The late Ken Coon spent 13 years of his life, during the 1960s and 1970s, following every lead on Bigfoot sightings that he could in the U.S., A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's officer, he retired from the force to engage in his search for Sasquatch full time. This book documents the extensive research he compiled but was unable to publish before his death on July 10, 2013.
According to Coon, Bigfoot lurks in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. It defies logic why this creature has never been photographed. Yet people swear to have seen him. People have made plaster casts of his footprints. Some of them swear to have been so near Bigfoot they could smell him.
Even though Mr. Coon never saw Bigfoot, he was convinced that Bigfoot was real. He had interviewed many people who had seen Bigfoot; he had examined hundreds of footprint casts; and had personally seen actual footprints left by the monster. Mr. Coon worked with most of the well-known Bigfoot researchers from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s--the decades when many Bigfoot sightings were made.
Introduction by editor, Pat Edwards:
Whether or not you believe in the existence of Bigfoot, you will find this book fascinating. Ken Coon truly believed in the work that he spent 13 years of his life doing. His research is detailed and compelling and he has certainly earned my respect.
A career law enforcement officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department until his retirement in 1973, Ken Coon felt that he was qualified to interview those who reported sightings and determine if their stories were hoaxes. In this book, he presents his reasons:
"Are we to believe that all of those loggers, hunters, fishermen, farmers, housewives, students, boy scouts, miners and all the others (who report Bigfoot sightings) are really just publicity-seeking liars? That is a pretty tall order even for a skeptical old cop like me...
"I like to believe that I learned something in a quarter century of law enforcement, and one of those things is the ability to interrogate intelligently. Policemen are lied to nearly every day and so, of necessity, must learn techniques of witness interrogation that aid in determining the f
"As most any good cop might do, immediately after hearing a Bigfoot story, I make it a point to learn what I can about the witness or witnesses. I may have offended some of the witnesses in so doing, but I have always felt it important to learn something of the witness' reputation for honesty, sobriety and stability. The majority of the people in question are residents of rural areas where a reputation as a liar, drunkard or screwball is not likely to be kept secret.
"In the great majority of cases, I have found the alleged witness to be of good reputation. In those few cases where I found otherwise, the story had sounded a little fishy, anyway."
Both Joe and I feel privileged to be able to honor the years of work--the dedication and honest belief--that Ken put into his manuscript.
Whether, upon turning the last page, you accept his hypotheses as facts or even possibilities, or if you prefer to dismiss them as flawed, I am convinced that you, too, will respect the man and his work.