Myth? Monster? Misidentification?

Friday, July 29, 2011 -- The search for the elusive beast known as Bigfoot spans decades. And some believe it lives right here in Kentucky. Phillip Spencer, known as the "Wildman of Kentucky" counts among the true believers. "I know it is here. No question."

Blame Daniel Boone for starting the Kentucky Sasquatch rumor mill. The American pioneer once bragged of killing a 10-foot hairy giant he called Yahoo, possibly a nod to Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels.

"When you grow up in rural Kentucky, you know the land. You know the animals. And that was something that didn't fit," Spencer said.

The Kentucky native says his interest in Bigfoot finds its roots in a personal experience. He claims he saw the creature in Anderson County as a little boy back in 1970.

"Approximately 8-feet tall, bulky arms. It was out in the field with deer," he said. "It just walked away into the darkness and left us sitting there, not sure what to think."

Spencer's research documents nearly a dozen Bigfoot sightings deep in the Anderson County woods, in a 6,000 acre area known as the Frazier Land.

"This land has so many stories, so many tales," Spencer said.

Legend has it that the Frazier family caught the first glimpse of the beast in the late 1700s. Soon after the family arrived in the area, it abruptly left.

"Why would someone leave their home, huge amount of land with the opportunity to make money?" Spencer asked.

The area might have proved unfit for the Fraziers, but Spencer calls it Bigfoot heaven.

"It is everything Bigfoot could ever dream of. It is away from people and it has everything it needs here."

Lynn Hutton says he also came face to face with the beast some 25 years ago.

"It was standing like a person with its arms down, about 7-foot tall, long matted brown hair all over it," he recalled.

Of course, not everybody believes.

"I'm very skeptical," Tim Farmer said.

The Kentucky outdoorsman cites a lack of physical evidence for his skepticism.

"If there was something out there, we would have found some trace by now. Hair covering a fence. I haven't seen any documented proof of the huge bones or huge skull that anyone has found," he said.

But Spencer contends new evidence will soon come to light, turning even the most skeptical into true believers.

"The world is getting ready to see a lot of footage they have never seen before."

The Erickson Project spent the last five years searching for Bigfoot across North America. The $1 million project embedded scientists in Kentucky. Researchers claim they will soon release DNA evidence that will make Bigfoot a recognized species or sub-species.

"This is really going to impact Kentucky," Spencer said.

The documentary "Sasquatch: the Quest," part of the Erickson Project is set for release later this year. (...the rumor is "November")

For more information on Bigfoot sightings in Kentucky log on to www.kentuckybigfoot.com