Bigfoot, Nessie, and the others: these legendary creatures that science demystifies

© Image generated by AI DALL-E for Presse-citron

From the Lernaean Hydra to the dragons of Central Europe, from medieval unicorns to the sirens of the ancient seas, humanity has never stopped populating its world with fantastical creatures. These mythical beings, on the border between reality and imagination, were not invented for fun. They are at once the reflection of our ancestral fears, of our complex relationship with wild nature and of our almost instinctive need to give form to the unexplained.

Cryptozoology, a discipline born in the 20th century under the impetus of zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, has attempted, often very clumsily, to scientifically study these unlisted creatures. While ancient myths have since largely faded away, more contemporary stories have been the object of fascination of millions of people around the world. Once put under the microscope, these wild and fantastic animals are unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) not really wild anymore.

Bigfoot: the elusive American primate

In the forests of the American Pacific Northwest, Bigfoot has reigned supreme over the collective imagination for over a century. Presented as a massive and hirsute hominid, Native Americans already spoke of this creature under different names: Sasquatch, Skookum or Oh-mah.

These peoples have passed down from generation to generation stories of this gigantic and hairy creature living in the forests, but in the 20th century, Bigfoot went beyond the Native American cultural framework to become a real popular phenomenon.

The year 1958 was a pivotal moment in the history of Bigfoot with the discovery of gigantic footprints by a worker named Jerry Crew, on a Californian construction site. These footprints, much larger than a human foot, have fueled speculation and debate about the existence of a human-like creature that is unknown to the battalion.

They have generated considerable media interest and have led to numerous expeditions to find them. find this mysterious giant ape ; without however reporting any real proof of the existence of the beast.

The phenomenon reached its peak on October 20, 1967, when Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin captured on film a dark-furred ape-like silhouette along Bluff Creek (see below). No doubt, it was Bigfoot! This 59.5-second sequence, scrutinized by generations of researchers, remains the most debated clue to the existence of this animal.

Subscribe to Lemon Squeezer

Yet modern scientific analyzes tell us a different story. Dr Bryan Sykes, a geneticist at Oxford University, analysed more than thirty suspected Bigfoot samples in 2014: hair, tissue, and scat. The DNA results have invariably pointed to known species: black bear, grizzly bear, raccoon, and even… domestic cow.

What's All the Fuss?? Movies, television shows, and other media articles have done much to popularize the Bigfoot legend. These representations, often very sensationalist and far removed from reality, have maintained the ambiguity surrounding this creature, complicating the exercise of separating myth from reality.

The evidence of the non-existence of Bigfoot, although widely accumulated and scientifically validated, does not discourage some, who continue to devote fascination to this animal and to maintain the myth.

Nessie: the unfathomable depths of Loch Ness

Loch Ness, a vast expanse Scottish water body 37 km long and 230 meters deep, is said to be home to a prehistoric monster. The famous Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie.

The modern story of Nessie begins on May 2, 1933, when Aldie Mackay describes seeing a “enormous beast” frolicking in the waters. The sighting sparked a wave of eyewitness accounts and attracted international attention. Local newspapers, including the Inverness Courier, reported on the phenomenon, drawing hundreds of curious onlookers to the shores of the loch.

The photo, taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934, quickly became the iconic image of the monster (see below). The photograph, showing an elongated form emerging from the dark waters, fascinated the whole world and fueled speculations about the nature of the creature. Some saw it as a plesiosaur (marine reptiles different from dinosaurs) surviving from the prehistoric era, others an unknown sea serpent.

This simple photograph stirred the whole world and made Nessie an emblem of cryptozoology. © BnF

Scientific investigations have multiplied over the decades. In 1972, the Academy of Applied Sciences, under the direction of Robert Rines, deployed sonar in the dark waters of the loch. The sonar images captured, although intriguing, did not allow us to conclude that an unknown creature was present.

In 1987, Operation Deepscan mobilized a flotilla of 24 sonar-equipped boats, covering the entire loch to detect Nessie, without conclusive results. In 2003, the BBC funded the most comprehensive study ever conducted, using 600 sonar beams and positioning satellites

This investigation of unprecedented scale, mobilizing cutting-edge technologies and an international team of scientists, resulted in an unequivocal verdict: no unknown creature lurks in the depths of the loch.

Indeed, it was only in 1994 that Christian Spurling, on his deathbed, admitted to having participated in the fabrication of a small hoax. The famous photograph had been taken using a modified toy submarine, topped with a head sculpted in putty. So Nessie never existed, it's as simple as that. However, Loch Ness remains a very popular tourist attraction today and a real micro-economy has been born around this legend.

Chupacabra: the vampire of South America

This is a more recent myth; Let's go back to the 1990s. In 1995 more precisely, in Puerto Rico (Caribbean), when Madelyne Tolentino reported having seen a bipedal creature with grayish skin and red eyes in the town of Canóvanas.

Her testimony, widely relayed by the local media, triggered a wave of panic on the island. The detailed description she provided of a creature 1.20 meters tall, scaly skin, large claws and a row of dorsal spines fueled the collective imagination. The excitement begins!

The attacks attributed to the Chupacabra (literally “goat sucker” in French) spread quickly: more than 150 animals are found deadin a few months, mainly goats and chickens, presenting disturbing characteristics.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

The carcasses, often bloodless, bear mysterious perforations, generally at the neck. The apparent absence of struggle and traces of classic predation intrigues the authorities. The phenomenon spreads like wildfire: from Mexico to Chile, thousands of cases are reported between 1995 and 2000.

