Internet captivated by Bigfoot hunters' press conference

It's the ultimate summer Friday news story: CNN Webcasting a press conference hosted by the men who claim they nabbed a dead body of the legendary creature known as Bigfoot.

Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi held the press conference in Palo Alto, Calif., in conjunction with Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, the two men from Georgia who claim that they found the corpse while hiking. Biscardi wouldn't actually show the body, saying that he had invited Fox News reporter Megan Kelly to show it on-air and that a number of scientists would be performing an autopsy on Monday.

"Starting Monday I should have assembled some fine scientists that will do the autopsy to find the origin and death of this creature, and at that point in time we will make it known and hopefully we'll get somebody to come in and film it," Biscardi said to listeners, "to show it to the world as it's being done. I want to get to the bottom of it."

That didn't do too much to appease the skeptical audience of the press conference, who were on the verge of heckling.

On the Web it was equally chaotic. Twitter users went nuts, with Twitter Search (formerly Summize) bringing up dozens of posts per minute from users who were watching the press conference online or expressing their opinions within the site's 140-character limit. Third-party analytics site Twitscoop showed a barrage of Twitters that included the word "Bigfoot," and determined the word to be the hottest term on the microblogging site at the time.

People have been Googling it, too. The search query "Bigfoot press conference" hit the top three on Google Trends.

"R.I.P. Harry. The Hendersons will miss you," one Twitter user said jokingly in reference to the '80s comedy Harry and the Hendersons, about a family that adopts a Bigfoot. Others were more skeptical, given the dubious nature of the photos. "That Bigfoot in the box looks so totally fakey, like a bad Halloween costume," another Twitter user said.

But most of the Twitter observers tuned into the press conference seemed to take the whole thing as entertainment. "I'm actually fearful to enter these Bigfoot infested woods in Georgia!" one exclaimed. "He's a Bigfoot dressed up as a Bigfoot, playing another Bigfoot," one wrote in a nod to a line spoken by Robert Downey Jr. in the just-released satire flick Tropic Thunder.

Most Twitterers didn't seem to believe the contents of the conference, probably because there were enough gray areas in the press conference to paint the walls of my office a nice foggy hue. Biscardi denied that he'd participated in a money-scheming Bigfoot hoax in 2005, saying that he'd been duped by a deranged woman who claimed she had two "Bigfeet" in captivity; he claimed he refunded those who'd charged to see a Webcast of the creatures when he realized it was fake. And Whitton shrugged off a series of goofy YouTube videos, most of them now pulled from the video-sharing site, in which he and Dyer reportedly claimed the Bigfoot was a fake and featured Whitton's brother dressed up as a scientist analyzing it.

"We just decided to have a little fun with it," Whitton said. When asked why he didn't call authorities when they claimed to have found the body in early June, he answered, "I didn't see any need to at the time. It seemed like it would create a frenzy."

"I want to protect the species," Whitton continued. "Everyone would be up there hunting for Bigfoot and disturbing the habitat."

Plus, the Associated Press reported that Whitton and Dyer's story had changed, and in the press conference Whitton claimed that he and Dyer hadn't actually been veteran Bigfoot hunters as reported earlier. When they found the creature, they considered the idea of doing guided tours of Bigfoot country, but that was as far as they said they went.

"I didn't believe in Bigfoot at the time," Whitton said.

And if Twitter is to be believed, the Internet still doesn't.

[dude7895]

$50 says its all fake.

[brianbot5000]

Shvle - was this Big Foot a relative of yours?

[redwoodcoast]

Here's the real Bigfoot near Eureka, California, where the first Bigfoot tracks were found. This video was shot only a few days ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p22BGJ6dXU

[chadyarlagadda]

That press conference was pretty damn funny. Had the whole office watching it live online on cnn.

[paddyo15960]

I have Big-Feet !!!!

[ruosty]

big feet, big hands, big......

[mor54]

I can suggest one thing: KC bar-b-que sauce. Good on anything.

[artistdude]

Discovered as a hoax, the real picture was uncovered (pre-manipulation) to be Gary Busey napping in a freezer while on location for a new film "Alabama Wild Man." When asked what the hell he was doing in a freezer, he replied: "Man, it looked comfortable in there, so i went for it." You can view the original here:

http://www.instantimagehosting.com/storage/bigfoot_busey.jpg

[ruosty]

there is no way this is real. its not possible. anyone who thinks its real needs to have their head examined. I dont need to wait for the experts, I already know for fact its fake. All you believers, remember where your read this. I'll take ANY bet from anyone who thinks this is real

[bloopadoo]

im sorry to tell u but ur a moron. maybe this particular case is a hoax but theres a greater chance that bigfoot does exist then there isnt. theres so much evidence. youre mind just isnt developed enough to comprehend it. you think theres no way because u think u no everything , but the thing is you and everyone else can no anything 100 %. maybe the reason its hard to prove bigfot is because the gov doesnt want us to know, or wat if bigfoots are smarter than humans. did u ever think of that

[The_Decider]

You don't know for a fact because you haven't seen it. Besides, it is impossible to disprove the existence of bigfoot.

The odds are it is fake, but you can't know for a fact.

[Sherry92284]

In 2005 these guys pulled a "money making" hoax. Now they claim to have found the real thing, but the website crashed, so if you want to take a look . . . it will cost. HUMMMM . . . think about it!

[Waves-Inc]

I encountered Big Foot once and I was just getting ready to do a complete photo shoot, but a UFO swooped down and snatched him up before I could get any pictures. Damn the bad luck. What are the odds? If you are interested in this lie, I mean story, please send a ton of money to me, and I will send you the whole, or is it hole, story. And what a story it will be. OK, these guys are about as clever as apes. Speaking of holes, this pathetic attempt of fooling the public once again is laughable. Who was it that once said, "there's a sucker born every minute." We can at least be thankful that they aren't harming people, like some of the crazies out there. They have just given us a good laugh is all. Just remember, Yeti believers, wishing it won't make it so. Ha

[hpew]

I guess it must be SUMMER (slow news season)

[hophead1984]

Dadsgravy, dude that is funny! Sex with bigfoot, what a concept.

[Kreuzer33]

So many people got overly excited over this. The men from Georgia are certainly milking their 15 minutes of fame!

http://kreuzer33.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/bigfoot-press-conference-revealsnothing/

[Zulut]

Those low-lifes are the biggest LIARS IN THE WORLD. They were prolly abused as children and chained to radiators while they were beaten by low-life parents as well. Anyone who claims stuff like this ALWAYS never deliver the real thing......SHOW ME YOUR BIGFOOT LIARS!

Lte the 'medical profession' substantiate your claims....OR Not ROFL

P.S. Remember 'crop circles' ROFL

[pagold]

the only one who knows the truth is mojo nixon...he married a bigfoot, w/ skid roper as best man

[Seaspray0]

Where's Spock when you need him? He'd be able to clear up the truth that Bigfoot used IBM OS2.

[bbrua]

I bet this whole thing turns out to be a Jack Links promotion...talk about Guerrilla Marketing...literally!!

[beachsandcrab]

Kind of looks like Nancy Pelosi.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Alien Autopsy ! Fake !

[DigitalFrog]

Maybe it's the actually the corpse of Jimmy Hoffa?.......