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SALT LAKE CITY — It appears that Bigfoot may be paying a visit to the Beehive State. At least, that’s the story coming from the Bigfoot Tracker Team, which made national news earlier this year when it announced that it had shot and killed a Bigfoot in Texas. Rick Dyer, the leader of the team, said he lured the creature to his camp using pork ribs as bait and then shot it dead.
Now the Tracker Team has posted information on its website, http://bigfoottoday.com, which says it is taking the Bigfoot on a public tour. The tour’s first stop is San Antonio, and it then will travel to other cities in the state, including Austin, Dallas and Houston. At each stop, visitors will allegedly be able to examine the creature and verify its authenticity.
The website describes the tour as nationwide, so I reached out to Tracker Team member Andrew Clacy to find out if the hairy beast would be coming to Utah. “We will tour the USA, including Salt Lake City,” he told me in an email.
If you’re interested in attending the Salt Lake event but haven’t brushed up on your Bigfoot trivia in awhile, there’s is some information about the creature, courtesy of the Tracker Team’s website.
- Nickname: Hank
- Height: 7 foot 10
- Weight: 754 pounds
- Sex: Male
- Skin color: Dark tan
- Hair color: Brownish red
While some people may be anxiously clearing their calendars for the Bigfoot tour, most Americans will greet the news with a roll of their eyes. After all, Dyer was involved in a well-publicized hoax in 2008. As reported by National Geographic News, Dyer arranged a press conference and then proceeded to display a “Bigfoot” that turned out to be nothing more than a “rubber ape costume.”
The 2008 hoax seems to be water under the bridge for the Tracker Team, however, because when I asked Clacy about it, he was unconcerned. Referring to those who suspect this latest creature is another phony, he said, “We say bring a doctor, bring whoever you need to inspect it. We have nothing to hide.”
Who knows what will really happen once Dyer takes “Hank” on the road? Will it be another hoax? Or has Dyer really accomplished what scores of other Bigfoot hunters have failed to do … obtained irrefutable evidence that the mysterious creature exists.
Would you attend the Bigfoot exhibit if it comes to Utah? Let us know in the comment boards.
Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, product reviews and other interesting things. You can contact him at grantorrin@gmail.com.
