Now that Boing Boing has pushed the so-called Sonoma Bigfoot videotape to the fore of public awareness, I suppose a comment here is overdue.

Many of us have known and discussed these recent "Sonoma Bigfoot" images on the internet for awhile. There is more dismay than joy with what we see happening here. Several people are finding it remarkable that the BFRO would step forth to serve as the photographer’s agent during a time when the moneymaking practices of the group are being challenged. Dr. Jeff Meldrum is only the latest of many "curators" to leave the BFRO.

The BFRO’s immediate jump in conclusions that this videotape is an actual record of Bigfoot seems premature. Their site states that they "are confident the Sonoma footage is not fake (i.e. not animation or a man in a costume). This figure is most likely a real sasquatch — a survivor of the gigantopithecus [sic] line of apes."

Of course, if there is any way to prove it is a Bigfoot, just because the videotape is a Sasquatch does not mean it is a Gigantopithecus.

The videotape does seem a bit funny that it shows this "Bigfoot" going back and forth in front of the camera so "it" can be photographed more obviously when the photographer is ready. There’s more problems than positives with it.

All in all, the Sonoma footage seems too good to be true, and law enforcement investigator John Freitas’ examination appears to confirm this.

Freitas caught the eyewitness-photographer Mark Nelson in several mistruths, such as Nelson’s saying he had never heard of Art Bell and yet Nelson posted his so-called experience on Art Bell’s message board on 11-16-2005. Or that Nelson now states he was on a fire road (as per the BFRO), although Nelson clearly stated he was following a "deer trail" ready to cross a gully to Freitas.

Freitas concluded: "The rampant inconsistencies with Mark’s story, his inability to answer questions freely, his contradictory statements and his unwillingness to show the video in the original format all have raised large red flags. The fact that the scene does not match the terrain is in itself deception, and therefore it is my professional opinion this video is a hoax."