Self-illuminating Eyes
By: Robert Prevo
When it comes to the subject of Sasquatch, or "Bigfoot" as it is much more colloquially known, along with the many evidentiary traces and expected occurrences that one might expect from an entity that is strictly biological in nature, there are an umber of phenomena that seem to be unexplainable to say the least. Among these are instances that seem to be paranormal or supernatural in nature, and in fact many point to these as being hints or clues that these entities are much more than simply biological animals. A few of these are as follows;
Trackways that seem to appear or disappear, lacking origin or termination in a reasonable way, such as in the middle of a field.
The addition of "orb" activity, strange flashing lights, or even "hauntings" in the same general, or immediate area that long term "habitation" activity of Sasquatch takes place.
Reports of other strange "Cryptid" activity in the area, other than Sasquatch.
Strange auditory anomalies such as the sounds of babies crying, children laughing in the forest, the sound of car doors slamming, whispered talking, and of course the expected "whoops" and "Hollers", as well as growls.
The ever-present feeling of being watched, and sudden instances of complete deafening silence.
However, the one anomalous and bone chilling occurrence that seems to leave most researchers and investigators puzzled, is that of what appears to be "self-illuminated eyes".
Imagine, for whatever reason, you are either alone, or with a small group of friends in the forest at night. Maybe you're on a camping trip deep in the forest, or just chilling out in your backyard on a 4th of July weekend, when out of nowhere there is a commotion in the nearby forest, or the brush. You struggle to see what it is because its so dark. Afterall, it is nighttime, and you're near the forest. Then slowly, a large figure rises from the nearby brush. A figure that is much bigger than anything you've ever come across, and much bigger than you'd ever imagine seeing in the forest. It's not a man, or bear, or anything you can identify. It's huge, and it seems to be way to close, no matter how distant it is. Now for the unsettling part. It turns and looks at you. Directly at YOU. You know this because it is looking at you with two GLOWING EYES. You know the eyes are glowing because of how dark it is. You didn't turn on the flashlight yet out of fear of being seen by the creature. It's not reflecting the light like any other wild animal's eyes. These eyes look like they are powered by something in the creature's head. But that's impossible... Or is it?
Typically, most animals that are nocturnal in their behaviors, whether they be predator or prey, have something in their eye that is called the Tapetum Lucidum. The Tapetum Lucidum is a layer of tissue that sits directly behind the retina of these vertebrate animas and works like a concave mirror, reflecting light back into the photoreceptors of the animal's eyes, effectively "supercharging" their ability to see in low light. This reflection of light is then visible as it leaves the surface of the eye. However, the Tapetum Lucidum does not "Self-illuminate" and is ineffective in situations of absolute darkness. In the complete absence of light, these animals are as blind as we (humans) are.
So then, if this is not the working of a Tapetum Lucidum, then what is it? More puzzling yet, if this is due to a form of "Self-illumination", then why does it not effectively blind the animal due to the immensely bright light?
What if?
What if we are making two fundamentally flawed assumptions here?
The first is that this "Self-illumination" is for seeing, rather than for identification. If these creatures do partially exist in a semi-subterranean existence, that being of complete darkness (as many researchers believe), then it would be helpful to be able to identify who, or what, is in the cavern with you. Perhaps the coloration of the eyes is linked to a family group, or intent. One color for being peaceful, and another for territorial, and another for anger?
The second is the assumption that these creatures see in the same spectrum of light that we see in. It may be that to them, this light is all but invisible when it comes from them, but is visible from others after mixing with other spectrums of light. Or, this might simply be a side effect of the true nature of the organ that causes this illumination, allowing them to see in a completely different spectrum such as Inferred, or some form of thermal.
Now then, I do need to add that this is speculation on my part. An educated guess existing outside the proverbial "box", if you will. I have no proof, and this hasn't been tested. How could it be after all? That being said, we do know that their vision appears to be different than ours. They seem to be able to move with ease in the dark, at it appears that more often than not they can avoid game cameras which utilize infrared light. So, while this assumption might be right or completely wrong, we do need to start asking different questions than the ones we have been asking. Afterall, there is the famous quote about insanity that states, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Let me leave you with one other aspect to ponder on...
If this speculation of the origins of the "Self-illuminating eyes" holds any water as a biological adaptation to the Sasquatch, then there is something else that must be true. Either all other "Cryptids", such as the "Dogman" have somehow evolved this same specific organ in the eye that functions in exactly the same way, or they all come from the same ancestral lineage as the Sasquatch. This means that if the Sasquatch is a form of a primate, whether that be ape or human, then so are they...
