Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot video said to be hoax

[Anonymous]

The Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film) has mentioned that this famous video of the Bigfoot taken on Oct 20, 1967, which has been the gold standard for all big foot evidence has been claimed to be a hoax.

This is after a recent investigative report by Greg Long on Patterson, his friends, and the events before and after the alleged video took place. (The Making of Big Foot, The Inside Story, Published 2004)

The man who wore the gorilla suit, Bob Hieronimus, actually confessed his role to Long and provided details of how the hoax film was made. He
even demonstrate how he walked in the video, showing a remarkable resemblance. His mother and the son of his sister Miller has testified to seeing the gorilla suit the day after the alleged Bigfoot incident.

In addition in response to a question when Miller knew his uncle Bob was the Bigfoot, he said’

“It is just something I’ve always known, and I tell you what, if you ever watch that footage and watch him walk, and you have him walk down the road, you’ll see – they walk exactly the same. I always got a kick out of that.

Bigfoot believers have always said that no human could ever walk the way Bigfoot walk in the Patterson’s video, “Yeah, right! You haven’t seen my uncle walk!”

Phillip Morris of Morris’s costumes testified he sold a gorilla suit to Patterson and later Patterson called him how to hide the zipper at the back and also how to make the arms longer.

This is the stabilized gif version of the now infamous bigfoot video to compensate for the shakey camera. What do you think? Does it look like a man in a suit?

http://www.bigfootencounters.com/files/mk_davis_pgf.gif

Remarks: Roger Patterson died of cancer in 1972. He has never admitted to any hoax during his lifetime. His other partner, Gimlin has not admitted to any hoax either, although he has indicated in an interview that he allowed for the possibility of a hoax on Patterson’s part.

[Anonymous]

The Bigfoot Organisation BFRO.net said that the deathbed confession never occurred and it was a mixed up.

Problem is we are too far away and just mere reader who must digest what is being written and reported.

It will be interesting to know who is making the right conclusion.

http://www.bfro.net/news/challenge/green.asp

Deathbed Confession?

The most commonly heard false fact about the Patterson footage:

“The guy who got the footage admitted on his deathbed that he faked it.”

This is not true. This is a mixup. Here’s how the mixup started.

The man who obtained the most well known photo of the Loch Ness monster (not bigfoot) admitted on his deathbed that he faked that photo.

The story of his confession popped up in newspaper headlines around the world. The story didn’t last long as a news item, but every new agency, in every country, on every continent, ran the story.

The story mutated in the press, from a crypto story about one photo from Loch Ness being debunked, to “Mystery of Loch Ness Finally Solved.”

Around the country and around the world people were interested to hear that the famous monster mystery was solved, because the most famous monster photo had been debunked.

Frame 352 from the Patterson footage is the most famous, purportedly authentic, “monster” photo known to most Americans. They are more familiar with that than with the 1930’s photo from Loch Ness.

This was the foundation for some of the confusion. It got worse later.

The Patterson footage was mistakenly associated with a “deathbed confession” related to a famous “monster” mystery.

The Loch Ness deathbed confession story grabbed such big headlines, it was inevitable that someone would try the same formula down the line. It only took a few more years.

The heirs of a man named Ray Wallace initially reported his “deathbed confession” about faking the first famous bigfoot tracks in Northern California.

Ray Wallace left behind a few pairs of wooden feet for making fake tracks. He would sell plaster casts of fake tracks at his roadside tourist shop.

His heirs later recanted the “deathbed confession” part of the story, and instead said they “just know he started the whole thing.”

The initial “deathbed confession” element helpd get the story onto the AP Wire. It became “The Father of Bigfoot Dies”.

The story was circulated word-of-mouth and similarly transformed into a story about the Patterson footage.

The Patterson still images are the most famous images associated with bigfoots.

The Wallace story had to do with the most famous track casts.

The track casts were obtained 10 years before the Patterson footage.

