Idaho scientist hopes to spot Bigfoot from the sky

11 most mystifying Bigfoot sightings

The legendary Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is supposedly an ape-like creature that inhabits forests. Though most scientists discount its existence, "sightings" continue to pop up. Here are the top 11.

The search for Bigfoot is taking to the sky -- if an Idaho scientist’s plan to float a blimp in search of Sasquatch is financed.

Despite skepticism from colleagues, Jeffrey Meldrum, an anatomy and anthropology professor at Idaho State University, is seeking to raise $300,000 or more in private donations to build a remote-controlled aircraft and equip it with a thermal-imaging camera, according to Reuters. His goal: catching footage of the elusive, ape-like creature.

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"The challenge with any animal that is rare, solitary, nocturnal and far-ranging in habitat is to find them and observe them in the wild; this technology provides for that,"  Meldrum said.

Meldrum, who is well known in Bigfoot science circles, previously wrote the book "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science." He hopes this new exploration will help prove to non-believers that the legend is real. Meldrum said Bigfoot is an animal that may have descended from a giant ape that once inhabited Asia and crossed the Bering land bridge to North America.

Lacking in concrete evidence, mainstream science has discounted the creature as a phenomenon borne of myth and misidentifying other animals, Reuters reported.

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The blimp based search was first thought-up by William Barnes, a Utah man who said he encountered Bigfoot in 1997 in northern California, who then approached Meldrum with the aerial idea.

The aircraft expedition dubbed, the Falcon Project, is planning to take flight next spring to survey remote forest across parts of the Pacific Northwest as well as northern tiers of California and Utah, Reuters reported.

Despite the lack of hard evidence, Bigfoot believers are steadfast in their conviction that somewhere out there lurks a giant hominoid that simply has eluded all efforts to track it down.

"I have been immersed in Sasquatch research for a number of years, and I can tell you in my mind a mountain of evidence supports the existence of these creatures," Ken Gerhard, a San Antonio cryptozoologist who co-wrote "Monsters of Texas," recently told the Houston Chronicle.