What Atlas is—and is not
Atlas is an evolving research system for organizing published accounts, submitted sightings, locations, environmental context, and calculated patterns. A plotted report means that a database record is associated with that location. It does not independently prove the event occurred or that every coordinate is exact.
Atlas does not claim to contain every Bigfoot report. Coverage and totals change as sources are added, duplicates are removed, evidence is reconstructed, coordinates are corrected, and human review is completed.
The public Atlas contains records that have progressed far enough through research and human review to be responsibly displayed. It is not intended to reproduce every report found on the Internet or in other collections. A smaller public dataset can therefore reflect careful source review rather than a lack of reported encounters.
Atlas also distinguishes between a source that was adequately examined and produced no relevant report and a source that could not be adequately examined. An unread or inadequately examined source is not negative evidence. Where practical, research coverage is considered when interpreting apparent gaps in the record. An area that has been extensively researched is not equivalent to one that has received little source coverage.
Human publication authority
No AI-reviewed record is automatically verified, published, or exposed. Automated review can flag issues and organize evidence, but it always ends at human review required. Publication remains a human-authorized decision.
Geographic authority
AI may suggest a possible encounter location, but it cannot overwrite authoritative geographic status. State, county, coordinates, water, shoreline, and polygon checks remain controlled by deterministic database and geographic validation.
Evidence and exclusion rules
Missing or incomplete evidence cannot, by itself, justify rejection. Bibliographic, catalog-only, blank, truncated, or illegible material remains questionable pending reconstruction when there is no affirmative basis for exclusion.
| Situation | Atlas treatment |
|---|---|
| Confirmed fiction, advertising, sports usage, nickname, or vehicle | Excluded from creature-report analysis as not applicable, with the positive basis preserved. |
| Claimed spirit, ghost, alien, interdimensional entity, apparition, portal, mindspeak-only entity, or materialization | Classified as nonphysical and kept outside the flesh-and-blood report set. |
| Strange, old, weakly documented, or questionable physical account | Preserved for human judgment unless affirmative exclusion evidence exists. |
| Near-water or apparently offshore coordinate | Reviewed for precision; proximity to water is not a rejection basis. |
Using Atlas in the field and at your desk
Desktop, tablet, and phone
Bigfoot Atlas uses the same underlying research system and data on desktop, tablet, and phone. The presentation adapts to the available screen. A computer or tablet provides the most room for detailed research, while the phone interface emphasizes the map and field-use controls.
Using Atlas on a phone
The phone interface is designed as a map-first field view. The map occupies most of the screen while navigation and research controls are kept compact so they do not obscure the area being examined.
Use the phone controls to open the available Atlas layers and field tools. Tap a report marker to open its report card or popup. You can then review the available report information and, when offered, use Get Directions to open the location in Google Maps.
When reporting from the field, Use My GPS can place your device coordinates into the report form after browser location permission is granted. You may also enter or correct coordinates manually.
Supported mobile browsers also provide Mic, Read Back, and Read Entire Report controls. These allow field notes to be dictated and then heard back before submission. Voice entry also supports spelled text and spoken number entry where appropriate.
Phone GPS, voice recognition, readback, and navigation depend partly on the capabilities and permissions of your device and browser. If a feature is unavailable, Atlas retains normal manual controls wherever possible.
Opening a report
Select a report layer and click or tap a marker to open the available report information. Marker color identifies the type of map layer, not the strength or credibility of the evidence.
Get Directions
Report popups may include a Get Directions button. This opens Google Maps using the displayed Atlas marker as the destination. On a supported device, Google Maps can use your current location as the starting point.
A plotted report is not an access guarantee. Routing may end at the nearest routable road or accessible point rather than the exact marker. Never trespass, enter restricted property, or attempt unsafe access simply to reach an Atlas location.
GPS and coordinates
GPS can locate your device on the map after you grant browser location permission. When submitting a report, Use My GPS can fill the Latitude and Longitude fields from the device location. Coordinates may also be entered manually.
Voice entry and readback
Supported browsers provide Mic and Read Back controls for important report fields. Voice entry can be used for ordinary dictation, spelled text, and coordinate or number entry. For example, saying “spell R E I D M I L L E R” enters the letters as a spelled value, while spoken number words and decimal points can be converted for numeric coordinate fields.
Read Back speaks the contents of an individual field. Read Entire Report reads the important entered report information in sequence so it can be checked before submission. Voice recognition depends on browser support and microphone permission; normal keyboard entry remains available when voice recognition is not supported.
Submitting a sighting
The report workspace accepts the available encounter information, including name or alias, date, time, location description, state, county, coordinates, encounter type, and description. Submitted reports enter the Atlas review process. Submission does not mean that a report has been verified or published.
Why are some report locations adjusted?
