The Great Florida Bigfoot Conference

Florida’s at it again. On Saturday, July 10th, local Bigfoot enthusiasts gathered in Lakeland, Florida to discuss the sightings of the big hairy ape-man in the Sunshine State. Florida has the third most sightings out of any state in the U.S, and locals have dubbed the beast, ‘the skunk ape’. Personally, I think skunk ape would be a great name for a grunge band, but with 350 sightings in the state of Florida alone, these believers aren’t joking around.

2021 has already been a hell of a year. First, everyone was talking about UFOs and aliens, and now Bigfoot? You would think that with countless sightings of a grizzly bear-sized monkey man across the country, there would be at least a little evidence, right? Attendees of The Great Bigfoot Conference discussed various historical accounts, eye-witness sightings, and supposed thermal camera evidence, yet none of it has been scientifically recognized. It’s true, you can’t really prove that the skunk ape doesn’t exist, but with everglades full of panthers, bears, wild hogs, and all sorts of other crazy shit, some of these “eyewitness” accounts may be ill-founded.

Now I’m no expert, but I feel like the idea of Bigfoot nowadays is a lot more commercial than factual. As someone from Washington (the state with the highest number of Bigfoot sightings), I am well-versed in sasquatch-crossing signs in front yards, and t-shirt shops filled with the creature’s likeness. There’s even a county in Washington where it’s illegal to kill one of these elusive beasts. So yes, despite the sheer lack of evidence, I can sympathize with the hype.