JEFFERSON, Texas — The conversation surrounding Bigfoot's existence continues today as experts and researchers try to find discoveries surrounding the sasquatch.
What some might believe to be a hoax isn’t for people in Jefferson, Texas. The annual Texas Bigfoot Conference is an event that invites hundreds to share their latest discoveries and research on Bigfoot.
The conference all started with one man’s curiosity dating back to his first encounter with Bigfoot.
“I actually saw, you know what I can only describe as a Bigfoot in 1994 in central Louisiana,” Craig Woolheater, organizer and founder of the Bigfoot Conference, said. “An upright about seven-foot creature on the side of the road, about 20 feet from the edge of the road.”
Woolheater said that encounter would later lead him and a community of others to create the Texas Bigfoot Research Center in Jefferson.
“I met a community of people and started telling my story and me and another gentleman started up a research organization,” Woolheater said. “The Texas Bigfoot Research Center put up a website and people started contacting us with encounters they had.”
Those stories led Woolheater to other discoveries in search of answers.
“In 2000, we went to a conference in southeastern Ohio, and a Bigfoot conference,” Woolheater added. “I looked around and I said, there's nothing like this in Texas, you know, I could do it, I could make something like this.”
His aspirations into bringing a Bigfoot conference to Texas would come to fruition in September 2001.
“We had a successful event and we've done it just about every year since here in Jefferson,” Woolheater added. “It’s a beloved annual event from folks here in our community.”
The success the conference has gained throughout the years carried on later turning the city into the Bigfoot capital.
“In 2018, the mayor proclaimed Jefferson the Bigfoot Capital of Texas and so the town's really got behind it,” Woolheater said. “Every restaurant here has a Bigfoot burger or Bigfoot barbecue or Sasquatch sandwich and a lot of them, the gift shops carry a lot of Bigfoot memorabilia and souvenirs.”
Woolheater said the proceeds collected throughout the three-day conference every year are given back to folks in the community.
“Every year, I give out scholarships to the local seniors here,” Woolheater added. “Proceeds from the events will fund the scholarship fund so I give back to the community, the community has embraced it.”
It's a space where inquiring minds can get together every year and share their stories and discoveries about Bigfoot without feeling embarrassed or judged.
“This is my fourth time coming out here and it’s very humbling the way Jefferson embraces this and embraces you, you know just us and not just a bunch of crazy people,” visitor Tex Wesson said. “It’s awesome that they have events like this.”
Woolheater plans to host the first UFO conference on Nov. 19 at the Jefferson Tourism and Visitor Center from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets.