and on the creature and concludes it is Bigfoot and not a man in a costume. Very well-done early effort by J. Michael and Cryptovideography.

DVD Review: Spotlight on The Patterson/Gimlin Film: The M.K. Davis Theory

This documentary, produced by John Johnsen (Keeping The Watch) and M.K. Davis is very well-produced and professionally done. The first 10-15 minutes is devoted to different film stocks and the resolution which can come from each. Chromatic Aberration is also discussed. The theories and enhancements of Davis are shown next, with full explanations as to all of them, such as the humanness of the creature, humanlike lips, the explanation for the alleged saggital crest and other theoretical assessments on the possible humanity of "Patty." There is also a possibility of more than one creature being seen in the film as well. The historical perspective and possible origins of the Pacific Northwest Bigfoot is also discussed. M.K. also reads the preamble to his upcoming book he is writing on these theories and the history behind them. I do recommend this documentary if for nothing else, as a conversation piece. I would give it 3 1/2 out of four stars.

Johnsen/Davis Documentary Now Available!!!

The project produced by John Johnsen showcasing the work of M.K. Davis on the Patterson/Gimlin Movie is now available. it is titled Spotlight on the Patterson/Gimlin Film: The M.K. Davis Theory and is available at

Grendel Films

for $15.95 plus $4.60 shipping and handling for pre-prices. After the trailer is released, the price will increase to $24.00. This is actually the third documentary to showcase M.K.'s work within the past few years; Jay Michael produced one in 2005 called The Patterson/Gimlin Film Revisited which was released briefly as an online download last year. Pat Holdbrook also produced the DVD Bigfoot: An Encounter With Reality earlier this year as well. M.K.'s enhancements were also used on the recent Discovery Channel production Best Evidence: Bigfoot.