Tuesday 3 December 2013

Analysis of the Jonathan Bright Picture

Two weeks ago I published the latest photograph of the Loch Ness Monster without much in the way of comment. Jonathan's story and photo have already been published in the latest issue of Fortean Times (No.308) and so now having had a closer look at the picture and the accompanying facts, let us see what else can be found out.

The photograph was taken by Jonathan Bright on the morning of the 2nd November 2011 as his ride on the Jacobite Cruiser boat was heading out towards Urquhart Bay. He was snapping pictures randomly with various cameras. As he was looking out from the stern of the boat, he snapped a series of pictures with his specially adapted infra-red camera but did not notice anything unusual at the time or even later, during his initial review of the pics. But it was a coincidence of the unexpected kind that prompted him to go back and check what he had.




For it was on that same day that George Edwards claimed to have taken his now infamous picture of a hump in Loch Ness. When Edwards' picture became news in August 2012 and thinking he might have taken pictures in that vicinity, Jonathan reviewed his snaps and did indeed find something unusual. However, what Jonathan Bright photographed is not what George Edwards photographed.




Based on what Jonathan has said, the picture was taken as the Jacobite was a few minutes out of the pier beside the Clansman Hotel and a suggested point is circled in the map below. The boat would be generally heading south west towards the vicinity of Urquhart Castle (marked A). The time would have been shortly after 11am when the tour boat departed from the harbour.




So what is in this first ever infra-red photograph of the mystery of Loch Ness? A zoom in of the picture reveals a bit more detail. In fact and in my opinion, it reveals something that looks out of the ordinary. But first, let us try and get some data out of this picture.



Jonathan kindly provided me with the uncropped image, the EXIF data and the model and make of his digital camera. From that an estimate of the object's size and distance can be made from the focal length, crop factor, distance to horizon, height of witness standing at the stern of the boat and relative distance of object to horizon.

That gave an object height of about 0.75 metre and a distance from the observer of about 31.5 metres. If we assume the object is turned at an angle of about 45 degrees to the observer, then the side aspect is estimated to be about 1.3 metres. This was based on the camera being 2.8 metres above the water. But a greater witness height would result in a bigger and more distant object and vice versa. So, for example, a combined witness/boat height of 3.5 metres gives an object height of 0.93m and a distance of 40 metres. If any wants the full trigonometrical calculations, send me an email.

So it is an object of some proportions but not as big as some Nessie sightings. But what are the possible candidates for such an object appearing on the surface of Loch Ness? Based on your comments to the previous posts, I address them here.


DEBRIS SUCH AS A LOG

Are we simply looking at a natural object such as a log or some man made rubbish? Apart from the shape of the object not suggesting the usual stuff that floats around Loch Ness, several other things dictated against this interpretation.

Firstly, Jonathan was on a boat ploughing through the water. I emailed Marcus Atkinson, who operates one of the large cruise boats at Loch Ness. I asked him what they do when an obstacle lies dead ahead of the boat.

He said they normally steer a course around it unless it is something minuscule such as twigs. So it is unlikely that such an object is going to end up only 31 metres behind the boat.

Secondly, once the object is avoided, the bow wave of the boat is going to be another reason why the object won't be so easily found right behind the boat. The reason being that the outward going bow wave will tend to push objects away from the boat's direction of travel.

Thirdly, even if the boat went over the object due to it being very low in the water, how come it manages to appear nearly a metre high on the other side? In the light of these propositions, I do not regard the debris as a valid theory. (Jacobite Cruises do have a catamaran boat which technically allows debris to pass underneath but it was not commissioned until 2012).


THE PASSING WAVE

The other explanation offered is that this is merely a wave. This might seem to carry more weight than floating logs. A quote from the Great Loch Ness Monster Debate Facebook page is appropriate here.

In my opinion, as a boat skipper who daily sees the waves made by the larger trip boats near Urquhart Castle, the "Nessie" photo is indistinguishable from the usual interference waves generated when the bow-wave from a south-west bound boat meets the north-east moving wind generated waves on an ordinary day. If someone offers a more logical explanation I will be pleased to learn from it.

