..
....Bob Gimlin, utterly refused to talk about it at all until about ten years ago, and if truth be told hasn’t said a whole lot since then. What he has said is that he believes that he didn’t participate in a hoax – which opens up four possibilities.
- It was a hoax, and both Patterson and Gimlin were complicit (so Gimlin is lying.)
- It was a hoax, which Patterson arranged, and Gimlin was duped.
- It was a hoax, and both Patterson and Gimlin were duped.
Or.. it wasn’t a hoax at all.
To take them one by one.
..was Gimlin complicit? If he was, then it’s perfectly possible that there were multiple takes of a man in a suit, with all day to get it right, the only risk being someone else catching them at it (or indeed a real, short-sighted randy male bigfoot..) There could have been other people there, even, besides the three (Patterson, Gimlin, and whoever was in the costume: there are those who have claimed it was them, such as Bob Heironimus.)
..or, if Gimlin wasn’t complicit, it would have involved a lot of set up, an actor in a (presumably) hot, uncomfortable suit sitting around for hours with or without assistance (a suit at least good enough to be convincing to the naked eye of an experienced woodsman, so probably intricate to get into and nigh-impossible to get into alone), located in a very remote area, just waiting for Patterson and Gimlin to come ambling round the corner and with no trace of anybody else, if indeed anyone else was there. Not impossible, but a one-take deal. It has been suggested that Patterson’s insistence that if they encountered one they must not shoot it has been cited as evidence that he didn’t want Gimlin accidentally and unknowingly injuring an actor.
..or, maybe neither were complicit, and both were pranked by a third party – but see above for the logistical likelihood of that with the added lack of guarantee they’d even go anywhere near there (see also long lines of prints found in snow miles from where anyone could be sure to see them before they melted – time-critical hoaxing relies entirely on reaction from an innocent party otherwise it’s utterly pointless.)
..or, it shows a female bigfoot walking away from the camera.