I really don’t think it is a bigfoot track, but it isn’t as obviously symbolic art as the somataglyphs, though it also doesn’t resemble the real footprints, either.

But what is wrong with waiting and seeing?

Maybe we should have taken a better look, eh?

The news in general seems to have lost much of its objective manner…jumping into stories and then doing the ole–”whoops, we had it wrong, it was this instead,” but we did get you to watch our channel/read our paper, etc.

I don’t know if the news has become ALL about ratings or journalists are just getting really sloppy, but it is not a good thing. And these latest three ring hoaxes have not done anything to give me confidence in the news media!

One thought I’d throw out there is that it is important not to underestimate the human mind’s tendency to try to find patterns in natural objects, and to especially see human qualities. There is a very strong urge to anthropomorphize things, both living and non living, as well as to find patterns in chaos. Thus we see tree stumps in the form of human faces or bodies, wood grain in the form of human images, humanoid faces on Mars, the list goes on and on.

In my opinion, it is quite common to pick out human faces or forms in naturally occurring objects and I think this can definitely happen with some of the alleged fossil footprints, handprints, and so on. Some are real, of course, but it is worth keeping in mind that there is the possibility for someone to find a rock that has naturally become shaped to resemble a footprint and then jump to the conclusion that that is what it must be.

Until more is known about these particular prints, and a proper inspection is done, I think it is a possibility to consider.

Reasonably, there should be evidence of a trackway, not just one or two prints. I hope he leaves the other one in situ so it can be properly studied.

What I find most problematic is the shape of the rock holding the print. As an archaeologist, I am very familiar with people trying to steal pictographs/petroglyph from rock art panels. The thieves are almost always unsuccessful in getting out a complete artifact as they underestimate how far away from the picture they have to start chiseling, the correct angle, how much rock fractures, etc. If he truly chiseled that out of a larger rock, it had to have been bigger at one time and he’s reduced it’s size OR the footprint was added to the rock after the fact, either by Native Americans (a petroglyph) or by someone more recently.

An inspection should be able to tell if it’s a fossil, petroglyph or something else.

And yes, it is illegal to collect any artifact (historic bottles, Civil War buttons, arrowheads, etc.) off of Federal or State owned land. However, if the artifact is on your own property or you have permission from the property owner to collect, it is not illegal.