Misidentification

[BobbyO]

People run across roads all the time. And some of them even in bigfoot costumes. We have a body to prove it too.

Yeah you've got one body of one man dressed up in a costume.

I don't think that accounts for the hundreds of road crossings sightings in the US alone and have no idea how many more of these Guys dressed in the suits running across roads in forests at the dead of night haven't been killed neither but who knows.

Maybe the Police cover up the deaths of these men for whatever reason.

[Guest]

^It's one more body than we have of bigfoot.

[Guest]

Hi Antfoot and thank you.

 

I'm not so sure about that argument, though like you I am intrigued by the possibility of something out there.

 

Maybe I'm using the wrong analogy ?

 

If I'd have seen that lion in local woods [as some do report bigcats throughout the UK] at the same distance, i.e. not a blobcat 600 yards away in dense foliage, then why would I put it down to illusion or hallucination. I know what a lion looks like. It's not a badger or a deer or even a goldfish in a tawny-coloured bowl !

 

If I were to report it chances of being believed would be slim and I'd be accused of misidentification or fabrication, the latter of course the more probable explanation for a lot of bigfoot videos I've watched on here. I'd still be telling the truth though.

 

If you saw a giraffe ambling through your backyard would you report it or assume it was not there at all because it couldn't be or that you'd misidentified an elk ? Chances are perfectly reasonable explanation would emerge. Run away from the circus or had staged a zoobreak . Why would you doubt what you saw ?

 

I know Bigfoot is different as it's still in the realms of the fantastic/fanciful but the same creature ambling through your yard ? You would tick off in your mind what it's not, and what you're left with is what it is, which for ease of reference is bigfoot. Unless you then go down the road of it must be me and it's an illusion.

 

As for the doubt part then yes I can see that if what you're seeing is so far out you don't believe it yourself.

 

For instance "Officer, I saw three greys abducting the wife back in May 2003 and now I'm really freaked because they want to bring her back"

 

ROD

Long story short: I tend to see things myself. As a result I have a pretty good idea how hallucinations work in one's mind. It can be hard to tell when I've had one and I have experience with this. Most people do not have a protracted problem with hallucinations and only see them occasionally and may never realize that what they saw wasn't really there. Same goes with what one "hears" or "feels" or even "smells." Many people who hallucinate have problems convincing others about what they experienced. Sound familiar?

 

So if I see a giraffe browsing in my backyard, I'd consider that I might be seeing a real giraffe but I'd also keep the possibility afloat that I was having a "fine day" as I like to call it when something pleasant happens. If I saw a lion in my back yard. I would stay absolutely still and watch what happens. I've learned that my senses are not to be trusted but that doesn't mean that I can't figure it out. Forensic evidence is what counts then. Do others see it? Does it leave footprints that I can trace and photograph? Sometimes my hallucinations work well together and sometimes they fail to work well together. I can sometimes spot flaws in what I'm seeing but not always. Hearing is harder since most sounds don't leave a physical trace that I can perceive and so I often have to rationalize what seems logical at the time. It's not fool-proof.

 

Many people who've never had to deal with hallucinations wouldn't realize they were having one.

[Guest]

Hallucinations become problematic when shared by pets. As my very hi fidelity hi decibel audio thing was. And shared by the two packs of coyotes, who I am sure were not part of the hallucination. At some point one must confront that reality is reality I think regardless of whether it makes any sense to anyone, including the experiencer of said illogical reality in the moment. Detroit Soul, are you a Writer? You are quite good at the written sentence and the humour that can be found in it, along with insight.

[MIB]

I tried to plus that but I'm out.  

 

I'll add that hallucinations are also a problem when you get them on film and/or record them and can play them back at will.  

 

MIB

[Guest]

 

 

Primates do not bear that type of similarity with any other group of animals.

