'Bigfoot' discovery was just a frozen rubber gorilla suit



A frozen 'carcass' which two hunters said was a Bigfoot is nothing more than a full-body rubber gorilla suit, researchers have revealed.

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer sparked an internet frenzy last week after they claimed to have discovered a corpse of the mythical man-ape while out hiking in remote woods.

What Whitton and Dyer failed to mention is that they are also owners of a company that offers Bigfoot merchadise.



They pair sold the frozen 'corpse' to researchers for an undisclosed sum.

Rick Dyer (R) and Matt Whitton, at last week's press conference where they claimed to have found Bigfoot's body

At a news conference last Friday, they had claimed genetic tests carried out on the 'remains' - which were frozen in ice and placed in a freezer - were inconclusive.



The pair said the male creature was more than seven feet tall, weighed more than 35 stone, had red hair and black-grey eyes.

But Steve Kulls, executive director of the website Squatchdetective.com, said the rubber suit was discovered after the researchers thawed the 'corpse'.

Kulls is part of the team who handed over an undisclosed sum for the remains.



He said researchers had used heat to speed up the thawing of the shaggy remains.

Bigfoot found? The grainy photo appears to show the body of an ape-like creature in a freezer but it is hard to make out what it is

Within an hour, they realised at least part of the head was hollow and, over the next hour, a break appeared near the feet.

He added: 'As the team and I began examining this area ... I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot.'

Even expert Bigfoot obsessive Tom Biscardi - who has been hunting the creature since 1971 - was fooled.

'It's a huge situation for me after 35 years, because I've wanted to bring one back,' Mr Biscardi said at the time.

Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi holds up a picture he claims is the creature's mouth at the press conference last week. Biscardi was convinced that the find was real

'They showed me the body. They took me to the area where they found it - it took a day and a half to get there.'

The Bigfoot, also known as a Sasquatch, is said to roam the forests of north-west America and some suggest that it may be related to the Asian Yeti, or Abominable Snowman.

The Bigfoot first came to prominence in popular culture in 1967 when filmmakers Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin released a video which contained what they claimed was a genuine video of the mythical creature.

Since then many have sought to debunk the myth saying the film clip simply shows a man in ape suit.



Phone calls to Whitton and Dyer went unreturned last night.

But the voicemail recording for their Bigfoot Tip Line - which proclaims they search for leprechauns and the Loch Ness monster - has been updated and announcing they're also in search of 'big cats and dinosaurs'.

