Oklahoma lawmaker introduces bill to establish Bigfoot hunting season
Alleged photo of Bigfoot taken in California.
OKLAHOMA CITY - A Republican state lawmaker is calling for Oklahoma to establish a Bigfoot hunting season.
Rep. Justin Humphrey introduced House Bill 1648 on Wednesday which, if passed, would require the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish rules for a hunting season for the mythical creature purported to inhabit the forests of North America.
Under the legislation, the commission would be required to set annual season dates and create necessary hunting licenses and fees.
If passed, the law would take effect on Nov. 1.
The Oklahoma legislature isn’t the first government body to take the prospect of Sasquatch seriously. In 2019, once-classified documents from the FBI regarding an investigation of physical evidence of Bigfoot were released.
FBI releases previously classified documents with details of alleged physical evidence of Bigfoot
In 1976, Peter C. Byrne, a leading authority on Bigfoot research, found the only known physical evidence of the notorious Sasquatch somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. He sent that evidence to be analyzed by the FBI and after four decades, the agency responded.
In 1976, Peter C. Byrne, a leading authority on Bigfoot research, found the only known physical evidence of the notorious Sasquatch somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. He sent that evidence to be analyzed by the FBI and after four decades, the agency responded.
In a letter to the bureau, he requested the agency "arrange for a comparative analysis of some hairs that we have here which we are unable to identify."
RELATED: Man who sent FBI physical evidence of 'Bigfoot' waited 43 years to learn they took him seriously
"Will you kindly, to set the record straight, once and for all, inform us if the FBI has examined hair which might be that of a Bigfoot," an August 1976 letter from Byrne reads.
Jay Cochran Jr., then-assistant director of the FBI’s scientific technical services division, wrote back, "Occasionally, on a case-by-case basis, in the interest of research and scientific inquiry, we make exceptions to this general policy." The letter, dated Dec. 15, 1976, was addressed to Byrne.
The final report never got back to Byrne, until 2019. Four decades later, it seems the FBI actually took his request seriously.
Like many Bigfoot inquiries, 43 years of waiting and investigation would eventually be met with disappointment. The FBI report concluded that the hairs were "of deer family origin."
This story was reported from Los Angeles.