McCleod's book isn't bad... I give it two stars just for the entertainment factor, and for the fact that he actually talked to a lot of people.
I consider myself a skeptic who is OPEN to the possibility of an undiscovered species of ape in North America.
McCleod has so thoroughly made up his mind that the sasquatch CANNOT and DOES NOT exist, that it taints the whole book with a sheen of smug self-satisfaction... the author is surely smarter than these ridiculous bigfooters... how could they even entertain such an absurd idea?
And in all of his smugness, he glosses over many important things... the most important (in my opinion) being the fact that NO ONE HAS EVER SUCCESSFULLY DEBUNKED THE PATTERSON-GIMLIN FOOTAGE. McCleod goes along with the Bob H. in the suit idea, even though it is fraught with problems... he says "after all, SOMEONE had to be in the suit.." and leaves it at that.
Really? The PGF is a strange piece of footage... and I'm not a 100% believer that it shows a real animal... but watch it several times, over and over again, and you will see just how amazing it really is. If it is a hoax, it is absolutely ingenious.
McCleod dismisses it based on the testimony of guy who said he was working near Bluff Creek in October 1967, and HE never saw them there... CASE CLOSED! Patterson wasn't even there!
If this is your idea of well-researched journalism, you too will be able to dismiss the Patterson-Gimlin film, perhaps THE BEST evidence that there is, or was, something remarkable in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
Obviously, McCleod is smarter than the many scientists and professional animators/creature designers who have been stumped and perplexed by the PGF... even today, over forty years later, NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO REPRODUCE a similar piece of footage to prove that it was a hoax.
Just remember: some guy who was working in the woods back then never saw Patterson or Gimlin.... so it must be fake. You have to take that random guy's word for it.