On Bigfoot, Cryptozoology, and Terms

I've spoken before on how I hope this blog one day becomes an important repository for terms and forwards the study of the paranormal, Supernatural, and related phenomena, such as ESP, Ufology, and cryptozoology, and to those ends, I (and any and all who wish to participate) am trying to define a set of terms on which all investigators, researchers, and phenomenolists can use. A common set of agreed-upon terms is one of the keystones to advancing the study.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the creature - or a very close relative thereof - has been reported in every part of the world. In America, it is called Bigfoot; in Canada, Sasquatch; in Australia, the Yowie; in China, Almas; and so on. In many cases, other experts have simply referred to the entire phenomena as Wild Men or Hairy Bipeds (Jerome Clark), but my decision to use the blanket term, Bigfoot, is not because I am American; it is because all of these creatures, be they related or not, seem to have big feet!

It is very possible that one species could be Gigantopithicus (an ape thought extinct), where another could be Neanderthal, and still another some species simply unknown to Science as of yet. The South American Ape (mondo grande), which has been successfully photographed even though scientists panned the photo as a fake with absolutely no evidence and a landslide of accounts to the contrary, may very well account for at least one of the species involved in these numerous accounts. At any rate, while some are said to be fierce and others are said to be docile; some are smelly and black while others have long, shaggy, white hair; some apparently scream while others growl or emit gutteral yells; at the end of the day, nearly all are associated with large footprints.

And thus, Bigfoots (or Bigfeets, if you like).