In June 2019, breathless headlines referred to an “FBI Bigfoot Investigation,” suggesting that newly declassified FBI files shed light on the venerable manlike mystery. As skeptics expected, it was much ado about nothing. In 1976, prominent Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne, director of the Bigfoot Information Center and Exhibition, wrote to the FBI asking if they would agree to analyze some material—specifically fifteen hairs of unknown origin along with a bit of skin.
The FBI did not “investigate Bigfoot”; it did not deem the monster credible or even worthy of investigation.