An Elusive Science

With the sightings and evidence found from the ‘50s to early ‘60s, numerous explanations were developed both for and against the Yeti.

One common theory stated that the Yeti must be a descendant of Gigantopithecus—a thought-to-be-extinct ape, which matched first-hand descriptions of the Yeti; another: that the Yeti was a survivor of the Neanderthal’s—the “missing link” between apes and humans. Still, other theories cited the possibility of an unknown high-altitude dwelling mammal.

However, it was not difficult to disprove the “for” hypothesis: footprints could be explained by evaporation and melting snow (making even small animal tracks look beast-like), the overstepping phenomenon in which the longer tracks of an animal’s hind feet overlap and obscure the tracks of the shorter forefeet, and even the prints left by nomadic mountain men wearing rugged sandals. The Yeti “sightings” themselves could be explained by hallucinations (common among high-altitude climbers) and large mammals travelling at higher altitudes, seen from a distance or at night.

If nothing else, the Yeti seemed an elusive science at best.

The mid/late ‘60s brought a lull in the search for the Yeti as political turmoil in the Himalaya halted many would-be expeditions. And by the ‘70s interest in Yeti expeditions seemed to drop off dramatically. In that time, even early advocates like Edmund Hillary had grown doubtful. This was not without cause: not a single expedition had found conclusive evidence proving the Yeti.