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Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story
Bigfoot! Huge, hairy, foul smelling, this legendary apelike animal continues to captivate the public’s imagination. This fascination hinges on a single piece of motion-picture film shot in northern California in 1967. For thirty-five years, Bigfoot believers have been convinced that this sixty-second piece of film proves the physical reality of Bigfoot.
But now comes a book that demolishes that belief, that produces final proof that the film footage is a hoax.
The Making of Bigfoot tells the amazing story of Roger Patterson of Yakima, Washington. A part-time rodeo rider, chronically unemployed and dying of cancer, Patterson propelled himself into short-lived fame and fortune by exploiting his obsession with the Bigfoot subject and leveraging his expertise in manipulating and conning people to pull off one of the world’s great hoaxes.
Living within two hours of Patterson’s hometown, for three years paranormal investigator and author Greg Long interviewed more than forty witnesses in Yakima who knew Patterson intimately. The voices of these witnesses, combined with facts unearthed from newspaper archives, books, and court documents, tell the real story of Roger Patterson.
Both tragic and comical, a unique slice of Americana, The Making of Bigfoot captures the testimony of a colorful cast of characters who bring to life a man and a time in the 1960s when Bigfoot strode into the American imagination, and the world embraced a myth.
But now comes a book that demolishes that belief, that produces final proof that the film footage is a hoax.
The Making of Bigfoot tells the amazing story of Roger Patterson of Yakima, Washington. A part-time rodeo rider, chronically unemployed and dying of cancer, Patterson propelled himself into short-lived fame and fortune by exploiting his obsession with the Bigfoot subject and leveraging his expertise in manipulating and conning people to pull off one of the world’s great hoaxes.
Living within two hours of Patterson’s hometown, for three years paranormal investigator and author Greg Long interviewed more than forty witnesses in Yakima who knew Patterson intimately. The voices of these witnesses, combined with facts unearthed from newspaper archives, books, and court documents, tell the real story of Roger Patterson.
Both tragic and comical, a unique slice of Americana, The Making of Bigfoot captures the testimony of a colorful cast of characters who bring to life a man and a time in the 1960s when Bigfoot strode into the American imagination, and the world embraced a myth.
476 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2003
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2018
wow, couldn't put this one down, and wound up staying up way too late as a result. yawwwnnn... not the book, me today!
anyway, this is the definitive book about The Man Who Wore the Bigfoot Suit, one Bob Heironymous, and the Man Who Perpetuated the Hoax, Roger Patterson. if you're into folklore, Americana, and/or cryptozoology, THE MAKING OF BIGFOOT: THE INSIDE STORY is a true must.
the writer, Greg Long, goes to 'long' lengths to allow the principals to clear their names for the record. spending in excess of two and a half years tracking down everyone involving in the so-called "Patterson/Gimlin" footage -- you know, the one minute clip of a supposed sasquatch you see every time you turn on A & E during Monster Week? -- Long details the backgrounds and motivations for the pranksters.
it's a classic story of hucksterism -- Roger Patterson, the cowboy ranch hand dying slowly of cancer and wanting to pull one "big last scheme" to milk a gullible public and leave his wife and 3 kids an asset to live on after his death -- and the good ol' boys he conned into financing the construction of his Bigfoot suit and actually wearing it while Patterson shot the 16mm footage.
if it were just an expose, the book would be so-so. what brings it up to Mark Twain level of 'a cold, hard look' at the realities of America is the author's detailing of Patterson's unambigious nature as the original flim-flam man. a grifter at heart and willing to charismatically draw in 'suckers' to invest in his various bigfoot schemes at the same time he was covertly lining 'em up for The Big Fall, Patterson emerges not as the humble cowboy hand who 'happened' upon the 'Squatch footage of a decade, but as a semi-tragic figure who just couldn't stop himself from obsessively bringing Bigfoot to life because he saw "gold in them thar mountains," so to speak.
