A ten-year-old Bigfoot video has once again become a hot topic of discussion in the cryptozoology community.
Jeff Highcliffe posted the video on October 28, 2013. He says he recorded the video on a hunting trip just days before in the woods near Tunica, Mississippi.
In the video description, Highcliffe says he was camouflaged and sitting still, waiting for it to get dark because that’s when wild hogs come out. He said, “I heard a noise behind the tree I was sitting on. I thought it was the hogs, but when I got around, I could not believe my two eyes. This huge black thing was crouched by a dead cypress about 50 yards away. My first instinct was to run. I was scared.”
Highcliffe thinks the creature is about seven feet tall and knows it is not a bear. He questions if it was a “skunk ape,” a swamp land version of a sasquatch. The video is the only clip shared by Highcliffe on YouTube.
Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Bigfoot
When it comes to Bigfoot, there are plenty of non-believers, with conventional biologists not backing the claims of a giant creature living in parts of North America.
“Interest in the existence of the creature is at an all-time high,” the paleontologist Darren Naish said in an article with Smithsonian. “There’s nothing even close to compelling as goes the evidence.”
That article goes on to explain that maybe it’s our want to believe that keeps the legend alive. It’s our love for folklore and stories.
That’s definitely what’s fueling Highcliffe’s famous video. You can see it in the comments with people saying, “It looks so natural, like it’s in its element. Pretty convincing,” and “A man in a suit I can buy. A man in a suit that rips trees apart that’s a bit of a stretch. This is by far the most convincing video I’ve ever seen on Bigfoot and its possible existence.”
The video now has over one million views and falls short of the most popular and debated Bigfoot video ever, the 1967 Patterson–Gimlin film:
What do you think? Do you believe it?
The Josh Highcliff video, narrative, and Facebook page were hoaxed by Justin Arnold. That’s Justin wearing the critter costume. The camera operator was Andy Stern. The location is Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida.