The infamous legend of Bigfoot has left people puzzled for years as they ponder the validity or myth surrounding the creature.

            Now Castleton, along with the state of Vermont, is getting in on the action as Animal Planet uses a past Castleton Spartan article to showcase peculiar findings, possibly linking Bigfoot to the Vermont area, in one of its Finding Bigfoot segments. 

The article was published in a Spring 2006 edition of the Spartan and written by former Castleton student Kenneth Tyler.

Featuring a past Castleton professor, Warren Cook, it will be used in an upcoming series about Bigfoot findings in and around the Vermont area. 

“It makes me miss journalism,” said Tyler reminiscing on his time at Castleton and his work with the paper.

He briefly got involved in the journalism field in college after his time in the military and said he was inspired to further pursue it by communications professor David Blow. 

After college, Tyler worked at the Post-Star newspaper in Glens Falls, N.Y. for several years and now resides in Dorset as a print technician at McGaw Graphics. 

Tyler’s article will appear in episode 217, “Green Mountain Bigfoot,” as part of Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot series.

Finding Bigfoot, which has been on the air since May 2011, consists of four researchers who travel around the globe in search of the infamous Sasquatch. 

The crew journeys to various points based on reported eyewitnesses and collective evidence to launch their own investigations, all in hopes of catching a glimpse of Bigfoot. 

 This fall’s season will kick off on Nov. 11 and is scheduled to run regularly on Sunday nights. 

Tyler’s piece is set to air Dec. 23 and will be used, along with several others, as B-roll as the cast describes recent squatch activity in central Vermont.

“One of our witnesses collects Bigfoot clippings, and he sent us a stack of them,” said show post-production producer Alison Caraotta, explaining that Tyler’s was among the stack. 

“Our research team thought it fit nicely into the narrative that we were creating: That central Vermont is “squatchy” as our team would say, meaning it provides the appropriate habitat, wildlife, and natural conditions that they typically find bigfoot sightings,” she said.

It is no surprise to Tyler that the article was discovered and connected to the Bigfoot legacy, since he himself found Warren Cook’s work to be incredibly captivating.

Warren Cook was a Castleton State College professor of history and anthropology.

He was well known for his research on the controversial topic of ancient Vermont and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. He passed away in December of 1989 at 64.

“He was an extraordinary researcher and an inspiration to his students,” said Ida Jane Gallagher, who was a firm believer in Cook’s research and worked closely with him for more than 12 years.

Gallagher is thrilled to hear that even to this day Cook’s research is still being recognized and read by people interested in the subject. 

 “He was a real bird-dog” she said.  “He was not afraid to plunge in and research anything that was important and interested him, no matter what people thought.”

            Bigfoot became a primary interest in the last few years Cooks life, as he pursued the truth about the mystical creature and its connection to Vermont. 

“He’s a really fascinating guy,” Tyler said, adding that the piece had started out as a profile assignment.

“The more I read about him the more interested I got.”

As far as Tyler is concerned, the legend of Bigfoot will continue to live on, allowing people to judge for themselves whether they choose to believe or not.

“I’m not a fan of saying anything is impossible,” said Tyler joking about the myth of the Sasquatch. 

“It gives people something to believe in.”