At this point, all signs appear to point to some combination of hoax, scam, or publicity stunt. And a transparent one at that, according to Wired: "Casting further doubt on the pair's announcement is analysis by several bloggers showing that their photograph bears an uncanny resemblance to a commercially available Bigfoot costume."

Isn't that always the way? Well, at least there's a consolation prize, in the form of the Most Topical Bigfoot Description Ever:

"According to the team, the Bigfoot creature is 7-feet 7-inches tall, weighs over 500 pounds and has feet that are over 16 inches long, or about size 24. By comparison, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is 6 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 165 pounds and has size 14 feet. Phelps is also nearly hairless, while Bigfoot appears to be covered in fur."

For more on the Georgia Bigfoot press conference, see the Wired article. For more on Dranginis's closer-to-home Bigfoot quest, see City Paper's story "Hot For Creature." For more on Michael Phelps, wait about ten minutes and someone near you will start talking about him.

William Dranginis is skeptical—make that highly skeptical—about the claim by two men that they discovered a dead Bigfoot in the Georgia woods. Matthew Whitton, a police officer, and Rick Dyer, a former correctional officer, have stored the supposed Bigfoot in a cooler and released some inconclusive photos. They plan to unveil the body tomorrow at a press conference in Palo Alto, California.

The duo has enlisted Tom Biscardi, a noted Bigfoot researcher since the 1970s, as their defacto spokesperson. But Dranginis, the president of the Virginia Bigfoot Research Organization, points out that Biscardi has been involved in a hoax before. In 2005, he claimed he had captured a Bigfoot weighing over 400 pounds and standing 8 feet tall. Turned out to be a publicity stunt.

Which is what we’re betting this is. Dranginis directed us to a YouTube video that shows Whitton and Dyer welcoming a Dr. Paul Van Buren into their home to study the corpse. Watch the video here. (No shortage of plugs for their website, bigfoottracker.com, which advertises their “one of a kind BIGFOOT EXPEDITIONS!!!!!!!!”)

Some sharp folks quickly deduced that Van Buren was actually Whitton’s brother.

After watching the clip, we have a message for Whitton: Grade school jokes about nuts aren’t helping your credibility.

"They must be living in a different dimension,” says Dranginis, because he can’t see what good can come of this. Whitton, a police officer, has put his job in jeopardy if this turns out to be a prank.

Tomorrow will tell.

“Either they have a body or they’re going to look like the biggest fools in the world,” says Dranginis.

—Eric Wills

Check City Desk tomorrow for substantive analysis from William Dranginis, Bigfoot researcher and subject of Eric Wills' July 17 City Paper cover story.

—Ted Scheinman