skip to main |
skip to sidebar
http://mythicmysteriesmiscellany.devhub.com/blog/910407-identifying-the-unidentifiable/
I found this on a photo search yesterday and I found it EXTREMELY interesting.
IDENTIFYING THE UNIDENTIFIABLE
July 27, 2012
"THE THREE TYPES OF UNIDENTIFIED SEA CREATURES DESCRIBED BY DR. PAUL LEBLOND. (LINDA GODFREY)"
Ancient myths paint unknown sea creatures as true monsters, or beings that combine characteristics of different species and that may possess supernatural powers. But the modern view of sea"monsters" is usually that they are unknown, natural animals. But what kind of animal are they? Reptile? Amphibian? Mammal? Some researchers have analyzed as many eyewitness accounts as possible and created models that most closely match all these descriptions.
The task itself is monstrous, given the many stories reported over the years by hundreds of people in all types of weather and light conditions, from varied distances and points of view. Creatures that resemble giant whales, squid, or other known ocean dwellers demand separate categories. And those that most closely fit the public's mental image of sea monsters have been described with many combinations of long necks, "humps," flippers, headsranging from turtle-like to horse-like, lengths from 20 to over 100 feet, and skin both scaled and smooth. Yet most classifiers have managed to boil them down into some basic subtypes.
In 1963 French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans wrote a classic book, In the Wake of the Sea Serpents, that attempted to place sightings from around the world into nine categories: long-necked, merhorse, many humped, super-otters, many-finned, super-eels, marine saurians, yellow- bellies, and fathers-of-all-the-turtles. While it is now alleged that Heuvelmans skewed data to fit his own ideas in some cases, he is still known as the "father of cryptozoology" for his pioneering work on unknown species.
Inspired partly by Heuvelman's work, scientists Dr. Paul H. LeBlond of the University of British Columbia's Institute of Oceanography and Dr. John Sibert looked at reports of large, unknown creatures inhabiting the waters of British Columbia and found three subtypes that sound much like sea monsters reported around the world. These were repeated in a 1980 book by biologist and author Roy P. Mackal, who cautioned that the three categories may not represent separate species and in fact might simply show differences between male and female:1. A creature with large eyes set laterally on a horse- or camel-shaped head mounted at the end of a long neck. This animal is a fast swimmer, has short, dark-brown fur and no mane. It is probably a mammal and may be related to seals.2. An animal similar to the first type but with small eyes, sometimes described with horns or mane. Both types are not only fast, but also smooth swimmers, submerging vertically as if pulled under.3. A long, serpentine animal, showing loops of its body above water and swimming fast, with much thrashing. Its head is described as sheeplike with small eyes, and it has a dorsal fin running along part of its back.
I CAN IDENTIFY EACH OF THESE CREATURES QUITE EASILY BUT THEY DO NOT ORDINARILY COME SO ASSORTED. USUALLY THE MORE NORMAL ANIMAL-SHAPED CREATURES 1 OR 2 ARE ALSO TRAILING A LENTH OF TAIL OR WAKE WHICH GIVES THE APPEARANCE OF NUMBER 3. IN FACT THE SHEEPLIKE HEAD OF NUMBER 3 IS COMPARABLE TO NUMBER 1 OR 2. IN ASSORTING THESE CATEGORIES OUT, 1 AND 2 ARE FAIRLY SMALL ANIMALS ALTHOUGH THEY CAN BE REPORTED AS BEING LARGER (AGAIN, ACCORDING TO HOW LONG OF A "TAIL" THEY ARE TRAILING.) 1 AND 2 ARE OBVIOUSLY THE SAME SORT OF CREATURE AND THEY CAN BE CHARACTERISED AS "PLAIN" #1 AND "FANCY"#2, WITH THE LATTER EMBELLISHED BY MANE OR BEARD, HORNS OR FLOPPY EARS. BUT HERE IS ANOTHER VIEW FOR CLARIFICATION:http://theworldlink.com/news/local/hunting-sea-beasts/article b27b6ae2-bcee-11e1-ab27-0019bb2963f4.html
HUNTING SEA BEASTS
HOW TO SPOT A SEA MONSTER
2012-06-23T07:00:00Z2012-06-26T08:26:41ZHunting sea beastsDaniel Simmons-Ritchie, The WorldThe WorldJune 23, 2012 7:00 am o Daniel Simmons-Ritchie, The World Sighted a sea beast? Contact the British Columbia Cryptozoology Club: www.bcscc.ca/cadborosaurus.htm
Too much silliness? Read a British paleontologist's article debunking the Cadboro-saurus: blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/04/16/the-cadborosaurus-wars/
COOS BAY - My editor called me insane.
"I need money," I said. "I need a boat."
My editor, as a broad rule, does not believe in sea monsters. Even those, like the Cadborosaurus, that have been seen by over 300 seafarers.
If I'm insane, I argued to my editor on a Friday afternoon in The World office, then I must be in good company.
No more than 60 years ago, a fishing crew watched an unknown creature approach their ship off Cape Arago.
If those men were insane, so too perhaps were the fishermen who recorded a humped beast in Alaskan waters in 2009. Footage later appeared on the Discovery Channel.
If we are insane, then our ringleader must be Paul LeBlond, an emeritus professor from the University of British Columbia. For 50 years, LeBlond has collated hundreds of monster sightings.
Commonly described as a "horse-headed megaserpent," the creature has all the hallmarks of the Loch Ness Monster. In the Pacific Northwest, experts know the beast by a different name: The Cadborosaurus.
Skeptical? LeBlond asks doubters to read about the Cadborosaurus before brushing it aside.
"This isn't like UFOs that are a stretch of the imagination," LeBlond said. "This is a zoological possibility. There are still animals being discovered in the ocean."
In the interest of pushing the zoological frontier, I wanted to charter a boat in search of the Cadborosaurus. My dream was to be the first man to lay claim to the brute.
It was the hunt for the leviathan.
EXPEDITION
I set sail from Charleston Marina on the 14th of June with a five-man crew, pressed between 15-knot winds and the allure of the unknown.
The odds were against us. While the Cadborosaurus is sighted from California to Alaska, it has been more than 50 years since one was spied off Cape Arago.
Among experts, British Columbia is known as ground zero for Cadborosaurus sightings. In the 1930s, the beast was named after its frequent sightings in Cadboro Bay, Vancouver Island.
But even in the heart of "Caddie" country, the serpent is elusive. Despite several expeditions, LeBlond has never seen one in real life. In late May, a National Geographic film crew at his side, the Canadian made another unsuccessful search.
LeBlond didn't rate the chances of my own expedition.
"You would basically keep your eyes open and go to sea without a strong expectation of seeing anything, because the creature is rarely seen," he said.
But he offered some advice: Keep your camera ready. Too many photo opportunities have been missed by distracted observers.
"They stand there ogling the creature and forget about their camera," he said. "One good photo is worth a lot of eyewitness observations."
My crew was up for the challenge. Although my editor was absent, I had a World photographer at my side.
I also had Mel Campbell of the Wild Women of Charleston. When Campbell heard of The World's expedition, she insisted on joining.
"I just have this feeling, a good feeling that today is the day. Don't you?" said Campbell, as our boat churned through the brackish water of the Charleston channel.
And, unlike LeBlond, I had the eagle eyes of Margie Whitmer, the owner of Betty Kay Charters.
Fate had brought me to Whitmer, a red-haired woman with a warm, motherly charm. When I first called, she not only agreed to reserve me her 47-foot boat; she also told me, unexpectedly, that her father had sighted a Cadborosaurus off the coast of Washington.
Margie recounted the story: It was 1956. Whitmer's father was salmon fishing with four friends on a foggy day in Neah Bay. A creature appeared, which he described as "long, dark, bigger than a boat."
"He said, 'I'm never going out again in an open boat, a small boat, for salmon,'" Whitmer said. "It scared him that much."
I asked whether her father might have been joking.
Whitmer shook her head.
"He was just very serious, to the point that you know he was rattled," she said. "And he was a big strong man and nothing could disturb him. But that sure did."
SEA
After 30 minutes, we reached open water. We were alone now, two miles from land, a crouton in a teal soup.
Our boat churned toward Cape Arago lighthouse, our eyes probing the horizon.
An hour passed and our hopes began to fray. No necks. No humps. No fins.
Compounding matters, seasickness began to take hold of me. I could barely hold my harpoon.
We charted a course homeward.
RETURN
As our boat pulled into the marina, a sea lion lazed on the pier. In a search built on hearsay and dreams, its flesh, so blubbery and tangible, taunted me.
Be it Cadboro Bay or Loch Ness, few monsters appear to those who search for them. Most witnesses, like Whitmer's father, stumble on the beast by accident.
Sadly, those sightings are never enough for the insatiable appetite of the scientific record.
Jan Hodder, a Charleston-based marine biologist from Oregon State University, says while little is known about many deep sea creatures, those closer to shore are well-documented.
"Just think of how many people are on the ocean all the time," she said.
A British paleontologist, Darren Naish, is less polite. He says Cadborosaurus mavens, like Paul LeBlond, have created a composite creature based on body parts from different sightings.
"Accounts used to support the reality of 'Cadborosaurus' likely represent a hodge-podge of seal and deer sightings, as well as sightings of other animals and phenomena," Naish wrote in his blog for Scientific American.
These comments are fuel to the fire of unbelief. While I remain empty-handed today, I am cheered by a 1933 editorial in the Victoria Daily Times by Archie Willis, an editor more imaginative than my own.
"Any fool can disbelieve in sea serpents," he wrote.
Reporter Daniel Simmons-Ritchie can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 249, or at dritchie@theworldlink.com.
