January roared in like a lion and out with a flurry of Bigfoot reports.
The year began with a Jan. 3 controversial story of how a fisherman claimed to have seen and photographed Bigfoot — known in Florida as a Skunk Ape — while it allegedly sat in a few feet of the murky swampy Hillsborough River outside of Tampa, Florida.
Fast forward to Jan. 25 when HuffPost reader Matthew McKamey sent a video of something he says he and a friend saw while canoeing in a swamp that day in Lettuce Lake Park near, of all places, Tampa, Florida.
Both reports are highly dubious. Let’s take a look at the second report to see if it’s the legendary hairy beast … or possibly another hoaxer who’ll risk getting his butt bitten off in a Florida swamp, just to post some viral video on YouTube.
Travel companies encourage the public to visit the local swamps around Tampa, to spend time hiking, fishing and canoeing, and yet, they issue cautionary notes to the public to be careful of all the local alligators and snakes in the area that also encompasses the University of South Florida.
–
“I came away from this with a distinct impression that I have no idea what it is,” Poling said. “It could be a guy in a costume or it could be the real thing. I do not know. [McKamey] sent the original copy to Bigfoot Evidence, not asking for anything in return. Why would someone take all of this time, effort and danger just to give the video away anonymously?
McKamey says he’s not likely to go looking for the “thing” again.
“Thinking back to what we saw, I think there’s a good chance that we actually saw a Skunk Ape or Bigfoot or whatever you want to call it. It was not a bear, I know that. It wasn’t human. It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. To have been where we were, when we were, the likelihood of it happening again, I’m highly skeptical.
“I’m fairly thankful that it decided to go the other way.”
