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Bigfoot caught on tape?

A Shelby, North Carolina man claims to have a video of the legendary Bigfoot.

Thomas Byers was driving with a friend when he says he saw Bigfoot cross Golden Valley Church Road in Rutherford County Tuesday evening. Naturally, he whipped out his video camera and was able to capture a five-second video from about 15 to 20 feet away.

"It ran across the road and into the woods right in front of us and I was able to film it," Byers wrote in an e-mail to WCNC NewsChannel 36 in Charlotte, N.C. "In the short video you can hear it snarl or growl at me."

And Bigfoot, it seems, is in desperate need of a shower. "One thing I know is the smell of it was horrid. It smelled like a cross between road kill and a skunk. And it did not like the fact that I was there on the road with it. In the video you can hear it snarl or growl at me as it crosses the road."

Byers details the event on a personal website where he has posted the video plus a few pictures. In the description, he explains that Bigfoot, or Knobby as it's known locally, has been "spotted for years."

Commenters on his site remained divided over the authenticity of the video.

"Unfortunately, until one is captured or killed and delivered to a lab, nothing can be proven," said online user 'Mike'. "Any sighting could be staged, or a prank by someone in a primate-like costume."

"I personally believe you," said 'Luke'. "But if you want to convince the skeptics out there you need a better video and physical evidence such as droppings."

As the debate rages on over whether or not this was the real deal, Byers is satisfied simply to have experienced the moment. "It was truly one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen," he said on his website.

Representatives of the American Bigfoot Society and the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.