This is a sad story for everyone involved, but I think it illustrates and illuminates a few key points about Bigfoot sightings and research. On the one hand, it is never a good idea to put on a costume that makes you look like Bigfoot, or a bear, or any other large animal that other humans might want to shoot or kill, whether for fame, sport or self-defense. That being said, if so many Bigfoot sightings are hoaxes, and there are tons of yahoos running around the woods in gorilla costumes jumping out and scaring people (as many skeptics would like for us to believe), how come there aren’t more instances of the hoaxers being caught, injured or even killed? Thanks to Jeffrey and Margaret for submitting this story.
A ghillie suit, camouflage for hunters and military snipers.
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — A man dressed in a military-style “ghillie” suit and apparently trying to provoke reports of a Bigfoot sighting in northwest Montana was struck by two cars and killed, authorities said.
The man was standing in the right-hand lane of U.S. Highway 93 south of Kalispell on Sunday night when he was hit by the first car, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. A second car hit the man as he lay in the roadway, authorities said.
Flathead County officials identified the man as Randy Lee Tenley, 44, of Kalispell. Trooper Jim Schneider said motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.
“He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting,” Schneider told the Daily Inter Lake (bit.ly/PWJvA5) on Monday. “You can’t make it up. I haven’t seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him.”
Ghillie suits are a type of full-body clothing made to resemble heavy foliage and used to camouflage military snipers.
“He probably would not have been very easy to see at all,” Schneider told KECI-TV ( bit.ly/PkdWMO).
Tenley was struck by vehicles driven by two girls, ages 15 and 17, who were unable to stop in time, authorities said.
I do feel bad for this man, but it was a stupid idea. It’s something you expect from teenagers, not fully grown adults. He didn’t deserve to die for this, but it just goes to show how dangerous stunts like this can truly be. And I feel bad for the two teenage girls who were involved in this incident. They now have to live with this for the rest of their lives, because someone was trying to be funny.
