S O U T H E A S T O H I O S U P E R N AT U R A L
FOLLOW THE FOOT Bigfoot Sightings Continue in Guernsey County STORY BY JOHN JAROSIK | PHOTOS PROVIDED
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n January 2020, a video surfaced of a hairy ape-like creature, stalking Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. The video, entitled “Salt Fork Ohio Grassman - Bigfoot - Sasquatch” and uploaded on YouTube by We Do It Outdoors, caused a stir, receiving statewide media attention. The video gained a lot of attention, despite how common Bigfoot sightings are in Guernsey County and the entire state. According to BFRO.net, a website that records the number of Bigfoot sightings across North America, Guernsey County had 14 reported listings in 2020–the second highest in the state, only to Portage. Ohio ranked fourth in most reported Bigfoot sightings across the country in 2020, with 302 listings. “If you take 100 reports, 85% of those are flushed immediately, the next 7% are hoaxes and the remaining 7% you have to take seriously given what they’ve found, the measurements, and whatever has been said to the media,” Marc DeWerth, head of the Ohio Bigfoot Conference, says. Salt Fork has hosted the Ohio Bigfoot Conference since it began in 2005. One of the speakers from this year’s
RIGHT: A gathering of Grassman enthusiasts from 2019. The Ohio Bigfoot Conference was canceled for 2020, but plans to continue in 2021.
38 | WINTER/SPRING 2021