Bigfoot reports overwhelmingly describe encounters on land. However, some source records contain coordinates that plot in lakes, rivers, or offshore waters. This does not necessarily mean the reported encounter occurred in the water. Older and compiled records may contain approximate coordinates, geocoding or transcription errors, or coordinates representing a nearby geographic reference rather than the precise encounter location.
The original source coordinates are preserved and are never silently replaced. If the report itself supports an encounter in or on the water, such as swimming, wading, crossing water, or an explicitly water-based observation, Atlas retains that evidentiary location.
When the report does not support a water location, Atlas may use a separate display coordinate on appropriate nearby land. The placement is based first on the available narrative and location evidence, not simply on the mathematically nearest shoreline point. Where several adjusted markers would otherwise overlap, Atlas may use minimal display-only separation along appropriate nearby land so the map does not imply false precision or collapse unrelated reports onto one artificial point.
A blue aura identifies an Adjusted Location. The marker itself keeps its normal classification or status color. The aura means only that the displayed map position differs from the preserved source coordinate; it does not mean “Water Report.”
How should Heat, Habitat, clusters, and corridors be used?
Heat summarizes the geographic concentration of records in the Atlas dataset. Thousands of individual markers can make broader spatial patterns difficult to recognize, so the heat layer helps show where reports are concentrated relative to one another. It represents reporting concentration, not animal population density and not proof that Bigfoot is present in a colored area.
Habitat provides environmental context for geographic comparison. Available habitat-related information can help researchers examine whether report locations share environmental characteristics and whether apparent patterns continue across the surrounding landscape. Such relationships may suggest questions for further investigation, but they do not establish that Bigfoot occupies, prefers, or requires a particular habitat.
Clusters and corridors are also analytical aids. Apparent patterns can result from reporting density, public access, population, source coverage, duplicate or related reports, and other sampling effects as well as from potentially meaningful geographic relationships. Atlas presents these tools to help identify patterns worth examining, not to convert patterns into proof.
Why can totals change?
Atlas totals change as records are sourced, reconstructed, reviewed, deduplicated, corrected, accepted, or excluded. Public totals should describe the currently publishable dataset—not every record waiting safely in a research queue.
What do marker colors mean?
Colors identify layers such as historical reports, public user sightings, local records, and analysis. A color is not an evidence score. Always read the popup and source-quality information.
Submitted photographs and visual evidence
Photographs and other visual evidence submitted to Atlas may undergo routine integrity screening. This can include checks for indicators of AI generation or digital alteration, available provenance and metadata, and other characteristics relevant to evaluating the submitted material.
This screening is applied as a research-quality measure and is not an accusation or judgment about the person submitting the material. Automated findings are not treated as proof that an image is authentic, altered, AI-generated, or fraudulent. Questionable, conflicting, or inconclusive findings require human review and are considered together with the source, context, and other available evidence.
Managing or Canceling Your Atlas Membership
Atlas subscriptions renew automatically each month unless canceled.
To manage your membership, open your Atlas Account page and select Manage Subscription. You will be taken to the secure Stripe billing portal, where you can review your subscription, update your payment method, view billing information, and cancel your subscription.
If you cancel, your Atlas access remains active through the end of your current paid billing period. You will not be charged for another billing period after the cancellation takes effect. Canceling a subscription does not automatically issue a refund.
Refunds
If you are not satisfied with your Bigfoot Atlas membership, you may request a refund of your most recent monthly subscription payment within 30 days of that payment. Send refund requests to members@daystalkers.com using the email address associated with your Atlas account. Approved refunds are processed through Stripe to the original payment method. Cancellation and refund requests are separate: canceling stops future renewal, while a refund request concerns the most recent eligible payment.
Historical report publication status
Historical records may exist in the Atlas research collection before they are eligible for public display. The public Historic layer uses records that have crossed the Atlas human-review publication boundary. A record appearing publicly as verified means that its publication status has been authorized through that review process. It does not mean Atlas has proven that the reported encounter occurred exactly as described.
Automated screening and research-system recommendations are advisory. They may organize evidence, identify duplicates, flag exclusion-rule conflicts, surface source problems, and identify questionable locations, but they do not independently publish a historical record. Human publication authority remains the final boundary between the research queue and the public Historic layer.
Requesting a correction
If you have first-hand knowledge or a traceable paper trail showing that a report, location, date, source, or classification may be wrong, document the issue for Atlas review. A useful request includes:
- The record identifier or enough popup details to identify the report.
- The field believed to be incorrect and the proposed correction.
- A link, scan, citation, public record, publication page, map, or other supporting evidence.
- Your contact information if follow-up is permitted.
A correction request does not directly alter the public record. It creates a review trail. Atlas staff evaluate the evidence, preserve the decision history, and authorize any resulting change.
Responsible field use
- Do not trespass or enter unsafe terrain to reach a plotted location.
- Protect witness privacy and sensitive habitat or property locations.
- Separate witness statements, source material, and Atlas-generated analysis.
- Prefer original, page-specific, traceable sources whenever available.