Encounters That Are Never Reported...

[Guest]

I have been thinking a lot lately about this as I've tried to read BFRO and other reports.

I know from my experience in law enforcement that there are lots of crimes that never get reported. It is human nature that we place a high priority on the impact making a crime report might have on one's family, one's friends and social relationships, one's job...you name it if a person can think of a way making a report will impact their life in a negative way they absolutely weigh that impact against the perceived value of making the report. They then weigh it against any moral foundation, or compass (if they have one, believe me when I tell you some folks don't) before making a decision to step up and call the cops.

 

I think that people use the same process to decide whether or not to report a Bigfoot, or any other experience that is outside of the accepted mainstream of life experience.

People will be people, after all.

Because they know the impact on their lives will be very real, and as the power and reach of the media has grown they have seen, right before their eyes, the result of making such a report on the lives of ordinary people.

Step out of line with the mainstream and get clobbered.

 

So, when someone does step forward with a report of a Bigfoot, and does so publicly, they have only a few motivations.

-They are seeking their fifteen minutes of fame, and the report is a fabrication.

-They are seeking their fifteen minutes of fame, and the report is a fabrication, and their motivation is money. (huge problem here, obviously)

-They are actively engaged in subterfuge and an effort to discredit the field of study for a variety of reasons.

-They are mentally ill. (seen this a lot)

-They were hallucinating due to narcotic ingestion.    (seen this a lot)

-They have weighed all of the risks, and balanced them against their moral compass, and make the report anyway, but they've made an honest mistake.

-They have weighed all the risks, and balanced them against their moral compass, and made the report, fully aware of the impact, and the report is true.

And they live with the impact.

 

I think the fact that the BFRO and other organizations allow for people to report encounters and remain out of the public eye is critical, most folks wouldn't step forward with out that shield of anonymity...inversely, you have to weigh the fact that this shield is in place would make it easier for someone to fabricate a report without major consequences.

A conundrum.

(As a retired cop, with training in the art form of interview and interrogation it can be really frustrating to read an interesting statement in a BF report that has a big impact on a case and not have the opportunity to go through the statement with the witness in a one on one basis...and come to my own conclusions.

It drives me nuts, actually. As I have tried to bring myself up to speed on all of the reports on line and even to get connected to this site and the reports folks like Gumshoe have shared it really drive me nuts.

My problem, not yours.)

And I digress.

 

The last category.

-They have had a legitimate encounter and they have good documentation of it.They have weighed all the risks, and balanced them against their moral compass, and as much as it goes against their grain, they cannot bring themselves to report it.

 

They may have unimpeachable evidence to back their claim, or excellent photos, or something we can't imagine...but they simply will not subject themselves and the people they love to the blowback that they know will come.

 

These are the reports I wonder about.

I can see it happening very easily.

 

The recent hullabaloo Todd Standing has ignited with his most recent adventures bugs the heck out of me for all of the normal reasons...and another.

What if there is a witness out there, a guy in the last category; just "Joe Average", who was out in the woods and had an experience that generated REAL evidence of an encounter on that level, and he has been agonizing about releasing and/or reporting it?

And he got on the interwebz, surfed around and saw the kerfuffle that Messrs. Standing and others have generated with there "stuff".

And he has come to the exact same conclusion that a huge percentage of Joe Average types would come to. The internal conversation that old Joe Average has with himself goes something like this...

 

"Holy crap, I don't know who this guy is or why he did that but LOOK at what they  put him through. I can't imagine what they are going to do to me if I come forward with this, and they find out it is real. I know it's real, heck I'd take a lie detector or any other test, they can go out there themselves, I'd show 'em...but is it really gonna be worth it for me to come forward...what's gonna happen to my wife..to my kids?

What kind of crap am I gonna get at work? Could the boss mess with me or overlook me for that promotion?

Do I have the right to do that to my family?

No...no way. Screw it. I will...I will just wait. I'll keep an eye on this and if somebody else comes forward with a story from up there and gets a bunch of heat then maybe then I will back him up...depending on what he's got...maybe...but I am not going to go this alone...no way. It just isn't worth it".

 

These are the Joe Average reports I wonder about.

I wonder how many there are.

I wonder.

 

Am I crazy?

What do you think?

What can we do about it?

Edited December 9, 2014 by Northfork

[Guest Rex]

I know for a fact there are many that go unreported...  for a multitude of reasons.

 

Nothing can be done about it until people want to report.

[Guest]

I thought someone in the field guestemated only 1 in 100 are reported. Another reason is that the people themselves might not believe what they just saw. I've sort of run into that.

[Sasfooty]

These are the Joe Average reports I wonder about.

I wonder how many there are.

I wonder.

 

What do you think?

What can we do about it?

 

My husband has seen them many times, (he said he saw one yesterday while cutting firewood) & never tells anyone except family & close friends. I know of at least a dozen people that have told us that they have seen them & have never made reports. In fact, although I made a report about tracks & twisted cedar trees here on our property, I never reported any of my sightings either.

 

I asked Hubby why he doesn't talk about his sightings & he said "Why would I want to? People would just laugh."

 

 

What can we do about it?

 

Nothing.

[salubrious]

I reported my sighting to the BFRO, although I got interviewed they never published the sighting. I don't know if its because of politics or if the guy who interviewed me never actually filed the paperwork. The politics could have been that I got interviewed by Facebook Find Bigfoot as well.

