Whether it is mystery or forgotten history, the legend of Bigfoot has been scaring children at night for 60 years.
An ape-like monster who is thought to plague the wilderness in North America, Bigfoot has become a household name in legend, television and bedtime stories.
But what has sparked into global phenomena started out with humble beginnings.
In 1958, journalist Andrew Genzoli published a letter from a reader about loggers in northern California.
It said that they had discovered a series of mysteriously large footprints, which they later attributed to a creature aptly named Bigfoot.
Andrew joked that the finding was perhaps that of a distant relative to the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (a Yeti) but his quick-wit resonated with readers who fast became fascinated by the report.
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Bigfoot, otherwise known as Sasquatch, has had many varying descriptions over the years. But a common theme is his height, from six to 15ft and that he is covered in hair, not wholly unlike our Gorilla ancestors.
Rather appropriately, the origin of 'Sasquatch' roughly translates to mean 'wild men'.
Andrew later remarked that he had simply thought of the footprints piece as making "a good Sunday morning story", but he had in fact documented the origins of the Bigfoot legend.
From that day onwards, sightings of Bigfoot have been reported all over America and can stretch hundreds of miles apart.
In September 2021, dramatic footage of an apparent sighting emerged in Idaho. But earlier that year, a separate video capturing Bigfoot was published... nearly 2,000 miles away in Michigan.
No matter how big your feet are, the chances of any animal travelling that distance without anyone noticing are extremely small.
One of the most famous pieces of footage was filmed by former rodeo rider Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin in 1967. The short motion picture has come under speculation due to its poor quality, with many people trying to debunk its contents.
However, there is still no proof to say that Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yetis etc exist one way or the other.
Are people dressing up in Gorilla suits to stoke the flames of legend? Or perhaps there really is something out there.
A Soviet scientist, Boris Porshnev, suggested that Sasquatch and his Siberian counterpart, the Almas, could be a remnant of Neanderthals, but most scientists do not recognize the creature’s existence.
