The Seattle Times: Sunday, August 10, 2014
John Ray, of Marysville, and Rob Parker, of Snohomish, have spent years hunting in the old-growth forests of Snohomish County for evidence of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch.
They haven’t convinced the scientific community, but the “squatchers” say it’s only a matter of time.
Parker, 60, is a former policeman and compliance officer for the state Department of Labor & Industries. He now oversees safety for a Bellevue contractor. Ray, 49, works as a procurement agent and contract administrator for a “large airplane manufacturer,” but he didn’t want to say which.
Recently, news broke that scientists determined DNA taken from hair samples attributed to Bigfoot in reality was from known animals.
Those who say they’ve seen one describe a stinky, ape-like creature covered with hair, standing about 10 feet tall.
Parker and Ray understand that they’re hunting something most people don’t believe exists. But they can’t shake the strange things they say they’ve seen and heard in the woods.
“When you rule out everything that lives in that forest, what are you left with?” Ray said. “You can’t say it’s not a Sasquatch.”
On a July night, under a full moon, Ray and Parker each drove a truck along the Mountain Loop Highway, communicating on radios.
“We’re going to see what jumps out in front of us,” Ray said. “Hopefully, we’ll get something big and bipedal.”
They use technology to help them in their hunt: dash cams, thermal imaging cameras, their radios and audio recording equipment.
Ray said he doesn’t use night vision cameras because he’s “pretty sure” Bigfoot can see the light that’s emitted. That’s why, he continues, squatchers on Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” series haven’t captured the creature on film. Ray appeared in an episode that aired in January 2013 called “Sasquatch Spies.”
Seeing Bigfoot, they say, is a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Parker said he came upon his first bigfoot by chance. He was fishing at Mount Si in 1969. “There was this godawful, roaring scream,” he said. “It was terrifying. It clearly did not want us there.”
He said a hairy beast pulled a bush aside and peeked its head out. It stood and roared. At the time, Parker said, he didn’t know what to make of it. Later, he read a book about Bigfoot.
“I thought ‘son of a gun, it was a Sasquatch. Other people see them too,’” he said.
The pair serve as investigators with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a national group trying to prove the creature exists. The group collects reports of purported Sasquatch sightings and vet the claims.
Ray and Parker were invited to join the exclusive group years ago after going squatching with BFRO members.
“They’ve got to make sure you’re not too crazy,” Ray joked.
Parker said his investigative experience aids him in stalking Sasquatch and vetting other people’s sightings.
“It’s easy to tell when someone’s telling you a whopper,” he said.
Snohomish County, and the Mountain Loop, are considered hot spots for Bigfoot sightings, they said.
Parker has been researching Sasquatch for the past four decades. In the 1970s, he worked with John Green, a retired Canadian journalist, author and leading Sasquatch researcher who is known as “Mr. Bigfoot.” Parker also has his own group, Snohomish County Sasquatch.
“If you’re not afraid to let people know you’re a nut, the reports start coming out of the woodwork,” he said.
Parker tracks the action on a topographic map. He and Ray also use the BFRO database to look for trends in activity and narrow their search.
In the woods, the pair let out long, guttural howls and whoops. They also knock on wood, clack rocks and make game calls.
“I want to say ‘hey look at these hairless dudes here,’” Ray said. “We’re just trying to get them to hang out with us.”
Ray started actively hunting the creatures following a BFRO expedition in 2008. A large, dark figure emerged on a ridge near his campsite, he said. “I saw these two huge, glowing red eyes,” he said. “They were the size of 50 cent pieces, nine feet off the ground.”
The beast looked right at him.
“I just stood there with my mouth wide open,” Ray said. “I never expected that would happen. I’m a logical person.”
That’s when a hobby turned into something more. He was hooked. “You get this thrill of seeing something that doesn’t exist,” he said.
Ray takes two of his sons, Michael, 16, and Christopher, 12, out on the bigfoot hunts. The boys are bait; children and women pique the creature’s curiosity, Ray said.
“They like women and kids because we’re not much of a threat,” Michael explained. That’s why he’s glad he’s getting older.
“Now, I’m no longer just bait,” he said. Still, he said, most of his friends think he’s “full of beans” when he tells tales of Sasquatch.
On their July hunt, a full moon illuminated the Mountain Loop. The reputedly elusive creatures don’t usually come out on a bright night. But when it comes to squatching, Ray and Parker heed one regard.
“If you weren’t there. If you didn’t see it. You can’t say it happened — and you can’t say it didn’t,” Ray said.
