In October 1967 Roger Patterson rode into the area of Bluff Creek, California hoping to film a bigfoot. And he did! This was just nine years after the whole concept of bigfoot had been publicised by the appearance of some remarkable footprints at Bluff Creek, and by John Green's discussions on the sasquatch in Canada. What incredible good fortune! And nothing like this has filmed since. Yes, especially since the advent of digital photography and phone cameras, innumerable films purporting to show such a creature have surfaced, but nothing of this clarity.
The Patterson-Gimli film, to give its official title, and "Patty", the whimsical name of its subject, has been the focus of intense controversy ever since. Even its detractors admit that, if it is a hoax, it is a very good one. But could it really be just a man in a gorilla suit and if it was, how was it made? Or is a really possible that such a creature could actually exist and, if so, that Patterson was one of the luckiest documentary makers in history? Fortunately, now an expert has entered into the fray.
