Josh Gates’ Recent Investigations Into Yeti Sightings
Discovery ChannelHost Josh Gates examining a purported Yeti scalp.
Although the golden age of Yeti hunting came to an end several decades ago, the search continues to this day. In fact, in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in solving this mystery once and for all — some of which has been fueled by Josh Gates, host of Destination Truth and Expedition Unknown.
In 2007, during the filming of Destination Truth, Gates led an expedition to the Himalayas to investigate reported sightings of the Yeti. While exploring the region, he and his team, like many others before them, came across odd, roughly 13-inch footprints in the snow.
They didn’t settle for only photographs, though. Instead, they created casts of the prints, once again thrusting the Yeti into the international spotlight. Remarkably, the prints were incredibly similar to those found by Shipton half a century earlier.
“[The cast] is very, very similar,” Gates told Reuters in 2007. “I don’t believe it to be a bear. It is something of a mystery for us.”
Nine years later, in 2016, Gates would revisit the Yeti, this time for Expedition Unknown: Hunt for the Yeti. This second investigation took him across Nepal and Bhutan, where he explored remote villages, interviewed locals about their encounters, and examined sacred artifacts believed to be connected to the creature.
Discovery ChannelAn alleged Yeti hand that turned out to belong to a young bear.
Upon returning to the United States, Gates submitted the various samples he’d collected for scientific analysis. The findings were intriguing, to say the least. A purported Yeti hair, for instance, was revealed to be human, a sample of alleged Yeti scat originated from a goat, and a hand that supposedly came from a Yeti was actually a young bear’s.
Ultimately, Gates and his team didn’t turn up any new evidence that supported the existence of the Yeti. What they did find, however, was a fascinating blend of how folklore and modern science could come together to shed new light on such mysteries.
It also showed that species previously thought to be extinct in the region might still inhabit some of the more remote areas. That’s not to say, of course, that there is no such thing as the Yeti — and perhaps one day, someone will find it.
After reading about the truth behind these Yeti sightings, learn more about the creature’s North American counterpart, Bigfoot. Then, discover the stories of 11 other cryptids around the world.
