this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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  • The 59-second 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film, seen by billions of people over the decades, is often cited by proponents as proof that the giant, hairy creature exists
  • A new documentary — Capturing Bigfoot — uses recently unearthed footage to prove that the 1967 film was an “incredible hoax,” says director Marq Evans

....

"After her father’s death,” says Evans, 43, “she’d found a canister of 16mm film that had been sealed away for over half a century. She needed help getting it developed and wondered if I might be interested in doing something with it.”

....

Not long after receiving Brooks’ email, Evans had the 16mm film developed and days later found himself looking at a 40-second clip set in a location similar to the one in the 1967 movie, showing what appeared to be a slightly skinnier-looking Bigfoot walking into the woods.

“It took me maybe nine months to realize what we really had,” says Evans, who was able to determine, by markings on the film, that the footage had been shot in 1966, roughly a year before the now-famous clip in the 59-second Bigfoot movie was allegedly shot. “What we eventually found out is that [this new footage] represented a trial run, a rehearsal that was never discarded.”

Realizing he had physical evidence that finally put to rest the question of whether Patterson’s creation was a hoax, Evans knew he had the makings for an explosive documentary. He quickly went to work, he says, “connecting the dots” behind the making of the 1967 film and interviewing the cast of characters in Patterson’s hometown of Yakima, Wash., who were involved with its creation, including 80-something-year-old Bob Heironimus, who confessed to being the individual wearing the fake Bigfoot suit in the film.

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[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 16 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I'm sorry, but did someone actually believe that video was real?

[–] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Have you ever met the average person? Half of all people are dumber than that.

[–] Hupf@feddit.org 5 points 1 hour ago

I miss George Carlin

[–] thallamabond@lemmy.world 33 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Let's not forget, Paterson was a known con-man, who even wrote a bad check for the very camera this was filmed on.

[–] TwilitSky@lemmy.world 12 points 2 hours ago

I would call him consistent and committed to being himself.

[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 23 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

including 80-something-year-old Bob Heironimus, who confessed to being the individual wearing the fake Bigfoot suit in the film.

I saw a doc at least 10+ years ago with this same guy saying the same thing. I believe him. But somehow people who believe in Bigfoot don't care.

[–] SaraTonin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

And this will be no different. “You got footage of a different Bigfoot, too?”

[–] MintyFresh@lemmy.world 11 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Of all the conspiracy theories for someone to get stuck on, big foot ain't bad. I have an uncle who's a believer, and I just thank God it's bigfoot and not q-anon, antivac, or something equally horrific.

Most Bigfoot guys I know are antigovernment anyway, but yeah, at least it's just that they go hang out in the woods.

[–] stenAanden@feddit.dk 7 points 3 hours ago

Maybe this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVegHHmZ028&t=141s

Besides, Bob Gimlin has denied it being a hoax for all this time as well, so it's two claims against each other. In fact, even most skeptics accepted that Gimlin was truthful and was fooled by Roger Patterson.

If you want to know some more, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBuWLe1MC_A Gimlin appears in the documentary. He is confronted by Heironimus, I think, and some other guy and has agreed to come forward and admit it was a hoax all along. It's his wife of all people who want to keep this under cover.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 9 points 3 hours ago

Yeah, it's pretty fucking obvious just by looking at it. If you ever bought this, I have a flat earth "theory" to tell you about.

[–] stenAanden@feddit.dk 12 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Btw, personally, I am a bit bomb shelled at this news.

If you are into bigfoot, or just cryptozoology in general, you know Patterson-Gimlin is a big thing. Bigfoot basically falls and rises with the legitimacy of the Patterson-Gimlin footage. It remains the only bigfoot evidence, that has continued to evade clear debunking, for decades even, fueling the little bit of professional attention that bigfoot receives. If you are aware that "Bigfooters" and the bigfoot hunting community exists, this will likely be the biggest bombshell that has EVER hit the bigfoot community besides the Patterson-Gimlin footage itself.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 2 points 25 minutes ago

A lot of the bigfoot people i've met are into astral/dimensional/dream bigfoot - bigfoots that don't rely on a physical presence to be real.

[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 7 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I've mentioned this before, but my grandmother fully believes in Bigfoot, and claims there are sub-species of Sasquatch that she's personally seen throughout the US. Debunking this movie won't matter to her, I doubt she'd even consider for a moment that the footage is fake.

[–] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.wtf 8 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I’ll never understand this. If you spend any time in nature you’ll come across carcasses and bones from all kinds of animals yet not one Bigfoot skeleton has ever been found. Maybe aliens land and scoop up the evidence and take it back to their secret base on the moon or something.

[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 4 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

She believes in aliens too, but not in the sense of little green men. She claims that they are prophets from the old testament that time travel, she always mentioned that passage in Kings with a burning chariot in the sky when she was talking about aliens. She gave me a book about it once, I kind of wish I had held on to it for the laughs.

[–] Xaphanos@lemmy.world 1 points 16 minutes ago

So, she's crazy. Got it.

[–] vegeta@lemmy.world 9 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Wait, Bigfoot is like birds?

[–] DontRedditMyLemmy@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

Always has been