1976 Hair Sample Not Bigfoot, But from Deer Family

Peter Byrne, Director of the Bigfoot Information Center and Exhibition, wrote Jay Cochran, Assistant Director of the F.B.I., in 1976 asking for a hair sample to be tested. Mr. Byrne believed the sample was from a Bigfoot creature. Testing was conducted with the results conclusive. The sample belonged to an animal from the deer family. This minor setback did not deter Byrne.

In 1976, Byrne was contacted by two U.S. Forest Service Biologists to discuss a strange encounter. The men spotted an upright, bipedal creature lumbering through the woods. Byrne arrived and found a tuft of hair. Having read a New York Times article about the F.B.I. performing non-criminal analysis by special request, Byrne exchanged several letters and then shipped off the sample only to wait 40 years for the answer.

Byrne, now 93-years-old, received the news via newly released documents uploaded to the F.B.I.’s Vault website. This resource contains documents requested through F.O.I.A. (Freedom of Information Act) requests and deemed appropriate for public viewing. Some information is redated; however, most of the documents contain a plethora of information on a wide range of topics.

Even though Mr. Byrne found the response “disappointing,” he believes it would not have deterred his lifelong mission to find evidence of the existence of Bigfoot creature.