A man in a “very convincing” Bigfoot costume triggered a police investigation in a tiny Maine tourist town after frantic 911 callers reported a Sasquatch sighting on the first day of school.
Officer William Smith tracked down the furry figure “sitting peacefully” on Main Street in Damariscotta, a mid-coast community that suddenly found itself at the center of cryptid chaos. The officer quickly determined the creature was neither legendary nor dangerous—just a fashion-challenged cosplayer whose outfit had sparked an “unusually high number of calls” to the department on Tuesday, according to a police statement.
The morning commotion hit its peak during school drop-off, when alarmed residents began snapping photos of the large, fur-covered figure sporting a top hat. Several callers apparently believed they were witnessing something far more exotic than a man in an elaborate costume going about his day.
Smith and the costumed man sat down for a conversation on Main Street, though their chat was repeatedly interrupted by excited locals eager to capture their own photographic evidence of the would-be Bigfoot. Police did not identify the man or explain what had drawn him to don the full fur suit and top hat in public on a busy Tuesday morning.
“After a lengthy, exhaustive, and completely serious investigation, members of the Damariscotta Police Department have reached a conclusion: Bigfoot is not real,” the department wrote in its statement.
The tongue-in-cheek announcement continued with a note of mock disappointment from the investigators themselves.
“We understand this may be disappointing to some. Frankly, there were members of our department who were secretly hoping we had finally stumbled upon something that would make national news,” police added.
Officers ultimately declined to arrest the man, noting that wandering around town in a Sasquatch costume—even one convincing enough to trigger multiple emergency calls—does not constitute criminal activity under Maine law. The department’s statement made clear that while the creature itself may have been imaginary, the police response was genuine and thorough.
The incident joins a long tradition of Bigfoot hoaxes and mistaken sightings across North America, though few have been resolved with such official good humor. The Damariscotta Police Department’s playful handling of the case stands in contrast to the genuine alarm felt by some residents who encountered the fur-suited figure during their morning routines.
Damariscotta, a small coastal destination known for its oysters and summer tourism, rarely makes national headlines—something the investigating officers themselves seemed to acknowledge in their self-deprecating statement about their brief brush with cryptozoological fame.
The wannabe Bigfoot buffoon, as police characterized him, walked free from his Main Street encounter with Smith, presumably still in costume and now somewhat locally famous for his sartorial choices.