Why does Gregory Forth find the Flores ape men more credible than Bigfoot?

Gregory Forth says the Flores accounts have fossil evidence behind them, a region full of primates and a known hominin history, while Bigfoot has none of that. He also points to incentives: Flores villagers gain nothing from telling him what they saw, while a North American sighting can bring fame. He says he has stated in print that he does not find Bigfoot credible, though he finds the 1884 Jacko report from Yale, British Columbia, harder to dismiss than most.

• Jacko was said to be a small ape-like creature caught by a Canadian Pacific Railway crew, reported in the Daily British Colonist on July 4, 1884.
• One sceptic's explanation of Jacko as an escaped chimpanzee fails, Forth says, because there were no zoos or circuses in the area.

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“a real true scientific search, not a reality show search, would be absolutely fascinating.” Joe Rogan · at 2:01:39 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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