What's the Difference Between Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot? Indian Army Claims it Found Mystery Snowman's Footprints

You've heard the tale of the gargantuan creature that lives among the snowcapped mountains in the Himalayas—covered in thick white fur, a beastly snowman of sorts whose story has been whispered in ancient folklore dating back more than 350 years ago. His name is Yeti.

Yeti's existence has long been considered nothing more than a myth to many people, but the mysterious snowman recently received some serious support from the Indian Army.

The Additional Directorate General of Public Information shared the news of the Indian Army's sighting of Yeti footprints on Monday. "For the first time, an #IndianArmy Mountaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' measuring 32x5 inches close to Makalu Base Camp," the department said in a tweet.

The only place similar footprints were ever discovered in Nepal was at the Makalu-Barun National Park, whereas the recent sighting was spotted in a mountainous region between Nepal and Tibet.

The footprint sighting occurred on April 9 while the 18-person unit of the Indian Army was on its routine expedition to Mount Makalu, which takes place between March and May. The group was on a mission to reach the summit of all challenging peaks above 26,246 feet, according to CNN.

For generations, the story of the Yeti—a half-man, half-ape snow creature bigger than any human—has been passed down in Nepal. Folklore of a similar creature exists in the West, although he's referred to as the Abominable Snowman.

Then there are the myths of giant fur men-like creatures that share a lot of fabled qualities of the Yeti, however, they prefer to live in less snow-covered regions.

Bigfoot, a tall hairy creature, supposedly resides in North America. The fable of the ancient hominid was derived from tales of Sasquatch, a similarly hairy creature that lives in wooded areas whose story was passed down by Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest, according to Smithsonian magazine.

It wasn't until the late 1950s when the stories of Sasquatch transcended to Bigfoot. A California man named Ray Wallace alleged to have discovered incredibly large footprints near Bluff Creek in 1958, launching a media frenzy over the existence of the long-rumored creature.

After Wallace's death, his children told media outlets his claims about the Bigfoot sighting was just a prank, however, in the years since his alleged discovery—and even now—people all over the globe have claimed to have spotted a sign of Bigfoot's existence.

The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization—a scientific group that investigates, study and explores the origin and mystery of Bigfoot—maintains a database, which tracks alleged sightings of Bigfoot and Sasquatch. One of the more recent sighting claims listed by the organization came from a woman in Florida who said she saw a creature that looked like a "large pile of soggy grass" in June 2018, Smithsonian reported.

Despite claims, no hard proof of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti has actually been documented.