Five Questions With... Billy Willard

This is the 2nd segment of The Bigfoot Diaries' new Wednesday feature called Five Questions With...

Last week I dug a little into the mind of Ross the Boss Friedman, who is most famous for being the lead guitarist of the New York retro punk band The Dictators and the metal act Manowar.

While rock stars are always a hot topic here at the Bigfoot Diaries, this time I am going in a completely different direction. I have actually tracked down a real life Bigfoot hunter for this week's piece, one who is fresh out of the news. Perhaps you read the article or saw the footage on ABC news. Billy Willard of Manassas, Virginia is the person who is featured, and we were lucky enough to capture him for a few minutes of his time.

It should be important to note that when I read the piece on the ABC News website, I could tell that they were making a mockery of Mr. Willard. The web page even went as far as to post a video with the story... A video that shows a man that appears to be drunk rambling on and making a fool of himself, and is completely unrelated to anything the narrative is about.

It should also be known that it is not my intent to ridicule anyone who is featured on this site.

Through emails I have had several conversations with Mr. Willard and found him to be completely credible and dead serious about what he is hoping to accomplish. He hosts an Internet radio show called SasquatchWatch Radio and he actually covered that very topic last week. There are too many people who are willing to use the Bigfoot phenomenon as a means to fatten their wallets, and they do a lot to discredit the scientific evidence that is out there. Billy Willard is fighting the good fight, and he is not one of the bad guys. So with that out of the way, let's get on with this week's segment:

Five Questions with Billy Willard

1. An article I read about you said that you are on the 'verge of a Bigfoot discovery.' Was that taken out of context and if not what are you doing that nobody else has done, and what makes you so confident that you will find the elusive creature?

No, not really. I do feel very strongly that we are getting close to making a discovery. We now have information from several eyewitnesses in a certain area on the private property that indicates that the creatures or beings (whatever you want to call them) are frequenting one general area. Signs of footprints and sightings in the same area as well as other information yet to be released have lead me to believe we are getting close.

2. Have you ever seen the legendary beast, or at least come across footprints, fur, heard vocalizations, etc?

No, I have never had a sighting, I've had glimpses of things, but not ready to say I saw a Bigfoot. I have come across a few footprints. One in particular was found in Culpeper, VA. It was 15 inches long and it was along with two other identified prints in a trackway. While on the private property we are currently researching, I did hear a very loud, strange vocalization I've never heard before. It was a high pitched, long drawn out scream, with alot of volume. There is so much I've found and experienced since 2005.

3. How did the Sasquatch Watch of Virginia come about?

Two of my son's (Josh and Tim) started Sasquatch Watch of VA as an online forum back in 2005. They got me re-interested in the subject, I've been interested in the subject since age 8 when I was first introduced to the movie, Legend of Boggy Creek. When I found out there were others out there looking for this mystery creature, I decided I too would like to join in the search.

4. At some point in one's life that person decides whether or not to believe in something, or just pass it off as fantasy. I think with Bigfoot, the scientific evidence is out there... Dermal ridges on plaster casts, the Patterson-Gimlin footage from Bluff Creek, The Jacobson photos to name a few... What would you tell a sceptic if he was harassing you about what you do to convince him that there is a credible foundation to your belief system? In other words what is your best argument that Bigfoot exists?

I use several arguments. First, there are accounts of this creature that date back to the first natives of North America. Countless carvings done by the Native Americans picture an ape-looking being. Second, we have journals and books from some of the first settlers of North America that talk about big hairy giants coming from the woods and throwing rocks at the forts. Third, we have hundreds if not thousands of eyewitnesses from all over the world that have seen a strange creature resembling Bigfoot. And not just regular folks, we are talking about police officers, govt officials, park rangers and many more "high up" folks. Fourth...the best film footage of course in the famous P/G film. That in itself gives us alot of information. In addition of course all the casted footprints, hair samples that come back unknown, the list goes on.

5. What in your opinion would happen to Bigfoot if he was actually captured? As cool as it would be, I hate the idea that he would end up in a cage at a zoo somewhere.

ALOT. The work would not be over. Capturing one or even finding a body would open up a whole new area of study. We still would not know important things like how to they live, how do they stay out of sight, why do they stay out of sight, do they leave among family groups, what is their life span...the study would be endless. What kind of intelligence does it have? Where do they go, where do they live? What do they eat? And of course, I'm afraid that this would open a whole new scenario up. People in search of the creature...way more people with intentions of getting a trophy. From another standpoint, would this discovery make science have to re-write the science books? Who knows?

(Bonus question): How many Bigfoot creatures do you suppose there are in North America right now?

 

 I don't feel qualified to guess that number. The late Dr Grover Krantz had an estimate of around 2,000. I'm not really sure. Only time will tell I guess.

 

 

Thank you very much, Mr. Willard. The Bigfoot Diaries wishes you the best of luck in your quest, and would love to have you back after you make your discovery!