<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

"Bring 'em back alive!" was animal collector Frank Buck's motto.

It's what a lot of people want when they hear about cryptids (reported animals unrecognized by science). Wouldn't a captive living dinosaur or giant ape make one of the most amazing tourist attractions of all time (not to mention the scientific value)?

But what if the shoe was on the other (Big)foot? Albert Ostman claimed that, in 1924, he was scooped up in his sleeping bag by a Bigfoot, and taken back to the family. He spent days, unable to escape from what appeared to be a pair of adults and two (possible) adolescents. It was like he was a family pet. During this time, the sasquatch group did not behave like typical humans: no fire, no tools. Although they did make sounds to each other, Ostman's descriptions seem more apelike than humanlike. He eventually got out of the box canyon by tricking the apparent father into ingesting a box of snuff.

As preposterous as the story sounds, people who interviewed Ostman tended to believe him. He did swear an affidavit that the story was true, and some questions put to him (such as the anatomy of the reproductive organs) struck people as a reasonable description rather than a wild fantasy.

When it comes down to it, though, it is still just a story. Ostman's tale didn't even become public until more than thirty years later, and that was in response to local (British Columbia) publicity about sasquatch sightings.

Books and Articles

• Agassiz-Harrison Advance, August 22, 1957 (local newspaper coverage)
• Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life (extensive coverage)
• On the Track of the Sasquatch (from John Green, the first investigator)
• Sasquatches from Outer Space
• Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (brief mention)

External Links

• Ostman's account at BFRO
• John Green commenting on Albert Ostman forty-five years after meeting with him, at Cryptomundo