Fifty years ago today, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin visited northern California in the hopes of spotting Bigfoot and wound up capturing perhaps the most famous film footage in paranormal history.
Known colloquially as the 'Patterson-Gimlin film,' the roughly minute-long scene purportedly shows the legendary Bigfoot in remarkable detail as it walks directly in front of the camera.
Over the last five decades, the footage has captivated and mystified viewers and has become an iconic symbol of Bigfoot featured in countless television programs and documentaries.
In fact, there's little doubt that nearly every person reading this article has seen the footage at some point in their lives and, for many paranormal enthusiasts, on more occasions than they can probably count.
Of course, due to the stunning nature of the footage, it has also proven to be incredibly controversial with scientists of all stripes attempting on numerous occasions to confirm or disprove that the creature in the film is a genuine Bigfoot.
Even the cryptozoology community does not universally accept the veracity of the footage with 'where one stands on the Patterson-Gimlin film' often serving as proverbial litmus test for many researchers.
A thorn in the side of skeptics, the tantalizing footage stands head and shoulders above all other Bigfoot evidence in the sense that it is simply either a legitimate film of the creature or a well-produced hoax that has managed to persist for all these years.
To that end, despite being vigorously analyzed, stabilized, and dissected as well as endlessly debated, the Patterson-Gimlin film has never been debunked, leaving the question of its veracity unanswered to this day.
While we may never truly know if the footage features a real Bigfoot, what seems to be certain is that the film will never be forgotten.
Coast Insiders can hear a fascinating first-hand account of the film by checking out the 4/16/2016 edition of the program featuring Bob Gimlin himself sharing the story of how both Bigfoot research and his own life were changed forever on that fateful day in 1967.
Insiders can also learn about some of the analysis conducted on the footage via the 8/7/2015 edition of the program featuring special makeup effects designer Bill Munns.
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