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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Bigfoot Conference in Texas Draws Hundreds |
| 2005-10-15 |
| Next to a lifelike replica of a giant ape head, the believers milled around tables Saturday covered with casts of large footprints, books about nature's mysteries and T-shirts proclaiming "Bigfoot: Often Imitated, Never Invalidated." A crowd of thousands cheered as dozens of prominent speakers — academics, activists, artists and media pundits — spoke, recited poetry and sang songs in the 12-hour program on the National Mall. Pointing to the broad spectrum of participants, Farrakhan said the march included an "unprecedented" array of black leaders of organizations "coming together to speak to America and the world with one voice." "It's not a matter of believing, like faith, when you believe in something you can't see," said Daryl G. Colyer, a Lorena businessman who has investigated hundreds of reported Bigfoot sightings in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. "It's a flesh-and-blood animal that just has not been discovered yet. And I think we're getting closer and closer and closer," Colyer said. Ten years ago, Farrakhan urged black men to improve their families and communities — women, whites and other minorities had not been invited. On Saturday, all were welcome at the Millions More Movement, which organizers said would build on the principles of 1995 and push people to build a movement for change locally and nationally. Neither Farrakhan, who spoke for 75 minutes, nor police would not offer a crowd estimate. "You see one of these things and it changes your whole perception of reality," said Craig Woolheater, the office manager of a Dallas company who co-founded the Texas Bigfoot Research Center in 1999, five years after he said he saw a hairy creature walking along a remote Louisiana road. Associated Press photos showed the gathering was significantly smaller than that of 1995, when Boston University researchers estimated between 600,000 and 1 million participants. "To me it's still an open question, but here's some evidence that warrants some serious consideration, so give it a chance," said Jeff Meldrum, associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University who has studied more than 150 casts of footprints. "This is not a paranormal question; it's a biological question." Now how did those two stories get mixed up like that? |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #4 See what I mean, guys? They're stalking me, I tell ya! It's a conspiracy! |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2005-10-15 23:55 |
| #3 Yo mama's so hairy, bigfoot takes pictures of her! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2005-10-15 23:50 |
| #2 "...he saw a hairy creature walking along a remote Louisiana road." Hey! Quit talking about my sister like that! |
| Posted by: AlmostStupid5839 2005-10-15 21:18 |
| #1 I checked at Yahoo, and they've re-edited it; gone are all the marginally believable stuff and now it's just an article about Bigfoot. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-10-15 20:18 |