Fortean Times

BIGFOOT WORLD TOUR

The latest dodgy footprints and blurry film and photos

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In August, visitors to Holkham in north Norfolk reported seeing a “massive beast” in the wooded dunes behind the beach there. One visitor to the area, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I was with a group of friends paddle boarding and had gone for a wee in the dunes when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I saw this thing about 15ft [4.6m] tall – certainly more than double my height – and built like Arnie. It glanced round at me and I just stood frozen to the spot, and then it bounded off across the dunes into the pine forest.”

The following Monday, Clemmie Long, 31, found two massive footprints on the beach as she exercised her dog Dusty. “All of a sudden Dusty put her nose right to the ground and pulled me along,” she said. “She had never been so insistent about something and took me straight to these footprints. When I saw them, I couldn’t believe it – they must be five times the size of a human footprint.” Photos of the prints show an isolated pair of welldefine­d footprints which look

“My dad used to tell me stories of a Bigfoot who lives in the forests”

rather more like the result of pressing casts into the sand than something produced by a walking creature, particular­ly as there are no other prints in the vicinity as might be expected if something had walked across the beach. However, local resident Graham Yardley, 29, said: “My dad used to tell me stories of a Bigfoot who lives in the pine forests by the beaches. He used to say the creature survived on eating sheep and cows – I never believed him until now.”

Given that the pines behind Holkham beach are of relatively recent origin, planted to stabilise the dunes, and that the “forest” is about a mile long and 100m deep at its widest, with no understory, it does seem unlikely that they could host a large hominin for any length of time. dailystar.co.uk, 27 Aug 2022.

• Meanwhile, a film shot in 2016 in Bashkortos­tan, Russia, recently surfaced on a Bigfoothun­ting YouTuber’s channel allegedly showing a large apelike creature chasing a family’s car. Visible only as a black shape, the creature appears to keep pace with the vehicle while running through tall grass as the panicked passengers film its pursuit. dailystar.co.uk, 23 May 2022. • In Australia, Brad Kidd, who has specialise­d in hunting a variety of supposedly paranormal entities – from sasquatche­s and dogmen to witches – and documentin­g his encounters, has captured what he believes is evidence of a Yowie, Australia’s version of Bigfoot, photograph­ing it from a hide in the woods at an undisclose­d location. He describes his photo as showing: “A BF [Bigfoot] or Australian Yowie in front of there (sic) main blind.” dailystar.co.uk, 16 Aug 2022.

For an overview of the British Bigfoot phenomenon, turn to this issue’s cover story on

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 ?? ?? ABOVE LEFT: Large but largely unconvinci­ng: the pair of giant footprints found by dogwalker Clemmie Long in Holkham, Norfolk. TOP RIGHT: The creature supposedly filmed in Russia in 2016. ABOVE RIGHT: Brad Kidd’s Yowie, somewhere in Australia.
ABOVE LEFT: Large but largely unconvinci­ng: the pair of giant footprints found by dogwalker Clemmie Long in Holkham, Norfolk. TOP RIGHT: The creature supposedly filmed in Russia in 2016. ABOVE RIGHT: Brad Kidd’s Yowie, somewhere in Australia.

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