The Wallace story didn’t have anything to do with the Patterson footage.

Wallace’s heirs were well aware that the Loch Ness “deathbed confession” made world headlines years earlier. They were just taking advantage of an opportunity.

Ray Wallace did not start the bigfoot mystery. He was not involved in the first track finds either. Graphic evidence disproves the claims of Ray’s opportunistic heirs.

For more info on the Wallace family, click here.

The man who obtained the Patterson footage, Roger Patterson, died of cancer in the early 1970’s. He was emphatic to the end that he filmed a real animal in October 1967.

The man who was with Patterson at the time, Bob Gimlin, is still alive. He is also adamant that it was a real animal.

If you chat about the bigfoot subject with a group of people, someone will jump in and claim they heard “the guy who got that famous footage admitted before he died that he faked it.”

Try it sometime.

There are no written sources whatsoever suggesting Patterson admitted to a hoax on his deathbed. No one in his family has ever claimed that Roger admitted to a hoax before his death. All of the assertions in that regard began circulating after the Loch Ness story came out.

This mixup story has become an urban legend.

[Anonymous]

Greg Long started his investigations only in 1998 until 2003. He published his book on 2004 based on interviews and testimonies from surviving relatives, acquaintances and friends of Roger Patterson.

In Greg Long’s own words:

In the beginning he did not think he will find much. But incredible stories demand credible witness. Honesty and integrity form the fundamental solid basis of any claim. What Long has discoverd, and present in his book, totally shatters the conventional view of Roger Patterson, and the authenticity of the Patterson film. Never once had any Bigfoot investigator, scientist, or journalist ever asked the obvious questions:, “Who was Roger Patterson? What was his character? How did he behave?

Also startling was the fact that Al DeAtley, Patterson main business partner, financial sponsor and brother-in-law for the bigfoot video told Long that he is a BIGFOOT Sceptic. He is the one that Patterson sent the video to be processed into film. He does not believe in BIGFOOT at all. He said he supported Patterson purely on commercial grounds as he believed there is money to be made in the video.

I have read Greg Long 469 pages book. It is packed with convincing testimonials and evidence from the key players in this Bigfoot video.

This is the first time I saw Wikipedia mention this video as a hoax on 25 Mar 2006, in the past it was delisted as a hoax and only mention as a probable hoax. In fact, the past wiki article was neutral and present both sides of arguments.

It will be interesting to see how the WIKI and BIGFOOT community reacts to this strong statement of hoax in WIKI, which is fast becoming some sort of standard reference source.

Here are some digests of the book that I think is significant:

Before the video,

Roger had

1) written a book on BIGFOOT one year before in 1966, and 2 editions out by the time the video was filmed
2) Put up advertising postings on BIGFOOT on telephone poles before his book was released
3) COPYRIGHT the name Bigfoot for his book and his future film by going to Hollywood with 2 of his friends before Oct 1967
4) have already prepare a Bigfoot film, with six amateur actors (Roger, John Ballard, Jerry Meritt, Howard Heronimus, Bob Gimlin, Bob Heironimus) in 1967 before the actual video occurs. Long have interviewed John, Jerry, Howard and Bob Heironimus. Gimlin refused to be interviewed)
5) owned money to many people, including the 2 publishers, the camera he rented to take the bigfoot (he was later charged in court for that offense).
6) Borrowed money (and signed for it) from one woman Vilma for 750 dollars in May 1967 mentioning it is for expenses in connecting with the filiming of BIGFOOT and to return $850 + 5% movie rights. Vilma sued Roger later. (The court letter show that the loan was in connection with filming of BIGFOOT video)

7) Even the horses was borrowed, Roger was riding John Ballard’s son horse, and Gimlin was ridinging Bob Heironimus’s horse. According to Heironimus, the reason was that his own horse would not get startled on seeing Heironimus in the suit.

