Making the case for Bigfoot

Search for proof: Armed with enough evidence to persuade all but the most hardened sceptics, self-proclaimed Bigfootologist Luke Molloy yesterday gave students at Ballyroan Library in Rathfarnham, Dublin, reason to believe.

With video and still footage of alleged sightings of the mysterious hairy creatures to illustrate his presentation, Mr Molloy said there is overwhelming evidence supporting the existence of the species.

"I would say at the moment the evidence is conclusive but not incontrovertible," he said following his presentation. "People won't be happy without a sample. It will have to be a body."

That hasn't happened, of course, but as the European representative for the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organisation, Mr Molloy is a veritable human catalogue of Bigfoot sightings. Everything from the footprint to the hair on the chest of the creatures has been debated, but some of the best evidence comes from research done by Jimmy Chilcutt, an expert in primate fingerprints, Mr Molloy said.

Mr Chilcutt, a former police officer in Texas, identified certain ridges and valleys on casts of supposed Bigfoot prints as those of non-human primates, indicating the casts were genuine in his opinion. Mr Molloy will speak again in south Dublin today at Clondalkin Library (11am) and Lucan Library (3.30pm).

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times