So... Renae Of ' Finding Bigfoot ' Now Admits She Believes Bigfoot Exist

[Rockape]

I wonder why she remembers that particular incident if she really doesn't believe bigfoot exists. It would be just another time she saw the flash of an animal in the woods that she didn't get a good look at. I've had quite a few of those and never associated it with anything involving bigfoot.

 

I suspect she saw more than she is letting on. Not necessarily a true sighting, but she saw enough of something to question what it was, and to a further level than just being a known animal.

[Matt Pruitt]

She has always maintained in our conversations that it very well could've been a black bear. She might've said that to the interviewer as well, and it was omitted. That happens a lot. The last interview I did lasted over three hours, and when it was printed, they only used three quotes from me. The rest of the article was the writer's opinion. It's always at their discretion as to how to spin a quote.

She didn't see any discerning features of the black animal; only what appeared to be a brief glimpse of a portion of it.

[Xion Comrade]

Go figure...I like how she lumps all native americans ever into one group and says they all believe Bigfoot is something immaterial and purely spirit...Please cite your sources Renae, can't say I ran into alot of(Relatively speaking) natives/stories/legends past or present that referred to them that way. They have said alot of things just as objective in the past though, can't say it blows my mind. I can't tell if these guys are bad or good for Bigfoot, but they really are just a parody of real researchers.

[Matt Pruitt]

A lot of tribes share that belief. Moreover, Ranae has worked on a great deal of Native American land in her years with NOAA. I don't think she was generalizing anything, or stereotyping any group's beliefs as a whole.

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

I'm having trouble believing what I am reading. I was not a huge fan of the show by any means, but I've watched a number of episodes, and the picture I've gathered of her is that she definitely is not convinced, as there is not enough physical evidence. Now how in the world could someone go from that belief, to the much more "out there" belief that bigfoot is not a real animal but a spirit or inter-dimensional being?

 

The only explanation I can come up with is that she has always believed this, but the show only uses her as a "skeptic" because she does not believe in the physical existence of bigfoot. I mean her credibility as the "grounding" agent, the sketpic, of the show goes out the window with statements like this. In fact, for non-believers, the other cast members probably seem more credible than she does now. Anyone else feel this way?

 

I am not saying that her belief is impossible, but if you are constantly harping on the available evidence, then how in the world can you believe in a spiritual bigfoot? There is a lot more evidence for bigfoot as a real animal than a spiritual being, at least in my opinion, so her statement makes little sense to me. I liked her for one reason: she was a skeptic, but she seemed to be the type of person who was open and receptive to the idea of bigfoot's existence...(as a physical animal, lol.) Her statement has made me lose faith in her credibility as a truly objective skeptic.

 

I mean how can you basically deny the evidence value of thousands of eyewitness reports, modern reports, while placing more credence in the supernatural sasquatch reports from Native American tribes? And not all tribes believed bigfoot was a spiritual or supernatural being. I think there is much more evidence pointing to a physical animal as opposed to a spiritual animal. I have had one bigfoot encounter, and a handful of paranormal encounters. I saw a full-bodied ghost that no one else could see, I've heard footsteps above me when nobody was in the room above me, and this was witnessed by another person, among a few other similar experiences. So I believe that there are paranormal entities out there. These are the two "strange" things I believe in, bigfoot and ghosts, because of my experiences. So I am not dismissing her claims based on non-belief in the general idea.

 

My problem lies strictly in how she has been portrayed, which may not have been her fault, which is at odds with this latest statement on her bigfoot beliefs. She has to know, having a science background, that her credibility as an objective skeptic goes out the window with statements like this. I mean what evidence is there that bigfoot is anything other than a physical animal? Cannot the majority of reports be explained by a physical animal? Isn't a physical animal more likely than a paranormal animal? I base this on the fact that bigfoot is the only purported animal that leaves all this physical evidence, and has been seen thousands and thousands of times, out of all paranormal animal claims. Surely if it were a spiritual animal then similar sightings would be occurring for all of the other "spiritual" animals that surely would exist if such things even existed. Paranormal encounters are quite abundant and frequent, moreso than bigfoot encounters, but when have such an abundant amount of reports and evidence ever been left by any other paranormal non-human animal? The vast majority of "ghosts" are seen in human form I'm sure. What I saw was a man, who was apparently not physically there considering nobody else could see him. This was when I was a child, and I still clearly remember it to this day. My grandmother does as well, as it freaked her out when I kept asking her who that man was, lol. It likely has to do with the frequency of energies. Vibrations at various wavelengths, and the ability of certain individuals' brains to process such energy as a visual image.

