Recently during an interview I did with the Whispers Radio program, I attempted to address the ways that strange phenomenon, whether it be Bigfoot, UFOs, or other kinds of weirdness out there, effect our everyday life. More specifically, what role do all these sorts of things play in our existence, or do they even have any underlying relevance at all?
Topics moved quickly, from a new essay I’ve contributed to New Page Books’ upcoming Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified: UFOs & Aliens anthology that will soon be hitting the stands in bookstores, to some of the weirder reports I’ve received of Bigfoot encounters over the years. My conclusion: these things are relevant to my life specifically because they push the very boundaries of what we collectively take to be “reality.”
Of course, trying to discern conclusively exactly what “reality” is can be a feat unto itself. Truth is, we don’t know exactly what reality–or even consciousness, for that matter–really are. We can estimate, to the best our senses are able to determine, what they may be, and what relevance they hold to the great mystery of life. But we’re constantly having to evaluate and re-evaluate the ways we look at things about our existence, often finding ourselves left with more questions than answers. In general, I’m fascinated by reports of the strange and unusual, since they stretch the boundaries of what, to the best of my own abilities to determine, I call “reality.”
One of those sorts of things that leaves me asking questions about our role in the universe are the truly high-strangeness reports of Bigfoot creatures that come in from time to time. Seldom though they may appear, here at the Gralien news desk I do occasionally receive reports of things like Bigfoot vanishing into thin air; what, if there is any credence to be lent to such wild claims, are we to make of this?
My first experiences with this sort of thing occurred while interviewing my friend and mentor Brad Steiger, who recounted many instances where he had managed to track evidence of what may have been a Sasquatch into lonely, secluded, and often enclosed areas. He, along with his stout and sturdy companions, would trudge forward into dead-end locales, expecting to find where they’d cornered a wild man; and to their dismay, the creature they had been tracking was nowhere to be found. Having been so recently “hot on the trail” of what they perceived to be a man-like beast, it was almost as though the creature had simply vanished into thin air.
But eventually, I would begin to gather actual eyewitness reports of people who were literally looking at a creature they could only describe as a “Bigfoot,” only to have the thing vanish into thin air while staring straight at it! What the hell could possibly be going on here?
The folks at Whispers Radio were equally fascinated by this as I recounted a few experiences of this sort, and asked me if I thought this meant Bigfoot could represent an interdimensional phenomenon (since I had recently posited this theory regarding UFOs earlier in the discussion). I said that while this could be a remote possibility–especially if we are truly to try and not discount any possibilities–my wilder theories dealt with there being some kind of biological basis for the mystery. I began to recount instances where witnesses had described something a bit different, though equally strange: bizarre physiological effects they had experienced while observing a Bigfoot. Among Bigfoot literature, there are also reports (though, again, often discounted by the more nuts-and-bolts investigators out there) where people begin to feel dizzy, disoriented, terribly frightened (often accompanied by paralysis), or even experiencing sensations akin to “moving in slow motion” while observing these sorts of creatures. Could it be that the creatures themselves might be capable of emitting something biologically–perhaps a sort of pheromone–that could effect the human body?
Taking this a step further, I’ve recounted before here at Mysterious Universe my interest in the classic pulp-novel character The Shadow, as well as the theory that Bigfoot might actually use pheromones to “cloud men’s minds” much like the Shadow had done. Could these other physiological effects also be the byproduct of pheromone releases that Sasquatch can produce, and could these sorts of things even contribute to the way these creatures continue to evade us with such extraordinary stealth?
I’d be interest in hearing if any MU readers and listeners have had experiences of their own with this phenomenon, or if you know someone who has described strange sensations and physiological effects in the presence of strange phenomena. That said, I’ll let you comment away… and in the meantime, watch as I use my powers of hypnotism to vanish while I finish clouding your mind with more bizarre theories!
