BY AARON SAGERS
Like many hikers and campers,
Cliff Barackman enjoys spending his free time in the forest, trudging through trees and listening to the surrounding sounds of nature. Unlike most hikers and campers, Barackman isn’t seeking tranquility so much as he’s pursuing a monster that is either an enduring myth or a missing link. Barackman is a sasquatch hunter on
Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot.
With its second season premiering Jan. 1 at 10 p.m., the show follows the
Bigfoot Field Researcher’s Organization (BFRO) as they chase down leads, examine supposed evidence and attempt to track down the most famous cryptid. Produced by
Ping Pong Productions (the same company behind
Destination Truth), the show stars BFRO founder Matt Moneymaker, research biologist Ranae Holland, commercial fisherman James “Bobo” Fey and Barackman.
But Barackman isn't an eccentric monster hunter type. Originally from Long Beach, Calif., he's a career educator with a music degree who has taught fourth, fifth and sixth graders. He's also a jazz guitarist and teaches lessons, but has always maintained a passion for science. But Barackman's interest in Bigfoot came more from pop culture than from science. He says, like all little boys, he grew up loving monster movies with Godzilla and werewolves, but it wasn't until he saw documentary shows like In Search Of in the 1970s that he became excited about the possibility of a "real" monster in the woods. He says it hooked him "pretty deep," and when he was in college he would spend time between classes reading up on the sasquatch. The research led to Barackman becoming interested in the creature on a more cerebral level and he began to think of Bigfoot as not just "fun and quirky and weird," but also as real and believable. This research also led to him making a name for himself in the field, and attracting the attention of the show.
Barackman spoke with Paranormal Pop Culture’s Aaron Sagers about
Finding Bigfoot's second season premiere, which has the team visiting the source of a well-known video (within the Bigfoot community) that might show a baby sasquatch climbing a tree in the background. Instead of just taking the video at face value, the team attempts to recreate the footage – which involves a dedicated Barackman attempting to climb a tree with just his arms, along with bringing a baboon into the wild to test whether its calls will be met with the cries from a ‘squatch. Barackman also discussed how Bigfoot has impacted his personal life, and shared his thoughts on other paranormal phenomena and how his work might also mean the downfall of the beast he’s pursuing. (After the jump)
