Tim Dailey, Christian conspiracy theorist and author of The Paranormal Conspiracy: The Truth about Ghosts, Aliens and Mysterious Beings, appeared on American Family Radio last Friday to discuss his views on a variety of paranormal subjects, including Bigfoot.

Dailey, a former Family Research Council fellow, was interviewed by radio host Janet Mefferd on her show Janet Mefferd Live, where Mefferd asked Dailey how Christians should view reported sightings of Bigfoot in light of a perceived satanic "paranormal conspiracy."

Dailey replied that although there have been "many, many reliable observers" that have reported sightings of Bigfoot, there is a "virtual absence" of physical evidence to convince skeptics that the sightings are credible--something he believes is due to a deliberate deception by demonic forces.

“Number one: you have many, many reliable observers who have seen bigfoot, these are not kids on a prank. The second thing is: a virtual absence of any evidence of their existence,” Dailey responded. “So it shows that what’s going on is not really a physical phenomena. It’s real, it’s a projection, it’s a demonic virtual reality, but it’s not ‘nuts and bolts,’ or, in this case, ‘flesh and blood.’”

Dailey said during the interview that Satan schedules Bigfoot sightings to happen at times that will make it difficult to collect photographic evidence.

“The vast majority happen in the dead of night and you wonder, ‘Why is this?’ And then if you remember the biblical verse about the powers of darkness that love darkness rather than light,” Dailey explained to an agreeable Mefferd.

One story from Dailey's book that Mefferd mentioned in the interview told of a woman who shot at a bigfoot, only to have it seemingly vanish into thin air.

“That’s one of many stories, but you know, bigfoot and UFO researchers are loath to admit that, because they’re tied into the nuts and bolts, three-dimensional existence of these creatures,” Dailey said. “They’re not open really to a spiritual explanation, because then you’d have to discuss the reality of evil.”

“This woman in Pennsylvania, she shot it at point-blank range in the middle of the night, when she saw this creature. It just evaporated. It disappeared and up in the sky there were UFO lights," he continued. "So oftentimes, you wouldn’t think it, UFOs and bigfoots and others of these kind of phenomena are tied, and often occur simultaneously.”

“What could possibly be the reason the devil might be motivated to make an appearance, even if it’s a UFO or an alien that somebody sees, why would the devil do this?” asked Mefferd.

“It’s part of the devil’s modus operandi," Dailey replied. "He has always used this kind of phenomena to, once again destabilize, to engender fear, to open us up to the possibilities of other realities and other beings and then we begin getting involved with demonic spirits. So yeah, all through history there have been many, many different varieties of beings that are primarily spiritual beings that have terrorized civilizations and peoples. Non-Christian cultures are very aware of this, because they have to deal with these beings all the time and that’s what they have shamans for: to hold these spirit beings at bay. We’re getting to that stage here in the United States.”

Despite Dailey's insistence to the contrary, metaphysical explanations for everything from UFOs to Bigfoot have existed for the entire history of paranormal research, including famous works by authors John Keel, Jacque Vallee, and many others.

The main difference between other proponents of high strangeness in fortean investigation and Dailey is their lack of an overtly religious narrative.

Most recently, a statement released from a senior member of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), which was part of the Pentagon program to study UFOs discovered last year, stated that "the UFO phenomenon was capable of manipulating and distorting human perception."

"The investigations by BAASS provided new lines of evidence showing that the UFO phenomenon was a lot more than nuts and bolts machines that interacted with military aircraft," read the statement. "The phenomenon also involved a whole panoply of diverse activity that included bizarre creatures, poltergeist activity, invisible entities, orbs of light, animal and human injuries and much more. The exclusive focus on nuts and bolts machines could be considered myopic and unproductive in solving the larger mystery of UFOs."