Here is a great wee cartoon about the Loch Ness Kelpie. If you are wondering what a kelpie is (or was) this short film may help.
Now was Nessie a Kelpie, Water Horse or Water Bull? I never could quite tell ....
THE LOCH NESS KELPIE
Friday, 24 September 2010
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Mirages and Nessie
Recently on one forum I frequent, the Spicer sighting has become somewhat of a touchstone on Nessie believers vs skeptics. Of course I could have picked other sightings to have defended Nessie upon because the Spicer sighting is to say the least unusual. But if you get good mileage on that then who knows what else will follow.
Having shrugged off the otter/deer explanations and saying you would have to be hallucinating to think deer or otter were a dragon like creature, lo and behold the next best thing to hallucinating comes up.
In the aptly named skeptic.org.uk website, Alexander T. Lovcanski suggests the Spicers saw an otter in special conditions which produced a mirage. His article is below.
link to article
My reply is below and Alexander may come up with plausible reasons why we should accept his assumptions and resulting hypothesis but I wonder why they don't just apply Occam's Razor more ruthlessly and say the Spicers lied - end of story. Let's face it, if you do not believe there is a large unclassified creature in Loch Ness then you are obliged to come up with some unusual explanations at times. I would guesstimate the odds of someone seeing a larger than usual otter under special mirage conditions crossing the road is thousands to one against. In July 1933, the Loch Ness Monster phenomenon was about three months old. So set the timer running from then and then ask what are the odds between April and July 1933 of someone seeing a larger than usual otter cross the road in front of them under special mirage conditons on the less frequented side of Loch Ness? And remember car ownership was far less in 1933 than today (George Spicer was a director of a Saville Row tailor which somewhat demonstrates the point).
Thank you firstly for confirming my view that suggesting the Spicers merely saw an otter or deer is simplistic to say the least. Something delusional or illusional would be required to even begin to entertain such a theory.
Let me make a few points. Several things clearly have to be in place simultaneously:
1. A sufficiently hot day.
2. A larger than usual otter crossing the road.
3. Witnesses and otter in the proper positions for a mirage.
4. Suitable surface conditions.
5. Witnesses in an expectant mind to misinterpret mirage.
Now you say the temperature was 16 to 18 degrees centigrade on that day and it was already late afternoon at the time. I normally associate mirages with higher temperatures. I read that a temperature gradient has to be 4 to 5 degrees per metre for the mirage to be strong. Can you be sure these conditions were in place?
I understand a large otter is required to be stretched vertically to "monster" proportions by the mirage. One assumes then that a normal otter is insufficient? Also why the need to have the otter go from L to R, is the tail required on the right to produce the impression of a long neck? Can a mirage really fool someone into thinking the object is going in the opposite direction?
Also what about the horizontal? The witnesses say that the creature filled the road. I understand that road mirages work on the vertical best, how do you stretch an otter which has less that a metre visible across a road?
The road surface itself is important in this consideration. What was the composition of the Dores to Foyers road in 1933? We know road works were in progress on the A82 but what about the B852?
Were the witnesses in an expectant frame of mind? Perhaps they were to see something on the water - but on land?!
Also, why have we not heard of other such land sightings if these conditions are fulfilled? It seems nothing else has been heard of in the literature since! Either this is a very rare confluence of events or perhaps even such mirage conditions still do not fool people easily.
It would be an interesting exercise to work out the probability of such an event happening. I know if enough cars pass by that spot then it could happen eventually but despite the large increase in car ownership no further mirages of nessies across roads on hot days have been reported. I suspect your theory predicts more such sightings - or is this one of those one off special explanations?
Having shrugged off the otter/deer explanations and saying you would have to be hallucinating to think deer or otter were a dragon like creature, lo and behold the next best thing to hallucinating comes up.
In the aptly named skeptic.org.uk website, Alexander T. Lovcanski suggests the Spicers saw an otter in special conditions which produced a mirage. His article is below.
link to article
My reply is below and Alexander may come up with plausible reasons why we should accept his assumptions and resulting hypothesis but I wonder why they don't just apply Occam's Razor more ruthlessly and say the Spicers lied - end of story. Let's face it, if you do not believe there is a large unclassified creature in Loch Ness then you are obliged to come up with some unusual explanations at times. I would guesstimate the odds of someone seeing a larger than usual otter under special mirage conditions crossing the road is thousands to one against. In July 1933, the Loch Ness Monster phenomenon was about three months old. So set the timer running from then and then ask what are the odds between April and July 1933 of someone seeing a larger than usual otter cross the road in front of them under special mirage conditons on the less frequented side of Loch Ness? And remember car ownership was far less in 1933 than today (George Spicer was a director of a Saville Row tailor which somewhat demonstrates the point).
