Which federal or state government agencies have records of Bigfoot sightings or investigations?

1. The FBI: a declassified file, correspondence and a narrow inquiry

The clearest federal record is the FBI’s Bigfoot file, published in its public Vault, which contains decades‑old correspondence and materials about alleged hair samples and inquiries from the 1950s–1970s era and was widely reported when released ^{[1] [2]}; contemporary summaries show the Bureau’s scientific services told an inquirer they had no routine role identifying animal hairs outside criminal cases and could not find evidence of definitive analysis proving a novel creature, a reading many journalists interpret as the FBI doing a favor rather than an endorsement of Bigfoot’s existence ^{[2] [7]}.

2. The U.S. Forest Service and land managers: records of sightings as part of public outreach, not biological confirmation

The U.S. Forest Service maintains web content that acknowledges Bigfoot as a topic of public interest in forests it manages and uses the subject in outreach and tags, which indicates the agency tracks the cultural phenomenon of sightings on public lands but does not claim biological verification or active species investigations in its official materials ^[3].

3. State agencies: Washington’s military department and regional acknowledgment of the legend

At the state level, Washington State’s Military Department hosts a public page recounting the regional legend and history of Bigfoot reports—reflecting the creature’s place in regional folklore and public interest in the Pacific Northwest—rather than presenting scientific study or confirmation ^[4]; this kind of state-level attention often mixes cultural storytelling, tourism interest and historical notes rather than formal wildlife agency documentation.

4. What the records do not show: no sweeping, classified government program publicly documented

Available primary records from the FBI and public pages from federal and state land agencies do not support the claim of an ongoing, classified program to investigate Bigfoot across government agencies; assertions that military intelligence or broad government conspiracies have long-hidden files appear in some popular and speculative outlets but are not substantiated by the government documents accessible in the sources provided ^{[5] [6]}.

5. Private databases and citizen organizations fill the reporting gap

A large proportion of modern sighting documentation comes from private groups such as the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), which maintains a volunteer database and compiles regional reports—this is a civilian archive rather than an official government one, and it is heavily relied upon by researchers and journalists when discussing sighting counts and locations ^{[8] [9] [10]}.

6. Conflicting interpretations and hidden agendas to watch for

Interpretations of government involvement range from benign public‑servicing actions (informational pages or responding to public inquiries) to sensational claims of cover‑ups; journalists and historians who examined the FBI file caution that a single archival correspondence can be read as a courtesy investigation rather than proof of an official biological hunt, while commercial and tourism interests sometimes amplify legends for economic reasons ^{[2] [4] [6]}.

7. Bottom line and limits of the record

In short, the FBI has publicly released a file showing historical correspondence and limited inquiry into alleged Bigfoot materials ^{[1] [2]}, and federal land managers and at least one state department publicly acknowledge the legend ^{[3] [4]}; beyond those documented instances, claims of wider government investigations by military or intelligence units are asserted in some sources but not substantiated by the primary documents provided here, and the record remains dominated by private researchers and regional folklore databases ^{[5] [8] [9]}.