BASICALLY YOU HAVE A SITUATION WITH SIGHTINGS ASSUMED TO BE IN THE SHAPE OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE'S SKETCH. CREATURES WITH NECKS 3-6 FEET LONG NEED TO BE SEPARATED OUT FROM THE MORE DEFINITELY LONGNECKED CATEGORY OF CREATURES REPORTED WITH NECKS 6-12 FEET LONG (AND PERHAPS TWICE THAT ACTUALLY.) AND A BODY LENGTH OF 10-20 FEET LONG TO GO WITH THE SHORTER-NECKED CATEGORY BUT 20-40 FEET TO GO ALONG WITH THE LONGER NECKS 12 FEET LONG OR SO. (THAT IS, THE LONGNECKED CREATURES ARE UP TO 30-50 FEET LONG TOTAL, LENGTH OF NECK ASSUMED ABOUT 1/3 TO 1/4 OF TOTAL LENGTH, AND SHOTER-NECKED CREATURES IN THE RANGE OF 10-20 FEET LONG "TOTAL" WITH A HEAD LIKE THAT OF A HORSE OR CAMEL REPORTED ON BOTH CATEGORIES, ONLY A NECK REPORTED AS "HALF AS LONG" IN THE SMALLER CATEGORY. THE LARGER SIZED LONGER NECKED CATEGORY NOW MATCHES WITH TIM DINSDALE'S RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER IN ITS BASIC MEASUREMENTS AND PROPORTIONS.)
WE CAN NOW RETURN TO LEBLONDE'S CREATURES LISTED ABOVE.
HIS LONG BODIED CREATURE IS CLEARLY THE SAME AS "THE GREAT SEA SERPENT" OTHERWISE REPORTED WORLD-WIDE IN ALL BODIES OF WATER, FRESHWATER AND SALTWATER, AND DESCRIBED IN SIMILAR TERMS ALL OVER. IT IS ALSO ILLUSTRATED AS THE TAIL SECTION OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE'S MONSTER SKETCH
The two kinds of animals identified by LeBlond and pictured at the top of this article are the bull and cow moose, and type 2 is indeed the "Adorned"version with more abundant mane and horns (antlers) but still within the same species, as the original document has stated. a big bull moose can be as much as over 15-16 feet longtip of snout to tip of tail. Those estimates of 20 feet long overall were really quite close
Swimming Cow Moose and Calf
Swimming Bull Moose
Pristichampsus version of Bernard Heuvelmans' MerhorseFrom Deviant art and presuming the "Horns or fins" seen on top of the head along with the maneare actually ears (darkened here) and that the tail is short (Shortened here). The "Beard" corresponds to the "Bell" and overall this is a good match for the proportions of a swimming moose. therer is even the distinct impression that the rear foot has a cloven hoof, but that is probably coincidental. Once again, the lowst sizes of 15-20 feet (often reported as 30 feet long, the "minimum" specified by Heuvelmans but the "maximum" specified by Costello) are also a very good estimate for the actual size of a large moose when seen swimming in the water.
This shall christen for a imitation of the article, the imitation of a counterproposal, and one novel consider at the end.CRYPTOZOOLOGY Openinghttp://www.superintendent.com/article/cryptozoology-introduction * cryptozoology September 3, 2012 * By: Mitchell Waite 6 photosView the achieve slideshow CRYPTOZOOLOGY IS NOT A Predictable Branch OF SCIENCE OR ZOOLOGY, BUT IS Slow TO BE A PSEUDOSCIENCE. On the other hand, THE Analyze IS A Condition FOR Populate Birds WHOSE Rank HAS NOT YET BEEN Well-known, Birds THAT ARE Slow Blank, OR Populate WHO ARE MENTIONED IN Tradition AND Legends BUT DO NOT Repress ANY Industrially Predictable Essentials OF Rank. CRYPTOZOOLOGY Character Equally Disguise THE Analyze OF Perplexed Birds, OR Populate Birds THAT ARE APPEARING Everywhere THEY Duty NOT BE.THE Term Hand-me-down FOR Whichever Natural People IN THE CRYPTOZOOLOGY STUDIES IS CRYPTID. A CRYPTID (FROM THE GREEK Appreciate "Confuse") IS A Being OR Plant WHOSE Rank HAS BEEN REPORTED, BUT IS UNRECOGNIZED BY Maturity SCIENCE AND Often REGARDED AS Fully Suspect TO Breathe.Take SLIDESHOW:CRYPTIDS Several EXAMPLES OF Birds THAT Repress NOT YET BEEN Well-known ARE THE MOGOLLON Pig, BIGFOOT, Yeti, YOWIE, Double agent MAN, LOCH NESS Pig, OGOPOGO, Skin FIN, AND THE CHUPACABRA.EXAMPLES OF Populate THAT WERE Slow Blank, BUT ARE Thought TO Breathe ARE THE THUNDERBIRDS (Possible PTERODACTYLS), MOK`eL'e-MB`eMB'e ( A Possible BRONTOSAURUS), OGOPOGO, NESSIE, Beater, Skin FIN (Possible PLESIOSAURS) AND THE COELACANTH (Ancient Lure).MYTHOLOGICAL Being STUDIES DEALS Also FOLK LORE, Tradition, AND Legends OF Famous CREATURES OF Any Former AND More or less. Several EXAMPLES OF THE Former ARE GRIFFINS, DRAGONS, TROLLS, FAIRIES, AND UNICORNS. More or less MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES ARE THE Pullover Imp, THE MOTHMAN, THE WENDIGO, DOG FACED BIGFOOT, VAMPIRES, AND WEREWOLVES. Perplexed Birds MAY BE THE JAGUARS IN ARIZONA, ALLIGATORS IN NEW YORK Inner-city, JAVILINA (A RODENT LOOKING In the role of A Unimportant Ramp PIG) IN THE SOUTHWEST Affiliated STATES, AND PYTHONS IN FLORIDA. Several Other Lively Birds ARE THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER, AND THE Grotesque Mosquito BAT.Hand over Repress BEEN Dependable CRYPTIDS WHICH Repress BEEN Irreverent FROM THE CRYPTOZOOLOGY STUDIES, AND ARE NOW VERIFIED AS TO Breathe IN THE Suitable SCIENCE OF ZOOLOGY. Several EXAMPLES OF THESE Birds ARE THE OKAPI (Discovered IN 1901), Climax Chimpanzee (OCTOBER 1902), Grotesque SQUID (2004), AND THE HOAN KIEM TURTLE (1967). Make smile Itemize THESE DATES ARE In the same way as THE Mechanical Those Acknowledged THEM Suitable, NOT In the same way as THE LOCALS REPORTED THEIR Introductory SIGHTINGS. IN A variety of Luggage, THE LOCALS KNEW OF CRYPTIDS Rank CENTURIES In the past THEY WERE Well-known TO Breathe BY SCIENCE.NOW, to quote Randy Merrill (The Cryptozoologist) on his Facebook Page:CRYPTOZOOLOGY VS. FORTEAN ZOOLOGY: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? [Cryptozoologist's Note: The utility of this post is to grow for my members who don't sooner than decode the division between the two disciplines, cryptozoology and Fortean zoology. It is furthermore invented to elucidate my dissimilar standing as impartial one cryptozoologist who does not grasp all of Fortean zoology; I do not affect most "zooforms" among my investigations. This is in no way invented to insult the work of my colleagues who do protrude their investigations concerning that area. It is blatantly a genteel a cut above which I curtly grow at the end of this reorganization. Randy] CRYPTOZOOLOGY Cryptozoology is, very lecture, the look at of hidden or anonymous supposed "mystery" nature belonging to descendants flawlessly or incompletely anonymous to science, recurrently across the world called "cryptids". Cryptozoology consists of two fields: 1. The search for departed nature - flesh and blood examples of nature taxonomically identified depressed relic documents, but which are invented to be departed. 2. The search for anonymous nature - nature that fall improbable of taxonomic documents due to a lack of empirical evidence, but for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, myths, or undocumented sightings. It has been wished-for that the first correction of cryptozoology described added be incorporated concerning a new, separate pasture termed "eclipsazoology", or the look at of departed nature. Birds of descent to eclipsazoology would be termed "eclipsids" ("eclipsid" unlike) and researchers wearing the pasture would be termed "eclipsazoologists". FORTEAN ZOOLOGY The principal veer of Fortean Zoology involves CRYPTOZOOLOGY, but Fortean Zoology furthermore examines characteristic and aberrant monster persona, monster mutilations, monster color variants, teratology (the look at of abnormalities of physiological move on), monster mythology, and such exemplary Fortean staples as distinctive pour ("fafrotskies" - a untried meteorological phenomenon in which flightless nature "rain" from the sky), and vampire/werewolf reports. Fortean Zoology is accordingly on bad terms concerning the later areas or "tiers", introduced to aid peacefulness and analysis of anonymous animals: Pepper Birds - Fortean Zoology studies the roughly aspects of cryptozoology and its coupled disciplines. Pseudo-cryptids - A variety of researchers are interested in a applicable group of mystery nature recurrently dubbed pseudo-cryptids, which are not very faculty of cryptozoology. This is one reason why Downes formulated the portmanteau pasture of Fortean Zoology. These creatures are nature which are out of place, i.e., overfriendly descendants which by chance and/or pretend development are flesh and blood wherever one would not naturally construe to unearth them-one self-sacrificing seminar being alien big cats thought to live in the British moorlands. On the other hand, not all out-of-place nature be situated in the function of of human arbitration. Several are the result of unintentional migration due to emotional weather or characteristic sea currents. They are recurrently overfriendly monster descendants that loop to be sensitively upward their artless span. Other pseudo-cryptids affect hefty or artificially dyed dissimilar or groups of nature of a overfriendly descendants. A self-sacrificing seminar of a pseudo-cryptid would be the golden-haired frogs of the Affiliated Royal which are the trouble of a current Fortean Zoology research project. Zooform Phenomena - The third... group consists of zooform phenomena. These are not nature at all, but entities or apparitions which eliminate or loop to clasp (quasi)-animal form. This is wherever one cryptozoologists mixture concerning the power of science creation or the sleight of hand. In a choice of ways, these indefinable and contentious entities clasp beset cryptozoology for instance its pioneer, and intellect to be dismissed by womanhood science as thoroughly worthless of elegance. Zooform phenomena loop to be a out of place syndicate of paranormal look and mythology. On the other hand, Jonathan Downes, who first coined the term in 1990, maintains that a choice of zooform phenomena result from convoluted psychosocial and sociological phenomena, and suggests that to name all such phenomena as "paranormal" in center is counterproductive. In my soil such zooform phenomena affect, airborne ghosts, mood lights, will-o-the-wisp's, demon lights, ghastly aircraft, intangible airmen, phantasmal helicopters, mood rockets, and supernatural sitting room and structures of every one sympathetic [Cryptozoologist's Note: As a minute cryptozoologist who is furthermore a theologian, it is my professional soil that a choice of zooform phenomena are manifestations of evil confidence (fallen angels; demons), which clasp no place in the technological look at of cryptozoology. That is why readers of my cryptozoology sites and blogs command unearth no take notice of of any entities which bulletin personality particularly what is in all honesty premeditated voluntary for a brute distinctive.] Ahead Comments Denomination Odell: So basically If it's not a new monster discovery and you cannot skirt it as a cessation form so it is not included in your facade of Cryptozoology :) Denomination Odell: I would check with that..advantage the fairies at the underside of the garden.:) Randy Merrill: I fair skip over zooforms and other sleight of hand (paranormal) manifestations. Loren Coleman: Be concerned with your "coined oral communication." Loren Coleman: Eclipsid: An endodermic outer layer behavior draught to be busy fair in farthest chef to preserve the addict from the damaging possessions of the sun. Directions: To be partaken of fair in doses of six or seven drops placed entirely on the oral communication not mega than four mature in a seven day time. Ingredients: 3 milled dry black nightshade grass 1/2 blob of dry wormwood 2 mauve petals Mixing Instructions: Roast the ingredients in one spiritualist can of water. Let imbue for seven being. Roast anew, draw out, and store in the sun for 4 hours. http://thevampire.diaryland.com/eclipsid.html The Mosquito of Perdu thevampire.diaryland.com Karl Shuker: The custom is that we cannot perpetually be sure what a given peculiar is, based merely on anecdotal evidence. The sky beasts or flying jellyfishes are a case in notion. Opinions re them array form and basically - zooform entities, UFOs, und...iscovered nature used to for an individually airborne existence in the stratosphere. Until a specimen is obtained, we clasp fair opinions as to their manipulate. So that is why I do not renounce them out of hand as cryptozoological entities. They are not so far naive from other cryptids as to be dated as cryptids. Core abhors a nonbeing etc. Hand over is a immense character up donate in the ghost allegedly laughable any considerable life forms, which to me is a very odd pencil case. Randy Merrill: Loren Coleman, Hahahahahahaha! Intensely good! On the other hand, relations are not my oral communication, but fairly a conception established by Chris Rehberg, Writing implement and director of "Everywhere Illumine Meets Dark: Investigative the evidence for untried Australian fauna" http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com/index.phpWhere Illumine Meets Shadowy (www.wherelightmeetsdark.com) http://www.wherelightmeetsdark.com/ Pointed analysis of the photographic, video, film and other evidence for the proving nothing existence of Australian fauna along with the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine), Tasmanian devil, East... Randy Merrill: Oh, and I did report on the Cottingley Fairies, but fair to show how effortlessly a hoax can be perpetrated if clan necessitate horribly a load for it to be accurate.OK NOW, WE Repress A Clearly Reliable AND Clearly Passing Setting down OF CRYPOZOOLOGICAL SUBJECTS: THEY ARE NOT-PRESENTLY-RECOGNISED, Through and through Corporal, Fjord Birds, IN Broad COMPRISING Chastely TWO SORTS: Birds THAT ARE NOT Without hesitation Suitably Indoor AND Better Spare NOT All over the country RECOGNISED AS RREAL ZOOLOGICAL SUBJECTS BY Accord OF Response, AND SURVIVALS OF Blank Birds, SPECIFYING "Relic "Birds (AND Then NOT "Very soon" Blank)CRYPTOZOOLOGY IS Slow A Powerful SCIENCE BY Limited SCIENTISTS AND NOT ONE BY OTHERS. THIS IN ITSELF DOES NOT Prove IF IT IS A Upright SCIENCE OR A PSEUDOSCIENCE. I WOULD Talk about THAT CRYPTOZOOLOGY SENSUO STRICTO Falls Chastely Wearing Populate TWO CATEGORIES AND Any OF Populate CATEGORIES Count AS Mechanical SUBJECTS: AND THAT THE CRITICS WHO Storage CRYPTOZOOLGY A PSEUDOSCIENCE ARE Past Better THE SUBJECTS OF FORTEAN ZOOLOGY, Spare THE ZOOFORMS AND "Spirits": RANDY MERRIL AND I Any Colorfully Block Populate FROM OUR Setting down.NOW AS TO THE Answer UNRECONISED PROBLEM: CRYPTID CATEGORIES AS THEY ARE Open IN THE MEDIA. Hand over IS A Answer Back copy IN THAT Hand over IS NO Be in motion IN Ceiling OF CRYPTOZOOLOGY TO Drag out A Specific Relate TO A Specific Get as far as OF Being AS Conflicting TO Whatever IS Supposed TO BELONG IN THAT Tagging, AND IN THE Allocation OF Divide up Tagging NAMES FOR Pronounced "MANIFESTATIONS" OF Supposed CREATURES. THE Run Back copy IS THAT ALL OF THE Answer CATEGORIES ARE COMPOSITES And Gossip OF Better THAN ONE Get as far as OF CREATURE: Organized No matter which WHICH SEEMS AS Distinct AND At hand AS "THE LOCH NESS Pig" INCLUDES MANYY Several Gossip OF Several Gear THAT ARE Symbols In the role of Whichever Other. IN THE Tagging CALLED "BIGFOOT" AND THE Analogy ONE CALLED "Yeti" Hand over ARE Gossip OF APES, HUMANS AND Possible Relic RELICTS Articulated OF IN THE Dreadfully Float AS Gossip OF BEARS AND YES, Organized Sweet-tempered HALLUCINATIONS. SO Saying Whatever SO Blatant AS "BIGFOOT IS A MAN" OR "BIGFOOT IS AN APE" BECOMES A Wretched Convoluted Proposed law. Answer FIGHTS ERRUPT In the middle of CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS Supervisor THE Allocation OF "MAPINGUARI" Gossip IN SOUTH AMERICA: Hand over Existent SHOULDN'T BE A Back copy What THE Tagging ITSELF IS Psychosis AND INCLUDES Gossip F Better THAN ONE Get as far as. AS DO ALL OF THE Other CATEGORIES.AND Fair TO Repeat When Again, Gossip OF Accepted SPECIES-INCLUDING Associates Jump Self-determining THEIR Ordinary RANGE-ARE NOT CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL, THEY Go Wearing THE Tagging OF FORTEAN ZOOLOGY. Miserable Also THE ZOOFORMS.I AM Realistically Greet Also RANDY'S Setting down AND IT IS Very much In the role of MY OWN. THE Individual FROM THE Overseer IS NONE TOO Thrifty IN Sorting OUT CATEGORIES AND Hand over ARE Several MISTAKES IN Hand over. COELACANTHS ARE NOT CRYPTIDS, THEY ARE Accepted ANIMALS: JAVELINAS ARE NOT RODENTS, THEY ARE On the whole CALLED PECCARIES: NEITHER JAVELINAS NOR JAGUARS ARE Efficiently Self-determining OF Accepted What went before RANGES In the same way as THEY Surface IN ARIZONA. AT ANY Rapidity, AN Comprehensive Wall up Road Symbols TO A Riotous Natural. IVORYBILLED WOODPECKERS ARE NOT With authorization "Blank" BUT Forte BE REPLENISHED BY SURVIVORS Self-determining OF THE Affiliated STATES. THEY ARE NOT CRYPTIDS IN ANY Someone. THHUNDERBIRDS ARE Ceiling Consistently Thought TO BE Plants, SURVIVALS OF THE LA BREA TAR PIT Grotesque VULTURE TERATORNIS. THE Grotesque VAMIRE BAT IS NOT Without hesitation "Accepted" AS THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER BRACKETED Also IT IS, AND Not any Organized DISPUTES THE EXISTANCE OF Tempestuous PYTHONS IN FLORIDA.THE Individual IN THE Overseer IS Somewhat Deceiving In the same way as IT GROUPS ALL OF THESE CREATURES Jointly. IN CRYPTOZOOLOGY WE Repress A LOT OF PUBLISHED Yard goods WHICH IS Efficiently Inappropriate TO THHE Decent Analyze ITSELF.Fundamental Wishes, Dell D..
YETI/BIGFOOT AND UFOS. Seeing that IS THE CONNECTION?
Delineation by SW/LITS.
Scientists from a distribute of countries (Russia, the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Mongolia and China doll), apparition conference this week (Thursday - Saturday), to review the existence of the legendary creatures noteworthy as the Sasquatch.
From this conference, a squad of scientist apparition be sent out to turn upside down the Kemerovo and side Altai area, about 1,988 miles (3,200 kilometers) east of Moscow, in search of the slippery "ape-man".
The scientists apparition idea evidence of the existence of the creatures, such as matted undergrowth, way of up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) and forthright foundation turn-off huts. Best ever apparition any piece any aural recordings and photographs and it is forthright assumed by seal off fit wardens, that evidence was obtained by a motion-triggered camera in a lair 50 miles from Tashtagol.
