This picture is the only proof I need that they exist.

We discover new organisms every day. Admittedly they are usually incredibly small or very deep in the ocean or the most impassible jungle, but we still keep finding them. Who knows, maybe this will actually find something new.

Poverty can be cured scientifically?

This is absolutely ridiculous, since Bigfoot has anti-blimp-detection technology that he received from the Ant People.

In order to achieve his goal,though, Meldrum needs to raise $300,000-plus in private donations


Good luck with that Kickstarter, buddy.

Actually, a lingering wildlife-studying thermal camera might find some interesting nature stuff overall. You might find thermal blips where people never go and find there's 3000 of a species believed to be endangered wandering around, but never know about.

Or it could be a complete waste of time. You never know.

Provided your tech is good. In truth thermal cameras do have limitations. Blimps can't handle tough weather conditions either, and are really difficult to bring home and hangar, especially on short notice. Storm coming in, well, it'll take 3 hours to bring the blimp home, if the wind is already blowing by then it'll be impossible to land, and it could be forced down and destroyed if left in the storm. The US Navy tried blimps in the 30's, both of them (Macon and Akron) were destroyed by storms.

Meldrum is kind of a joke in the bigfoot community.

arentol: We discover new organisms every day. Admittedly they are usually incredibly small or very deep in the ocean or the most impassible jungle, but we still keep finding them. Who knows, maybe this will actually find something new.

A new organism in the deepest depths of the ocean or a small monkey discovered in the impassible jungle still isn't an 8 foot tall walking monkey that only drunk stupid people have claimed seeing.

There are two kinds of people; those who believe I'm sasquatch, and those who live on earth.

I watched the Zapruder film life 200 times and I still don't see any farking bigfoot.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Meldrum is kind of a joke in the bigfoot community.

I laughed pretty hard at this.

Well done.

The research probably won't find bigfoot, but I bet it will find something very neat and unknown. Even now, there's a ton of stuff out there we have no idea about. Wasn't there a fark article last year about some expedition finding a bunch of new species, like some blue spider or something?

Bunk! Bunk, I say! Bring me a bag full of Bigfoot's droppings or shut up!

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Meldrum is kind of a joke in the bigfoot community.

A story about a guy who is a joke among people who are themselves jokes and yet Time wonders why their relevance goes down a little every year. I wonder how long until they have to go the Newsweek route and at least stop killing trees to distribute their useless claptrap.

I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he's fuzzy, get out of here!

FTA : There's two kinds of people in this world: Those who believe Bigfoot is real, and those who don't.

There must be some Bigfoot agnostics out there as well.

So there are three kinds of people in the world.

taurusowner: The research probably won't find bigfoot, but I bet it will find something very neat and unknown. Even now, there's a ton of stuff out there we have no idea about. Wasn't there a fark article last year about some expedition finding a bunch of new species, like some blue spider or something?

Yes, because a spider is just like finding an 8 foot tall biped.

How much squash has Sasquatch squashed, if Sasquatch has squashed squash?

taurusowner: The research probably won't find bigfoot, but I bet it will find something very neat and unknown. Even now, there's a ton of stuff out there we have no idea about. Wasn't there a fark article last year about some expedition finding a bunch of new species, like some blue spider or something?

With the kind of thermal camera one can afford with the leftovers of $300K after building a blimp? They're not going to discover shait. They're going to find some unexplained orange streaks (or whatever color they use to designate heat) and claim that they're too big/too hot/too cool/moving too fast/whatever to be anything other than bigfoot. I guarantee it.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Meldrum is kind of a joke in the bigfoot community.

This is funny all on its own.

Imagine being ridiculed by such a community.

As the resident cryptozoologist here, I'd like to say one thing: THERE'S NO FARKING BIGFOOT!

/So many other possibilities out there, and this hairy SOB gets all the attention (and grants).

I'm over here, guys.

Yeesh.

How hard was that?

fusillade762: I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he's fuzzy, get out of here!

Too funny.

"Goony goo goo." 

In the end they shoot him. But he teaches us about things.

If Bigfoot was out there, something that big would need thousands and thousands of caloric intake per day just to survive. A breeding population of bigfoot would leave a huge dent on the local ecology. Note the severe lack of "what out there is eating all this stuff?" stories.

I have a hypothesis about 'footers, kooks, and other pseudo-scientists.

I think it's an issue with wanting to be respected. These kooks see the respect actual scientists and doctors get, and they crave it. They want it badly. But not badly enough to do the years and years of hard work to actually get to that level. They want the respect, but they're lazy.

So they become kooks. Any idiot can become a "bigfoot expert". You watch some blurry bigfoot videos, you learn how to make your own plaster casts, ensure you can't properly identify animal hair, join footer boards on the 'net, and print out a GED in bigfoot expertise. Boom, done. You're now a bigfoot expert. You've found the shortest pillar to climb, and when you get to the top, you get to bask in the applause of the very limited bigfoot believer crowd. It's just a shame you'll never contribute anything worthwhile, other than a footnote in historical texts about cults.