Renee B
Oh Lord more BFRO wood knockers and howlers. Spare me. $maker is aptly named and his show (not) Finding Bigfoot is a joke. Since he and the BFRO are one and the same I’ll retain my skepticism. I believe Wes and Will’s accounts but reserve my belief in any story the BFRO is involved in.
BTDT
They need to change company policy, if they keep on NOT finding bigfoot the ratings are going to go off a cliff, Like those ghost shows, you can only say “DID YOU HEAR THAT” so many times before it gets real old.
Charles R
I have met several BFRO people and every one I met was very grounded and knowledgeable. they are picky about who they let in, and a lot of them are professional people in important jobs including military, law enforcement, forestry, science professions, teachers, coaches, business owners and managers etc. No matter what one thinks of Matt, this organization has cataloged more encounters than all others by a substantial margin. And they only publish a report after researching it and being satisfied the witnesses are truthful. There data base is somewhere around 40k now of which maybe 20 percent have been published.
The members are only trying to do what most of us are.
As for the show, it is a production show controlled by Animal Planet. Wood knocking and a howl will call in the Forest people if they are in the neighborhood. It has worked for me and I am sure others on this site also. Once the Forest People get close enough and figure you out they generally will move out. When you go into the woods with 4 members and 12 people on the production crew you are not going to get the response that one or two folks without the lights will and they all know it. I agree with BTDT and think there time is about over as the production team does the same thing with a twist over and over and did you hear that has lost its luster. What the show has done is brought Bigfootology more main stream and in the open and reports are coming in at a far greater rate than ever as people are not as reluctant to be labeled a kook as in the past, and this can only be a good thing. I myself am not afraid to bring up bigfoot to people or groups, usually in a creative way and I can not believe the good response I have received and found quite a few people in my area that have told me or the group about their encounters. Try it at a bar sometimes when tongues are a little more loose.
Jay Carlsen
……. Yeah , it has brought the Topic to the Fore Front , I must give them credit for that. Have they ever found anything? I seen an episode , where these Kids filmed this thing Standing Up ……. Then Walking Away . They had these School Kids at the site & grilled them over the authenticity , Concluding it was Faked . ( Idaho maybe ?) I sat & tried to put myself in those Kid’s Shoes . Clearly was No Bear . I Don’t know , they just seem to pass over the Obvious at times.
How long has the Show been running now ? I just do not see them bringing any more Information to the Table – That hasn’t already been presented.
Mindy V
I agree with you, Jay. I saw that episode, too, and so many times they have concluded that someone wasn’t being truthful. It is absolutely not right to say someone is being untruthful as they often do. They try to slant it so that they don’t directly call them “liars” but that’s exactly what they imply. And that girl is the worst! She has so many people in costumes running around in the forest I’m surprised they don’t need yield signs so they won’t run into each other. Or knowledgeable people mistaking a bear for sasquatch is another favorite of hers. For a skeptic on this program they don’t need someone who absolutely won’t listen to or observe evidence and then make a determination. She has already said that she can’t believe it until she sees it herself. That’s not scientific, that’s ostrich (sticking her head in the sand). Absurd.
Patrick G
So, no comments on these jackasses using their kids as bait? Holy crap. I just can’t believe they’d do that and admit it.
I was sent this the day it came out by a relative out there. Forwarded it to Will J that day.
These guys were in the exact same area that I got my pictures from…3days before I took them. Drove right by it probably numerous times.
I also think its funny they name drop the old school guys, but use thier kids for bait. They are not winning hearts and minds with sideshow BS like this.
Andrew M
I was thinking that too! I was waiting for it tos say they were just kidding and it never came! Wow
ICEMAN
money maker is a joke , you cant take 20 people into a area and make all that noise, an expect any BF to reply to any thing. He has been none to send people to the woods to reply to his calls , get real hear this is a show only, if they found a real BF it wood scare the shit out of them all , BF is real but Moneymaker is has been known as a Hoaxer .
Frederick W
We all know that Moneymaker is a total waste of skin… but I have never heard of him being known as a hoaxer. Can you please point me to the article or website where this hoaxer evidence is located as I would like to see that information? Thanks.
The only thing that comes to mind is that some people say the Skookum cast was made by an elk. Is that is what you are talking about?
Has anyone else ever heard of Moneymaker being a Hoaxer and not just a P.O.S.
Merry Christmas my Squatch loving friends.
Kay S
What idiots! Using your children as bait! I can just hear the cries of ‘It wasn’t my fault!’ when it all goes wrong and their children disappear..