Was there a Bigfoot sighting in North Carolina?

A man from North Carolina is certain that he met and filmed the mysterious creature that is Bigfoot, reports the New York Daily News. Eric Walters spotted the creature while he was on vacation in Henderson County Thursday morning during a walk with his dog, Zippy, near a lush forest.

In the distance, he spotted what appeared to be either a man or a bear. Walters said that although he was shocked at what he was seeing, he had time to get out his cell phone to film the creature in question.

“I quickly realized it was not a bear but a Sasquatch,” Walters told the local news station. “Zippy could tell I was scared and got so riled up that he got loose and went after it. It turns out the brave little guy chased the Sasquatch away and saved me from a possible encounter.”

Walters says he was thankful that his Yorkshire Terrier scared the creature away. In the video, the dog can be seen running in the direction of what Walters sincerely believed to be Bigfoot. The creature then fled to the forest in a weird gallop.

“Either there’s a Sasquatch out there or someone is trying to play a practical joke,” Walters admitted afterwards.

Walters sent the video of the alleged Bigfoot sighting to Citizen-Times and asked Internet users to keep an open mind when viewing the footage.

Throughout the years, there have been numerous Bigfoot sightings, but the scientific community says that the existing evidence is not sufficiently convincing, and experts generally regard the sightings as the result of mythology, folklore or misidentification of a real animal. Many professionals and scientists insist that additional studies on Bigfoot are a waste of time, but supporters of the creature’s existence believe that current evidence can be scarce and must be assessed objectively.

Although most experts say Bigfoot is nothing more than a myth, scientists such as Jane Goodall, Grover Krantz, and Jeffrey Meldrum have expressed interest and a certain belief in the creature. According to Wikipedia, a few scientists have focused research on the alleged creature for the greater parts of their careers. Others, including an active subculture mostly composed of fans, currently continue to investigate and consider the existence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch as a possible descendant of Gigantopithecus, an extinct genus of ape that existed millions of years ago.

[Image via YouTube]