By Scott D. Johnston
The fifth annual Sasquatch Summit takes place this Friday through Sunday at Quinault Beach Resort and Casino, where hundreds of believers, witnesses, experts and enthusiasts will discuss and debate everything about Bigfoot.
Event creator and producer Johnny Manson, known to many as the host of the “Morning Madness” broadcast, 5-10 a.m. weekdays on KJET 105.7 FM in Aberdeen, has seen and heard some strange things around his home, “out in the woods” a few miles from Ocean Shores. He thinks it makes perfect sense for the event to be out here, since the Pacific Northwest has experienced a large and growing number of encounters and evidence attributed to the Bigfoot-type primates that many humans believe exist, and a number of serious research efforts are taking place in the region.
A hot topic this year, Manson said, is “the huge great ape nests found in the Olympics.” Several researchers from the Olympic Project will discuss their detailed research, findings and analysis of possible Sasquatch nests resembling those made by African gorillas, reportedly discovered earlier this year in remote areas of the Olympic Mountains.
The Olympic Project is an association of researchers, investigators, biologists and trackers committed to documenting the existence of Sasquatch through science and education. Their founder, Derek Randles, will speak at the Sasquatch Summit, along with David Ellis, Cindy Dosen and Shane Corson. Ellis will discuss his extensive work with a vast array of audio evidence, while Dosen will talk about hair analysis.
Friday night, Randles will lead what has become one of the most popular portions of the Sasquatch Summit, the “Witness Town hall,” where people share their own experiences. Saturday afternoon, the Olympic Project researchers will discuss the nests that have been discovered.
Other scheduled speakers include Scott Taylor from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, now in its 23rd year; Mike Paterson of Sasquatch Ontario, Bob Gimlin, one half of the duo that captured the famous “Patterson/Gimlin Film” of a purported Bigfoot shot in northwestern California in 1967; and Dr. Jeff Meldrum, a Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology at Idaho
State University and the author of “Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science,” who has collected over 300 footprint casts and conducts collaborative laboratory and field research throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Another popular element is a panel discussion Saturday evening with eight different experts. The all-ages event includes interaction with Sasquatch researchers.
More information is available online at www.sasquatchsummit.com.