Others:

8) Setting up multiple companies Trailblazers Research ,Northwest Research, and Bigfoot Enterprises all with different partners to capitalize on the video. Trailblazers Research and Northwest Research was established before the video came about.

However as Patterson have signed contracts with multipe parties for the rights of the films, the court tassle for the rights of the video was only settled in 1982 with Pat 49% film footage and Dahinden 51% (Patterson sold the master copy + 2 photocopies to Dahinden + Green ,a famous BIGFOOT pioneer in 1968.
Dahinden has already bought out Bob Gimlin’s rights for $10 (he got tired of all the legal proceedings), Vilma ($100) + other companies that Patterson have signed the rights before for a quick buck.

In that it is about money, money, money.

9) Roger have borrowed a camera long before 1967 from a camera shop. He also showed some bigfoot cast to the owner for discussion on how a bigfoot should look that. The owner offered some suggestions on how to make it look real. Later Roger told the owner that he is dying of cancer and he wanted to make a BIGFOOT film and earn money for his wife.

10) Bob H did not make this claim recently. In fact, way back in 1968, he have mentioned it to his drinking buddies. Long has interviewed the surviving buddies and they confirmed this fact even though it is more than 30 years ago. They did not think Bob H told a lie then, and also not now.

11) Bob H has a bad right eye and wear a prosthetic right eye. During the first time he tried the suit, he have mentioned to Roger that if he will to turn and look at him, there might be a gaping black spot at where the eye was in as he was wearing a mask and the distance between his eyes and the mask was about 1 in, so he took one of his extra prosthetic right eyes have ask Roger to mould the right eye there into the socket of the mask, put the eye in there and turn the eye a little bit, so that when he turned his head, the eye was looking right straight at him.
(It is very difficult for a liar to mention this sticking of eyeball story)

12) The walk – please see attached walk from Bob H. We should remember that he is now old compared to his peak in 1967 (26 years old)

(taken from bigfootforums.com)

[Author]

Posts

[Anonymous]

The Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson-Gimlin_film) has mentioned that this famous video of the Bigfoot taken on Oct 20, 1967, which has been the gold standard for all big foot evidence has been claimed to be a hoax.

This is after a recent investigative report by Greg Long on Patterson, his friends, and the events before and after the alleged video took place. (The Making of Big Foot, The Inside Story, Published 2004)

The man who wore the gorilla suit, Bob Hieronimus, actually confessed his role to Long and provided details of how the hoax film was made. He
even demonstrate how he walked in the video, showing a remarkable resemblance. His mother and the son of his sister Miller has testified to seeing the gorilla suit the day after the alleged Bigfoot incident.

In addition in response to a question when Miller knew his uncle Bob was the Bigfoot, he said’

“It is just something I’ve always known, and I tell you what, if you ever watch that footage and watch him walk, and you have him walk down the road, you’ll see – they walk exactly the same. I always got a kick out of that.

Bigfoot believers have always said that no human could ever walk the way Bigfoot walk in the Patterson’s video, “Yeah, right! You haven’t seen my uncle walk!”

Phillip Morris of Morris’s costumes testified he sold a gorilla suit to Patterson and later Patterson called him how to hide the zipper at the back and also how to make the arms longer.

This is the stabilized gif version of the now infamous bigfoot video to compensate for the shakey camera. What do you think? Does it look like a man in a suit?

http://www.bigfootencounters.com/files/mk_davis_pgf.gif

Remarks: Roger Patterson died of cancer in 1972. He has never admitted to any hoax during his lifetime. His other partner, Gimlin has not admitted to any hoax either, although he has indicated in an interview that he allowed for the possibility of a hoax on Patterson’s part.

[Anonymous]

The Bigfoot Organisation BFRO.net said that the deathbed confession never occurred and it was a mixed up.

Problem is we are too far away and just mere reader who must digest what is being written and reported.

