MARQUETTE COUNTY, MICHIGAN -- Bulletin No. 1: Bigfoot is frolicking in the forest east of this Upper Peninsula community, a California-based group of researchers says.
Bulletin No. 2: The group searching for the legendary mannish ape here this week captured evidence of its existence, they claim.
The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization recorded the creature's trademark howl during an expedition late Thursday night.
Group leader Matt Moneymaker quickly ruled out the possibility that the noise came from a human or another animal. He said it was similar to the sounds made by primates.
"We know it wasn't an owl or coyote," he said.
The group heard the noise in response to a howl by one of the searchers. The group also made other noises, including banging on wood with a stick, to pique the interest of the wooly bully.
The big ape is a big draw.
About 50 people from the Midwest forked over $300 to join the four-day Michigan search that ends Sunday. It was sold out as are similar searches planned for Utah and New Mexico later this summer.
The paying investigators say the fee is small compared to the chance of seeing Bigfoot.
They're among the legion of true-believers whose views are bolstered by a growing number of Internet sites reporting sightings and some prominent academics who won't rule out the possibility that the beast exists.
The Michigan attendees are resolute in their beliefs.
Lack of evidence doesn't stop them. Neither do sketchy claims and confessed hoaxes.
To them, Bigfoot isn't some type of fuzzy-headed myth or scam or case of mistaken identity. It's real.
And that's why they're trampling through dense brush in the rain, wearing camouflage and scent-blocking lotion, swatting away mosquitoes and fright.
Bigfoot Cry Taped
BFRO Michigan
