By Tim Binnall
In an instructive display of how misinformation can easily spread online, a phony Sasquatch report that went viral last month was repurposed by another mischievous individual who managed to pull off the same feat in their state. The weird copycat case finds its roots in a story from April wherein an Alabama man took to social media to share a rather fantastic account of how a hunter had recently experienced a harrowing encounter with Bigfoot at Big Lake Creek in the community of Wilmer and that authorities were investigating the unsettling sighting. No doubt thanks to some indecipherable pictures of the 'creature' included with the post, the tale spread widely among local residents online until an area sheriff's office dismissed the report and the man revealed it was a hoax.
While that would normally be the end of the story, the tale wound up finding new life by way of a rather unimaginative person in Iowa. The prankster proceeded to copy the account of the faux Bigfoot sighting nearly word-for-word, changing only the location and a few details about where it allegedly happened so that it would sound local, and then posted it on social media along with the photos. Much like with what happened in Alabama, the story soon spread among residents with many of them studying the pictures and debating whether or not the Sasquatch encounter was genuine. The buzz was considerable enough that a local newspaper even set about getting to the bottom of the mystery and ultimately concluded that it was fake.
The 'success' of the Iowa hoax is seemingly owed to the fact that its inspiration from Alabama was confined to the local community where it occurred. As such, when people heard the repurposed account, they had no idea that they were being served a second helping of the same story. With that in mind, it stands to reason that there may be others who attempt to fool their friends and neighbors with the tale, so social media users would be wise to keep an eye out for anyone sharing the now-familiar tale of a local resident who encountered Bigfoot at a well-known spot in the area and managed to capture some blurry pictures to 'prove' it.