What CSI: Vegas Season 2, Episode 7 Gets Right About Bigfoot Investigations

This article contains spoilers.

"CSI: Vegas" Season 2 has treated fans to some bizarre and mysterious cases thus far. For example, the second episode paid homage to "I Am Legend" while telling a story about a killer with a penchant for turning people into mannequins. Elsewhere, the fourth installment referenced the real-life trend of koalas interfering with crime scenes while investigating a case involving home invaders.

The latest episode, titled "Burned," is no different. In this one, the CSIs must investigate a homicidal arsonist who might be Bigfoot. Of course, the forensics experts end up finding a more realistic explanation that doesn't involve an actual sasquatch committing atrocities against humankind, but one can never be sure about these things. That said, the sight of Bigfoot perplexes the investigators at first, and they don't rule out the idea of the culprit being a creature.

While the idea of a mysterious creature being on the loose in a procedural crime series might seem far-fetched to some "CSI: Vegas" fans, it shouldn't. As it turns out, real-world CSIs have examined the possible existence of Bigfoot in the past.

Back in 1999, Jimmy Chilcutt, a fingerprints expert and crime scene investigator with the Conroe Police Department, discovered footprints that belonged to a primate that he'd never encountered before. After confirming that the prints were real, he concluded that they could have, theoretically, belonged to an unidentified creature, such as a sasquatch.

Chilcutt claimed that he was a skeptic at heart, but he was open-minded enough to consider new ideas if the facts supported them. As he told Chron in 2003, his job was to analyze the evidence and come up with possible conclusions."As a forensics person, I don't believe anything," Chilcutt told the outlet. "But the conclusion I came to was that there is, in fact, an animal. I don't know if you call it Bigfoot or sasquatch or what. But it's not a bear or a lion."

According to Skeptical Inquirer, the forensics expert became convinced that a "great ape" was living in North America. Chillcut's theories have been dismissed by other experts since then, but the investigator's dedication to science and his job cannot be denied. The same can be said about the scientists on "CSI: Vegas," who will consider all possibilities until the truth comes to light.