An image of a clump of hairs that were tested by the FBI during the 1970s is included in the file. Image courtesy Federal Bureau of Investigation

June 6 (UPI) -- The federal government took rare action this week on a subject that's typically relegated mostly to Internet forums and conspiracy circles -- the existence of Bigfoot.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday released a cache of files relating to investigatory documents for the creature, also known as Sasquatch, from the 1970s. They document the FBI's testing more than a dozen suspect hairs in 1976 at the request of Oregon resident and Bigfoot investigator Peter Byrne.


The file, released for public view, includes photos, news reports and internal memos and correspondence with the public. Among them are two images showing clumps of the hair.

Byrne asked the bureau to analyze hair and tissue samples he collected in the Himalayas in 1958. He first wrote to the FBI on Aug. 26, 1976, on letterhead that read, "The Bigfoot Information Center and Exhibition." The FBI ultimately determined the hairs belonged to a deer.

Byrne, 93, said he's had an interest in the "unknown and the mysterious" since hearing bedtime stories about the Yeti of the Himalayas as a child. He went on his first Yeti hunt in 1946 while stationed in Bombay, India, as a member of the British Royal Air Force. He also said he once found huge footprints in the Pacific Northwest -- which is prime Bigfoot country, according to believers -- that were made by an upright mammal with five toes and a "46-inch stride." He also cited a recent incident in which loggers saw what they believed was an approaching Sasquatch.

Sightings of a Bigfoot-type creature have been reported for decades. One of the best-known claims includes a 16mm film taken by Roger Patterson purporting to show clear footage of a Sasquatch walking away in the Northern California woods in 1967. It is widely believed to be a hoax.