 

They don't have to, to be blunt.  The mind plays tricks on people, especially in low lighting conditions or in conditions whey they are suddenly in a situation when they are surprised.  That's why I developed a saying about Bigfoot eyewitness reports: "The possibility that they saw a bear is dirrectly purportional to how insistent they are in swearing that they did not see a bear."

[ThePhaige]

Yeah what I saw and interacted with was a Sasquatch... and that is what it was/is... period.

[Guest]

I don't take you for a liar so I believe that you have, Phaige.

[Guest keninsc]

And there are folks that are so closed-minded that they will not allow a "Bigfoot" file to exist in their brain, even when their processor tries to open or create one. 

 

 

I was one of these people. I just thought everyone who claimed to see one was maybe a little off in the head, or confused about what they saw or, sadly, someone who was in serious need of attention. I have modified my own position based on the experiences of two friends of mine. These were and are guys that I know and knew personally. These were not guys given to flights of fancy, BS'ing people. In fact, they really didn't want anyone knowing what they'd seen, they only told me because they trusted me. They trusted me because they knew me. It's not like they were just someone that I didn't know and i was just reading their accounts, and that made me begin to wonder. Now over time I have become more open to the idea. I have never seen a Bigfoot, or found a track, I did encounter a nasty smell once while hunting down in Georgia.

 

The end results is that we believers and knowers have got to cut some slack to those folks that are confused about the ID of something they encountered or even totally closed-minded.   And we can even gently lead them towards a correct ID.  BUT we've got to realize that they might be entirely accurate in their ID.  We MUST be careful to not try to stuff everything odd or not immediately ID'd into the "Bigfoot" file.  This hurts our cause and our research more than putting BF in the "bear" file.

 

 

You do have to keep a skeptical mind because, at least I have noticed, people don't all have the same degree of experience in the woods. They might be confused, they might have been scared and fear can distort what we think we see. Then you have to consider if what they recalled changed. Hey, I recall writing a report on an accident at work once then about a year later I was reading my report again to refresh my memory and was surprised because my memory of the event wasn't exactly the same as I'd written it down. I wound up talking about it with a buddy of mine and he said stuff changes with time. 

 

Was it a Bigfoot? Was it a bear? Was it something else? It's hard to say because you really don't know how reliable a witness they are, and that's not intended to be a put down or a slight against them.

[roguefooter]

I'll add that hallucinations are also a problem when you get them on film and/or record them and can play them back at will.  

 

MIB

 

It seems you're missing the point. A hallucination is only one possibility for any encounter with no evidence to back it up (aka a story). Misidentification is another, etc. If the encounter is on film then it becomes pretty obvious in ruling certain things out.  

 

BTW hallucinations can happen to anybody from low electrolyte levels. People who spend long periods in the woods without proper hydration can have hallucinations. Elderly people are especially susceptible.

[roguefooter]

I don't take you for a liar so I believe that you have, Phaige.

 

I don't take him for a liar either, but that doesn't necessarily mean his encounter was what he thought it was.

 

These people are also absolutely sure in what they saw, and they all seem pretty genuine-

 

http://www.realfairies.net/forum/faery-encounters

 

I'm sure a lot of them had some kind of weird experience or saw something that looked like a fairy flying around, but that doesn't mean their encounter was really what they believed it to be. Just because you 'know', doesn't always make it so. You're susceptible to the human brain like everybody else.

[BobbyO]

Just because you 'know', doesn't always make it so. .

Double edged sword again isn't it.

Just because you don't know, doesn't mean it isn't what it is.

When you look at something for a certain period of time when you don't just have a fleeting glimpse, when it's unobstructed, in clear daylight, without being under the influence of any foreign substances in your system, you see what you see and that's that.

You can continue to bang the drum for mis I'd as much as you want and I'm sure in some cases you'd be right, but in many you'd be wrong also.

A cow is a cow and a horse is a horse.

A bear is a bear and a Sasquatch is a Sasquatch.

