Evolution of a Skeptic

Evolution of a Skeptic
©2012 John L. Johnsen

"There are more
things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your
philosophy"
Hamlet, act 1, Scene5

Shakespeare was not a
scientist.

I believe the
statement above, so often quoted from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet", to be the
truth. But, perhaps, it should be tempered with Marcello Truzzi's quote,
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof". Although Truzzi
lived on the edge of mainstream science, he, at least, recognized the need for
proof.

So many, today,
accept less than empirical data as proof of very extraordinary claims. The
scientific method is ignored, as are basic axioms of common sense and logic.
For most it boils down to seeing is believing; something that cannot be
justified under most circumstances without the empirical data. Ask any
investigator about eyewitnesses and the reply will be one of great skepticism.
Ten people see ten different things. It has always been so, and will always be.

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In 2005 I retired
from 30 years as a working freelance photographer. My goal was to enter the
realm of documentary filmmaking. The model for my work was a company I admired
very much, Florentine Films, (http://www.florentinefilms.com/), and one of
their cinematographers specifically, Ken Burns. I had no delusions of grandeur,
knowing that great work requires much experience and study, so I went upon a
quest for a simple topic, one to get my feet wet in my newly chosen field.

It was then that my
life took an accidental and profound turn in an unexpected direction.

I became involved in
a very unique and relatively unknown sub-culture of our society: the Bigfooters...AKA Squatchers, Footers and any number of monikers they have assigned
to their obscure community. As a lover of all things mysterious, I found them,
initially, a fascinating and diverse group, with people from all walks of life
and educational backgrounds. I was impressed, was being the key word.

My very first
experience ended badly and should have been taken as an omen of things to come.
It involved a well known group and an "expedition" in the Ocala
National Forest in central Florida
in February of 2005. I left that experience with a really bad impression of
some who seemed in the business of taking advantage of those who believed in
the phenomenon. That experience, coupled with the obvious agenda of cable
television to make believers seem like morons, led me to make the decision to
document everyday people who believed in the bigfoot phenomenon.

So, I set out on a
quest for participants. Not an easy task. I searched the web, not knowing what
to expect and was shocked to find so many organizations involving the topic
that I was perplexed from the start. Why were there so many groups? It seemed
as if there was a whole other world of bigfoot out there. Each group had a
section for reporting sightings and there were dozens of them on every site I
visited. It seem as if society in general was under attack by bigfoot itself. I
should have smelled a rat at that point, but I did not. I kept focused on my
goal, determined to get to know these people and see, first hand, what was really
going on.

Eventually I landed
upon a site where I could openly make requests for people interested in
participating in my film. But instead of interest, the people displayed
outright hostility. The claim was made that I was out for the money, out to
discredit them and do other dastardly deeds to disrupt their research and their
lives, which I found were one in the same. I also found people making what
amounted to world changing claims about their interaction with bigfoot
creatures, shades of things to come for me.

Then, the moderator
of that group called me and said he had a lead. It was a woman in east Texas
with 160 acres of creek bottom lands that had bigfoot on her property. He
provided contact info and she and I corresponded for a few weeks before a visit
was set up. I was elated as I packed the Jeep and set out upon my first of many
such trips traveling deep into the realm of the paranormal.

But when I arrived my
elation was met with shock and dismay. The woman lived in abject filth and
disarray in her person life. The land was covered in debris. She had two
trailers on the property: one, a double wide, where she lived and the other, an
old single wide, that lay with its side torn open and housed feral cats and
dogs. She had a cage with a juvenile buzzard in it. "Used to have
two," she said, "But this one ate the other." She also had a half
dozen emaciated horses and a shabby, dirty Great Pyrenees dog running around
the northern side of the place, and two pit bulls chained to stakes in the sun
with empty water dishes she promptly filled when she saw me looking at them.
Then there was her septic tank, which was overflowing, running all over the
ground and stinking up the place. It also sat right next to her well. I
wouldn't make a connection between these conditions and bigfooters right away,
but that was to come. The land showed signs of something, and included what she
claimed to be a nest or birthing area made by the bigfoot (bigfeet?). But, after traveling 1200 miles, enduring a
flea infested night in her "guest room" and experiencing the filth
and degradation she lived in, she summarily labeled me as a spy and forbid me
from using anything I had filmed.

I would see the
undeniable connection between ruined, filthy lives and this phenomenon many,
many times in my travels. There was a connection, but an explanation escaped
me.

I made a total of
four films between 2006 and 2011. Most enjoyed the acceptance of the so called
community. But the greatest thing I discovered was that bigfoot, to these
people, was held high on a pedestal and given as great an importance in their
lives as God...or greater. I also have seen the root of all of this, that being
the Patterson / Gimlin Film. I have studied that forward and backwards from
every angle imaginable. I saw compelling evidence that the creature was real,
that there was something horrible that occurred at the film site and other
evidence that it all was a hoax. I am no longer a supporter of the legitimacy
of the film. I too believe it is a fake, the leftovers of a greater project
that lost funding and participation, leaving only the footage we see today as
proof. It has survived for 45 years and my next film will place an arrow deep
in its heart, demonstrating that it was, in fact, a hoax, and not a real
incident. This will, likely, cause a great disturbance in "the force"
that runs the lives of serious believers, who will quote the work of many
learned individuals who support the film as the real thing. Sorry, it is not.
It was a film project funded by trickery and dishonesty from the very start.
And, I will prove it. Occam's Razor, people, has cut Patty's throat.

So, this is the basic
story of a how a supporter in the realm was turned into a skeptic by the very
people he chose to study and defend. And, that proves, once again, that no good
deed goes unpunished.

There will be some
comments, good and bad...mostly bad I assume. I won't delete them if you are
civil. You can express a negative opinion in a civil manner. Profanity will be
summarily deleted.

The next topic up
will deal with the ubiquitous "blobsquatch" and those who use circles
around indistinct images as proof.