So, be it logs or waves, the skeptics say their bit, mark it "solved" and move on (and let it be known that monsters do not constitute a "logical explanation"). Meanwhile, I had obtained the Fortean Times issue which carried the story of this photograph. Elsewhere in the issue, I came across a quote from Charles Fort which summed up it all up for me.

"When I see that a thing has been explained, I go on investigating."

So let's get on with the investigating. There are some reasons why I do not agree with this wave theory.

The person whom I quoted on waves is Dick Raynor. He has spent decades at the loch taking pictures of phenomena which can fool inexperienced observers of the loch. I looked at his web page on waves and wakes to see what his years of taking pictures has produced. I assume it was representative of his research on this topic. 

To put it bluntly, none of his photos look like the object in Jonathan's picture. But his quote says it is indistinguishable from the "usual interference waves" on the loch. I take the word "usual" to mean these are a common phenomenon, so he must have a better picture on file somewhere which matches Jonathan's picture.

In the meantime, the photos on his site show waves which are too flat, extended and appears together in sequential groups. Neither of these apply to the object in our picture which is more peaked and is on its own. I have scanned the uncropped picture and see no evidence of this being in those classes of wakes and waves. That is how we determine if it is distinguishable from the "usual" waves. The photograph below shows an actual Jacobite cruiser interacting with another boat wake. I see nothing in this picture to suggest the production of a stand out lone metre high wave.



Jonathan also sent me the photographs he took immediately before and after our main picture. The one below was taken seconds before and shows nothing.  However, I overlaid the Nessie picture over it and it just makes the right hand edge of the overlay. So, it is a matter of debate whether our object would have appeared in both pictures since its direction of travel is not clear.




Furthermore, the photo below which was taken after Nessie is too far to the observer's right hand side but is included to show the lack of any proposed interference waves. Readers may note unusual colouring of the pictures. This is because they were taken in infra-red. I have not come to any conclusion as to whether this adds to or takes away from the analysis of the picture.

Jonathan says it is a picture taken with τhe internal IR pass filter of his camera, which allows infrared light from 720 nM (the near infrared range extending from 700nM to 1000 or 1400nM, depending on the dividing system). So this is not in the thermal IR range beloved of Bigfoot Flir camera hunts. Jonathan's own comment on near IR suggests:

"The dark/light colors seem to rather depend on the composition of the surfaces, for example, healthy vegetation/chlorophyll reflects large amount of near-infrared light, thus giving the whitish appearance to the tree leaves and grass, while rocky surfaces reflect little nIR light. But I really don't know how a 'Loch Ness monster' body would behave."

Perhaps this is a clue which suggests the object in the picture is of a more rough texture. 




The other issue I noted was the height of the wave compared to others round about. Consider how waves normally interfere constructively to produce one bigger wave. The compound wave cannot be greater than the combined energies of its parent waves.  This wave looks at least twice as big as the waves around it which suggests another boat or wind source of comparable energy is nearby churning out waves.

There is no indication of such a thing in the picture. Indeed, the Jacobite cruisers are amongst the most powerful boats in the loch and, being November, I think the other cruises have closed out for the season. I am wondering what powerful boat could be around to provide this additional energy? Not that it matters, this "wave" does not look like such a wave. Jonathan also commented on how this "wave" seems to have water running off it as suggested by the white "streaks" you can see around its base.





OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Could it be an animal known to science such as a seal? I do not consider this a seal as the back would look smoother and more rounded. Could it be a sturgeon? Well, despite the fact that such a sight would be extremely rare, I do not think an Atlantic Sturgeon could arch its back like that or display the contours I think I can see.

Finally, it was perhaps no surprise that it was suggested that Jonathan had faked the photograph via the ubiquitous Photoshop. Now, this gets trotted out now and again and I suspect without much in the way of analysis. But these type of images are becoming more and more prevalent and the Loch Ness researcher needs to be able to conversant with their tell tale signs.

But based on my conversations with Jonathan, he comes across as no faker to me. Moreover, to my less than expert eye, the image looks "in situ" based on contrast and light considerations. It is darker than the waves around it, but that is more an argument against it being a wave than a digital artifact.

Moreover, Jonathan is not a tourist seeking five minutes of fame. He is involved in various public events in Greece as a researcher and it would be plain stupid to put all this on the line for a fake photo. Indeed, why not make it a better photo and add a sequence if one was intent on fooling people?

