Over the last several years there have been multiple new breeds of animals discovered that no human had ever laid eyes on. That most certainly means that there are other animal species out there that no human has ever seen, and some scientists count the fabled Bigfoot or Sasquatch among that number. A scientist named Jeffrey Meldrum, who is a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University, is trying to raise money for a novel approach to searching for the elusive Bigfoot.
Meldrum is attempting to raise $300,000 to build a remote-controlled airship armed with a thermal imaging system able to float above the forests and search for Bigfoot. Meldrum believes that Bigfoot is real and like any other Bigfoot researcher he is looking for video footage and photographs to prove to the world he is not a crackpot.
Meldrum believes that Bigfoot could be a type of ape that migrated to the United States via the Bearing Straight at about the same time that humans crossed over into the Americas. He calls his blimp plan The Falcon Project. He also claims to have seen a Bigfoot in person in 1997 describing it as a hairy but “well-manicured” beast.
If the team can secure the $300,000 in funding, the airship will be fielded next spring in a survey of the forests of the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Any unexplained sightings that the airship makes would be relayed to ground teams for direct investigation. Meldrum is attempting to apply the scientific method to determine whether or not Bigfoot is real or myth. Despite being ridiculed by scientific peers, Meldrum has received the approval of Idaho State University to work on the project, but he has to fund the blimp himself.
[via The Register]