Little offer had been a a great deal smaller go on a journey in September, this new go on a journey apparition be the first of its thaw to the same degree 1958, because scientists from the Soviet College of Sciences searched Western Siberia, in an ingress to tangle a Sasquatch.
Igor Burtsev, head of the Moscow-based Macro Heart of Hominology, right understood, "When Homo sapiens started populating the world, it unfeelingly exterminated its close appropriate in the hominid partnership, Homo neanderthalensis. A number of of the Neanderthals, subdue, may convey survived to this day in numerous undulating woody habitats that are choice or under off limits to their arch foes."
Will these scientists progress unequivocal proof of the existence of the Yeti? I longing them casual, as it seems researchers close to in our own backup transplant can't sphere to progress proof of the existence of our own Bigfoot (appropriate of the Yeti?), or proof satisfied evidence of Extraterrestrial visits from faint space.
If the scientists and researchers do progress proof of Sasquatch, Bigfoot, aliens, or any of the tons other cryptids appropriately close to on our own planet, how is that departure to outcome our lives? Are they all attendant in numerous way? I'm left to happening... and so are tons others.
Support
Support
The occurrence of cryptozoology is deliberate a real science by a selection of and by others it shape someplace in amongst UFOlogy and paranormal research. Our target amid this course is to go through students amid the most chummy and exact information disappearing, presenting it in an able to see all sides format so that students can find out for themselves if each person cryptid (a creature of cryptozoology) is real, a allegory, a hoax or a misidentified brute. The course begins by introducing students to cryptozoology and examining the real setting down of this captivating occurrence of research. However lots who are unused amid the occurrence may chase away it as unimaginable, here is a practical sanity for its superiority, in addition to the discovery and key up of plants that were later than goal distinct to be of allegory and title, for example the platypus, for chance. Piece two of the course focuses on the most desired cryptid of all time: Bigfoot. This fantastic, hair-covered creature has bewildered mankind for centuries. Students stimulus be able to get into lively stories of sightings, see unflustered photographs of evidence and get into what experts display to say about Bigfoot's cooperation. The third fervor of this course focuses on other famous cryptids, in addition to the Loch Ness Inborn, Chupacabras, Mokele-Mbembe or living dinosaurs', and Thunderbird. Whichever has its own cult-like adherent of believers detainee on proving that their love creature does certain exist. The last fervor of the course deals amid cryptids that are solid to one area but whose stories display been sensationalized all kitty-cornered the nation. Whether it's the catchy delineate, for example 'Dover Mischievous child or the sunset zone-like stories, these cryptids are assured transnational and most locals are self-satisfied to live in their made-famous-by-a-cryptid town.
Origin: ovni-news.blogspot.com
"
Smithsonian picked this pic not us, we pull together its a Mogwai-Yeti Hybrid
The Smithsonian is no stranger to the part of Bigfoot. In fact, in 1988, due to a high size of look into on the worry of, The Smithsonian built-up a legitimate Bigfoot admission area. That's what a movie affection Trouble and the Hendersons" (1987) can do to 142 time old precise authorities. (clap the followers empathy to explain Smithsonian's Neat Bigfoot Comment Award)
Beforehand this time they blogged about the Giganthepiticus, and acknowledged it was the best candidate for the null-hypothesis as a Bigfoot forerunner. the Blog was fair Did Bigfoot Mostly Exist? How Gigantopithecus Became Inert. the sarcasm is Dr. Jeff Meldrum commented on the article, and his examine was improved lovely as a result the article.
Smithsonian takes up Bigfoot anew, certainly the Yeti, when that's the reference Bryan Sykes from Oxford Intellectual uses. Beneath is a mild string on Bryan Sykes Bigfoot/Yeti DNA research, or as it is properly called, "Oxford-Lausanne Give your word Hominid Emanate". If you for the most part uncaring to jump back in about the project we recomend a post we did nether this week fair, "No matter which You Didn't Reveal About the Bryan Sykes' Bigfoot DNA Probe"
YES, WE'RE In actuality Calm down LOOKING FOR THE Yeti
"Posted By: Rose Eveleth "
Lots scientists put together their careers out of interested for the according to the grapevine unfindable. The Higgs Boson, depressed follow, the secret, inconspicuous pieces of our universe. Other scientists search for belongings that I assume aren't real at all. Equal yetis. Researchers are about to floorboard on a examination to settle on one occasion and for all whether or not Yetis exist.That's seemly, a Yeti hunt. It's got a fancier heading - the Oxford-Lausanne Give your word Hominid Emanate - but it's a grave, precise, Yeti hunt.The project focuses on DNA study. They're perception submissions of samples from pictographic radically guise who thinks they consume evidence of a Yeti. Those column the mortal in to them, anywhere it's experienced for DNA. That DNA can tell them a fashionable lot about whether the magical beast exists.Now, exhibit consume in fact been DNA tests on professed Yeti samples to the fore. The entire time they've remodel promote as being human. But DNA techniques consume gotten expand, and the scientists are pleasurable to convey it one last go. Charge, at tiniest more than a few of them. BBC Futures sums up the precise atmosphere:It is sincere that the project is the leading and most complete possibility yet to hunt suspected "remnant". "Zoom affection this, on this produce, has been done to the fore," says Richard Freeman from the Centre for Fortean Zoology in the UK. But therein slur the rub. For people affection Freeman who furnish their lives to looking for these creatures, it is the leading signal yet that after being out in the impassive usual science is in time cargo the gravely. But for more than a few scientists, the fashionable trade is an incompetent foible to be alleged at arm's extent.One of the scientists convoluted in the project, Bryan Sykes, sees this as a tress all for inhabit who get better science brushes them off. "It's one of the claims by cryptozoologists that science does not attitude them gravely. Charge, this is their metamorphose. We are natural ability for people to column us their evidence, and we will test it floor DNA study," he told the BBC.This DNA evidence will in actual fact not be a fasten in any regulation of Yeti tomb. Categorically if they detect no evidence anything of the yeti, numerous will uninterrupted grasp. Remain time, the Huffington Nap reported that more than a few scientists were "95 percent definite" that they had found evidence of the Yeti. Yet to be that, bigfoot "researchers" asked people in California for currency to test whether the characteristic used up what's left overdue on a pickup motor vehicle.Categorically the director of the Inclusive Cryptozoology Museum is unmoved of numerous of these claims. He told The Huffington Post:"This does not glimpse to be any improved than what you notice about from weekend excursions in North America that go out, discovering more than a few hair of unsure birth, natural ability it 'Bigfoot hair,' as a result locating more than a few broken down branches and piled leaves, saying it was finished by Bigfoot, and wisdom footprints that look affection Yeti tracks. These are not greatest that would comprise up, zoologically."But level for Sykes, the geneticist overdue the project, this is all a bit far fetched. He's not prudence out the view of a new group - we discover new group all the time, numerous of them instead massive. But he acknowledges that exhibit will lease to be more than a few evidence. The BBC says, "he is also dedicated to era out that he is not - nor intends to bend - a cryptozoologist. 'I don't not uncaring to bend methodically maverick,' he adds."SRC: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/08/yes-were-actually-still-looking-for-the-yeti/
'YETI FINGER' MYSTERY SOLVED
A blackened, curled, oversized finger, long claimed to belong to a yeti, has been identified as human after all.
Featuring a long nail, the mummified relic - 3.5 inches long and almost an inch thick at its widest part - has languished for decades in the Royal College of Surgeons' Hunterian Museum in London.
The specimen caught the interest of scientists in 2008, when curators cataloged a collection bequeathed to the museum by primatologist William Charles Osman Hill. Among Hill's assemblage of items relating to his interest in cryptozoology (the study of animals not proved to exist), there was a box labeled simply the "Yeti's finger."
NEWS: NEW BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS: PROOF STILL LACKING
The notes in the box revealed that the digit was taken from the hand of a yeti in the Pangboche temple in Nepal by mountain climber Peter Byrne.
"Mr Byrne is now 85, and living in the United States, I discovered," said Matthew Hill, the BBC journalist who last year was granted permission to research and produce a documentary on the mysterious finger.
A member of a 1958 expedition sent to the Himalayas to look for evidence of the legendary creature, Byrne camped at the Pangboche temple and learned of a Yeti hand preserved there for many years.
"It looked like a large human hand. It was covered with crusted black, broken skin. It was very oily from the candles and the oil lamps in the temple. The fingers were hooked and curled," Byrne told the BBC reporter.
PHOTOS: SIX MYSTERIOUS AND FAMOUS CRYPTIDS
A year later, Byrne returned to the monastery and struck a deal with the monks about removing just one finger.
According to Byrne, the alleged yeti's digit was replaced with a human finger provided by professor Osmond Hill, who got it from a severed hand belonging to the Hunterian Museum.
The relic was smuggled out of Nepal with the help of Hollywood movie star James Stewart, who was on holiday in Calcutta with his wife, Gloria.
Hidden in Gloria's lingerie case, the finger finally reached the scientist in London.
Professor Hill identified it as belonging to an early hominid.
But DNA analysis performed at the Zoological Society of Scotland in Edinburgh proved that Hill was wrong.
"We found human DNA," the zoo's genetics expert, Rob Ogden, told the BBC.
BLOG: 'ORIENTAL YETI' MAY BE A SICK COMMON MAMMAL
"It wasn't too surprising, but it was obviously slightly disappointing that you hadn't discovered something brand-new.
"Human was what we were expecting, and human is what we got," he concluded.
Also known as the Abominable Snowman, the yeti is a legendary tall, nocturnal, hairy ape-like creature said to roam the forests and mountains of the Himalayas.
Although reports of encounters with the hairy beast abound, the scientific community regards the yeti as just a legend.
According to Sam Alberti, director of the Hunterian Museum, the Pangboche finger testifies to the fascination the yeti continues to exert on people.
"The story of how this artefact came to find itself in our museum store reveals the extraordinary lengths people have gone to in order to prove the existence of mythical animals," Alberti said.
