DVD Review: 40th-Anniversary Patterson/Gimlin Film Celebration

This DVD, clocking in at just over 3 hours, is a real treat for those who were unable to attend the 40th-Anniversary Patterson/Gimlin Film Celebration held October 20, 2007 in Willow Creek, California. It consists of 3 parts, the first being a presentation by Daniel Perez (after organizer Tom Yamarone performed one of his new Bigfoot songs Jerry Crew (He Knew What To Do) which uses quite a few slides as visual aides regarding the film, as well as Perez holding up a copy of the camera Patterson used (the original camera had a pistol grip on it, but the camera Perez had did not). He also passed around a few artifacts, such as sand from the Bluff Creek filmsite, a roll of 16-millimeter film to demonstrate just what kind of film Patterson used, the camera itself and I believe a frame from the film itself. Next was Tom's performance of Roger and Bob (Rode Out That Day) followed by a presentation by longtime Willow Creek resident and Bigfoot enthusiast Al Hodgson, who described not only the events as he remembered them of October 20, 1967, but also of reports from the area that he knew about from over the years. Following that is another song from Tom Yamarone (which I do not know the name of, but it too is another new song). Then, David Murphy, the author of the Biography on Patterson, gave an excellent presentation on the life of Roger Patterson and even gave some interesting tidbits on Bob Heironimus. Then, Cliff Barackman gave a presentation on tracks, more particularly tracks that match (or seemingly match) the prints left by "Patty" on the sandbar at Bluff Creek. Finally, it all wraps up with a presentation by Scott McClean on historical news clippings surrounding the film and also news clippings that predated the film, as well as Scott's recounting of his own sighting in 1984 of what he described as a "Jawa" which was all he could equate it to at the time. A very well-done presentation all the way around, and a great glimpse into the once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the most famous piece of wildlife footage ever shot. I give it about 4 1/2 out of five stars.

Janos Prohaska's assessment of the P/G Movie

`DFoot's Video Presentation on YouTube attempting to debunk the P/G Movie

Editorial: Whose Idea Was It To Go To The Bluff Creek Area Where "Patty" Was Filmed?

There has been quite a bit of controversy over which of the two men, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, go to the particular area where "Patty" was filmed, more particularly since the controversy centers around the question of it being a hoax. If it was Patterson's idea, and the film was a hoax, then he was leading Gimlin right into it. It has been suggested recently by Bob Heironimus, the man claiming to have been in the suit, as well as by Greg Long and Kal Korff, that both men were in on the alleged hoax along with Heironimus (but that is as hard to swallow as Heironimus' conflicting stories). Actually, as has been suggested by Mike Quast in his book Big Footage: A History of Claims For The Sasquatch on Film, as well as M.K. Davis, it was GIMLIN'S idea to go to that particular area, which according to many published reports in several of the books on Sasquatch, does correlate very well. It was Gimlin's suggestion that they go to that area, and, unless Gimlin had someone in a gorilla suit waiting in the wings (which to me is very unlikely), the film is real. If it was Gimlin's idea (and the evidence seems to suggest that this is the case) then there is no possible way that Heironimus could have been anywhere NEAR Bluff Creek on October 20, 1967. SO, to me, it is an open-and-shut case-the film is real, and Gimlin was the one who made the suggestion to go to that particular area, not Patterson.

Patterson / Gimlin Film

Editorial: Is the Patterson/Gimlin Movie an old chestnut?

Many pieces of evidence have come down the pike in many criminal cases, such as blood, skin and hair samples, murder weapons and other evidence. This kind of thing can also apply to Bigfoot research. In our case, we have hair samples, blood, footprints with dermal ridges and fecal matter. However, the most intriguing piece of evidence in favor of the existence of hairy bipeds is the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, taken by the late Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, October 20, 1967. Many researchers have looked into the film, but the current investigators are Chris Murphy, Daniel Perez and M.K. Davis. Now, M.K. Davis hosts the Internet Radio program Bigfoot Central on Tuesday nights, and makes the P/G Movie a bit of the focus of every show, which causes some to not want to tune in because they want to hear about other aspects of the Bigfoot mystery, not the P/G Movie every week. They think the film is an old chestnut and should be left in the bin of history. But, in my opinion, it is not an old chestnut, because to be quite honest, it is the best evidence we have, and I am 98% convinced it is real. The deal is, if people do not want to hear about the P/G Movie every week on Bigfoot Central, they do not have to listen. No one is holding a gun to their head to listen to the show. Besides, they should know what they are getting with a show hosted by the foremost authority into the film. In my mind, the film should be discussed, even if it is weekly, because it still continues to yield information to those who want to look into it. I will continue to listen to the Bigfoot Central show and not be so hung up on whether the film is an old chestnut or not. The film is still important and should be discussed at least on one Bigfoot program each week.

Editorial: Heironimus-Gate: 4 Years Later

Image on the left is Bob Heironimus in a suit built by Philip Morris, said to be based on the same suit he allegedly wore in 1967. The image on the right is the creature in the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, copyright 1967, 1968, 2008 Erik and Martin Dahinden.

Four years ago tonight, on the Internet Radio program the Jeff Rense show, a group of investigators, authors and journalists and television producers (Greg Long, Kal Korff, Bob Kiviat and Michaela Kocis) gathered to build up a case that the most famous piece of evidence of Sasquatch, the Patterson/Gimlin Movie, is a hoax, citing a book called The Making Of Bigfoot: The Inside Story, written by Long and introduced by Korff. The build-up was for a gentleman named Bob Heironimus, who claimed to be the man in the suit in the film, and claimed that Patterson and Gimlin were in on it. Heironimus has gone on to pretty much not have much of an impact on those who think the film is real. The story of Heironimus has come into the spotlight again thanks to an impending documentary by Korff and Martina Tycova, a Czech investigator and supermodel, and a book by Heironimus which promises to answer all of the Bigfooters' questions, published by Prometheus Books, the same publishers of Long's book. I think that the controversy surrounding all this will continue as long as both sides of the argument are unwilling to give an inch, those sides representing Bob Gimlin and Bob Heironimus. Much of the Bigfoot community is convinced the film is the real thing, while Korff and Heironimus contend that 100 Yakima, Washington residents back up Heironimus and hardly anyone backs up Gimlin except the Bigfoot Community. Well, my point is, Heironimus, Korff and the alleged 100 Yakima residents have only hearsay and allegation to go on regarding their supposed proof, while Gimlin has a film to back up his contentions, and not just a film of a creature, but a film of a creature making tracks. As the work of M.K. Davis has proved, the creature does leave visible tracks on the sandbar. The film has been analyzed by many credible and qualified scientists and special effects artists over the years and has been found to be an interesting enigma, if not absolutely authentic. Heironimus and his testimony has changed quite a bit during some of the intervening years since the announcement that he was supposedly in the suit, Bob Gimlin's story has maintained itself and has not changed over the years. What we have here is a case of one party telling the truth and one party lying. It is up to you to decide who is the truthful one, but I will part with these words of wisdom from Daniel Perez-you can assassinate the character of Roger Patterson, but you will never be able to assassinate the subject of that movie film.