[Guest DWA]

Well yeah, Jiggy, there it is, pretty much. 

 

Science proceeds on evidence.  What evidence can be provided for the spiritual nature of anything?  None on this plane, I'm afraid.

 

A skeptic must be grounded, fully, in science and evidence.  (Why bigfoot skeptics aren't.)  Ranae just shot her bolt on this show...unless the big reveal for this season of FB is how she is gonna prove this.

[Sasfooty]

She has to know, having a science background, that her credibility as an objective skeptic goes out the window with statements like this.

 

Maybe she's more interested in her integrity than her "credibility". If she has seen something that she can't "unsee", is she just supposed to ignore it for the sake of continuing to be a "skeptic"?

[Spader]

Kinda makes me respect her for admitting it.

I agree Sas, I for one am open minded to ANY theory. Until I see one for myself I will continue to keep an open mind and a skeptic one until the science community throws me a **** bone with some hard evidence attached to it. Just because you are willing to put faith in a belief doesn't mean you can't be skeptic. Isn't that almost the meaning of Agnostic? I suppose Agnostic is the perfect word for my personal belief in Bigfoot.

[Guest]

Go figure...I like how she lumps all native americans ever into one group and says they all believe Bigfoot is something immaterial and purely spirit...

 

Straw man -- she never lumped all Native Americans into one group, said all of them believe in bigfoots, or said they were purely spirit:

 

“I do believe in Bigfoot, but what I believe is what a majority of the indigenous people of North America believe. They believe it is a spiritual being that has the ability to go between a physical realm and a spiritual realm at will,†said Holland. “I do not believe Bigfoot is a flesh and blood animal, but I do believe in a higher power. Bigfoot is real, but I think he’s a spirit.â€

 

As you can see, she says the majority, not all, of American Indians believe in bigfoots.  She said she thinks bigfoots can choose between the spiritual and physical realms -- when in the physical realm I assume they take physical form, in which case they can't be pure spirit).  And, she makes no claim to lump all Indians together in any way.

 

Why are you misrepresenting her statements?

[Sasfooty]

She is being misrepresented in order to discredit what she said. That's how they do it. If they don't like what somebody says, they twist it around & keep twisting & adding nonsense to it & repeating until first thing you know, it's only a dim shadow of what was actually said. Then, at every opportunity, they mention that the person "must be off their meds".

[Rockape]

Straw man -- she never lumped all Native Americans into one group, said all of them believe in bigfoots, or said they were purely spirit:

 

“I do believe in Bigfoot, but what I believe is what a majority of the indigenous people of North America believe."

 

Why are you misrepresenting her statements?

 

I'm not sure sure it isn't a misrepresentation saying a majority of native american tribes believe in bigfoot, as often it is quite a leap to make what they believe into bigfoot.

[Guest]

^ The only relevant work on the subject I'm aware of with a nation-wide scope is the book by Kathy Strain.  I believe she has concluded that Indian belief in a bigfoot-type creature is widespread among a diversity of tribes in many locales.  I don't think her work supports a quantitative conclusion of "majority," so that's a fair criticism.  However, from Matt P's input herein, we know the article is poorly written in at least one area (ie, the part where the author implies Renae is a BFRO member and expedition leader).  It is not unreasonable to assume she was misquoted in terms of her religious belief.

[Rockape]

< It is not unreasonable to assume she was misquoted in terms of her religious belief>

 

Agreed. I'm not so sure she means it the way it sounds.

[hiflier]

Hello All,
 

.....“I do believe in Bigfoot, but what I believe is what a majority of the indigenous people of North America believe. They believe it is a spiritual being that has the ability to go between a physical realm (my bold)and a spiritual realm at will,†said Holland. “I do not believe Bigfoot is a flesh and blood animal, but I do believe in a higher power. Bigfoot is real, but I think he’s a spirit.â€

 

The physical part must be where the anecdotal evidence comes from? If that's the case then her statement could be construed as being contradictory. In her mind though I think she has her belief and what she means in what she said pretty clear. I have no issues with it.

Edited August 30, 2014 by hiflier

[clownboy]

^{In case you didn't notice, they were all playing roles. The Scientist/Teacher, the Mountain Man, the Know-it-All, and the Sceptic. All that was missing was The Millionaire and his wife. If I spelled Sceptic wrong please replace with Disbeliever. Having brainfreeze atm.}  

Edited September 9, 2014 by AaronD
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