Rick Dyer, self-proclaimed bigfoot hunter extraordinaire is back in the news. In 2008 Dyer claimed that he had shot and killed a bigfoot and posted pictures of the body stored in a chest freezer. Unfortunately, the Internet spoiled his fun, as commenters in online forums quickly noted that the picture depicted a popular sasquatch costume frozen in a block of ice. Amazingly, Dyer now claims that this time he's killed the creature for real, and has sent out a new round of photographs. None of them have yet been exposed as commercially available costumes, so I suppose that's at least something.
Really, this isn't about the existence of bigfoot. It's about the existence of hoaxers, which has frankly never been in doubt. If Dyer has DNA tests, he should write up his findings - I'm sure that the DeNovo Scientific Journal would be happy to publish them. While I do think that sometimes skeptical demands for "extraordinary proof" are unfair, surely that standard should apply to a known hoaxer.
Until Thursday Dyer never provided any proof beyond a grainy video clip he shot of the big beast outside his tent. More video was included in the documentary "Shooting Bigfoot," but it failed to impress skeptics. Following a lengthy battle with his investors, Dyer said he was finally able to reclaim the body.
"I have been worried for so long. I have been put off for so long, and finally we went up to Washington (state) and we got the body," Dyer said. "Every test that you can possibly imagine was performed on this body -- from DNA tests to 3D optical scans to body scans. It is the real deal. It's Bigfoot and Bigfoot's here, and I shot it and now I'm proving it to the world."
Dyer has let more than 100 people see the body up close and recorded their reactions. "We wanted to get people's reactions, make them believers, and we did it to over a 130 people," Dyer said. "We definitely made them believers."
Despite a history of past Bigfoot hoaxes, Dyer insists he's not fooling around this time. "Bigfoot is not a tooth fairy -- Bigfoot is real," Dyer said. "The most important thing to me is being vindicated, letting people know that I am the best Bigfoot tracker in the world and it's not just me saying it."
Really, this isn't about the existence of bigfoot. It's about the existence of hoaxers, which has frankly never been in doubt. If Dyer has DNA tests, he should write up his findings - I'm sure that the DeNovo Scientific Journal would be happy to publish them. While I do think that sometimes skeptical demands for "extraordinary proof" are unfair, surely that standard should apply to a known hoaxer.
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