It will be interesting to know who is making the right conclusion.

http://www.bfro.net/news/challenge/green.asp

Deathbed Confession?

The most commonly heard false fact about the Patterson footage:

“The guy who got the footage admitted on his deathbed that he faked it.”

This is not true. This is a mixup. Here’s how the mixup started.

The man who obtained the most well known photo of the Loch Ness monster (not bigfoot) admitted on his deathbed that he faked that photo.

The story of his confession popped up in newspaper headlines around the world. The story didn’t last long as a news item, but every new agency, in every country, on every continent, ran the story.

The story mutated in the press, from a crypto story about one photo from Loch Ness being debunked, to “Mystery of Loch Ness Finally Solved.”

Around the country and around the world people were interested to hear that the famous monster mystery was solved, because the most famous monster photo had been debunked.

Frame 352 from the Patterson footage is the most famous, purportedly authentic, “monster” photo known to most Americans. They are more familiar with that than with the 1930’s photo from Loch Ness.

This was the foundation for some of the confusion. It got worse later.

The Patterson footage was mistakenly associated with a “deathbed confession” related to a famous “monster” mystery.

The Loch Ness deathbed confession story grabbed such big headlines, it was inevitable that someone would try the same formula down the line. It only took a few more years.

The heirs of a man named Ray Wallace initially reported his “deathbed confession” about faking the first famous bigfoot tracks in Northern California.

Ray Wallace left behind a few pairs of wooden feet for making fake tracks. He would sell plaster casts of fake tracks at his roadside tourist shop.

His heirs later recanted the “deathbed confession” part of the story, and instead said they “just know he started the whole thing.”

The initial “deathbed confession” element helpd get the story onto the AP Wire. It became “The Father of Bigfoot Dies”.

The story was circulated word-of-mouth and similarly transformed into a story about the Patterson footage.

The Patterson still images are the most famous images associated with bigfoots.

The Wallace story had to do with the most famous track casts.

The track casts were obtained 10 years before the Patterson footage.

The Wallace story didn’t have anything to do with the Patterson footage.

Wallace’s heirs were well aware that the Loch Ness “deathbed confession” made world headlines years earlier. They were just taking advantage of an opportunity.

Ray Wallace did not start the bigfoot mystery. He was not involved in the first track finds either. Graphic evidence disproves the claims of Ray’s opportunistic heirs.

For more info on the Wallace family, click here.

The man who obtained the Patterson footage, Roger Patterson, died of cancer in the early 1970’s. He was emphatic to the end that he filmed a real animal in October 1967.

The man who was with Patterson at the time, Bob Gimlin, is still alive. He is also adamant that it was a real animal.

If you chat about the bigfoot subject with a group of people, someone will jump in and claim they heard “the guy who got that famous footage admitted before he died that he faked it.”

Try it sometime.

There are no written sources whatsoever suggesting Patterson admitted to a hoax on his deathbed. No one in his family has ever claimed that Roger admitted to a hoax before his death. All of the assertions in that regard began circulating after the Loch Ness story came out.

This mixup story has become an urban legend.

[Anonymous]

Greg Long started his investigations only in 1998 until 2003. He published his book on 2004 based on interviews and testimonies from surviving relatives, acquaintances and friends of Roger Patterson.

In Greg Long’s own words:

In the beginning he did not think he will find much. But incredible stories demand credible witness. Honesty and integrity form the fundamental solid basis of any claim. What Long has discoverd, and present in his book, totally shatters the conventional view of Roger Patterson, and the authenticity of the Patterson film. Never once had any Bigfoot investigator, scientist, or journalist ever asked the obvious questions:, “Who was Roger Patterson? What was his character? How did he behave?

Also startling was the fact that Al DeAtley, Patterson main business partner, financial sponsor and brother-in-law for the bigfoot video told Long that he is a BIGFOOT Sceptic. He is the one that Patterson sent the video to be processed into film. He does not believe in BIGFOOT at all. He said he supported Patterson purely on commercial grounds as he believed there is money to be made in the video.