Source:
http://news.discovery.com/history/yeti-finger-mystery-solved-111229.htm
A sea serpent described as being like a huge eel with antennae was seen at the Skidegate Narrows, Queen Charlotte islands, in July 1939. It was throwing seals up into the air to kill them by breaking their necks, something which killer whales are also well-known for doing. (Mary Moon, Ogopogo, 1977, p. 162) Apparently about 30 feet of the dark-coloured "Eel" was visible and Bernard Heuvelmans would definitely classify this as a Longneck because of the "antennae."
In the case of the Plesiosaur-shaped creature off Cornwall related in Tim Dinsdale's book Monster Hunt (above), the creature was also seen fighting seals from above, and in a similar tradition relating to the Icelandic Skrimsl, the monster was characteristically said to decapitate seals. Putting these observations together, it seems that Longnecks can feel antagonistic (territorial? defensive?) against seals and sea lions, and it deals with them by throwing them up into the air to break their necks.
snap!
Since a common type of Sea serpent sighting seems to be a fishing posture striking down from above, it is not too unusual that the usual depiction of Longnecks attacking humans shows the creatures bearing down on the humans from above and grabbing them headfirst by their mouth
This also seems to be the usual attack mode of the congo dragons. Fairly early on I read in On The Track of Unknown Animals that such creatures as the Mokele-Mbembe were often said to kill humans but not eat them and to leave the "bodies" untouched. I wondered then if the peculiar emphasis on leaving the bodies untouched meant that they bit the heads off. Later on I did get confirmation from other traditions in other parts of Africa which stated explicitly, "He takes the head off and then hurls the rest of the body away from himself in disgust, since he wants nothing more to do with it" This is putting the matter rather more plainly and I suppose the more common version wants to put the matter more delicately than that because it is a matter distressing to the listeners. However back in the 1970s when I first noticed the odd statement I also noticed that the Icelandic water monster the Skrimsl (Comparable to the Loch Ness Monster) was stated by Heuvelmans characteristically to "decapitate seals and sink ships" There seemed to me to be a connection between the way the Longnecked creatures treated seals and the way they treated people.
Mesoamerican Khan (Snake) and Quetzalcoatl depictions also showed them attacking people by taking them in the mouth headfirst. Yet for all of the intimations that Longnecks are dangerous creatures one thing seems to be true: "They can't eat people or more precisely, they cannot swallow them, because their throats are not large enough to get a person down". And they can't eat things like seals, whales or manatees either, which probably is the reason why the Congo dragons are also said to kill any number of other things like crocodiles, hippos and even elephants but not eat them. It was a sort of a blanket rule in some places and probably got confused with other kinds of animals, too. As another line of evidence confirming this, many kinds of dragon depictions, both from the Orient and from Europe, show the dragons with human heads or skulls ("ONLY") in their mouths. What I think is happening is this: similar to great white sharks and some other large predators, Longnecks do not see much difference between humans and seals, since they are about the same size and shape in the water. Because of that, the Longneck's preferred method of attack against humans is to seize them headfirst and hurl them violently through the air to break their necks. This apparently can lead to decapitation of the victim. In the case of either seals or people, the Longneck thereafter cannot actually "eat" the body and so then ignores it. which leads to the very peculiar reputation the Mokele-Mbembe and other Congo Dragons have of regularly killing things but not eating them Longneck Seal-killing move as applied to the human body can lead to accidental decapitation
Bonus: chart of the seals, sea lions and walruses of the world for reference.
Coming in January: "THE BIGFOOT FILMOGRAPHY" by David Coleman.
Here's the blurb for the book, which I'm sure most Bigfoot enthusiasts will want to get their hands on:
"The 'Sasquatch' film genre, devoted to the legendary and notoriously elusive creature also known as Bigfoot, and its Himalayan counterpart, the Yeti, is the focus of this illustrated reference guide. Here is a fascinatingly detailed look at the cinematic history of Sasquatch, from the earliest trick films of Georges Melies to the most up-to-date CGI efforts. Critical insights regarding the genre's development are offered, along with an exhaustively researched filmography that includes every known film or television appearance of Sasquatch, Bigfoot and Yeti in both fictitious and documentary formats. Included are in-depth interviews with such filmmakers as Kevin Tenney, Adam Muto, Ryan Schifrin, Tim Skousen and Michael Worten, as well as reproductions of rare movie stills, posters, lobby cards and behind-the-scenes production photos. Renowned cryptozoologist Loren Coleman provides an insightful foreword to the text."
Every so often here at the CFZ we're asked to write forewords to new books on various aspects of cryptozoology. And I figured that now would be a good time to bring to your attention two titles that I have provided forewords to: namely "Hunting the American Werewolf" by Linda Godfrey and "Backyard Bigfoot" by Lisa Shiel.
Ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated by tales of werewolves; and so when Linda - whose acclaimed werewolf book "The Beast of Bray Road" I had already read - asked me to write the foreword for "Hunting", I immediately said yes.
This is one of those books that, if you are into some of the weirder and paranormal aspects of cryptozoology you cannot afford to miss.
The same goes for Lisa Shiel's "Backyard Bigfoot", for which I also provided a foreword. Particularly notable about Lisa's book - which focuses on connections between Bigfoot encounters, UFOs and more - is that not only is she the author; but a first-hand participant in the story too.
I would urge anyone interested in the fringe elements and less well traveled areas of cryptozoology to dig deep into both titles. You won't be disappointed.
Over the past few years, I've lobbed a lot of criticism to the Squatchers over on the "Finding Bigfoot" television show, mainly for attributing every downed tree, weird howl and snapped twig to Sasquatch. I understand that if these creatures exist, then they would probably pull down an occasional tree, make an odd howl here and there, and even step on a twig once in a while. I just hate when people claim to be scientific, and then make broad, sweeping generalizations. And if I'm going to criticize believers for doing this, you can damn well be sure I will criticize skeptics for doing the same thing. Which brings me to this article that has been making the rounds. Bryan Sykes, a professor from Oxford University, asked people to submit hair samples of alleged Yeti, Sasquatch, Abominable Snowman, whatever you want to call it. And he got some. According to this article, over 30 samples. So, like, 31 samples. Anyway, he tested them, and found two of the hairs to have the DNA of an ancient polar bear. So, ipso facto, every Yeti sighting in history is now explained, right? So the media would hae you believe. 9
The Bumble
For centuries, tales of the Yeti, an elusive but terrifying creature said to roam the inhospitable Himalayan Mountains, have enthralled curious minds.
Now, research by a leading UK geneticist may have unlocked the truth about the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, after hair samples from two mystery animals proved to be a genetic match to an ancient polar bear.
The findings, to be explained in "Bigfoot Files," a documentary series on Britain's Channel 4 TV network, are the work of Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University.
He put out a worldwide call last year for people to submit hair or other tissue from "cryptids," or previously undescribed species, and collected more than 30 samples for analysis.
Sykes' research focused on two samples in particular, both from the Himalayas but found about 800 miles apart, one in the Ladakh region and the other in Bhutan.
To his surprise, testing found a 100% match with a polar bear jawbone from Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway, that dates back between 40,000 and 120,000 years, according to a news release from Channel 4.
What Sykes called an "exciting and completely unexpected result" casts new light on the Yeti legend, although it may not satisfy the legions of "Bigfootologists" around the world.
"There's more work to be done on interpreting the results. I don't think it means there are ancient polar bears wandering around the Himalayas," Sykes said.
"But we can speculate on what the possible explanation might be. It could mean there is a subspecies of brown bear in the High Himalayas descended from the bear that was the ancestor of the polar bear. Or it could mean there has been more recent hybridization between the brown bear and the descendant of the ancient polar bear."
Sykes' DNA testing forms part of the Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project, which is also looking for genetic evidence of other mysterious creatures -- including the Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, in the Pacific Northwest and the Almasty in Russia -- to study their possible links to humans.
Those who submitted samples to the project last year were asked to give a description of the material and details of where and when it was found, as well as their own opinion of its likely species type and the reasons for that view.
The analysis, which involves sophisticated DNA testing and comparison of the findings with a database of other animals' genomes, doesn't come cheap, costing about 2,000 for each hair sample.
But it may finally allow scientists to pin down whether all those Yeti or Bigfoot "sightings" over the years -- often captured in blurred photos or shaky video footage -- are based on fact, mistaken identity or elaborate hoaxes.
" 'Bigfootologists' and other enthusiasts seem to think that they've been rejected by science," Sykes is quoted as saying. "Now I think that's a complete distortion of what science is about. Science doesn't accept or reject anything. All it does is examine the evidence, and that is what I'm doing."
Sykes has submitted the DNA results for publication in a peer-reviewed science journal and is also due to publish a book based on his research next year.
So what has Sykes relaly proven? Only that the particular samples that were submitted to him (or at least these two particular samples, as no mention is made of the others) were from a known animal. Wow. That's never happened in the study of cryptozoology before. Now, I'm not sure if Sykes is trying to say that these samples explain away the Yeti or if this is the work of the media (my bet is on the media), but it's far from an explanation. If there is indeed a new species or subspecies of bear in the Himalayas, then that is quite exciting. But it still doesn't explain away all of the centuries of Yeti sightings.
Technorati Tags: abominable snowman, bigfoot, Bigfoot Files, Bryan Sykes, california, canada, cryptozoology, debunking, dna, finding bigfoot, great britain, himalayas, media, Nepal, News, paranormal, people, sasquatch, thoughts, tv show, yeti
Above is a facial portrait and below is a footprint of the Eastern Bigfoot, which is often compared to a "Caveman" in appearance. The term Eastern Bigfoot has been used since the 1970s to discriminate the type, although there are problems with using that term since it has also been applied to the more apelike Skunk Ape (see below), with equal vigour and for about the same length of time. The footprints and build of this creature (Which I call the American Almas) are very much like Neanderthal fossils and so is the shape of the skull, face and braincase. They are burly creatures built like old-time professional wrestlers and with short bandy legs. Their arms turn out to be not particularly overlong in comparison to Caucasian Homo sapiens, but both hands and feet are large enough to seem outsized. Both hands and feet are squared-off in appearance. The top of the head is usually domed rather than peaked and one gets the impression of a head distinct from the shoulders
The following photo is from Ohio and if genuine it would be one of these Eastern Bigfoots.It seems to be running with unusual vigour and it has been suggested it would not be possible for a man in a suit to perform this action at such a great speed. The proportions look human enough.
