Overview
- The Damariscotta Police Department, which received about a half-dozen calls Tuesday, located a person on Main Street who was wearing a "very convincing" Bigfoot costume and concluded the reports were a misidentification.
- Officer William Smith spoke with the costumed man in a calm encounter that the department described as a pleasant conversation rather than a criminal investigation.
- Police found no evidence of criminal activity and filed no charges after determining the situation posed no public-safety threat.
- Chief Erik Josephson posted a tongue-in-cheek update on the department’s Facebook page to explain the outcome and thank residents for reporting the sighting.
- The episode underscored how local folklore and a busy school drop-off can prompt heightened vigilance in small towns and ended as a benign, locally contained story rather than a broader safety incident.