The McDowell News:
April 2009 -- Last week's column about the strange sounds reported by a Mitchell County family during a camping trip in 2000 resulted in an interesting response from one of my readers.

William M. Dranginis of Manassas, Virginia wrote saying he enjoyed reading the column about the strange sounds in the wilderness. He is a Bigfoot researcher who has started a website about the reported sightings in the Old Dominion.

"Not many people know it but Virginia has had a long history of Bigfoot sightings through the years," he writes. "When I follow up Bigfoot sighting reports in person, the witness gets very excited to tell their story and wants to learn everything they can about these creatures."

He goes on to say that he too once saw one of these creatures in the woods of Culpeper Va., while metal detecting with two FBI agents. "My whole world changed," he writes. "Since that time, every available second has been spent learning more about these creatures and trying to devise special camera systems to film them in their own habitat."

Back in 2004, he also had a one-on-one conversation with Jane Goodall, famed researcher of primates and noted animal welfare activist, while she was visiting Washington, D.C.
"The scheduled 15-minute meeting lasted 2 ½ hours, what a wonderful couple hours that was," writes Dranginis. "Dr. Goodall believes these Bigfoot creatures do exist and even stated so on NPR."

His Web site contains more than 150 Bigfoot sighting reports from all over Virginia, submitted by everyone from doctors to state police officers.

"The research is very exciting, meeting new people and seeing every section of this great state," he writes. "It's been a blast. The most interesting part about this research is that you learn more about yourself after spending countless hours in the woods searching for the creature -that in itself was a discovery of a lifetime." Dranginis' website is here: www.virginiabigfootresearch.org

The McDowell News...

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