I have read Greg Long 469 pages book. It is packed with convincing testimonials and evidence from the key players in this Bigfoot video.

This is the first time I saw Wikipedia mention this video as a hoax on 25 Mar 2006, in the past it was delisted as a hoax and only mention as a probable hoax. In fact, the past wiki article was neutral and present both sides of arguments.

It will be interesting to see how the WIKI and BIGFOOT community reacts to this strong statement of hoax in WIKI, which is fast becoming some sort of standard reference source.

Here are some digests of the book that I think is significant:

Before the video,

Roger had

1) written a book on BIGFOOT one year before in 1966, and 2 editions out by the time the video was filmed
2) Put up advertising postings on BIGFOOT on telephone poles before his book was released
3) COPYRIGHT the name Bigfoot for his book and his future film by going to Hollywood with 2 of his friends before Oct 1967
4) have already prepare a Bigfoot film, with six amateur actors (Roger, John Ballard, Jerry Meritt, Howard Heronimus, Bob Gimlin, Bob Heironimus) in 1967 before the actual video occurs. Long have interviewed John, Jerry, Howard and Bob Heironimus. Gimlin refused to be interviewed)
5) owned money to many people, including the 2 publishers, the camera he rented to take the bigfoot (he was later charged in court for that offense).
6) Borrowed money (and signed for it) from one woman Vilma for 750 dollars in May 1967 mentioning it is for expenses in connecting with the filiming of BIGFOOT and to return $850 + 5% movie rights. Vilma sued Roger later. (The court letter show that the loan was in connection with filming of BIGFOOT video)

7) Even the horses was borrowed, Roger was riding John Ballard’s son horse, and Gimlin was ridinging Bob Heironimus’s horse. According to Heironimus, the reason was that his own horse would not get startled on seeing Heironimus in the suit.

Others:

8) Setting up multiple companies Trailblazers Research ,Northwest Research, and Bigfoot Enterprises all with different partners to capitalize on the video. Trailblazers Research and Northwest Research was established before the video came about.

However as Patterson have signed contracts with multipe parties for the rights of the films, the court tassle for the rights of the video was only settled in 1982 with Pat 49% film footage and Dahinden 51% (Patterson sold the master copy + 2 photocopies to Dahinden + Green ,a famous BIGFOOT pioneer in 1968.
Dahinden has already bought out Bob Gimlin’s rights for $10 (he got tired of all the legal proceedings), Vilma ($100) + other companies that Patterson have signed the rights before for a quick buck.

In that it is about money, money, money.

9) Roger have borrowed a camera long before 1967 from a camera shop. He also showed some bigfoot cast to the owner for discussion on how a bigfoot should look that. The owner offered some suggestions on how to make it look real. Later Roger told the owner that he is dying of cancer and he wanted to make a BIGFOOT film and earn money for his wife.

10) Bob H did not make this claim recently. In fact, way back in 1968, he have mentioned it to his drinking buddies. Long has interviewed the surviving buddies and they confirmed this fact even though it is more than 30 years ago. They did not think Bob H told a lie then, and also not now.

11) Bob H has a bad right eye and wear a prosthetic right eye. During the first time he tried the suit, he have mentioned to Roger that if he will to turn and look at him, there might be a gaping black spot at where the eye was in as he was wearing a mask and the distance between his eyes and the mask was about 1 in, so he took one of his extra prosthetic right eyes have ask Roger to mould the right eye there into the socket of the mask, put the eye in there and turn the eye a little bit, so that when he turned his head, the eye was looking right straight at him.
(It is very difficult for a liar to mention this sticking of eyeball story)

12) The walk – please see attached walk from Bob H. We should remember that he is now old compared to his peak in 1967 (26 years old)

(taken from bigfootforums.com)

[Author]

Posts