FACT: 39 years ago today, as the story the goes, two adventurous fellas named Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin had been searching for a week to find evidence of cryptozoology's best known mystery, Bigfoot, when their horses reared-up while riding through California's Bluff Creek valley.

Patterson, an ex-rodeo rider, quickly recovered, grabbed his rented 16mm camera from his saddlebags and began shooting something crouching near a creek on their left. What the men claim to have shot has become some of the most controversial film footage ever developed: 53 seconds of an ape-like (or ape-suited man) steadily walking away from the pair.

So cryptozoology's most famous mystery creature, Bigfoot, at last had been "captured." Or maybe not. Naturally the shocking footage and the men behind the camera stirred up a huge amount of debate, suspicion and controversy when it was released. Since the film's debut, die-hard believers and skeptical detractors have managed to make an entire cottage industry over the footage for years.

To help you sort it out for yourself, here's a quick reference guide of FACTs surrounding the film, the creature, the men and the ensueing debate:

• Details on M.K. Davis' stabilized version of the film
  
  
• Patterson-Gimlin Film at Wikipedia
  
  
• Big Foot: Fact or Fantasy?
  
  
• Nitpicker's Guide to the Patterson/Gimlin Bigfoot Film
  
  
• Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film Frames in Series analysis
  
  
• How Not to Plan a Hoaxed Film
  
  
• The Bigfoot Field Researches Organization - A sightings database with Bigfoot sound recordings
  
  
• British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club Sasquatch/Bigfoot
  
  
• Shameless plug for an old friend's restaurant, Bigfoot Bar-B-Q in Flagstaff, AZ.

I dunno, I could go either way, but the barbecue's good.

Cyptozoology | Bigfoot | Sasquatch | Patterson-Gimlin Film
FACTs | Film | Hoaxes | PGF | Grouchogandhi

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