Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy

Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Hairy Man, Booger, Wildman. Whatever you prefer to call it; there have been four reported sightings of the elusive creature right here in Smith County.

Coon hunters observed an unknown “animal” south of Tyler in 1963; a couple parked at Lake Palestine had a late night encounter in 1973; three teens report a sighting on Blackhawk Creek near Whitehouse in 2001; and a man has repeated encounters at his residence near Tyler in 2002. Descriptions of the incidents can be found at www.texasbigfoot.org.

Around midnight, deep in the woods, a group of coon hunters claim they “saw a huge animal of some sort, covered in red fur, flaying its arms and making a dreadful howling noise …”

“We saw something very large standing on two feet … It was large, dark and hairy. We could not see details,” a woman reports what she saw while parked with her fiance on a cliff overlooking Lake Palestine late at night.

The sun had just set when some fisherman saw “a big hairy white man like thing” jump out from behind a tree, look at them, then jump a creek—which was far too wide for the average human to jump—before running away.

Daryl Colyer, vice chair of the board of directors of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy (TBRC) grew up hearing lots of stories and has had a few encounters with an unexplainable creature, beginning in 2004. He also volunteers as an investigator for the organization, interviewing people who report sightings, and he will be one of the speakers at the Texas Bigfoot Conference, which is heading to Tyler this year.

TEXAS BIGFOOT CONFERENCE
For those who have seen Bigfoot or are forever in pursuit of the manlike creature, the conference will bring “an impressive list of speakers who present the latest in Bigfoot sightings and research,” according to the TBRC, which has about 50 members.

The Plano-based nonprofit organization is preparing to hold the all-day scientific conference, which will include about a dozen speakers, Sept. 26 at the D.K. Caldwell Auditorium, 301 S. College Ave.

The doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and Colyer will be the first speaker at 9:05 a.m. The conference will conclude with a discussion panel of all the speakers, ending at 6 pm.

Colyer said they are hoping to see 500 to 1,000 people attend the conference, which will be held in Tyler for the first time this year. The conference, which began with 100-150 people in attendance, has been held for the last eight years in Jefferson. He said it has grown in size and ambition and he thinks this year is the best list of speakers they’ve had.

The answer to the mystery of bigfoot is funding and the conference is all about increasing its funds to improve its efforts, Colyer said. They are all volunteers, he added.

Colyer, of Lorena, said about 90 percent of the people he’s talked to who claim they have seen Bigfoot are misidentifications and jokes. But the other 10 percent seem very plausible and are made by credible people, he said. Colyer also helps with the checking and upkeep of camera traps set around Texas. “That’s how we spend our time and resources,” he said.

“So far we don’t have the evidence that’s needed,” Colyer said. People are understandably skeptical that Bigfoot exists but he believes that if they can get a good, clear photograph or video of the creature, people would be inclined to join in.

“We’re hoping to solve this mystery,” he said. “We’re actually pretty serious about it.”

Following the conference, a fundraiser banquet dinner will be held from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Discovery Science Place, 308 N. Broadway Ave., and will feature a special presentation by wildlife author, photographer and naturalist Peter Matthiessen, who wrote the Snow Leopard.

General admission to the event is $15 but a pre-paid package is available for $60 for premium reserved seating at the conference and lunch, as well as a ticket to the dinner.

Speakers at the conference include: Esteban Sarmiento, primate biologist; John Mioncynzski, wildlife biologist and TBRC adviser; John Bindernagel, wildlife biologist, TBRC advisor and author of North America’s Great Ape: the Sasquatch; Alton Higgins, wildlife biologist and TBRC investigator; Chris Bader and Carsen Mencken, sociologists; Bill Dranginis, developer of non-intrusive “Eye Gotcha’ wildlife camera; Jerry Hestand, TBRC investigator; Daryl Colyer, TBRC investigator; and Robert Swain, artist and cartoonist.

The TBRC is funded by membership dues, fundraisers, donations, grants and the annual conference. The TBRC desires to enhance the credibility of bigfoot/sasquatch research and facilitate a greater degree of acceptance by the scientific community and other segments of society of the likelihood of a biological basis behind the Sasquatch mystery.

Members and advisers of the TBRC have been featured on the History Channel’s MonsterQuest; the Travel Channel’s Weird Travels; and the Discovery Channel’s Legend Meets Science.

The host hotel offering a discounted price for the event is the Tyler Sleep Inn and Suites, at 5555 S. Donnybrook Ave. Overflow hotels in Tyler include the Baymont Inn and Suites, Country Inn and Suites, Comfort Suites and the Quality Inn Conference Center.

For more information, visit: www.texasbigfoot.org.

(Link to original article in the Tyler Morning Telegraph.)