Often, witnesses take some time before they discuss their experiences or report them to any organization. Days, weeks, or months pass before they share what they saw or heard.
But, once in awhile, the phone rings and you hear a befuddled voice explaining what he heard outside his cabin minutes earlier. "What does Bigfoot sound like?" asks the caller. "I think I might've just heard one."
Such a circumstance arose on the night of December 19, 2006. The witness on the other end of the phone line lives in the far Western U.P. of Michigan, near the hamlet of Norway. While in his cabin at about 6:45 PM, he and his friends heard what at first sounded like a dog barking. Then the barking segued into a high-pitched scream. The young men rushed outside to see from whence the scream came and, though they saw nothing, they heard something scrambling up the hillside.
As I talked to the witness, he related previous instances when he and his friends or relatives had spied dark figures lurking around the property. Familiar with the local wildlife, he felt sure the figures were not bears. Did he see Bigfoots on those occasions? Did he hear a Bigfoot on the night of December 19?
No one can say for certain. Yet what known animal barks like a dog then segues into a high-pitched scream? With witnesses, investigators can do no more than decide whether they believe the person. Belief is essential to paranormal research—not zealous, blind belief; rather, the kind of reasoned belief that comes from experience and an examination of the facts.
When someone hears a strange scream, you have no physical evidence to examine. You must rely on your instincts and the witness's testimony. If you fear belief, then you've got a big problem. In a case like this, you have nothing to go one save your belief in the witness's honesty and sagacity.
© 2007 Lisa A. Shiel
Lisa A. Shiel is the author of Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs, & the Sasquatch, a ForeWord Magazine 2006 Book of the Year finalist. Critics have praised Backyard Bigfoot, saying “[it] is as informative as it is entertaining” (Midwest Book Review), “[it is] one of the best types of investigative reporting I've seen” (Reader Views), and “you may agree or not with her conclusions but you will be entertained by the discussions” (The Mining Journal, Marquette).
As a recognized Bigfoot expert, Lisa has been interviewed by big-city newspapers, drive-time talk radio hosts, local and national magazines, and TV reporters. In 2005, she founded the Michigan Upper Peninsula Bigfoot Organization (MUPBO) to explore all aspects of the Bigfoot phenomenon, from sightings to evolution to UFOs. Lisa has a master's degree in Library Science. She currently pens a blog, Bigfoot Quest, as a companion to the MUPBO site.