Thais for the fun facts. I never wondered where that name came from. I am always intrigued by the etymology of words.
Well - it was on the inter-webs, so take it as that. Sounds reasonable though.
What intrigues me more than these stories (that go back hundreds of years in Native lore), is if there is no such thing as a Yeti/Bigfoot/Mothman/Aliens (heck maybe even aliens in the Bible with chariots in the sky) - what in our human mind/soul wants to think that there is?