Senior correspondent and cryptid expert Audre Myers sends me a lot of Bigfoot footage, almost all of which I can find some hole to poke my skeptic’s waggling finger through with good-natured vigor.  I suspect that as eagle-eyed as she is, Audre sees with the eyes of a true believer, and sometimes sees what she wants to see.  Thus it is for all of us, for different things.

But this time, I think she might be onto something.  I think she vastly underestimates how good (and cheap) practical effects work is these days, and how a truly committed hoaxster could put together a pretty convincing Bigfoot outfit if he wanted to do so.

But, again, something about this video really is compelling.  Naturally, it has all the shortcomings of the typical Bigfoot footage—blurry, for example—but it makes sense in this context.

I’ll let you decide for yourself.  With that, here’s Audre, encouraging you to “Open Your Eyes”:

I spend time on YouTube every day. Anything that hints of ‘cryptids‘ (an animal that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist), I view. Why? Because one never knows when something staggering might show up. I am ever vigilant. Once in awhile I strike gold and this is one of those times.

First, let me explain – this video is called a ‘short’, it refers to the fact that the video is of short duration but also means it repeats itself automatically until you get out of it. In our instance, that’s beneficial because you are going to want to watch this several times. Each time you view it, you’ll notice something else that is singular. Just to help you, after the person in the foreground jumps, keep your eye trained on the left hand side of the video.

Now that you’ve watched – several times, I hope – here are questions I’d like you to consider:

1. Did you notice the size of the creature?

2. Did you note the agility of the creature?

3. Did you see the creature have to correct itself, support itself, or stumble? Without being there to measure, I suspect the jump down from the ledge on which it’s standing is roughly twenty feet.

4. Did you give attention to the manner of it’s stride? The lightness of it’s steps. It’s not stiff or exaggerated as a hoax might be.

5. Did you take in the shape and musculature of the creature? Shoulder definition. Arms longer than a humans. Athletic body.

6. Did you notice the size of it’s hands? To the best of anyone’s knowledge, they are not tool makers or users. There is a video of them hunting in a pack, however. It is suspected that they disable their prey by breaking a leg, which allows them time to kill it and take it wherever it is it will be consumed. A healthy animal of any size – like a deer, elk, or buffalo – would require not only arm and torso strength, but it would require big hands as well.

As my presentation is now concluded, I suggest you go back and view the video again, keeping my questions in mind. It is my considered opinion that what we see in that video is a living, breathing, active bigfoot.