( CNN ) -- A pair of Georgia men faced more than a half-hour of skeptical questions from reporters Friday as they defended their claim that they stumbled upon the body of Bigfoot while hiking in a remote North Georgia forest . The thawed body of a creature reputed to be Bigfoot reportedly weighs more than 500 pounds . Introduced by a publicist and beside a man who promoted what turned out to be a fake Bigfoot discovery in 1995 , Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer repeatedly said that their claim is not a hoax and that scientific analysis will prove it . `` We were not looking for Bigfoot . ... We would n't know what we were doing if we did , '' said Whitton , a police officer on leave after being shot in the hand while making an arrest . `` I did n't believe in Bigfoot at the time . ... But you 've got to come to terms with it and realize you 've got something special . And that 's what it was . '' The men say they were hiking in early June when they discovered the body of a 7-foot-7 , 500-pound half-ape , half-human creature near a stream . They also claim to have spotted about three similar living creatures -- and showed reporters video stills of what they say is one of those creatures shadowing them through the woods . Watch report of scientist skeptical of Bigfoot claim » . The announcement , which the men first made on the Internet radio show `` Squatch Detective '' several weeks ago , has been greeted with healthy skepticism , even among some Bigfoot enthusiasts . Scientists , including the head of North Georgia College and State University 's biology department , have said it 's unlikely a tribe of 7-foot-tall creatures would have avoided discovery in a region popular among hikers , hunters and vacationers . Several Web sites have popped up questioning the claim and comparing a photo that the men say is the creature 's body inside a freezer to a widely available Bigfoot costume . On Friday , Whitton acknowledged creating a pair of videos posted on the Internet video site YouTube , one in which his brother poses as a scientist and another in which Whitton briefly seems to admit that the body is a fake . `` It seems that the stalkers have busted us in a hoax , '' he says in the video . But then adds , `` we still have a corpse . We just wanted to give you something to do for the weekend . '' At Friday 's news conference , Whitton first said that no video existed in which he calls the discovery a hoax . But after speaking to Tom Biscardi , the self-described `` Real Bigfoot Hunter '' who has been searching for the creature of legend since 1971 , he said the video was made `` to have a little fun with it '' and was originally intended to throw off the `` psychos '' who had stalked him and his family since the men first made their claim . iReport.com : Have you seen 'Bigfoot ' ? The two also promoted a Web site registered to Whitton on June 16 and said they plan to write a book about their experience . Friday 's news conference was held in Palo Alto , California , near the home of Biscardi . About 100 reporters and onlookers attended the event , in a hotel banquet room , including a man who shouted questions while wearing a gorilla suit . Dyer and Whitton said they were carrying a video camera during their hike to film wildlife . They said they handed the body over to Biscardi , who is keeping it at an undisclosed location until a team of scientists can examine it . One of the two photographs the men gave to reporters Friday showed what appears to be the creature 's mouth , an effort to disprove allegations that what 's in the photo is a costume . `` I want to get to the bottom of it , '' Biscardi said . `` I 'll tell you what I 've seen and what I 've touched and what I 've felt , what I 've prodded was not a mask sewed onto a bear hide , OK ? '' Biscardi acknowledged that he promoted a fake Bigfoot discovery in 1995 , saying the woman who claimed to have the body convinced his staff members before he visited her and discovered that she was mentally ill . Alleged Bigfoot sightings have surfaced from time to time for years , dating to at least the 1800s . The most famous was the so-called Patterson film from 1967 , which is purported to show a tall , furry , apelike creature walking along , at one point looking over its shoulder at the videographer . Most scientists who have studied the film say there 's no way to authenticate it , and many say the creature appears to be a man in a costume . CNN 's Doug Gross and Chuck Afflerback contributed to this report .
North Georgia men say they stumbled upon body while hiking in Georgia . They also claim to have spotted three similar looking bodies . The size of the furry half man - half ape is 7 feet , 7 inches tall , they say . They wo n't reveal Bigfoot den 's location because they do n't want it disturbed .