[Guest]

Thanks for responding everyone. Wag, I don't know if it is as bad as 1-100 but I think it may be. I hope not. Sas, your husband is typical of the character I was trying to describe.

I'm not willing to concede that the community can't do anything to improve the trust of "Joe Average" enough to improve the situation. Not yet anyway. Trust is the issue. I don't think the "$cientainment" shows on the tube these days are doing much to help our cause. They might be raising the level of interest or perhaps even the conversation...but I doubt they are helping the trust level.

Salubrious, your situation is interesting.

You are obviously a serious person, I wonder why your case was never loaded to the database?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Northfork

[ThePhaige]

I asked Hubby why he doesn't talk about his sightings & he said "Why would I want to? People would just laugh."

 

 

Where does he get that idea from...(sarcasm)

 

Sometimes I wish I had just kept my encounters to my self , but the need to connect with like folks was important to me. I have this inner drive to learn the truths of things...other people not so much though and as they say "ignorance is bliss" holds some value I feel.

Edited December 10, 2014 by ThePhaige

[MIB]

I reported a track find to BFRO, was interviewed, and it was published.   I wish I had never filed the report.  First, I didn't like the interrogation by the investigator.   Second, I provided personally identifying information with the understanding it would be confidential which was published. 

 

I will exchange anecdotes informally but I'm done filing reports.   Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. 

 

MIB

[salubrious]

Salubrious, your situation is interesting.

You are obviously a serious person, I wonder why your case was never loaded to the database?

 

My guess is that the politics between FB/FB and the BFRO played a role at the time. But it could also be that the guy that interviewed me simply dropped the ball. I've thought about reporting it again, but at a certain point you begin to wonder what for. After all, I've probably driven a few members here nuts by constantly bringing it up (BTW there is a thread on the sighting: http://bigfootforums.com/index.php/topic/29115-colorado-sighting-of-two-bf-in-the-road/).

[Guest]

I bet they didnt believe you Sal...ive heard of that being the reason a few times..maybe not though

[Guest]

I reported a track find to BFRO, was interviewed, and it was published.   I wish I had never filed the report.  First, I didn't like the interrogation by the investigator.   Second, I provided personally identifying information with the understanding it would be confidential which was published. 

 

I will exchange anecdotes informally but I'm done filing reports.   Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. 

 

MIB

Well there ya go. Stuff like that gets around quickly, and it doesn't take long for people to lose trust and just clam up, refusing to stick their necks out. And you really cannot blame them.

So the evidence for unreported events being a big number goes up in my mind

[CMBigfoot]

Many bigfoot sightings/activity go unreported around here in Oregon. When I'm in my study area or a new area I will talk to the people I come across, most of the time. I've talked to hunters, fishermen, hikers, bikers, campers, loggers, watchmen, goldminers, forest workers, BLM, state forestry, F&W, farmers, the last house next to the forest, etc. I once spent a whole day riding back and forth in a log truck from the landing to the mill talking about bigfoot. I've spent several hours one night with a guy running his hounds after a 400lb **** talking about bigfoot. That was fun.

I've talked to a guy that lived next to the gate before entering private timberland about bigfoot. At first he seemed very angry. But then I told him that I've had bigfoot sightings and other people I know have too. He was silent for awhile then started crying and shaking. He opened up to me and said that he had seen a bigfoot years ago. It scared him so bad that he kept it to himself. Then when he finally started to talk about it people/family laughed and called him a liar etc. So he bottled it up for years. His girlfriend came out and thanked me. She said he needed someone to talk about his sighting that would understand. So every night after work I would come over and listen to him.

I've come across more people when I'm out and about that have had a bigfoot sighting/activity or know someone that has that go unreported than reported. But now since Finding Bigfoot every noise and turd is from a bigfoot.

[1980squatch]

My guess is that the politics between FB/FB and the BFRO played a role at the time. But it could also be that the guy that interviewed me simply dropped the ball. I've thought about reporting it again, but at a certain point you begin to wonder what for. After all, I've probably driven a few members here nuts by constantly bringing it up (BTW there is a thread on the sighting: http://bigfootforums.com/index.php/topic/29115-colorado-sighting-of-two-bf-in-the-road/).

 

I bet they didnt believe you Sal...ive heard of that being the reason a few times..maybe not though

 

My guess is Sal's report is simply held back, not shared on the public site due to internal research value.  It states some very interesting and not prior reported behavior that the BFRO likely would prefer to keep close to the vest.  They are under no obligation to kick out anything, they do for many reports of course since they want to appear as the leader in their space.  My report was published within 6 months, yes the investigator believed me but the encounter was 30 years prior and was not going to alter anyone's research plans.

[Guest]

Very true. I live like 10 minutes drive from your encounter 1980' crazy to think theyd pass through monroe..

[Guest]

My guess is Sal's report is simply held back, not shared on the public site due to internal research value.  It states some very interesting and not prior reported behavior that the BFRO likely would prefer to keep close to the vest.  They are under no obligation to kick out anything, they do for many reports of course since they want to appear as the leader in their space.  My report was published within 6 months, yes the investigator believed me but the encounter was 30 years prior and was not going to alter anyone's research plans.

Hmmm, yea, I wonder if all BF reports to BFRO are within 'normalcy' guidlines, as even on this message board, Psycic and Habituation Sasquatch have been transferred to the Crypto section.