I actually find the mis I'd and hallucinating argument tiresome and insulting because neither have anything to do with reality as both, even combined, are absurd to attribute all Sasquatch sightings too, but I don't believe they're actually about them anyway, I believe they are just another weak argument by people that who just simply won't admit to their existence if one walked up and put one right on their chin.

[Guest]

I still don't buy this misidentification explanation. And I certainly don't think that hallucination works either.

 

Next time you're late for work try telling the boss you let the first bus go and got on the next one but it turned out to be completely imaginary as you were undergoing a hallucination. I'm sure he'll find that very plausible.

 

There are myriads of sightings so of course some are bound to be misidentifications where it's not a clear sighting and I guess if the witness was a 63 year old wandering round the woods for weeks without a bottled water to hand [and if the USA is anything like the UK who could have missed the clever marketing to carry such at all times in case you die horribly somewhere between work and home on that 30 minute bus ride] then dehydration/electrolyte levels may play a part.

 

I thought we were starting from the premise that these things might exist based on what you are all familiar with on here. Witness statements are the only thing we have that might lend credence to that theory. I'd probably take the word of a reliable witness with no interest in Bigfoot over a thousand blurred videos.

 

Going back to my lion [which as you can see has had a profound effect on me - I never go the chippy nowadays without a big game rifle] I know what I saw and it was real. To say I was surprised is an understatement. I nearly vaulted over the counter ! But the surprise didn't lead to anything hallucinatory. It was the last thing I expected to see in a UK café. OK, grits might be the last thing - definitely the worst thing. If instead of a lion it was something 8 feet tall with apelike characteristics I wouldn't have imagined or misidentified it either. Same goes if I'd had the sightings at the same proximity in the wild. The experience was etched on my brain and whilst small details are now blurry after 30 odd years the reality of the experience has not changed.

 

I'd hope that there are plenty of people out there who report what they see and are not given to flights of fancy or simple fabrication. I expect explanations for these reports to make sense, not some blanket response that it was down to a pick and mix variety of faults with the witness.

 

And now off to deal with the wife's latest hallucination. How the hell can buying two cheaper dresses for the price of one expensive outfit have saved me money ?

 

ROD

Edited April 4, 2014 by Detroit Soul

[Guest]

I heard something, which although very loud and very clear and very close,   so far to me has only been accurately compared to the screaming, whooping sounds of what others have heard, recorded and believe is an unknown creature,  I did not record it, and the area it was in is not conducive to tracks, and I have no evidence and no way of backing up what I say. I do not argue the point at all when I recount what I heard, If others do not believe me that is fine with me, I certainly understand their position, as before my audio encounter I had exactly the same view if someone had told me they heard something they could not identify and only sounded like what the guys and gals in the Bigfoot community said was a Sasquatch. Sound of course is not a definitive thing to most of us, and easily confused or misidentified, especially when it is someone else's recollection and opinion of what they heard. Lol, on the other hand, it is completely different when the hearer is you and the hearee is crystal clear, close, powerful and you listen in awe, and a little fear to whatever it is with such an incredible vocal output. So, I am good with however I am treated per any conversation about what I heard. But If it was a visual encounter, I think I had rather be deemed untruthful than be deemed incompetent and unable to distinguish between known creatures and unknown creatures.

[Guest Coonbo]

OK, grits might be the last thing - definitely the worst thing.

 

ROD

 

Hey now!  Don't be dissin' grits!  Grits are wonderful!!  You just ain't never had 'em fixed right. 

 

There's cheese grits.

Grits n' gravy  (and you can have sawmill gravy, sausage gravy, redeye gravy, etc.)

Grits n' molasses

Grits n' jelly

Grits with sugar

Grits with butter and salt

Grits with cinnamon and sugar

Grits n' syrup

Grits n' strawberry preserves

and on and on.

 

It's like Bubba Blue said about shrimp, there's a bazillion ways to fix 'em.