In the fall of 1951, while scouting routes for a future ascent of Mount Everest, British mountaineers Eric Shipton and Michael Ward stumbled upon a series of large, humanoid footprints in the snow near the Menlung Glacier. Intrigued, Shipton photographed one of the clearest impressions, placing an ice axe beside it for scale, a move that would immortalize the image and spark decades of speculation.

The footprint appeared to be 13 inches long, with a distinct big toe and arch, resembling a human foot but far larger and broader. The clarity of the print, combined with its remote location and the credibility of the expedition team, gave the photo immediate notoriety. It was published in Popular Science in 1952 and quickly became a focal point in the growing Western fascination with the Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman.

The paths of those directly involved with Matilda's story have gone in separate directions, leaving many questions unanswered.

The DNA study by Dr. Melba Ketchum's DNA lab are still hotly debated in some circles. Other DNA studies have been made with alleged sasquatch samples since then. And all fall under the same discussions pro and con; belief or doubt; faked or real. However, there is still an underlying problem with any DNA study that has been done or will be done. Until the scientific community formally accepts the existence of a mammal known as a sasquatch, there can be no definitive study made of any DNA samples. The scientific community will not formally acknowledge the existence of a sasquatch until the government formally admits to its existence. And I am sure that the government in turn will tell you that no such creature exists because scientists have not found one yet.

And there you have the Sasquatch Catch-22.

Law enforcement officers see many strange things throughout their careers. One thing many hesitate to report to their superiors is anything paranormal, including seeing a sasquatch. So when these two deputy sheriffs stepped forward and told their stories to John Green, he paid attention.

Although this sighting happened as a teenager, this deputy sheriff never changed his story even years later when Green interviewed him.

In 1966 Roger Patterson received a letter from a man telling of a terrifying event that happened to him back in 1952. Patterson then shared the letter with John Green. Here is part of what he wrote\ :

"The first part of the story took me back to 1952 when I had gone down to Orleans <California> to start preliminary work on a logging operation with men by the names of Lee Vlery and Josh Russel.

Some sasquatch seem very savvy where roadways and cars are concerned. And then there are others who either don't care or are unaware.

It was mid-January 1973 when a truck driver hauling a load of logs took a curve on the road to Eureka and hit something big. He was traveling about 40-45 mph, around 7:30 pm when a creature with reddish, brown hair stepped out into the road. It was standing on the side and seemed to be unaware of the oncoming truck when it started walking. The truck hit the 6 1/2 to 7 ft tall creature and swerved off to the left shoulder of the road. The driver could hear nothing over the noise of the engine. He was sure he had not hit a bear.

On March 18, 1987, there was a seven-man crew working outdoors in the cold and frozen wilderness near Fellers Heights, British Columbia. Four of the men called attention to something they saw on the outskirts of their worksite. They described a creature that was 7 ft tall, maybe 400 lbs. A monster.

Myles Jack, one of the workers, said: "But it was a real mover. It was really fluid in the way it moved." The creature was crouched down for part of the time, seeming to watch the men as they worked. When it circled the work site, it would peer at them through the trees, still watching them work. "It was like we were on his territory and he was checking us out."

While it was not research, the Russian army and this officer had an extraordinary encounter with a creature called Almasty. There seem to be several versions of what happened in 1925 and I will tell them all.

Major General Mikhail Stephanovitch Topilski was the commander of a cavalry regiment in the Red Army during the Civil War after the Communist Revolution of 1917. In 1925, he and his men were given the task of hunting down anti-Communist forces in the Pamir Mountains southwest of the Tien Shan. They encountered more than just fighting men.

Many independent researchers made their way into the remote areas of Russia; some with the intention of studying the strange man-like, hairy creatures, and others who ran across them while traveling or while conducting their other research.

K.A. Satunin was a leading student of vertebrates in the Caucasus. He had an accidental encounter in the Talyish Mountains. He discovered a female "Biaban-Guli", which was the name used by the southern Caucasus people. When he reached a nearby settlement, he tried to obtain more information on these hairy, man-like animals who appeared unable to speak.

When most people think of the possibility of sasquatch-type creatures on the other side of the world, they immediately think of "Yeti." However, there is much more information out there by the Russians than anything from the Himalayas. The only problem is that not much of it is widely publicized in English.

There are some publications and some authors that will publish translations. And with internet programs available that will translate, if the material is on the internet, you can get some idea of what is being said.

When men first began to encounter strange "creatures" in the forests and grasslands, they called them "Wild Men". Experiences with these "Wildmen" occur throughout history. Even talked of in classical and preclassical times.

There was almost a romance to the "wildness" of these men. A wildness that called to the hearts of all men, a freedom of the soul, that releases something inside us even today. In the tales, we are warned of this wildness, as it would overtake us. Consume us. Take us away from civilization.