9. Estes Park (2007)
View this video on YouTube
Jim Holder and his son were walking in Estes Park, Colorado when they spotted what appeared to be a large, black-fur-covered hominid walking across a field. The footage was taken on a cellphone, and is therefore terrible; the figure is seen for a jumpy second before disappearing behind a tree, and emerging shortly after. It's much too far away, and too blurry, to be a very strong case for Bigfoot.
8. Bigfoot Hunted By Helicopter (2011)
View this video on YouTube
This video (helpfully annotated by the men behind "Find Bigfoot") shows what is claimed to be a Bigfoot trying to escape a helicopter overhead. Any Bigfoot footage captured inadvertently, while the person filming iss filming something else, is automatically a little more credible, even if that credibility is immediately ruined by the claim that the government is hunting Bigfoots from helicopters, and the close-up analysis makes it definitely seem like a human. So I guess it's a wash.
7. ATV Rider (2011)
View this video on YouTube
This video, originally taken on 2011 (this updated version is enhanced for stability and speed), was taken by a man on an ATV, riding on a logging road with a friend. Both riders stop their vehicles shortly after spotting it and ride to the edge to try for a second look. What I see here is a black blob with a white stripe. I want to know what it is!!!!!
6. Backyard Bigfoot (2010)
View this video on YouTube
This video, taken by a little boy of his backyard, shows a tall, dark figure across the field. The visuals are about as convincing (or not) as any others; what makes this great is the boy screaming "HEY BIGFOOT!!!" out the window and then whooping when the figure hustles away. Does Bigfoot know his name is Bigfoot? You have to wonder.
5. Provo Canyon (2012)
View this video on YouTube
A group of friends on a camping trip claimed that they were originally filming what they thought to be a black bear (seen sitting through a bunch of trees and branches), until it stood up and looked at them. You can see this process unfold in the video — the guys murmuring and zooming in until the thing stands up, at which point they drop the camera and bolt. As one should, in the face of a real Bigfoot! It's exciting, even if you don't get to see much more than a blackish blur.
4. Russian Yeti With Baby
View this video on YouTube
In this very popular video, uploaded in 2013, two young Russian boys film what appears to be a black figure (which must, to them, look like it's holding a baby) among a bunch of trees. You can't see much, but any time I have ever seen a Bigfoot/alien/other paranormal creature filmed in 18 feet of Siberian snow, I have thought it was probably real.
3. Police Car Chase (2009)
View this video on YouTube
Per the video's introduction, a police officer and city worker in Georgia were on their way to a "function" together when they spotted a strange figure in the middle of the road, prompting the driver (again, a police officer) to swerve into a quick U-turn, and chase after it in the opposite direction. That is the kind of quick and dangerous thinking we need if we are ever going to catch one of these things.
2. The Patterson-Gimlin Film (1967)
View this video on YouTube
Considered the most iconic Bigfoot footage ever taken, this clip (which starts getting good around 0:21) was filmed by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin in 1967. While most scientists have concluded that the film shows a man wearing an ape suit, and several witnesses later claimed Patterson was a con-man, many remain convinced that the footage shows something non-human.
If it is a suit (and it probably is), it's a pretty good one! This Bigfoot has a confident stride, looking casually over his shoulder, like, "Whatever," while maintaining a consistent walking speed. He has places to be! But the same thing that makes the video famous — the clarity and length of view — is also its shortcoming: there isn't much drama or mystery here; it seems just a little too good to be true.
1. Tim Peeler (2010)
View this video on YouTube
Without question, this Bigfoot-less Bigfoot video is the best Bigfoot video there ever was. From the reporter's introduction ("Tim Peeler THOUGHT he was calling coyotes. He got something that frightened even the self-described mountain man.") to Peeler's description of Bigfoot's "beautiful hair," to his reenactment of the way he scared him off with a stick, this video has everything a Bigfoot video should have: charm, regional accents, mystery, and only a handful of adjectives, and a hand-drawn picture, with which to judge whatever it was that was seen that day.
That picture, below, is the best Bigfoot documentation we will ever have.
