(Hoax) Georgia Bigfoot Body
In August 2008 the world’s attention was drawn to the claims of two Georgia (USA) men, Matthew Whitten and Rick Dyer, who claimed to have found the corpse of a large male bigfoot. The body was supposedly preserved in a chest-style freezer. Although the men had been making outrageous and self-promoting claims through a series of YouTube videos, they received relatively little attention, even among those involved with investigating the sasquatch phenomenon, until they invited controversial personality Tom Biscardi to view the body.
While various time lines have been proposed regarding related events, the involvement of questionable and self-serving sources makes it difficult, if not impossible, to unequivocally ascertain exactly what happened, much less where and when.
The following can be stated with some confidence:
Late in the evening on Thursday, 31 July 2008, Tom Biscardi called and left a message for anthropologist Kathy Strain to request assistance in contacting someone to conduct DNA analyses on tissue samples (ostensibly obtained from the Georgia bigfoot body).
On Friday, 1 August 2008, University of Minnesota senior scientist Curt Nelson was contacted by Strain; he agreed to examine the samples.
On Tuesday, 12 August 2008, a press release was distributed stating that DNA evidence and photo evidence was to be presented Friday, August 15, 2008 at Palo Alto, California. A variety of “vital statistics” pertaining to the bigfoot body were included with the press release. That same day, a photo showing the supposed body appeared on Biscardi’s web site, Searching for Bigfoot. Independent individuals quickly identified it as a match for a commercially available bigfoot costume.
On Wednesday, 13 August 2008, Biscardi appeared on the Fox News channel to discuss the supposed discovery and his plans for scientific analysis. He invited one of the interviewers, Megyn Kelly, to personally examine the body the following week.
On Friday, 15 August 2008, Biscardi, Dyer and Whitten faced the media. Biscardi attempted to promote the validity of the claims by emphasizing Whitten’s position as a police officer in Clayton County, Georgia. Curt Nelson’s DNA results identified the submitted tissue samples as human and opossum (Didelphis virginiana); Biscardi dismissed the results as the product of contamination. Additional photos presented to the press did not serve to convince the mostly skeptical audience. Biscardi confidently insisted the body was real[1], stating that he had seen, smelled, touched, and prodded the corpse.
By Tuesday, 19 August 2008, it was obvious to even the most hopeful of Biscardi’s supporters that there was no bigfoot body. The costume supplemented with animal parts was uncovered; Biscardi and his Searching for Bigfoot group claimed that the Georgians tricked him[2]. Curiously, the media did not hold Biscardi accountable for his previous assertions.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008: News that 28-year-old officer Matt Whitten was fired for his role in the hoax is released.
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