(Hoax) Sonoma Video
On November 14th, 2005, a video purportedly recording a bigfoot sighting in Sonoma County, California, surfaced on the Internet. On Dec. 11, 2005, the BFRO publicly declared that it was an authentic video and that it could not have been a man in a suit.
Contents
- Mark Nelson's Story
- BFRO Authentication
- Promotion
- Other Researchers
- Penn & Teller
- Aftermath
- References
- External Links
Mark Nelson's Story
The original web page created by someone calling himself "Mark Nelson" read as follows:
"November 14, 2005
The Story:
Last weekend my girlfriend Jill and I were hiking in northern Sonoma County (in CA). We had our video camera with us so we could try to tape some elk. We'd been going for about a couple hours when Jill said she heard a strange noise. We stopped, and then I heard it too. '
At first, it sounded like a deep growl, kind of what a bear would make, but higher pitched. Jill wanted to run away, but then we 'heard it again. I thought it was real strange. So I took out the camera to try to zoom in on where the noise was coming from, and there was this weird creature. It must have heard us, because it moved away real fast! It was gone in about 15 seconds.
The thing was like 8-9 feet tall, with reddish brown colored hair, and dark eyes. I ran after it, but it moved real fast. When I got to the spot in the ground where it had been when I first heard it, I noticed that the grass was smashed down, and there was this strange, skunky kind of smell.
Afterwards, Jill was real scared, so we turned around and went back, and we didn't see it again. But that creature was like nothing I've ever seen before – if it wasn't Bigfoot, then I don't know what it was.
And one more thing – when I got home, my Mom's mutt Brownie kept sniffing and barking at my hiking boots. They must have smelled like the creature. Brownie was going totally crazy. Luckily, my buddy Jeff has a buddy Alex who works in a lab, so we're going to have him analyze them.
About Me:
My name is Mark Nelson, and I'm an amateur naturist. I love hiking in the woods and spending time outdoors. I also like photography, and I play bass in a rock band called Total Nutcase."
BFRO Authentication
The BFRO website at the time proclaimed:
"This amateur footage is blurry, shakey [sic], and frustratingly short, but it's recent and it's better than the Manitoba footage.
It was obtained by a hiker on November 14, 2005, in a mountainous portion of Sonoma County in Northern California.
Various people in the BFRO have seen sasquatches in the field and know what they look like.
We've seen plenty of hoaxed footage over the years as well.
With that said, we are confident the Sonoma footage is not fake (i.e. not animation or a man in a costume).
This figure is most likely a real sasquatch -- a survivor of the gigantopithecus line of apes.
The stooping, ducking figure in the footage may stand 7-8 feet tall, and may weight 1,000 pounds or more. Each arm may weigh well over 100 pounds."
Promotion
The BFRO website announced, "The BFRO will be managing the use of this footage, at the request of Mark Nelson. For inquiries about the licensing of this footage, please email Mark_Nelson@BFRO.net or leave a message at 949-278-6403."
Other Researchers
Many other prominant researchers proclaimed it at as a hoax - most notably, John Freitas.
Penn & Teller
It later transpired that the video had been a hoax created by Penn & Teller for their television show 'Bullshit!' when advertisements for the upcoming show were broadcast and an announcement was made on their website.
Up until the day before broadcast, the BFRO claimed that Penn & Teller's claim was in fact a hoax. The following is what Matt Moneymaker himself wrote on the BFRO website:
"Regarding the stupid claim by Penn & Teller that they faked the Sonoma footage:
Their claim is false. They didn’t have anything to do with the footage. They are just trying to get a buzz going about their show. They are trying to trick people into tuning into the program. It’s a ploy, don’t fall for it.
They were trying desperately to license the Sonoma footage. Mark Nelson agreed that it wasn’t a good idea to let them have it. He would have OK’d it, and even encouraged it, if he would have been involved with them. He’s a real person, yet they say it was only a front on a web site.
A clever route they are taking now … by claiming they shot it themselves in the Valley… They don’t live in the Valley. They live in Las Vegas, and work six nights per week there. They only have time to do voice-overs for their Showtime shows.
Notice how they only showed the web version of the footage on their promo. That’s the best clue that they are full of crap. They would have showed the guy in the costume holding the mask in his arms. They would have shown clips of how they set up the footage. They would have shown Mark Nelson … the person that a few us spoke with … but they can only show what is available on the web, because that’s all they have.
Keep in mind, as P&T see it, they are breaking no laws by perpetrating this hoax. The hoax is not the Sonoma footage itself, but rather their claim that they faked the Sonoma footage.
They won’t go to jail for that, or get sued for that, but they will probably increase their ratings by making that claim.
It’s a nicely clever ploy when you think about it … They know it will be difficult to show that they are lying. And any attempts to discredit their claims will only bring them attention as pranksters and help their ratings.
So they are pranksters if they faked the footage, and they are pranskters[sic] if they did not fake the footage.
Very clever.
… And Bigfoot do not exist, and all the witnesses over the centuries were lying or hallucinating the exact same things …
…. or Penn and Teller are full of sh*t and trying to boost the ratings of their Showtime program ….
Which is more likely?"
Aftermath
Following the broadcast of the "Bullshit" program, all references to the Sonoma video were removed from the BFRO website and no mention was ever made of it again.
References
