"Often Imitated, Never Invalidated"

JEFFERSON, TEXAS -- Next to a lifelike replica of a giant ape head, the believers milled around tables Saturday covered with casts of large footprints, books about nature's mysteries and T-shirts proclaiming: "Bigfoot: Often Imitated, Never Invalidated."

But the search for the legendary Sasquatch is no joke for many of the nearly 400 people who came here to discuss the latest sightings and tracking techniques at the Texas Bigfoot Conference.

Outlandish theories about the origin of Bigfoot abound, including that it might be an extraterrestrial. Many think that a towering, apelike creature descended from a prehistoric 9- to 10-foot-tall gorilla called a Gigantopithecus and that it now inhabits North American forests.

From The Washington Times, October 17, 2005.