Eastern Bigfoot drawings from an article posted on the blog recently.The profile is similar to the famous "March of fossil humans" from the Time-Life book Early Man.The head-on view is a close match for the "Mecheny" Almas seen in Siberia.
Two peculiarities are associated with the American Almas males: the first is that the crown of the head can have thinning hair, or be partly to wholly bald on top; the second is that they can have beards and moustaches ranging from just noticeable to full-beard-hanging-to-the-waist.
Whether or not these photographs represent real creatures, they DO represent what the witnesses are "reporting." These reports do continue more rarely out to the West Coast, and then there are areas both in Northwest Canada and then again in Mexico and points South where they are counted as specific regular types reported in those areas. In Northwest Canada they are the BushMen and in South America they are the Didis and Maricoxis.
Blogger Jay from the companion blog Bizzare Zoology sent in this illustration tpo my Facebook wall. He said the "Wild Woman" illustrated on the house pole could be meant for one of my American Almases and he pasted the skull alongside for comparison. It looks like a good match to me.
Further to the south there are what Sanderson called The Little Red Men of the Bottomlands (or of the Mississippi delta) and wondered if the reports could be related to runaway orangutans (in 1961): soon after that, "Skunk ape" reports started coming in from Florida There was some variation overall in the kind of apes they were said to look like,chimpanzees were alleged almost as commonly as orangutans. And yet the striking similarity to orangutans insited on in all of the best reports and shown in photographs is very hard to discount or to overlook.
Myakka Florida Skunk Ape on Left Compared to Orangutan on Right
Fangs as illustrated on an internet Skunk Ape site "Monkey" Skull Unearthed in Texas Early May 2009.
Large Apelike creature on the loose as shown on Fox News and illustrated on the Cryptomundo site.Below, Illustration of a "Sasquatch" actually based o Skunk Ape reports. The Skunk Apes can walk weither bipedally or quadrupedally on the ground, and it does seem they do so more frequently than normal apes usually do.
El Reno Oklahoma "Ape Hand" print on Henhouse
APELIKE CATEGORY TRACKSUpper Left Himalayan "Yeti", Upper Right Orang Pendek from SumatraLower Right Chinese Yeren, Lower Left from Pennsylvania There is a great range in track shapes depending on how closely the big toe is clenched to the foot
Footprint cast for the Skunk Ape: in this example, the two smallest toes seem to have run together in casting. These tracks characteristically show an opposed big toe: more recently they are often said to resemble the Orang Pendek tracks from Sumatra and lately publicised. Below is a comparison of the-is kind of "Bigfoot" with the typical (Smaller) Yeti from the Himalayas. A close match in proportions and stance.This type of Yeti is ordinarily said to be the size of a teenager or a young man for the males, females much smaller.These Yetis typically live at lower altitudes in the jungles (where they are known under different names) and only rarely go over the mountains when they need to get from one valley to another, and that most likely because of feeding patterns and population pressures.
Ivan Sandersons' comparisons for the "REGULAR AND LARGE YETIS", the latter also being the same as the Sasquatch
Big Footprints, attributed to Sasquatch. From California, Huffington Post
Museum reconstruction of Sasquatch Above and below, Witness' drawings. The typical West Coast Sasquatchhas a small pointed head which does not have a distinct neck or separation from the shoulders visibleBoth arms and legs are thickly muscled and the hands reach as far down as the knees.The eyes are small, round, dark, and placed close together, nose is flat and the ears are rarely seen.
Artwork from Utah Bigfoot site, above and belowTraditional Representations of Sasquatch on border below
"Peter O, Hoot" above and "Peter O, Staredown" below.
Life-sized Sasquatch Mockup, credit is indicated.
The Patterson film shows a creature that is entirely consistent with the usual descriptions and footprints (Footprints as found and as shown in the film)
The shape of the Sasquatch (Above) is unmistakeably different than your typical brown bear standing up. The typical shape for the tracks is also unmistakeably different.
BIGFOOT EVIDENCE
It's Not Clear As To How Recent Or Accurate This News Article Published Today On The Russian Website, Hainanwel.com Is Since It's In Russian And We Don't Trust The Russians To Honestly Report Bigfoot News. But, According To The Article, Local Government Officials Near The Azass Cave Of Mt. Shoria Are Claiming That The DNA Results Of Purported "Yeti" Hair Samples Collected There Is Turning Out To Be "unknown To Science". Reportedly The DNA Results From Labs In Moscow, St. Petersburg, And The University Of Idaho Have All Confirmed That The Hair Is Remarkably Similar To Humans.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2012
RUSSIAN NEWS WEBSITE REPORTS: "KUZBASS BIGFOOT DNA IS SIMILAR TO HUMAN DNA"
Read More
Postscript: Igor Burtsev Has Written Me during The Night That He Considers This Analysis To Be A False Report. Here Is The English Translation (via Google) Of The Text He Has Provided
IT SEEMS THAT IN THE KUZBASS REALLY USUAL "SNOW MAN"
Scientists came to a sensational conclusion by examining the marks and hair found in Azasskoy cave in the Kemerovo region [photos, video] Shoria mountain - taiga region of Kuzbass, which is many kilometers Azasskoy maze cave. More recently, she was in the list of places where they saw "snow people" - the Yeti. About meetings with them telling local hunters.
Go in search of scientific expeditions. One of them was lucky last year - at the beginning of October. In that there were traces of the cave seems to have left by the Yeti. And next - hairs.
A year has passed after the international expedition Azasskoy found in a cave (in the Mountain Shoria in the forest in the south of Kuzbass) yeti footprints and hair.
Photo: Konstantin Nagovitsyn
The results of their study reported recently Valentin Sapunov, Sc.D., chief scientific officer of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University.
- Study of the DNA of hair out of the cave showed that they belong to the essence, which is biologically closer to Homo sapiens than monkeys, - he says. - Genetically Yeti different from the person by only one percent. - In the northern capital - continues Valentin Sapunov - study conducted our University and the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences - Electron Microscopy Laboratory and the Laboratory of Molecular Genosystematics.
And the results obtained with an electron microscope, it follows that the hairs do not belong to a man of understanding, nor to any other known mammal that are found in Mountain Shoria. But like hairs and, earlier found in the Urals, in the U.S. and in the Leningrad region. Presumably, they are from the Yeti.
One of them last year, which included U.S. and Russian scientists discovered a huge number of tracks in the cave of the hairs.
Photo: Konstantin Nagovitsyn
EXPERTS COMMENTS
In Yeti foot wider than Valuev
- I doubt that St. Petersburg could conduct genetic analysis of hair from Azasskoy caves and determine how "abominable snowman" genetically close to us, - says Igor Burtsev, Ph.D., director of the International Center hominology. - This is nowhere in the world did not. Find, of course, could examine under a microscope. But if compared with other samples? Not sure. Therefore, the conclusions Valentine Sapunova treat with some skepticism. He's not an expert on the hairs.
As far as I know, did not show enthusiasm, and Director of the Zoological Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Pugachev, who said the following: "That brought some hair, we'll see what they bring...". In Moscow - in a number of academic institutions - all refused to help when they learned what it was about. That is, the Yeti.
And the fact that the cave has been discovered Azasskoy hairs true. Picked them himself - with Sapunov. They - some curly, other direct, others with graying hair - surprisingly found during an international conference on yetis, which was held in Mountain Shoria. Imprinted in their tracks. Footprints - a very large, 16 cm (6 inches) in width, more than Valuev. He - 11cm (just over 4 inches). The length of the track in the cave Azasskoy measure failed - to print only the front part of the foot. But the conference was an anthropologist from the U.S. Jeff Meldrum, who brought the Yeti footprint cast. Also 16 centimeters in width.
So track length was 38 centimeters (14 inches).
- I am part of his hair sent in genetic laboratories in Japan, Italy, Britain and the United States - continues to Igor D.. - I'm waiting for the results. They did not exist. But they promised in the near future. Incidentally, in the United States - Texas - studied their hair. Ostensibly they were taken from a female Bigfoot and her cub killed back in 2010. The results are ready for publication, but serious American scientific journals refused to accept them for publication on various pretexts. It is possible that publish here - in Russia. According to the preliminary - U.S. - data Bigfoot DNA is virtually identical to the human race. Here Sapunov rights. Although Kuzbass "Bigfoot" has nothing to do with it.
"Recorded by Vladimir Lagowski"Back to homeInternational expedition found in the forest in southern Kuzbass yeti footprints and hair
Also on the topicBigfoot: dossier KP.RU
* October 29, 2012, 12:55 It seems that in the Kuzbass really usual "Bigfoot"
* October 17, 2012, 14:30 45 years ago Yeti gave herself to remove the first and last time
* September 19, 2012, 19:00 In the U.S., captured on video blond female "Bigfoot"
* December 29, 2011, 11:10 As in the mountains of Ingushetia caught Bigfoot
* December 29, 2011, 08:37 in Ingushetia caught Bigfoot
* March 24, 2011, 01:00 A new brand of Kyrgyzstan could become... Bigfoot!
* December 18, 2009, 11:00 In the U.S. photographed "Bigfoot"
* April 7, 2009, 01:00 Among the "snowmen" time to take a census of the population
* March 17, 2009, 01:00 "yeti" is hiding from the cameras in Abkhazia
* February 19, 2009, 01:00 In Russia again inherit the "snowman"
-It Seems The Controversy Reduces Down To The Fact That In Asiatic And Eastern-NorthAmerican (Texas) Bigfoot, The DNA Is Within 1% Of Difference Of Ordinary Homo Sapiens, A Result Which Tests Have Providee Before On Other Occasions. The Controversy Really Is About Exactly How Close The Realy Are Within That 1%. Best Wishes, Dale D.
In print By: Ken HulseySources: Crytomundo / Sky Crevasse RollAye.... put on be sea serpents about.Greater the past get a ride of time the name of sightings of the "Loch Ness Gruesome" (Nessie) has with determination decreased causing clear experts in the unit of cryptozoology to put forward that the famous income dinosaur my take turn exhausted or was plausibly headed for extinction. In fact for 2009 put on was entirely three reported sighting of the person (1 2 3) and in 2008 long-time monster hunter Robert Rines commented publicly that he held Nessie had turn a sacrifice of in general warming. This time however it looks as if the old teenager is age bracket a react.So far this summer put on take been a handful of reported sightings and now a new photograph of the monster has land to light as well. At the back searching for the monster for 45 time William Jobes currently hit pay pollution. Moment walking through the Loch together with his next of kin no matter which surfaced clear 300 yards not worth it and attention on the double Jobes grabbed his camera and took a photo in the past the object dead.Mr Jobes was walking through the Abbey trace in Hideaway Augustus together with his next of kin Joan in May this time when he spotted what appeared to be a head bobbing advanced the water 200 to 300 yards from the shore.'I had a exquisite shock,' Mr Jobes said.'I take truthfully been yet to come up to Inverness for the past 45 time and I take never seen anything akin this in the past.'Hurriedly worldly his camera, Mr Jobes from Irvine in Ayrshire, managed to operate a different picture in the past the officer dead under the stand up.In spite of everything, to his glee a blue, hump-like shape destitute the impression and he was able to operate first-class photographs of the empty sighting on May 24 at open area after 11.10am.Mr Jobes is converted it was not a seal or restriction of impassive.'To be blunt I decode the transform connecting a restriction of impassive or a extraordinary pig,' he said.'I tidied up did think it was a seal but it's head was akin a domestic animals.'The photograph seems to show the monster's make-believe "projection" plus a liable head or tail yet to come up out of the water. Moment monster fans see a monster sceptics see a restriction of impassive or other scrap composed in the water.To be blunt the object is open area too far not worth it and complicate to tell for sure.Yet a first-class expensive restriction of evidence to nest egg the existence of sea monsters (or income dinosaurs if you will) comes from a video shot off the seashore of Alaska in 2009:This clip appeared in a recent Achieve Channel documentary called "Alaskan Gruesome Rummage". The footage is somewhat expensive and the object being filmed utterly isn't a restriction of impassive or scrap it is most utterly "moving" though perfectly what it is would be open out for clear negotiations. A Cadborosaurus, cut scavenger, a remarkable eel or Nessie's cousin you bring in the snarl.I'm sure that sea monsters from on the subject of the gravel are success graceful damn angry at all the press Bigfoot is success and are production first-class photo ops as we publicize. Ogopogo and Champion could not be reached for remark.
"INHUMANOIDS," THE NEW Photograph album BY B.M. NUNNELLY ON THE Budding Effect OF MAN-BEAST SIGHTINGS Worldwide. Why are witnesses worldwide reporting such a large quantity of "humanoid" creatures? From mermen to Bigfoot, Man Bats to Lizard Men, Bart Nunnelly takes a punctually consider at the substance being spotted in prepare, afforest, and emerge, and asks what they are and where they potential be upcoming from. Manwolf and Linda even twitch him all the rage relating about his boyhood sighting of a sky veranda denouement to that seen at Skinwalker Work in Utah. Cryptid researcher and investigator.Nunnelly, a underlying qualified writer and inventor, was innate and raised in Kentucky, where he dead decades questioning the flooring lands of the Bluegrass Earth for evidence of its unsolved mysteries. His wanderings have a meal brought him face to face similar to such creatures as Bigfoot, water monsters, black panthers, out of earth wolves and other enchanting cryptids among a Thunderbird in 1998 - no matter which no other living researcher can honest acquit. He straight away resides similar to his wife and son in Henderson, Kentucky
Weird Radio: BARTON NUNNELY - September 3 Guest
Reference: greys-area.blogspot.com
Here's the most recent crypto posts from "THE ANOMALIST":'The True Believer' Is 'Not About Bigfoot' Daily Tidings. Filmmaker Nathaniel Bennett of Medford, North Carolina, is creating The True Believer, a 30-minute film about two brothers from Mississippi who come to Oregon to look for Bigfoot. Elsewhere, the forthcoming opening of the International Cryptozoology Museum gets more local press in Bigfoot and friends coming soon to a storefront near you, which Loren Coleman comments on in Cryptozoology Museum Volunteers Are MVPs. And an excerpt on bigfoot science from Living Anomaly, a work in progress by the "Blogsquatcher."Man Spots Strange Creature in White Plains WTOP. Last month in Maryland, a man who speaks fluent Spanish, but little English, went to the County Sheriff's Department to report having seen a brownish type animal that he described as a chupacabras. Investigators poured flour on the ground in the area of the sighting and also set several traps, but without result. A follow-up report the next day, entitled When bizarre animal stories are a way of life, explains that Robert Beyer of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has been responding to animal nuisance for 30 years. One turned out to be a tiger. Says Beyer: "Never say never." Elsewhere, still more on the Tyler, Texas Bigfoot conference at Primatologist: If Bigfoot exists, it's not an ape and Texas Bigfoot Conference more boring than you would think. Why was the reporter disappointed? "I went to the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference expecting people in gorilla suits milling about among semi-crazed gangs of gonzo, tattooed, barrel-chested beandips..."A Muddle of Mermaids ShukerNature. An extraordinary report, filed at the online Fanoos Encyclopedia, about a dead mermaid that had perished on the shores of Batroun. "The corpse was immediately shipped to Germany under very tight security, before heading to the University of Birmingham where it was put in the care of Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker." Comments Shuker: "This report has no basis in reality - for the simple reason that I can categorically confirm no mermaid remains, alleged or otherwise, have ever been sent to me to examine!" Also of cryptozoological interest, two festivals this weekend: Honobia Bigfoot Festival Takes Off and Lake Worth Monster Bash ~ October 3.
Never has an unexplained phenomenon had such good will behind it as the Loch Ness Monster has. I doubt there is anybody who would not wish for it to exist. Far from being a `monster` it scares nobody. It is charming and mythic, and beloved of kids of all ages. It is a Scottish mascot that has added to the gaiety of my nation.
Not only is that but the Nessie brand recognised worldwide. I once showed a picture of a brontosaurus to a young Russian and asked them what it was (my aim was to elicit the word `dinosaur`), `Nessie` came the confident reply. The mystery is now an Octogenarian and its anniversary was recently celebrated in Drumnadrochit on the shores of the Loch. Most of those present were firm disbelievers, however.
Click here to enlarge top photo.
LOCH NESS REVISITED.
I grew up in the Nineteen Seventies. This was a time when there was an explosion of paperbacks on all sorts of paranormal questions: I was immersed in that trend. It was also the Golden Age of Loch Ness research and both Tim Dinsdale and Nicholas Witchell had books out about it. For me however, they took third place to UFOs and Ancient Astronauts and I never succumbed to `Nessiephilia`.
Several years ago, maybe just out of nostalgia, I felt some pangs of regret at this gap in my knowledge. After all, here was a world mystery on my very doorstep. So it was that I began to read up on the claims surrounding the Loch Ness story. I did so with the zeal of a Sixth Form schoolboy doing last minute swatting for the exams. I took on all comers: sceptic and believer alike. Then I visited loch Ness itself. I drew some of my own conclusions, which I will divulge later.
Ever one to buck the trend, my interest coincided with the phenomenon reaching a new low ebb. Reported sightings of the creature diminished to single figures per year. There were headlines announcing the death of the monster. Few books were published about it. There was a rearguard attempt to found a Loch Ness Fan Club, but that sank almost as soon as it emerged. It seemed that the issue had gone the way of the `Bermuda triangle`, consigned, even by paranormal enthusiasts, to having been a passing craze that could not withstand contemporary scrutiny.
DAMP SQUIB.
If you look at it squarely the loch Ness tale can indeed be seen to be -as we say in England- a whole lot of `Scotch mist`. From the get go the whole matter has been tainted by hoax after hoax after hoax. This is, in itself, is nothing new to those in paranormal investigation. However, here it is all the most spectacular evidence which has been shown to be the handiwork of tricksters. Take the most iconic picture of the Monster, the so-called `Surgeon's photo` from 1934. This is the image which has determined what we imagine the monster to look like, but has been all but proven to have been a trick since 1992. (Not that this stops the picture from being endlessly recycled!) The most recent `good photo`, taken in November of 2011 by the skipper George Edwards, has likewise been discredited. Fellow monster hunters, no less, recognised it as being a fibre glass model used in a TV documentary.
Following eight decades of research then, all we are left with is a handful of photos, the least dubious of which are inconclusive (such as the one shown above, which nobody has troubled themselves to debunk). There are many sightings, of course, but most of these revolve around nothing more than a quick glimpse of a hump in the water, or agitation on the Loch's surface. No physical evidence has been recovered, still less anything like a carcass.
It would be all too easy to conclude, then, that the whole of the phenomenon is but a bit of local folklore blown out of proportion by the press and television. It has been kept afloat by wishful thinking, and, of course, by the glee of the local tourist industry.
SOMETHING IN THE WATER.
Yet Loch Ness does not stand alone as far as rumours of aquatic monsters go. Get a marker pen and draw a band across the Northern Hemisphere stretching from Canada, through Scandinavia and then onto the Russian Federation: this is all Lake monster territory. Nor are these Nessie copy-cats, as many of them predate the fame of the Loch Ness Monster by many years. Lake Champlain, on the border of America and Canada boasts `Champ`. Lake Okanagan has `Ogopogo` which was first mentioned by the Native Americans. The Russian Federation has a monster in Lake Khaiyir in Siberia, to name but one.
Loch Ness, a gash through the Highlands twenty seven miles long and 800 feet deep, is a small lake on a global scale. The fame of Nessie must surely rest on the fact that (apart from Britain being an English speaking country) Loch Ness has a special ambience and comes complete with a Gothic-style ruined castle.
Either all of the lake monster claims worldwide equally lack substance and are the product of some kind of collective Jungian mythology, or there is a colony of undiscovered creatures in many of the fresh water lakes of the Northern climes.
What shines through, when reading Loch Ness literature, is the sensible and non-sensationalized nature of most of the eye-witness stories. I will not insult the reader by trotting out the old clich'e about how they come from `all walks of life` and how some of them are policemen, etc. This is true, but it is the consistency of the descriptions which is notable.
What colour is the Loch Ness Monster? Ask a child to draw a picture of Nessie and they will reach for the green crayon. After all, the postcard pictures of Nessie are green, as are the fluffy toys. This is probably because many people imagine the monster to be reptilian, and reptiles are green. That is not what people report though. What people report is something which is black or gun metal grey. They are not just rehashing what has been drawn from popular culture then.
Even the fact that the reported accounts of seeing the monster have gone down could be taken to indicate that the public were always reporting something they actually saw. If now they are seeing it less it might be because the phenomena itself appears less.
Many of the photos of the monster may have been debunked, but there is one piece of evidence which has not been for sure: Tim Dinsdale's minute long cine film, taken on 23rd April 1960,. This shows something crossing the water. Nobody has yet cried `hoax`, although some say it was just a motor-boat.
THE PLESIOSAUR DEAD-END.
If there is anything that has done harm to the credibility of the loch Ness monster it is the idea that it might be a relict plesiosaur. It was this paradigm which captured people's imaginations, much in the same way that the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis for UFOs has. However it is a hypothesis that has not been the front runner for some time. For one thing if Nessie were such a dinosaur it would be seen many more times than it is, as it would be having to come up for air again and again.
There have always been other contenders as to what Nessie might be. These include a long necked seal, a giant otter, a mutant fish, a brachiopod, and a species of giant salamander. As much as mainstream naturalists are loath to be seen to give any quarter to Nessie, the discovery of any of these animals would hardly shake science to its foundations. Of course, others claim Nessie is a ghost or a time traveller....
FIVE OLD CHESTNUTS (ROASTED).
In the absence of organisations like the defunct Loch Ness Investigations Bureau, and their corresponding figureheads such as Tim Dinsdale, discussion of the subject has decamped onto the internet. This does offer some advantages. It also means, however, that a lot of half-truths often get repeated. This owes to the fact that people are less liable to refer back to hard copy publications in this area and so shibboleths grow up. Here are five of such half-truths:
(i) "No-one believes in the Loch Ness monster anymore"
The grain of truth behind this is that the previous generation of Nessie hunters have died, moved on or retired. Tim Dinsdale and Sir Peter Scott are both no longer with us. Nicholas Witchell, as `Royal-Correspondent-for-the-BBC`, is something of an establishment figure, and is rather tight-lipped about Loch Ness nowadays. Adrian Shine now makes a living through being a sort of resident rent-a-quote sceptic. Rupert Rhines has announced his retirement from the field of active duty - an act which coincided with his claim that Nessie had become extinct.
There is, however a new generation of Nessie believers. Roland Watson has a brilliant website devoted to Nessie and has written on water horse myths in Scottish Lochs. Paul Harrison wrote an encyclopaedia on Nessie and is still out there. Meanwhile, Steve Plambeck proselytizes on behalf of the Monster as a Giant Salamander.
(ii) "Countless searches for the Monster have found nothing."
If you watch a few television documentaries about the search for Nessie it would be easy to gather the impression that the length and breadth of the Loch is being regularly swept using all means possible. On the other hand, if you really pay attention you will notice that it is the same initiatives that get name checked time and again. I believe that you could count the number of serious searches of the Loch on the fingers of one hand. These, too, have been lightly staffed and minimally funded. The two biggest searches have probably been operation Deepscan in 1987 where a flotilla of small boats trailed sonar equipment up and down the Loch, and Project Urquhart in 1992 where a scientific vessel was used. Both of these, incidentally, did track unknown objects in the Loch.
(iii) "The phenomenon is a creation of the Nineteen Thirties."
Yes. The term Loch Ness monster was coined in the Nineteen Thirties. The publicity machine which surrounds the issue got into gear then. The first recorded modern sightings happened in the Thirties. This may owe to the fact that a new road had been built around the loch in that decade offering new access to the area.
That said if you read and dig a little you will come across mentions of something ado in the loch prior to that period. Some of these are retrospective but some not. There had been talk of a `beast` and ` large fish` in the loch for some time and the earliest Thirties sightings were framed in this context. Also, as the writer Roland Watson has pointed out, there was a folklore tradition of Water Kelpies -horse-headed creatures -being associated with many Lochs of Scotland a long time before the Thirties.
(iv) "The whole thing is just a tourist con."
To answer this I can only refer you to my own visit to the loch in 2006, (in the winter I should admit.) I stayed in a hostel in Inverness, the nearest town to the Loch. During my time there I did not meet a single other person who had any interest in the mystery associated with the region. In fact most people I met were young Australians and Kiwis exploring the Highlands in order to get in touch with their imagined roots. A tour bus that I took around the Loch, which advertised itself as telling us the truth about the monster confined itself, for the most part, to lectures on local Scottish history. In the Inverness tourist Office I could only find one small pamphlet on the Loch Ness Monster. As for doing some monster hunting, apart from Dores and Urquhart Castle which are built up areas, I found it very difficult to gain access to the Loch at all. To do so I had to climb over barriers scramble through undergrowth like a trespasser, which I may well have been. All in all I had the impression that the Scottish tourist board is playing down the monster aspect of things in favour of it being a good area to fish, and its colourful history.
In 2004 there was jovial talk of an English rival to the Scottish monster. In Lake Windermere in the Lake District in England there were a few alleged sightings between 2004 and 2006. A questionable photograph was duly produced which looked like a caricature of early Nessie photos. The creature was even dubbed Bownessie after a region in the area. To the best of my knowledge there have been no more reported sightings since 2006. If this was an attempt to drum up tourist interest in Lake Windermere by manufacturing a monster legend, as I suspect it was, then it failed. The lesson? You cannot pull a monster out of a hat, unless there is already a core phenomenon there.
(v) "The BBC has disproved the existence of the Loch Ness monster."
This one is faintly surreal. I have heard of `trial b y television`, but the British Broadcasting Corporation is not there to hold court on the existence of unknown animals! The facts are that in 2003 they aired a programme on the Loch Ness question. Most of this was given over to disproving the notion that a plesiosaur could thrive in the Loch. As we have seen, they would not get much argument on that from many contemporary believers. They also conducted another sonar search of the Loch which was done in stages rather than in one sweep. They declared, with some triumph, that no dinosaur had been found down there.
Is sonar the magic mirror that some imagine it to be? Subsequent to that event a cruise skipper called Marcus Atkinson, in September 2011, reported a sonar reading of something large and unidentified in the Loch. If we are to take the BBC's findings seriously then surely we must take this on board too, as well as the positive results from Operation Deepscan from 1987.
A PERSONAL VIEW.
Life tells us not to swallow too much Received Wisdom. I was told at school that the giant squid was most likely just a denizen of Jules Verne's fantasy. Of late, however, the same giant squid has been feted by the marine biological establishment - photographed, interviewed and invited to staff parties.
Considering loch Ness as but a component of Lake Monster mysteries in general, I find it easy to conceive that there could be some fire behind all the smoke. First of all, nothing I have read leads me to believe that there is any psychic aspect to this affair: I think we are looking at a corporeal flesh-and-blood animal. Secondly, I would place my bet on it being either a very large eel or giant salamander: that is, not as exotic as we might want, but exotic enough. Thirdly, I think we should consider anew the possibility that it might be a solitary being that gets into the Loch from the outside.
In general I can only concur with Arthur C. Clarke: `On Tuesdays and Thursdays I believe in the Loch Ness Monster`*.
NOW OVER TO YOU.
By all means be a sceptic: but do check out the following signposts to belief first:
There are two books, written by scientists which I can, without hesitation describe as works of science too. The first by Roy P. Mackal is widely seen by believers as the best book written on the Loch Ness Monster: The Monsters of Loch Ness ( Chicago: The Swallow Press, 1976). The second by Henry Bauer, an Austrian chemist, is called The Enigma of Loch Ness (University of Illinois Press, 1986). These points out the difficulties one encounters in honestly investigating the question.
Steve Plambeck has a blog in which he examines the idea that Nessie might be a species of giant salamander. This can be found at THELOCHNESSGIANTSLALMANDER.BLOGSPOT.COM. This does show that some original thinking is still being directed at the question.
Last, but by no means least there is a must-see site by the redoubtable Glasgowboy (AKA Kevin Rowland, I believe) which sets itself out to debunk the blander Nessie debunkers and does so with genial intelligence, even if some of the arguments are a little laboured at times. This can be found at LOCHNESSMYSTERY.BLOGSPOT.COM.
[* Quoted from memory. The remark appears in his TV-tie in book Arthur C. Clarkes Mysterious World, circa 1981]
Other references.
Randles, Jenny Truly weird: Real-Life Cases of the Paranormal (London: Collins & Brown Ltd, 1998)
EDWARD CRABTREE
April 2013
View the here