Thank you firstly for confirming my view that suggesting the Spicers merely saw an otter or deer is simplistic to say the least. Something delusional or illusional would be required to even begin to entertain such a theory.
Let me make a few points. Several things clearly have to be in place simultaneously:
1. A sufficiently hot day.
2. A larger than usual otter crossing the road.
3. Witnesses and otter in the proper positions for a mirage.
4. Suitable surface conditions.
5. Witnesses in an expectant mind to misinterpret mirage.
Now you say the temperature was 16 to 18 degrees centigrade on that day and it was already late afternoon at the time. I normally associate mirages with higher temperatures. I read that a temperature gradient has to be 4 to 5 degrees per metre for the mirage to be strong. Can you be sure these conditions were in place?
I understand a large otter is required to be stretched vertically to "monster" proportions by the mirage. One assumes then that a normal otter is insufficient? Also why the need to have the otter go from L to R, is the tail required on the right to produce the impression of a long neck? Can a mirage really fool someone into thinking the object is going in the opposite direction?
Also what about the horizontal? The witnesses say that the creature filled the road. I understand that road mirages work on the vertical best, how do you stretch an otter which has less that a metre visible across a road?
The road surface itself is important in this consideration. What was the composition of the Dores to Foyers road in 1933? We know road works were in progress on the A82 but what about the B852?
Were the witnesses in an expectant frame of mind? Perhaps they were to see something on the water - but on land?!
Also, why have we not heard of other such land sightings if these conditions are fulfilled? It seems nothing else has been heard of in the literature since! Either this is a very rare confluence of events or perhaps even such mirage conditions still do not fool people easily.
It would be an interesting exercise to work out the probability of such an event happening. I know if enough cars pass by that spot then it could happen eventually but despite the large increase in car ownership no further mirages of nessies across roads on hot days have been reported. I suspect your theory predicts more such sightings - or is this one of those one off special explanations?
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Man, Monsters and Mysteries (Disney Film)
For your entertainment below, Walt Disney's documentary on the Loch Ness Monster made in the early 1970s. If you can put up with their ridiculous cartoon Nessie this documentary is a Who's Who of the Monster Hunt of the 1960s. I don't recognise everyone but with the YouTube time counter in parentheses you can spot the following Loch Ness Luminaries:
Not surprisingly, the video has now been removed. If you want it, you can buy it from amazon.com and hope your DVD player does region 1 as it is not available on amazon.co.uk. Happy hunting!
Not surprisingly, the video has now been removed. If you want it, you can buy it from amazon.com and hope your DVD player does region 1 as it is not available on amazon.co.uk. Happy hunting!
Monday, 13 September 2010
Some Deer Crossing Roads
Would you mistake these videos of deer running across a road for a big, grey, snail-like, prehistoric-like creature?
Thought not, nor did I. Feel free to suggest other clips!
Thought not, nor did I. Feel free to suggest other clips!
Sunday, 12 September 2010
England's Nessie
As reported by Sky News who have sonar equipment on the case:
article link
Search For England's Loch Ness Monster
Monster hunters have used sonar equipment for the first time to search for a mysterious creature reportedly living in England's largest lake. Skip related content
Sky News filmed out on Windermere with the team looking for proof that the beast exists.
In the last four years there have been seven reported sightings of a long humpbacked animal, now nicknamed Bow-Nessie.
Windermere hotel owner, Thomas Noblett, described his strange encounter in the water, saying: "All of a sudden I felt something brush past my legs like a giant fish.
"And then I was lifted up by a 3ft wave. I've no idea what it was."
During the sweep of the lake, the team spotted a strange 14 metre long disturbance in the water but were unable to detect anything on sonar.
Searching Windermere is a huge task as the lake is 220ft deep in parts and over ten miles long.
Hunt organiser, Dean Maynard, said: "We've had more creature sightings here than at Loch Ness in recent years so we think it's time that Bow-Nessie received more attention."
Last year, a local film crew spotted a 20 metre long object below the surface of the lake but sceptics believe the footage shows a wave from an unseen boat.
article link
Search For England's Loch Ness Monster
Monster hunters have used sonar equipment for the first time to search for a mysterious creature reportedly living in England's largest lake. Skip related content
Sky News filmed out on Windermere with the team looking for proof that the beast exists.
In the last four years there have been seven reported sightings of a long humpbacked animal, now nicknamed Bow-Nessie.
