Dozens of people claim to have seen Bigfoot in New York: what is known about meetings with the Yeti

Bigfoot is real and lives in upstate New York? Mayville resident Peter Wymer said he knew 45 eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen Bigfoot in the Chautauqua Lake area. Writes about it Syracuse.

“There are a hundred or more witnesses in Chautauqua County who are not talking to me,” Wymer said.

Chautauqua County is filled with dense forests and deep gorges where large animals can live but are rarely seen, such as the black bear. Wymer, who sponsors the annual Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo for bigfoot fans, says footprints seen in nearby Asheville are further evidence Bigfoot exists.

Whitehall, located in Washington County north of Albany, has also had many Bigfoot sightings, earning it the nickname "Yeti Capital of the East Coast."

In 1976, several witnesses, including local police and soldiers, claimed to have seen a humanoid "beast", over 7-8 feet tall and covered in hair, similar to Roger Patterson's famous 2 images of Bigfoot in California. The blurry photo from 1967 is among hundreds of yeti sighting reports across the state.

On the subject: Big Brother's Residence: Top 9 Mysterious Windowless Buildings in New York

Whitehall has its own Bigfoot Summoning Event, the Bigfoot Summoning Festival, which hosts a competition for the best Bigfoot Summon to attract the elusive animal.

But Bigfoot has reportedly been seen in many other places, including in Washington state in 2020, giving hope to enthusiasts across the US.

So is the yeti real? Experts call it a "cryptid", an animal that cryptozoologists believe may exist in the wild but cannot be studied. Other cryptids include the Chupacabra and the Loch Ness Monster.

Dr. Jeff Meldrum, professor of anatomy and anthropology at the University of Idaho, said evidence suggests Bigfoot live in a habitat similar to black bears. And the lack of physical evidence, such as bones, doesn't mean Bigfoot is any less real than other wild animals.

“Finding a dead bear in the wild is almost impossible, same with a coyote or even a fox, because the environment has its own disposal system,” Bigfoot researcher Steve Kulls said.