When you research Sasquatch, you have to keep an open mind, or else you’re not going to get very far.
Those are the first words shared by investigator Mike Paterson of Sasquatch Ontario about the cryptid in a January 2022 interview with The Superstitious Times.
It’s a cool winter day, and Paterson admitted he was worried the call would drop as he was located just north of Barrie, Ontario.
“There are still all kinds of people who don’t even believe they exist,” he said. “But at this point, a lot more people are involved in this subject, especially south of the border.”
For Paterson, he said he’s a believer. An experience he had when he was 10 set his path before him. After being dropped off at the campground to do some fishing, he walked back to where his family was staying in Denbigh, Ontario. It was close to dusk, and he wasn’t quite sure what he stumbled upon by the side of the road.
“At that time, I told everybody it was a bear. And that’s a common occurrence with Sasquatch sightings,” he recalled. “I didn’t realize until I got involved (in investigating) when things started happening in 2008, that (my previous experience) was not a bear. It was a traumatizing experience.”
Then, in 2008, Paterson had his first close vocal encounter with a Sasquatch family. It’s a moment that took him by surprise, but he’s had numerous encounters since, spending four years investigating the unnamed location.
“I don’t want to give the location away, but it was a completely unexpected location,” he said. “It was the last place I would ever think I would run into them.”
He’s learned plenty over the last decade of fieldwork, especially from his own mistakes. When Paterson started investigating Sasquatch, he fell into the common pitfall — he thought he had to go to the West Coast to pursue his quarry.
When it comes to his initial thoughts on what it means to have an open mind, Paterson is direct, and he posits that Sasquatch are masters of Earth energies and walk between two worlds.
“There are yogis, humans that have been known to show similar abilities that Sasquatch have shown. This steps outside of our paradigm, outside of our reality,” he admitted. “Their abilities allow them to go wherever they choose.”
Sasquatch, for him, is a way to connect back to nature because we have lost our way.
“A big part of why they are in the midst of exposing their existence is the destruction we’re causing. We’re basically decimating the Earth, wiping out old-growth forests, everything’s poisoned; the waters, the land.
“I’ll just say: they’re interdimensional. I get a lot of flack from that, but at this point very well-respected people involved in this field of work that are well on board.”
In the past, Canada’s Sasquatch lore was investigated by John Willison Green and John Bindernagel with their passing, the investigation has been left to a democratized few. Although Canada has a small collective investigating the phenomenon, and very little presence conference-wise, they continue to dig deep in the woods for evidence of the cryptid, Paterson among them. And he’s not alone in Ontario, as Ryan Willis leads the Trent University Sasquatch Society.
Paterson is presenting his thoughts on Sasquatch during the Second Annual Art Exhibit and Bigfoot Conference on June 29 and 30 at the Native Canadian Center of Toronto.
Photo courtesy Mike Paterson