Windermere hotel owner, Thomas Noblett, described his strange encounter in the water, saying: "All of a sudden I felt something brush past my legs like a giant fish.
"And then I was lifted up by a 3ft wave. I've no idea what it was."
During the sweep of the lake, the team spotted a strange 14 metre long disturbance in the water but were unable to detect anything on sonar.
Searching Windermere is a huge task as the lake is 220ft deep in parts and over ten miles long.
Hunt organiser, Dean Maynard, said: "We've had more creature sightings here than at Loch Ness in recent years so we think it's time that Bow-Nessie received more attention."
Last year, a local film crew spotted a 20 metre long object below the surface of the lake but sceptics believe the footage shows a wave from an unseen boat.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
A Painting of the Loch Ness Monster?
I found this picture in a relatively old book on Nessie. It claims to be of a sighting of the monster but the source they claim for it (Mary Evans Picture Library) has no reference to it.
Has anyone else seen this before?
Has anyone else seen this before?
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Final Thoughts on Spicer Sighting
Readers may recall that I mentioned that Rupert Gould had decided that the Spicers had just seen a "huddle of deer". This was probably based on Mrs. Spicer saying that part of the creature looked like a young animal such as a deer and that there was a track found at the spot which some claimed could just be a deer track.
The obvious issue is that the Spicers claimed to have seen something that looked like a huge grey snail with a long neck. Not quite deer I would have thought.
My final point is deer tracks and deer activity. I consulted an author on deer tracking and put the question to him:
"The context is some hillside forest falling down to a road with traffic and then on the other side some bushes leading to the loch side shingle beach.
There is an area of flattened grass on the loch side leading to the beach and on the other side of the road was some kind of track before the forest.
My question is really could this be a deer track but it seemed odd to me that a deer track would cross a road and onto a dead end beach.
Also, when would deer be most likely to cross such a hazardous track/road?
Morning, afternoon or evening?"
His reply was that it is possible because deer do "curious things" but ultimately he could not say. The point being that "curious" implies this was not a normal deer track situation. After all, a track crossing a road onto a dead end beach is not the usual deer tracks through forests and moorlands.
The other point the deer author made was that deer activity follows a circadian cycle. That is, deer are most active at sunrise, noon and sunset. In between their movements move to a minimum.
The Spicer sighting was at 1530-1600 and sunset on July 22nd is at about 2152 hours. So assuming noon is 1200 then the midpoint is 1654. In other words, 1530-1600 is near a low point of deer activity and a less likely time to see them (as a side note I saw some deer on the forested passing place road north to Foyers in July but it was at 8:30pm near to sunset).
I also saw a study which showed that deer activity veered away from areas of human activity such as country walk paths which further suggests that deer tracks across roads are less likely.
So in summary:
1. Deer tracks across roads to dead ends is not normal.
2. Deer activity cycle was near a low point during this sighting.
3. Deer avoid areas of human activity.
The obvious issue is that the Spicers claimed to have seen something that looked like a huge grey snail with a long neck. Not quite deer I would have thought.
My final point is deer tracks and deer activity. I consulted an author on deer tracking and put the question to him:
"The context is some hillside forest falling down to a road with traffic and then on the other side some bushes leading to the loch side shingle beach.
There is an area of flattened grass on the loch side leading to the beach and on the other side of the road was some kind of track before the forest.
My question is really could this be a deer track but it seemed odd to me that a deer track would cross a road and onto a dead end beach.
Also, when would deer be most likely to cross such a hazardous track/road?
Morning, afternoon or evening?"
His reply was that it is possible because deer do "curious things" but ultimately he could not say. The point being that "curious" implies this was not a normal deer track situation. After all, a track crossing a road onto a dead end beach is not the usual deer tracks through forests and moorlands.
The other point the deer author made was that deer activity follows a circadian cycle. That is, deer are most active at sunrise, noon and sunset. In between their movements move to a minimum.
The Spicer sighting was at 1530-1600 and sunset on July 22nd is at about 2152 hours. So assuming noon is 1200 then the midpoint is 1654. In other words, 1530-1600 is near a low point of deer activity and a less likely time to see them (as a side note I saw some deer on the forested passing place road north to Foyers in July but it was at 8:30pm near to sunset).
I also saw a study which showed that deer activity veered away from areas of human activity such as country walk paths which further suggests that deer tracks across roads are less likely.
So in summary:
1. Deer tracks across roads to dead ends is not normal.
2. Deer activity cycle was near a low point during this sighting.
3. Deer avoid areas of human activity.
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