I know it's a joke, but I've met someone who made similar statements and was 100% serious.
They failed to understand that being a "scientist" is a extremely vague title, and just because someone is a professional in one scientific field doesn't mean he/she could work in another.
It was a surreal moment, that when they expressed that they thought I as (computer) scientist should spend time focusing on curing cancer. I suspect the mindset isn't unique.
It took a while for them to understand that not all scientists are in a field even remotely capable of assisting in creating a cure, so getting upset that any scientist chooses to research an unrelated field is pretty pointless and immature.

Cpl.D: I have a hypothesis about 'footers, kooks, and other pseudo-scientists.

I think it's an issue with wanting to be respected. These kooks see the respect actual scientists and doctors get, and they crave it. They want it badly. But not badly enough to do the years and years of hard work to actually get to that level. They want the respect, but they're lazy.

So they become kooks. Any idiot can become a "bigfoot expert". You watch some blurry bigfoot videos, you learn how to make your own plaster casts, ensure you can't properly identify animal hair, join footer boards on the 'net, and print out a GED in bigfoot expertise. Boom, done. You're now a bigfoot expert. You've found the shortest pillar to climb, and when you get to the top, you get to bask in the applause of the very limited bigfoot believer crowd. It's just a shame you'll never contribute anything worthwhile, other than a footnote in historical texts about cults.

The retirement and health benefits are pretty sweet, though. Also, you can't beat the hours.

2 Replies: I know it's a joke, but I've met someone who made similar statements and was 100% serious.
They failed to understand that being a "scientist" is a extremely vague title, and just because someone is a professional in one scientific field doesn't mean he/she could work in another.
It was a surreal moment, that when they expressed that they thought I as (computer) scientist should spend time focusing on curing cancer. I suspect the mindset isn't unique.
It took a while for them to understand that not all scientists are in a field even remotely capable of assisting in creating a cure, so getting upset that any scientist chooses to research an unrelated field is pretty pointless and immature.

Say "hi" to your mom for me.

I hate to rain on the Fark tagline, but HIV IS almost cured.
Oh, Canada....

Coelacanth: As the resident cryptozoologist here, I'd like to say one thing: THERE'S NO FARKING BIGFOOT!

/So many other possibilities out there, and this hairy SOB gets all the attention (and grants).

It's true. The only sort of pro- or crypto-zoologist I can think of is yourself.

So anthropologists should be spending their time trying to cure cancer and AIDS? I wouldn't want to be on one of those drug trials. Also: scientists are supposed to be curing poverty? I think scientists should focus on curing subby's twitishness. Still, I doubt we should be enlisting anthropologists for that.

I hope you be trollin', yo, otherwise you might ought to go get fresh with a carrot or something.

I once asked a Bigfoot nut how come no skeletons had ever been found. He said "they are cannibals."
That's pretty much when I gave up. You honestly believe you know enough about them to know they are cannibals but can't prove they exist? Yea, ok.

That's like that Finding Bigfoot show on Animal Planet. The hoakiest show known to man. Every single thing that happens they say "Bigfoots are known to do that" or "that is exactly what Bigfoot does" - like they know so much about an animal that has never been seen, caught, studied, etc.

Phooey.

I, for one, can't believe that Obama has reassigned all the scientists working on cancer, HIV, and poverty to Bigfoot research. Hope and change indeed.

I do think there's a Squatch in these woods...

fusillade762: I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he's fuzzy, get out of here!

You ought to at least give credit where it's due. Click for Mitch.

Satanic_Hamster: I, for one, can't believe that Obama has reassigned all the scientists working on cancer, HIV, and poverty to Bigfoot research. Hope and change indeed.

It's ridiculous. Only the libtards would waste so much taxpayer money on such bunk. I hope Senator Coburn puts this in the waste book for next year.

FTA: Barnes pitched the idea to Meldrum and the two are now collaborating on what they've called the Falcon Project - a remote-controlled airship they hope will take flight next spring, sweeping remote wilderness areas for proof of Bigfoot's existence.

Find Bigfoot with the Hindenburg? My GOD, it's BRILLIANT! o.o

And, rather ironically, it turns out his feet are very, very small.

Yeah, good luck with that. You might want to ask yourself what bigfoot evolved from before wasting money.

Shyla: Every single thing that happens they say "Bigfoots are known to do that" or "that is exactly what Bigfoot does" - like they know so much about an animal that has never been seen, caught, studied, etc.

My personal favorite, "That's classic bigfoot mating behavior!"

Because there is only one generic pool of "scientists" in the world, and clearly those looking for Sasquatch would be otherwise fully productive oncologists if just given the chance.

Everybody knows Steve Austin chased the last Sasquatch back on to its UFO, where it promptly flew back to the stars..

Will they also have an army of dogs with talking collars whilst they track the mysterious beasts?

Hector Remarkable: This is absolutely ridiculous, since Bigfoot has anti-blimp-detection technology that he received from the Ant People.

fusillade762: I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside.

And there ya go.

Not amused.