Honestly this has been a problem for decades and nobody wants to say it out loud but yes, it's getting worse not better. With phone cameras being what they are now you'd think we'd have clearer footage to work with but instead we just have more of it, and more opportunities for people to see a bear standing up to scratch its back against a tree and convince themselves they've got a genuine encounter on film.
The thing that frustrates me most is it sets the whole field back. One viral "Bigfoot video" that gets debunked as a black bear and suddenly every credible report from that area gets dismissed alongside it.
I'm more of a Mothman person myself but I follow Bigfoot research closely and the witness interview methodology side of things is where I think the real problem lives. People aren't being asked the right questions about gait, head shape, arm length proportionally to the torso. Those details matter and a bear cannot fake those if the witness is paying proper attention. Has anyone here done structured witness interviews that specifically address this? Would love to compare notes.
