Your first four steps
Select Historic, Sightings, Local, Heat, or Habitat.
Zoom and move the map to the area you want to examine.
Open its popup to see the available report information.
Review location, terrain, nearby reports, date, and source.
How to read Atlas correctly
A marker means, “This database record is plotted here.” It does not mean Atlas has independently proven a Bigfoot stood on that exact spot. The marker position is only as precise as the location information available in the original report.
Some records contain exact coordinates. Others contain only a county, town, road, landmark, shoreline, or general area. Atlas must still give those records a map position, so an approximate point may be used until better information is found.
Read the popup before judging the marker. The description, county, state, date, source, and surrounding geography provide the context. The point alone never tells the entire story.
Markers and map colors
Colors identify map layers, not evidence strength. Use the popup information—not color alone—to understand a record.
Markers versus heat
Individual colored points represent records with coordinates. Click a point to open its popup.
Heat or haze is a concentration visualization calculated from multiple records or environmental cells. It is not one sighting and does not mean a creature was confirmed throughout the colored area.
Atlas controls guide
| Button | Function | What you should expect |
|---|---|---|
| Historic | Loads historical records | Blue report markers based on the historical database. |
| Sightings | Loads public user encounters | Green markers for reports submitted to Atlas and made public. |
| Local | Loads regional or locally maintained records | Orange markers with available location and encounter details. |
| Heat | Displays probability or density values | A colored concentration layer. Heat is analysis, not a confirmed sighting. |
| Habitat | Displays environmental suitability analysis | A modeled layer based on available habitat-related data. |
| Analyze | Runs pattern analysis | Potential clusters and corridors calculated from currently available data. |
| GPS | Uses your device location | Your position on the map after browser permission is granted. |
| Proximity | Checks records near your position | A distance-based view or summary of nearby records. |
| Dashboard | Opens Atlas statistics | Current cataloged public totals and geographic summaries calculated from the historical-report data. |
| Reports | Opens report tools | Submission, review, or report-management functions as available. |
| Timeline | Opens verified-record time analysis | Use the year slider or playback controls to examine the published historical sequence. |
| Account | Opens account and subscription functions | View Atlas access status and securely manage your subscription. |
| Help | Opens assistance | Documentation and guidance for using Atlas. |
Why can a report appear near—or sometimes in—water?
Plain answer: some historical locations are approximate. A water-side marker does not by itself mean Atlas is claiming that Bigfoot was seen standing or swimming in open water.
Many older or incomplete reports do not provide exact latitude and longitude. They may identify only a town, county, lake, shoreline, road, park, or landmark. An initial automatic or estimated coordinate can therefore fall on the water side of a shoreline or otherwise misrepresent the precision of the source.
Atlas treats that as a location-review issue. When a report identifies a lake, Great Lake, shoreline, or other large body of water without a reliable encounter coordinate, Atlas should use an appropriate nearby land or public-access reference point when the evidence permits, while preserving the original location description and the fact that the plotted position is approximate.
Some exceptions are legitimate: a witness may have been traveling by boat, the source may specifically place an event in water, or the record may still be awaiting location review. Shorelines, islands, bays, marshes, river mouths, transcription errors, county-center coordinates, and imprecise legacy coordinates can also produce questionable placements.
An approximate location does not erase the report. It tells the researcher how precisely the location is known. The date, county, witness description, source, nearby terrain, and relationship to other reports may still have research value while the location is reviewed and improved.
What Atlas is claiming:
“A report associated with this general location exists.”
What Atlas is not automatically claiming:
“The encounter definitely happened at this exact plotted coordinate.”
How to examine a questionable report
- Click the individual marker and read all available popup information.
- Review the date, source, county, state, encounter type, and location description.
- Zoom out to understand the larger geographic setting.
- Switch between Street and Satellite maps when useful.
- Compare the coordinates with shorelines, roads, towns, terrain, and nearby markers.
- Treat a location mismatch as a review flag—not automatic proof that the underlying account or the entire Atlas is false.
- Report a possible location error with the record details so it can be checked.
Using marker popups
Click directly on a colored report point. The popup may show county, state, report category, and a description, depending on what exists in the source record.
If points overlap, zoom in and try again. Heat layers can remain visible without preventing marker clicks.
Clusters and corridors
A cluster is an area where several records fall close together under Atlas’s current calculation. A corridor is a possible geographic relationship between concentrations.
Both are investigative leads. They may reflect population, reporting habits, road access, tourism, data coverage, or other factors—not necessarily animal movement.
Submitting a sighting
- Enter the encounter date and optional time.
- Describe the location as precisely as is safe and appropriate.
- Enter coordinates or use Use My GPS if you are at the location.
- Select the encounter type and provide a factual description.
- Submit the report for Atlas review.
Good research practice
- Separate what a witness reported from what Atlas analysis suggests.
- Prefer original sources and exact dates when available.
- Do not trespass or enter unsafe terrain to investigate a point.
- Protect witness privacy and avoid publishing sensitive locations.
- Expect records and coordinates to improve as data is reviewed.
Publication and review safeguards
Atlas does not automatically publish an AI-reviewed record. Automated review may organize evidence, identify possible issues, and recommend follow-up, but every candidate ends at human review required. Only a human-authorized publication decision can expose a record publicly.
Missing, incomplete, bibliographic, blank, truncated, or illegible evidence does not by itself justify rejection. Exclusion requires affirmative evidence and a documented exclusion basis. Strange, old, weakly documented, shoreline-associated, or questionable physical reports remain available for appropriate human judgment rather than being silently discarded.
Important interpretation limits
Atlas organizes reports, locations, environmental information, and calculated patterns. It distinguishes reported information from Atlas-generated analysis. A sighting marker represents a report; heat, clusters, corridors, probability, and habitat layers are analytical aids derived from available data.
Database totals may change as duplicates are removed, coordinates are corrected, sources are reviewed, and new records are added. Several markers in one place may reflect a true concentration, repeated reporting of one event, easier public access, higher population, or better source coverage. An empty area may mean no reports have been collected there—not necessarily no activity.
Managing Your Atlas Membership
Atlas subscriptions renew automatically each month unless canceled. You can review your subscription, update your payment method, or cancel through your Atlas Account.
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.