A trio of curious footprints found in the parks of a Texas city has some residents wondering if there may be a Bigfoot in their midst.
The Parks and Recreation Department for the city of Round Rock posted three photos of the odd impressions to their Facebook page a few days ago.
They claimed that "our Park Ranger surveillance has captured strange footprints at various parks and trails in the area."
In response to the weird discovery, the department asked that any residents who spot similar prints or any other "unexplained phenomena" to tag the agency on their various social media accounts.
The three images each show an oversized footprint akin to what one might expect to see from the legendary Bigfoot, including one impression, seen above, that is rather crisp in its detail of toes and other features.
And, in what looks almost like an homage to every classic Bigfoot case in the past, one photo shows a park ranger's foot next to the print to display the awesome size of the impression.
While the strange prints are certainly intriguing, one would be wise to use caution before heading down to Round Rock in search of Sasquatch as several aspects of the story suggest that it may simply be a clever hoax.
For starters, the singular nature of the impressions and that they were found in three separate locations is eyebrow-raising as is the detail in one of the prints.
Additionally, though one would like to think that the department would not be party to such shenanigans, the origin and makeup of the images also seem rather dubious.
Consider that the photos were said to have come from some kind of surveillance system and, indeed, appear as if they were captured by a game camera, by being both black and white as well as having a rather fake-looking time and location stamp.
However, that would mean that it somehow didn't photograph the source of the footprints and, in one case, the camera is directly pointed toward the ground, which seems rather unbelievable.
Finally, requesting residents tag the department on social media using the hashtag #RRSightings, rather than report odd activity to authorities, gives the impression that the story is not entirely serious.
As such, the case of the curious prints can probably be chalked up to either a mischievous hoaxer in Red Rock having some fun at the city's expense or a concerted effort by the parks department to generate some buzz heading into the summer months when they will, no doubt, be offering a bevy of events and activities for the public.
Should the latter scenario be the case, it would appear their mission worked as one resident posted on the department's Facebook page that her two young sons are bound and determined to find the creature and have made it their mission to explore the parks searching for it this summer.
With that in mind, perhaps a hoaxed Bigfoot case isn't all that bad if it manages to convince kids to put down their phones and actually go outside for a change.
Source: Statesman