As you might expect, veterinary analyses are not sensational. Particularly those carried out by the Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico. The supposed Chupacabras turn out to be in reality… coyotes or stray dogs suffering from sarcoptic mange, a particularly disfiguring parasitic disease.

This condition causes massive hair loss, thickening of the skin that takes on a grayish and scaly appearance, as well as intense inflammation causing redness and swelling around the eyes. Severe malnutrition and dehydration explain the cadaverous appearance of captured specimens.

As for the mysterious perforations on the carcasses, studies reveal that they correspond to the characteristic fang marks of these canids, deformed by decomposition and the action of secondary scavengers.

Even though TikTok didn't exist yet at the time, many viral videos were shared on YouTube, well after the outbreak Chupacabra”. Often blurry and poorly filmed videos, which have often given rise to new interpretations of the exact nature of this monster (see above).

The Beast of Gévaudan: Terror in the Age of Enlightenment

Between 1764 and 1767, a mysterious creature sows terror in the Gevaudan, a mountainous province in the south of France, officially causing 119 victims, mainly women and children. The attacks began on June 30, 1764, with the death of Jeanne Boulet, a young shepherdess aged 14.

The descriptions of the witnesses converge on an extraordinary beast: the size of a calf (or a bull according to the testimonies), reddish to blackish fur, monstrous head with disproportionate fangs, bushy tail about 40 centimeters long.

Poster dating from 1764 presenting the beast and a reward for anyone who would succeed in killing it. © Unknown Author/Wikipedia

The affair took on national proportions. Louis XV, concerned by the panic that was gripping the kingdom, successively sent his best lieutenants of wolf hunting. Captain Duhamel and his dragoons failed. Jean-Baptiste Denneval, a famous Norman hunter, was no more successful. François Antoine, the King's arquebus bearer, shot down a massive wolf in September 1765, which he presented as the beast. The attacks resumed three months later.

Jean Chastel, a local hunter, finally put an end to the reign of terror on June 19, 1767. During a hunt near the Chazes Abbey, he shot an animal described as a “big wolf” with reddish fur. Autopsy reveals unusual characteristics: powerful jaws, extraordinary corpulence, traces of previous projectiles in the skin.

Modern historical research, carried out in particular by historian Jean-Marc Moriceau based on departmental archives and contemporary reports, suggests the coordinated action of several wolves, possibly hybridized with war dogs.

The social context unfortunately amplified the phenomenon: endemic poverty, chronic malnutrition, isolated shepherd children in remote areas. The Seven Years' War, which ended in 1763, had left packs of abandoned military dogs in the region, accustomed to attacking humans.

This combination of factors explains the exceptional scale of the attacks and their lasting impact on the collective memory. Today the Beast of Gévaudan is a cultural symbol of prime importance and a museum is even dedicated to it in the charming town of Mende (Lozère).

The Yeti: the shadow of the Himalayan peaks

The Yeti, nicknamed the “big snowman”, has haunted the Tibetan and Nepalese highlands for millennia. Local people, especially Sherpas, have many accounts of encounters with this massive, dark-furred creature which they call “Metoh-Kangmi”.

Modern mountaineering met myth in 1921 during the first British expedition to Mount Everest, when Charles Howard-Bury's team discovered strange footprints at an altitude of over 6,000 metres.

The decades The following years saw a proliferation of expeditions and testimonies. In 1951, Eric Shipton photographed giant footprints in the snow on the Menlung Glacier, images that would become emblematic of the quest for the Yeti.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Everest, himself organized a scientific expedition in 1960. This ten-month mission, funded by the magazine World Book Encyclopedia, examined the evidence presented by local monasteries: scalps, bones and supposed relics of the Yeti.

Modern science provides decisive answers thanks to advances in genetics. A comprehensive study published in 2017 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, led by Charlotte Lindqvist of the University at Buffalo, analyzed 24 suspected Yeti relics collected over 40 years across the Himalayas. The samples came from a variety of sources: hair, tissue, bone, and feces, preserved in monasteries or collected during expeditions

The DNA sequencing results consistently identify local bears: the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and, more surprisingly, an ancient lineage of extinct polar bears.

This discovery suggests that the Yeti legends may have originated in the encounter between local populations and these mountain bears, whose occasional bipedal behavior and imposing silhouette could have led them to believe in the existence of this imposing beast.

The persistence of the mystery surrounding these creatures testifies to the incredible complexity of human nature: our thirst for the unknown, our need to believe in something greater than ourselves, and our ability to construct narratives that transcend the limits of our understanding. Science has certainly provided tools and answers, but it cannot always explain the subjective: the sensations, emotions, and intuitions that often accompany testimonies. From an anthropological point of view, these legends are also tools for social cohesion: they allow common values, norms, and beliefs to be transmitted from one generation to the next. Bigfoot, Nessie and the others embody, all in their own way, collective fears as well as figures of otherness, representing everything that is different, foreign or threatening.

• Legends of fantastic creatures respond to a deep need to make sense of our world and to explain the unexplained.
• Thanks to technological advances, genetic analyses have made it possible to identify the animal origin of these legendary creatures, often revealing errors of interpretation or simple natural phenomena.
• Despite scientific evidence, some legends continue to fascinate and endure.

📍 To not miss any Presse-citron news, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.