Take notice of the picture accompanying this article. It shows a bird feather in two different positions in relation to the light striking it. Our eyes perceive the color(s) of what we view based on the wavelengths of light that objects either absorb or reflect.
In nature, camouflage is predicated on factors such as type of environment (land or water), predators to be concealed from and even physical characteristics such as external fur or skin of both the prey and predator. Prey's natural camouflage may be determined by the predator's eyesight (is it color blind or keen to movement?), hearing and sense of smell (some baby animals have no scent yet), thus prey might have background matching color to avoid detection. What is not so common is for prey to have the ability to change its colorization to match a changing environment.
In the preponderance of alleged Sasquatch sightings, it is reported to vanish right before one's eyes or move off and is no longer visible, disappearing into the forest growth around it. It is the "vanishing" that is the point of interest as described by the following alleged strange encounters in the forest: (1) "He bolted to my right very quick and silently before I finished taking another step to stop. Disappeared into the early morning fog." (2) "As the cat loomed fully into view and out of the confines of the bushes and undergrowth, I could see that its body seemed to be semi-transparent and that the bottom of its front paws were missing." (3) ... the experiences of a well known veteran Sasquatch investigator in the Sierra Nevada Mountains who stated that he was watching one of these creatures walk away from him and then suddenly disappear. The terrain did not offer cover or camouflage and there was no direction that the creature could have taken without being seen.
Read on about my hypothesis for arguing that Sasquatch is not an inter-dimensional or extraterrestrial being, but rather an indigenous, flesh and blood intelligent creature with natural abilities allowing it to evade detection as exemplified in the witness accounts detailed. I'm referring to "light scattering."
Did you know that the Blue Jay does not have blue feathers? They are actually brown due to a pigment called melanin. They also have tiny structures on the surface of their feather barbs containing pockets of air. When light strikes the feathers, most of the colors of the visible wavelengths are absorbed by the melanin except blue. Those tiny structures have special cells and air pockets that refract the blue wavelengths, giving the appearance of blue feathers. Those same feathers if backlit, would appear brown. That is what light scattering does.
Another example is the Polar Bear. Normally, polar bears look white. They aren't actually white but appear so due to their fur scattering sunlight, which is also white. Their fur is transparent and hollow. When light strikes the fur, some wavelengths of visible light are absorbed and the rest (white) scattered away. (side note: their skin is actually black which aids in retaining the warmth of sunlight). Anyone thinking of the Yeti here? On a cloudy day, Polar bears can look slightly gray. At sunset, they can appear reddish-orange.
What does this have to do with Sasquatch appearing or disappearing? Well, to put it succinctly... everything! There is so much still unknown about nature's camouflage. If one is to infer that Sasquatch is flesh and blood and visually disappears in an instant, why not hypothesize that it is due to light scattering beyond human vision capabilities such as the infrared, ultraviolet or x-ray spectrums. Just like the trick of light based on the angle of light striking the feather, movement changes that angle to increase or decrease light scattering. As Sasquatch moves, it enables different wavelengths of light thus altering the photons striking our eyesight. If they are in a range outside of our vision's capabilities, Sasquatch would seem to just disappear!
There are other examples of natural camouflage that could lend credence to why Sasquatch is so hard to spot when it is simply standing still, with no movement. Many prey animals have natural colors that match the environment and thus blend in when they arrest their movement. Glass frogs have semitransparent skin on their backs and see-through skin on their abdomens, helping them blend in among leaves to avoid predators. Taken one step further by nature are certain creatures that have features that make them transparent and their background visible through them. A perfect example of this is the Glass Wing butterfly, it's wings, as indicated by it's name, being transparent. If light scattering by Sasquatch lends itself to this feature, it is no wonder we wouldn't notice it standing nearby.
There are many other scientific considerations to this hypothesis that can only be brought to light by a database of experiences, noting such things as weather factors, time of day, seasons of the year, etc. If you think that light scattering is a ridiculous idea involving Sasquatch, know that scientific researchers have successfully bumped electrons out of aluminum and iron using lasers, making them transparent to certain frequencies of light.
What about Sasquatch seeing us? Are we making the false assumption their eyesight is not unlike our own. What if it is more like a typical bird whose eyesight integrates images over shorter periods of time than we do. It is so fast, for example, that where we see TV as constant images, birds can watch the TV screen write and erase itself for each frame! Where we see fluorescent light as constant light, birds would see rapid flickers. So, Sasquatch eyesight, due to it being a forest creature, might be able to pick up our movement hyper quick. Their hearing might be ultra-sensitive, not to mention their sense of smell could be as keen or greater than that of a bear. If you really want to know how sensitive nature can be to its surroundings, take the time to look up animal "P-wave" triggered seismic escape and response and then tell me that we are able to sneak up on them! These things would certainly lend credence to their ability to go undetected with a superb capabilty for human avoidance.
There are birds that can even mimic the calls of other types of birds. What could the possibilities be for an intelligent creature like Sasquatch to imitate other creatures and divert attention to their presence instead of drawing notice with reported total absence of nature's sounds in a forest area. If you've ever looked into the mechanics of speech and phonetics, you can appreciate how unique the human vocal ability is. Just as with ideas about anthropormorphic aliens, we humans view too much through our human tunnel vision. Has anyone actually seen a Sasquatch speaking as to attribute vocal sounds to their abilities to communicate with one another, when so many examples in nature show how animals seem to get along fine with each other, possessing within their so-called instinct an inherent, almost telepathic-like "knowing" and communicating of what to do, which includes avoiding human contact. Finally, they might possess a forest parkour exemplified by animals such as deer, ideally suited to movement with speed, agility and grace far surpassing our own abilities.
The non-human animal world has evolved behaviors that are conducive to both their fitness and survival, responses to escape from predators and fire being prime examples. These behavioral patterns aren't necessarily taught but instead appear to be under genetic control, inherited and passed down generation to generation and shaped through the long, slow process of natural selection and random mutation. They are instinctive behaviors appearing spontaneously even without the benefit of experience taught by adults. It is not necessarily required for any event that triggers a defensive response to have happened within the memory of any individual animal within its given population.
So, if one can conjecture that Sasquatch is tied to off-worlders or interdimensional travel, with no tangible evidence to support that idea, does the light scattering hypothesis seem so far fetched? It might be foolish to both neglect and underestimate how awesome Mother Nature really is in dealing with the only known predator Sasquatch seemingly has... man.
- MoonJoey
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