One Dead Bigfoot, Six Teeth, One Big Hoax

Bigfoot has been found—or so claim two men who say they have found the dead body of a Sasquatch. Although the supposed body has been shown to be nothing more than a rubber suit, these men are likely following the evolutionary indoctrination they receive in school and on TV—and are also following in a long line of supposed apemen “proofs” that were big on show and low on evidence.

According to a CNN news report last week, two amateur Bigfoot hunters stumbled upon the body of the creature in a wooded area of northern Georgia and also claimed that they saw several living ones in the same location—at least, according to one version of their story. Although there was supposed to be much more forthcoming, they only released “evidence” of purported DNA test results from the intestine of the alleged creature indicating human, possum, and “indeterminate” DNA. In fact, the most recent reports show that the jig is up and the fraud has been found out.

Questionable from the Start

The secretive manner in which the discoverers handled this supposed landmark event left much to be desired in terms of scientific rigor. Had the two men given the supposed specimen to a research facility, we would have had less reason to doubt the authenticity of their claim. Add to this the fact that the image in the CNN article looks much like a Halloween costume with animal entrails on top, and you can see why we were skeptical (with good reason, as it turned out, since the “Bigfoot body” is, in fact, a costume).

The (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_re_us/bigfoot_claim;_ylt=Ai4FuIoGfPyf0rfy4yfNbd3tiBIF) press conference on Friday (August 15) did little to assuage these concerns over the authenticity, as the photographic and DNA evidence seemed inconclusive at best, including a picture of a vague dark figure in the woods and another of the tongue and teeth. Then again, it is always much easier to perpetuate a hoax with fewer details, as we saw with this particular sham.

Evolution and the Ape

That said, it is interesting that the CNN report, though admittedly skeptical, did include obeisance to evolutionary theory in a specimen that has yet to be studied or even verified.

The carcass of the furry half-man, half-ape is 7 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs more than 500 pounds, they say. [emphasis added]

We do not know which part of this section the two men said and which part the writer added, since there are no quotation marks, but the implication seems to be that Bigfoot, even if it is a real animal, is poised to be some sort of “missing link” or evolutionary cousin. The men also added that the creature “has reddish hair and ‘blackish-gray’ eyes and human-like feet, hands and teeth.” Perhaps these men have been so indoctrinated by evolutionists’ claims that similar morphology equates to relationship that they are simply repeating what they learned in school. Of course, similar structure is just as much evidence of a common designer, and one must wonder how much evolutionary presuppositions are impacting those seeking the Sasquatch. These men, it would seem, are looking for something between humans and apes.

The description given by the men, however, is suspiciously like a Gigantopithecus (a giant extinct ape that possibly stood 10 feet tall).1 In fact, among cryptozoologists (those who search for animals either thought to be extinct or unknown to science), Gigantopithecus is a possible candidate for Bigfoot sightings.2

What If One Were Found?

A young-earth creationist would not be surprised if one were found living.

In a biblical model of earth’s history spanning only 6,000 years, it is possible that a Gigantopithecus, for example, could have survived to the present day. Although a young-earth creationist would not be surprised if one were found living, the likelihood of the creature surviving the post-Flood world, Ice Age, and humanity’s spread from Babel is slim. If the creature were bipedal, this, too, is certainly not a disturbing discovery. After all, there are many bipedal animals (whether exclusively, with tail support, or only occasionally), including certain dinosaurs, kangaroos, dogs (for limited stretches), and birds. God gave a number of creatures this ability along with humanity, and even evolutionists would not claim that humans descended from bipedal birds.

What would be more interesting in such a discovery is how it could fit with the evolutionary idea that Gigantopithecus, if that is what a Bigfoot is (if Bigfoot exists!), died out at least hundreds of thousands of years ago. Then again, some have claimed that the ape did, in fact, live alongside humans using their old-earth dating methods.3 So, perhaps finding one alive today would create less of a stir than, say, finding a live dinosaur (though living fossils are certainly not uncommon, some of them stretching back to the supposed age of the dinosaurs). If one were found, it is likely that it would be used as some sort of “evidence” for evolution and the “common ancestry” of humans and apes, as the quote above highlights. But Gigantopithecus was simply an ape—as are many of the supposed ancestors of humans.

In fact, if any unusual apish creature with claimed human-like features, whether called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Gigantopithecus, etc. is ever found, the astute reader should consider several factors. First, presuppositions tend to lead to expectations. Some expect Bigfoot to be “half man/half ape” simply because they have a commitment to evolution (granted that most evolutionists would scoff at the idea of Bigfoot, but not at the ape-man link, which is much more preposterous). Second, similar function does not mean common descent. Engineers commonly pull from previous designs. Certainly, there are some similarities between apes and humans (which can just as easily be explained by a common Creator), but there are also many huge differences that mutations and natural selection could not bridge. Finally, while it is unlikely that such a creature exists today, it is possible, and creationists would welcome the opportunity to learn about a newly discovered creature. One must wonder what animals, assumed to be extinct for “millions of years,” still roam the earth hidden and unknown—completely unaware of secular geologists’ “rock solid” dating methods.

What may be most ironic, however, is that the history of human evolution “discoveries” is peppered with a number of claims that bear a striking resemblance to the Bigfoot one. In cases such as Piltdown Man and Nebraska Man, the showmanship outstretched the facts. True, these were certainly found out later, but one should always keep this in mind when evolutionists claim to have found more “proof.” Their methods may be more sophisticated than the two from Georgia, but their claims may turn out to be just as wild.

In the end, creationists (in fact, anyone) would do well to be skeptical of such claimed discoveries—especially those that seem high on dramatics and low on facts. An unknown creature being discovered is certainly not unheard of. However, we must also be careful that we don’t let our enthusiasm to find the “undiscovered” override the truth and the wisdom that God gave us.