the strange, often Fortean world in which Patterson inhabited drew in many 'famous' and wealthy patrons, and there are staggering Hollywood connections, music biz artists and producers, and others who all hover in the shadows as ominously as any cryptid creature. each patron of the dark arts of Patterson's deception has his or her own motivation, but they all boil down to one common thread: greed and ambition to achieve fast bucks at any cost.
contrasted with the sucker bet Bob Heironymous (as in Anonymous?) who wore the suit and kept his vow of silence to Patterson for 35 amazing years adds another tragic dimension to the storyline. listening to the bitter Heironymous recount how Patterson stiffed him of the $1,000 'quick money' he promised the suit wearin' thespian even though Patterson made hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years with the one minute film -- definitely an impressive gross for a short film given the no budget cost! -- makes the reader realize: had Patterson been smart enough to pay off Heironymous as promised? the scheme would've forever remained debated as actual footage vs. hoax.
but Patterson just couldn't help himself. he seems pathologically unable NOT to cheat everyone he encounters, failing to pay every bill, dropping by 'friends' homes to run up thousand dollar phone bills and not paying them, even going so far as to steal the rented camera he shot the footage with! and if that weren't enough, he actually sells the so-called "Patterson/Gimlin" footage to not one, not two, but three different film companies, none of whom know about the others! likewise, his book, BIGFOOT: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF AMERICA, is sold to multiple publishers, none of whom realize the con job!
though it can be a bit tiresomely written, Long has nevertheless written one of the great skeptic's books in a (pun intended) long, long time. if the real sasquatch 'research' types were as thorough as Long, they'd have disproved/proved the supposed hominid's existence or lack thereof many, many moons ago.
anyway, this is the definitive book about The Man Who Wore the Bigfoot Suit, one Bob Heironymous, and the Man Who Perpetuated the Hoax, Roger Patterson. if you're into folklore, Americana, and/or cryptozoology, THE MAKING OF BIGFOOT: THE INSIDE STORY is a true must.
the writer, Greg Long, goes to 'long' lengths to allow the principals to clear their names for the record. spending in excess of two and a half years tracking down everyone involving in the so-called "Patterson/Gimlin" footage -- you know, the one minute clip of a supposed sasquatch you see every time you turn on A & E during Monster Week? -- Long details the backgrounds and motivations for the pranksters.
it's a classic story of hucksterism -- Roger Patterson, the cowboy ranch hand dying slowly of cancer and wanting to pull one "big last scheme" to milk a gullible public and leave his wife and 3 kids an asset to live on after his death -- and the good ol' boys he conned into financing the construction of his Bigfoot suit and actually wearing it while Patterson shot the 16mm footage.
if it were just an expose, the book would be so-so. what brings it up to Mark Twain level of 'a cold, hard look' at the realities of America is the author's detailing of Patterson's unambigious nature as the original flim-flam man. a grifter at heart and willing to charismatically draw in 'suckers' to invest in his various bigfoot schemes at the same time he was covertly lining 'em up for The Big Fall, Patterson emerges not as the humble cowboy hand who 'happened' upon the 'Squatch footage of a decade, but as a semi-tragic figure who just couldn't stop himself from obsessively bringing Bigfoot to life because he saw "gold in them thar mountains," so to speak.
the strange, often Fortean world in which Patterson inhabited drew in many 'famous' and wealthy patrons, and there are staggering Hollywood connections, music biz artists and producers, and others who all hover in the shadows as ominously as any cryptid creature. each patron of the dark arts of Patterson's deception has his or her own motivation, but they all boil down to one common thread: greed and ambition to achieve fast bucks at any cost.
contrasted with the sucker bet Bob Heironymous (as in Anonymous?) who wore the suit and kept his vow of silence to Patterson for 35 amazing years adds another tragic dimension to the storyline. listening to the bitter Heironymous recount how Patterson stiffed him of the $1,000 'quick money' he promised the suit wearin' thespian even though Patterson made hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years with the one minute film -- definitely an impressive gross for a short film given the no budget cost! -- makes the reader realize: had Patterson been smart enough to pay off Heironymous as promised? the scheme would've forever remained debated as actual footage vs. hoax.
