This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Bigfoot? Big Hoax!

--By Kathy Hoffman

In 1958, a logger in a California forest found the tracks of a giant beast: footprints 16 inches long. Newspapers across the country reported that the prints belonged to a hairy, humanlike creature they called Bigfoot. Bigfoot has lived on as a modern mystery ever since.

Then last month, a news flash: Bigfoot was a big fake. Michael Wallace announced that his father, Ray, had made the tracks in 1958 with a pair of wooden feet. After Ray died on November 26, his family decided to put the myth to rest. "Dad was a real character," Michael told TFK. "He really knew how to tell a story, and the world was ready for Bigfoot."

Bigfoot believers say this recent confession doesn't mean a thing. They say they knew the story was a hoax and that it doesn't explain hundreds of other sightings, footprints and tales. A mythical apelike creature, also known as Yeti or Sasquatch, has been part of Asian, European and Native American folklore for centuries.

Most scientists agree that Bigfoot is nothing more than a very tall tale. Almost all of the footprints ever found have turned out to be manmade. There is no hard evidence of Bigfoot, such as bones, for scientists to study. "How could an animal exist for so long without a fossil record?" asks scientist Russell Ciochon.

For something that doesn't exist, Bigfoot sure makes tracks! Even today, reports of this creature and its prints continue to pour in. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University is one of the only scientists who believes Bigfoot could be real. He says that the lack of scientific proof is just one more reason to take Bigfoot seriously. "Science is about exploring the unknown," he says.

Next: TOP 5 Kid's New Year's Resolutions