By Tim Binnall
A puzzling piece of footage from Russia seems to show a large, hairy bipedal creature chasing after a car, and a cryptozoologist in the country believes that the oddity could have been a Bigfoot. The strange encounter reportedly occurred back in 2016, but the video of the unsettling sighting only appeared online earlier this year. Months later, it finally caught the attention of the media in Russia, who recently spoke to Igor Burtsev of the International Center for Homology about his investigation into the case.
The cryptozoologist revealed that the video had a profound effect on him as, after seeing it, he "lost both peace and sleep." In the footage, a trio of girls and a man can be heard observing something coming towards their car. One of the girls screams "Lesha, close the window," while another terrified passenger exclaims "he's coming! he's running!" Although the witnesses chose to remain anonymous, Russian media reports that they did meet with Burtsev to recount their experience.
For his part, the researcher indicated that he fastidiously studied the footage frame-by-frame and is quite convinced that the creature that chased after the car was, indeed, a Bigfoot. "This, I think, is the second such case in the world," he marveled, "so convincing. Because it is clear that this creature is running." Based on his close examination of the footage, Burtev posited that it was likely a female Sasquatch due to the shape of the creature's upper torso.
Burstev also explained that a visit to the area where the sighting occurred seemed to bear signs that there were Bigfoot in the area, despite the video being recorded years earlier. "When we went to the forest, we saw broken branches," he reported, "and completely fresh creases," which we presume to mean footprints. Burstev went on to muse that "in local terms, this is 'shurale,' and in Russian it is called the goblin, and in scientific terms, it is a hominoid. Well, before, very actively called Yeti, Bigfoot, but these are all the names of the same creature."
Showing the kind of 'balanced' approach practiced by the mainstream media in America, the Russian coverage of the case has also included the requisite skeptical stance on the video via a university biologist who dismissed the footage. "There is no evidence. No serious zoological and anthropological journal has articles that confirm the existence of this animal," the academic declared, "there is nothing, this is mythology." With that in mind, what's your take on the weird footage? Let us know at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.