but Patterson just couldn't help himself. he seems pathologically unable NOT to cheat everyone he encounters, failing to pay every bill, dropping by 'friends' homes to run up thousand dollar phone bills and not paying them, even going so far as to steal the rented camera he shot the footage with! and if that weren't enough, he actually sells the so-called "Patterson/Gimlin" footage to not one, not two, but three different film companies, none of whom know about the others! likewise, his book, BIGFOOT: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF AMERICA, is sold to multiple publishers, none of whom realize the con job!
though it can be a bit tiresomely written, Long has nevertheless written one of the great skeptic's books in a (pun intended) long, long time. if the real sasquatch 'research' types were as thorough as Long, they'd have disproved/proved the supposed hominid's existence or lack thereof many, many moons ago.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2024
One couple's journalistic effort to uncover the truth behind one of the most famous videos ever.
It's a fascinating story of a small time cowboy conman who saw bigfoot as a ticket to fame and fortune, and through legitimate artistic talent, and some illegitimate scamming, managed to create an enduring video that is still fooling people today.
Greg Long and his wife, Pat, spent countless hours driving all over the Northwest interviewing everyone that had even a small connection to the video. Long's attention to detail can be tedious at times, but it leaves no doubt about the facts of the case.
In a world that has been inundated by gobbledegook theories, some with serious consequences, it is fun to watch one of such low stakes being exposed. It is a book that often gets at the very heart of people's desperation to believe the fantastical, that they are holding on to a secret truth that the mainstream isn't capable of understanding.
Toward the end of his research, Long bemoans: "Skeptics would reject anybody's analysis, amateur or scientist. You could spend a hundred thousand dollars performing high tech analysis on the film to prove it's a man in a suit, but you wouldn't get anywhere ... no matter what I write, the believers will still believe. "
Doesn't that capture the mindset of so many people into conspiracy theories? I talked to a family member not too long ago about a political one that could very easily be disproved, and she told me, "You can show me all the facts in the world, but I won't change my mind on this."
And that is what is so intriguing to me about this book: it methodically reveals the empty core that is so often at the heart of these types of things. I'm glad we have people like Greg Long, to whom the facts actually do matter.
It's a fascinating story of a small time cowboy conman who saw bigfoot as a ticket to fame and fortune, and through legitimate artistic talent, and some illegitimate scamming, managed to create an enduring video that is still fooling people today.
Greg Long and his wife, Pat, spent countless hours driving all over the Northwest interviewing everyone that had even a small connection to the video. Long's attention to detail can be tedious at times, but it leaves no doubt about the facts of the case.
In a world that has been inundated by gobbledegook theories, some with serious consequences, it is fun to watch one of such low stakes being exposed. It is a book that often gets at the very heart of people's desperation to believe the fantastical, that they are holding on to a secret truth that the mainstream isn't capable of understanding.
Toward the end of his research, Long bemoans: "Skeptics would reject anybody's analysis, amateur or scientist. You could spend a hundred thousand dollars performing high tech analysis on the film to prove it's a man in a suit, but you wouldn't get anywhere ... no matter what I write, the believers will still believe. "
Doesn't that capture the mindset of so many people into conspiracy theories? I talked to a family member not too long ago about a political one that could very easily be disproved, and she told me, "You can show me all the facts in the world, but I won't change my mind on this."
And that is what is so intriguing to me about this book: it methodically reveals the empty core that is so often at the heart of these types of things. I'm glad we have people like Greg Long, to whom the facts actually do matter.
March 2, 2025
Irritatingly accurate and heartbreakingly researched.
March 22, 2025
This book is a little quirky but I got it to read to my son and it exposes everything that I had grown up to believe true. It’s worth a read.
Read
June 7, 2018Exposing a con artist?
an exemplary exploration this -
an exemplary exploration this -
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews