Tuesday 12 July 2016

Five Hundred Posts and Counting

As the title says, this is the five hundredth posting I have made to this blog since its inception. Also, if this blog manages to survive another six days to reach the 18th July, that would mark six years of blogging on the Loch Ness Monster.

Now I recall years back when this blog was bright eyed and bushy tailed that somebody of a sceptical persuasion suggested I was wasting my time with such a thing and should employ my talents elsewhere (perhaps being a sceptic?). That advice was declined and I am glad I did it as the website has gone on from strength to strength.

The visits to the blog began slowly enough, but now it enjoys thousands of hits per day with Google ranking it high on a search of "loch ness monster". Sometimes the blog manages to rank as high as third (below), most of the time it is lower down as it competes with the latest Nessie stories from the more popular pages of the mainstream media. But the main thing is that it has a presence that ensures the alternate sceptical view is not dominant.




But, as said before, that is not so much as a matter of boasting but rather the recognition that people find what I do interesting enough to revisit the site on a regular basis. I am happy to oblige them as I find the whole subject of the monster a fascinating business myself, bolstered by the fact that I continue to believe that a real creature of monster proportions inhabits the loch.

And I would say that I increasingly believe that proposition to be true as I have re-examined old monster reports, films, photographs and looked at them from a fresh perspective. Classics such as the Hugh Gray and Peter MacNab pictures have gone up in my estimation as have others.

This also includes reports from sincere and experienced witnesses who bolster the argument despite the withering attempts of sceptics to put down witnesses and portray them as incompetents and liars. I have spoken to some of these people myself and I do not get the impression that they are fools who can't tell a bunch of birds flapping about from a large, dark hump bigger than anything known to be in the loch.

The strap line at the top of the blog to reclaim the monster from the current tide of scepticism has included reviewing past eyewitness testimony as well as critiquing not so convincing sceptical theories. Those arguments are laid out elsewhere, but as time has progressed, I have increasingly seen their ideas as hollower and hollower.

If the idea of a colony of aquatic dinosaurs can be seen as naive, then the idea of boat wakes, birds and logs solving the mystery is simplistic to say the least. The solution lies in between and as you can see in the picture below, there is no lack of candidates! Each theory has its shortcomings and therefore the search continues.




This has led to conflict, especially when the comments section of the blog was left open to all and sundry. That left the door open to sceptics who, when they lacked a rational argument, resorted to ad hominems. Admittedly, those on the other side of the debate were not averse to the same approach, so now that part of the blog is tightened.

You still get the odd nutter sending glib and insulting comments. They even pose as believers and say solemnly that my own arguments have convinced them there is no Loch Ness Monster! These get binned and never see the light of day.

One sceptic even said that restricting comments would send web traffic down so much the blog would die. Since that comment was made, web traffic has doubled. The problem with sceptics was that they valued their comments higher than the content they were trying to discredit. Sorry guys, we're here for the Monster, not you.

Of course, the blog is not all about sightings. We have discussed theories, folklore, cultural and media representations, the people and personalities behind the whole mystery, book reviews, upcoming events, my own trips to the loch and other mysterious beasties from around the world. It's all there and if it isn't, I hope to include it in the future!

As ever, there is a backlog of subjects to address, investigate and write up. This is a subject that just keeps on giving as new reports and photos roll in, old material comes to light or a new angle is found on an old subject. While other websites grind to a halt, rarely update or just try and present tired, sceptical opinions as objective data, I will aim to continue to provide more material on this centuries old topic.

What is the conclusion of the matter? Someday this blog will have a final entry and I would like to think it would be a welcome message completing the circle on the first post back in 2010 as it introduces the website and directs future enquirers to the various sections.

But when that end is near and faces the final curtain, the record will show that I did it my way and not the sceptics' way!

Thank you for your support.


The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com



25 comments:

  1. Congratulations on reaching the 500 mark Roland and looking forward to the next 500. Keep up the the good work.

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  2. Congratulations and thanks for the good work! Back in the late 60s and early 70s I was a confirmed believer and visited the loch a couple of times. Nowadays it's probably more accurate to say I have an open mind. Your site is extremely interesting, carefully thought out and fair minded. Long may it continue!
    Chris Morris

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  3. Great job and congratulations!! Thanks for your hard work and interesting reading.
    You may uncover the missing evidence yet in this intriguing mystery.
    Cheers from Canada

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  4. Roland, congratulations - and thank you for all of your hard work and for taking us "inside" your Nessie investigations, historical reports, and theories. You share your knowledge as wll as the excitement of going on the road "up North". Thank you.

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  5. Thought provoking and a great web resource for the future. Looking forward to the 'backlog' material. Hope somewhere in there is the Greta Finlay sighting - I would love to hear more details from her son who was there also. Well done, Roland!!

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    1. The Greta Finlay account sounds fascinating, I would love to have been there

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    2. Folk will try to tell you she saw a deer.....at 60 feet. And didn't recognise it as such.

      Bear in mind she's a local and married to a forester.

      Kinda insults the intelligence a bit.

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  6. Indeed, GB a milestone worth celebrating! Many thanks for your thought provoking entries and fair minded efforts. Long may they run.

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  7. Congratulations Roland.

    Your blog is a mine of great information.

    Don't be too hard on the sceptics. A subject like this is always going to attract them. It's possibly to be a huge fan of the monster legend without necessarily believing it exists.

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  8. Congratulations GB! This Nessie fence-sitter certainly appreciates your tireless efforts to provide a pro-Nessie perspective.
    Paddy

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  9. Rather than this blog taking a step back from the "enlightenment" of 2016, as one of your favorite skeptics suggested, I see it as a constant refreshment of same and look forward to your continued efforts. Congratulations and well done.

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    1. Thanks Ron and others for your words.

      Well, Ron, let's just say I will not be expecting universal congratulations. :)

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    2. I'm looking forward to your reply re: Dick Raynor's latest comments on Facebook. He talks of your "resentment" of his experience on the Loch, when all I hear is his resentment in words such as "naive" and "cult" and "nonsense." If more people listen to you, Roland, than him, well then that resentment is understandable. While I find much of what he writes to be reasonable, his "voice of reality" is beginning to sound like that of a scolding parent and has become quite the turn-off. I prefer reading well-reasoned theories from both sides -- and can quite make up my own mind without the lectures -- and hope future discussions return to a higher plane than that.

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    3. Indeed. I will reply soon enough.

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  10. Yes, you guessed correct. Your articles are well written and interesting, and your passion for the subject is palpable. You just haven't convinced the secptical that there is something exotic in Loch Ness. You say your opinion of the McNab and Gray photos have been when all other serious students of the photographic evidence have, for many decades, dismissed them as [ McNab] utterly fraudulent and {Gray} showing nothing but a shapeless form with no indication of scale, location or perspective. However, like you, I love the area and the local history, your article on the devastation of Boleskin House was most interesting.
    Have you any info on the Hambro memorial ? I have oft promised to visit it, but hesitate to wander on private property, although Scottish Law dictates such Privacy is non-enforceable .

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    1. Well, I would argue differently on these photos. Moreover, on the opposite of the debate, the arguments against the exotic are not convincing either.

      I have not reached the Hambro monument either (or corries cave). Also on my list. I can consult Doug who was near there recently (as others no doubt have).

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    2. The Hambro monument is a bit of a trek, but I know folk who've been to it without any hassle from the landowner.

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  11. Yes well done Roland , a great blog and a great place for information. Keep up the good work.

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  12. Many congratulations to you, firstly. I am a fan of some of the 70's and 80's TV series and books on this and other subjects, and the tone from that era seem long lost, and if I may say so, this blog continues that tradition admirably. In my mind, this is very important work , pure and simple, and long may this very fine blog continue.
    Secondly, I have a feeling that Nessie is not one creature. This may not be a great basis to start a scientific discussion, but howandsoever.

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  13. Congrats, Roland, ON one of my absolutely fave blogs...long may it continue!

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  14. i can't speak for your al yourl regular visitors Roland but as one of them - thanks!

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  15. As Roland mentions, I've visited the Hambro monument a few times and also Corrie's Cave, the entrance to which is a bit lower down the hillside. I didn't experience any difficulty from the landowner but I parked at the road and then walked carefully across the land. As long as visitors are respectful, I don't think there would be any major issues.

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  16. Roland, it has been a pleasure to read your (clearly) well-conceived and exhaustively researched posts. I also enjoyed your book on the LN Kelpie as well. I've maintained an interest in the topic for over 30 years, and have perused every possible published source of which I was aware. Yet, you continually surprise me with new information and perspectives built on your on-the-spot interviews and descendant correspondences! Congratulations on 500 entries and 6 years of blogging. I look forward to many more. . . .

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  17. It clearly shows here how many different people read your blog Roland. You have a wide range of readers which shows the popularity of your blog, unlike other forums and facebook pages which have the sane 4 or 5 people adding comments and are clearly dithering away.
    Great stuff.

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  18. What A Whopper !!!

    No, I haven't morphed into Kenneth Williams, it's a truly dreadful film made in 1961 starring Adam Faith no less, concerning the LNM.
    I only mention it as it was on Talking Pictures TV Channel recently and it contains some excellent shots of the loch in the immediate area where Dinsdale filmed his " monster " the year before, no trees whatsoever on the hillside to block eager eyes.

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