Case file · Cryptid
Skookum cast
On 22 September 2000 a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization expedition in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest cast a large body print in mud near fruit left as bait.
2000 CE · 46.17, -121.85 · status: disputed
The account
Researchers including Jeff Meldrum and Grover Krantz argued it showed the heel, forearm and buttock of a reclining Sasquatch. The cast is about 1 x 1.5 metres.
The sceptical view
Many scientists think it shows an elk lying down to reach the fruit; elk tracks and hair were found nearby.
The researched reading
A body print in mud beside bait fruit, with elk tracks and hair around it. Almost certainly a resting elk.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 50% | Elk tracks and hair were found at the site. A kneeling or reclining elk reaching for bait fruit leaves leg, haunch and hock marks that match the impressions read as a sasquatch’s heel, forearm and buttock. |
| Undetermined | 25% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 10% | Interpreting an irregular body print depends heavily on expectation, a form of pareidolia in mud. |
| A cultural story | 6% | The cast was made on a Bigfoot expedition filmed for television. |
| An unknown or out-of-place animal | 5% | Some anthropologists argued for a primate, but there is no hair, DNA or body to support an unknown ape. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 3% | No evidence of fakery. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Not applicable. |
Official position: No official investigation; most scientists consider it an elk lay.