Bigfoot Investigator Dusty Ruth on Hunting Cryptids

Since Dusty Ruth was young, he has been fascinated with Bigfoot, reading and learning everything he could about the cryptid — a creature some believe to exist but is not scientifically proven to be real.

For more than 20 years, Ruth has used the investigative skills he gained during the 25 years he spent working as an investigator and 11 years as an administrator for Job and Family Services in Fayette County to hunt Bigfoot with organizations like the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, a national network of investigators who look into reported sightings.

Through the BFRO, Ruth leads three four-day-long expeditions throughout the year in southern Ohio, where reported sightings of the creature are common. Participants in these expeditions can enjoy camping with investigators and hearing from speakers each night. Then, they split into teams and head out with night-vision or thermal cameras in search of  Bigfoot. Visitors claim to have seen the creature approach camps to see what the groups are doing.

During the day, groups learn investigative techniques and make casts of any footprints Bigfoot might have left. We talked with Ruth ahead of his speaking appearance at the Ohio Bigfoot Conference at Salt Fork State Park Lodge and Conference Center on May 2.

Can you tell us more about the expeditions and how they benefit the participants?
Some of the things you need if you want to have Bigfoot activity are waterways, some type of forests or woods and food sources. … I’ve trained a lot of [BFRO investigators] on the proper ways to collect evidence and prints. [Participants] have a lot of fun. A lot of times you end up making friends that you have for the rest of your life.

You mentioned you’ve had a few Bigfoot sightings in your career. Can you share one of them?
It was between 2 and 2:30 in the afternoon on an expedition with a group in northern Kentucky. You got to see him clearly. It was only for about 3 seconds. He walked through a canopy of trees through a clearing into another canopy of trees, and I was able to get a good look at him. ... It was kind of amazing; it was so dark black. With the sun shining through that canopy of trees, it almost glistened and shined with the sun shining off his hair.

How do you respond to people who think that Bigfoot is a silly myth?
I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. When I got into this, I wanted to learn how and why Bigfoots did what they did. I wanted to learn their behavior. ... There are lots of people in the [BFRO] and the Bigfoot world in general who, at one time, did not believe. Once they have their own sighting, they believe.

For more information about the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, visit bfro.net.

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