Aerial Bigfoot Search: Idaho Scientist Seeks to Find Sasquatch Using Blimp

The search for the elusive mythical creature known as Bigfoot continues in a new form in Idaho.

Jeffrey Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University, received an approved proposal to take to the skies of Idaho in a blimp to search for the ape-man. Even with the skepticism of his colleagues in the scientific community, Meldrum is trying to build a remote-controlled blimp that will use thermal-imaging cameras to find the beast.

"The challenge with any animal that is rare, solitary, nocturnal and far-ranging in habitat is to find them and observe them in the wild; this technology provides for that," Meldrum said, according to Reuters.

Meldrum, author of "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science," seeks to raise over $300,000 in funds through private donations to get the monster-hunting dirigible off the ground. The existence of Bigfoot, also known in North America as Sasquatch, has been debated in the mainstream scientific community. While there have been numerous reported sightings, little concrete evidence has surfaced to prove the mythical creatures existence.

Many skeptics are dismissing Meldrum's attempt to find the creature, with Russell Ciochon, anthropologist at the University of Iowa, saying, "There is no Bigfoot." 

Meldrum's blimp search goes by the official title the Falcon Project, developed with help of William Barnes, a Utah man who claims to have seen Bigfoot in California in 1997. Meldrum and Barnes are working toward getting the blimp in the air by next spring for what will be a months-long search over the Pacific Northwest, California and Utah.

The legendary Bigfoot has supposedly been captured on a recent video taken in Utah's Provo Canyon by hikers. The footage showed a dark figure behind bushes that began to stand as it hears the hikers who then panic. However, since hitting the internet, questions have risen regarding its authenticity.