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August 2004 Expedition
in the Olympic Rain Forest Region (Northwest WA State):
Number of participants on the trip:
30
Number of participants who say they observed a sasquatch
during the trip: 7
Number of people who say they heard sasquatch sounds (screams,
howls, knocks, chattering, etc.) during the trip: 21
Number of scats found: 1 possible scat.
Number of tracks impressions found that were generally
concluded to be sasquatch tracks: 6
One cast was made. The footprint was in gravel ladden soil
and has no dermal detail. Five other tracks were found at
different locations, in watery mud, with no dermal detail
or distinctive toe detail.
The encounters that happened :
There were three incidents, with at least two visual witnesses
during each incident.
First incident: Two participants said they observed three
sasquatches at ~150 feet, walking along a logging road at
night.
Second incident: Three participants said they observed a sasquatch
at ~40 feet, looking out from behind a tree along a logging
road at night.
Third incident: Two participants said
they observed one at an undetermined distance crossing a road
at night.
Four (4) inter-related reasons why no video footage or
photos of sasquatches were obtained:
1) The expedition participants were interested in seeing
a sasquatch, rather than photographing one. Everyone knew
that any sightings would likely be brief. This made most participants
more intent to quietly watch, and not try to fiddle with cameras
during their big moment.
2) All of the witnesses were wearing nightvision goggles
at the time of their observations. The goggles were on loan
to the BFRO. Nightvision goggles do not allow you to record
what you are seeing, unfortunately..
3) Participants had to bring their own camera gear. Most
lacked the expensive nightvision-camcorder combos necessary
for videotaping at night without illumination..
4) The BFRO did have one expensive
thermal (body heat) camcorder on the trip -- a camera that
can videotape in complete darkness. That single unit could
not be everywhere at once, so it was parked at a central point
and dispatched to where it was needed when it was requested
by a given team. Because of that limitation, the thermal unit
was never delivered in time for the reported fleeting encounters.
The great value of this exercise, with respect to video documentation,
was that it allowed us to determine the right equipment for
getting video footage in these environments.
The right equipment is several sets of thermal (body heat)
nightvision goggles that can output to video recorders. Nightvision
scopes coupled with camcorders are not as effective in these
situations. They're difficult to hold up continuously for
hours while walking around in a dark forerst, but that's what
it takes, according to the eyewitnesses who finally caught
a glimpse of one while using nightvision goggles. If the goggles
used in August had been able to record to video, we would
have come back with several pieces of footage from that trip.
There's only one type of device with
all of the features necessary to get footage -- See the description
for the TAG-7. These video-enabled goggles cost $15,000
each. We hope to test a few on the upcoming expedition.
Notes from Various Participants
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