Reported Bigfoot sighting in Clarence, New York a hoax

Thursday, June 1, 2006 

Hans Mobius, 72, a former candidate for mayor in Buffalo, New York, a horse farmer and owner of properties 1109-1121 Elmwood in Buffalo where a hotel is proposed to be placed, reported that he had taken pictures allegedly of "Bigfoot" to which experts later dismissed as a "hoax."

While Mobius was taking photos of a wooded area on his Clarence, New York horse farm on Tuesday, he caught the creature in a photo who was running out from behind a John Deere tractor nearly 200 feet from him. The creature appeared to have two legs and have fur all over its body.

"I called my friend and said, 'I think I saw Bigfoot.' I told my wife and daughter to keep it to ourselves. But my daughter said, you'd better send [the pictures] to somebody," said Mobius.

Mobius claims that the incident is not a hoax and that he believes that it is possible he could have seen the creature. "I don't want to come across as a nutcase here. It's the damned craziest thing." he added also saying he "saw this thing out of the corner of my eye. It looked like he might have been confused." Mobius says it then vanished into the woods.

However; experts are convinced the incident is a hoax.

"It's obviously a man in a suit. Look at the forearms. There's not natural taper at the wrist. It looks like a sleeve transitioning into a glove," said a professor of primatology, paleontology, evolutionary morphology and anatomy at Idaho State University, Doctor D. Jeffrey Meldrum.

"[The hair] looks unnatural. It disperses light like artificial fur would. That raises real questions about the credibility of the photos. Is someone pulling a prank on him? Or is it him having a laugh, just killing time at others' expense,?" added Meldrum.

"There's no doubt in my mind that what we're looking at is a guy in a gorilla suit," said professional videographer David Bittner, who helps to identify the authenticity of videos and photos with Meldrum.

The last Bigfoot sightings occurred in Batavia, New York in the 19th century and in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties in Western New York.

Sources

• "Western N.Y. Bigfoot 'clearly phony'" — DailyIndia.com, June 1, 2006

• "Bigfoot In Upstate New York?" — WLTX, May 31, 2006

• Maki Becker. "Will Clarence man have Big Foot in mouth?" — Buffalo News, May 31, 2006