Others may wish to comment, but please state your reasons rather than just state your opinion!


THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

So what could it be? How about I go out on a limb and suggest it is the Loch Ness Monster? Considering the estimated dimensions, this looks more like the head and neck of the creature than its main body. Jonathan has suggested he can see the head looking back at him but I have reservations about that interpretation. In fact, to me the object looks somewhat similar to the photo taken by Sidney Wilson back in 2007 (below). However, I think Jonathan's is a better picture and again we have to be wary of the effects of pareidolia. Indeed, the Wilson image looks like a polar bear's head to me!



I do agree with Jonathan that the picture could be interpreted as a head with two white horn-like projections being visible. It could even be argued that two eyes can be made out and a muzzle of some description. What can be seen is to some extent dictated by the viewer.

But in my opinion, the proposed head is too large to fit what we know about the head and neck of the Monster from the witness database. By and large, the classic head is lacking in features and sometimes is no more than a continuation of the neck. I say that without going into detail about what this "head" may actually be. Moreover, the proposed head gives the impression of looking back in the direction it appears to be travelling in which looks quite un-animal like behaviour to me.

The other question to ask is how big the entire creature is for a head in this size range? Now when I say the head is too big, I mean in terms of internal proportions rather than absolute size. If we assume a 0.6m (1ft11in) head height from the picture, I would estimate the entire size based on a rough and ready plesiosaur body shape to be 12:1 overall giving us a 23 footer (a respectable size for a Loch Ness Monster).

Jonathan is a member of the sizeable community of paranormal researchers and is open to such an interpretation for Nessie, so that does offer a wider latitude in interpreting the picture.  However, there are some recorded sightings which claim to see larger heads and I would neither wish to be dogmatic or claim the final word on that matter. In fact, the head and neck reported by J.M. Ballantyne in 1965 is a good example in that regard (sketch below).




On the subject of backs, there was one back sighting that immediately came to mind when I saw this picture and that was the Commander Meiklem report from August 1933. He saw a ridged back in the relatively shallow waters of Inchnacardoch Bay. I say that because there is the appearance of something ridge-like running along the top of the object.





But Meiklem's object was at least the size of a "cart-horse", this is a lot smaller. Back ridges are occasionally reported by witnesses but they are not a universal feature of Nessie morphology which leads me to speculate whether it is a feature that is specific to age, gender or season.

Or could it be the back of a juvenile Nessie? If we know little about the Loch Ness Monster, then we know even less about alleged little Nessies. Do they even exist? One presumes so biologically but next to nothing can be said about them from the witness record. I addressed this subject in a previous article.

But if I suggest that this is the rear view of the head and neck then could the proposed ridge be more akin to the mane of the legendary water horse? Again, we have reports of mane like structures being reported by witnesses. And again, they are not a universal feature of the witness record and so I presume they are also gender, age or season specific. The problem is similar to the old tale of the blind men and the elephant. What exactly are we looking at? Neck, back or perhaps even tail?

One aspect of reported manes is that they tend to "flop" down over the neck while this apparent mane looks more erect. Can these mane like structure be raised in the manner of a courtship or territorial display? Yes, I know, speculation.

It is this mane or ridge like structure that distinguishes the object from any proposed wave, log or other object but the picture highlights an ongoing issue. This was taken at a mere range of about 100 feet but still there is no unambiguous data to extract. By unambiguous, I mean acceptable even to sceptics (but perhaps I use that term too optimistically).

Admittedly, the object's relatively small size is a hindrance, but how close does one have to get to this creature to get the picture that gets the whole world talking? If it had been a classic ten foot hump then we would get closer to that scenario.

In conclusion, I think this is a picture of the Loch Ness Monster. I think it tells Nessie researchers a bit more about the creature's morphology but does not provide the slam dunk evidence.

To rephrase some words mentioned above, if someone offers a more logical explanation I will be pleased to learn from it.

















Wednesday 27 November 2013

Two Books and two Kelpies

Christmas is coming and I noticed two books related to the Loch Ness Monster which might be of interest to readers. The are both novels and so won't make it into my Nessie bibliography but a good read is a good read.

The first is "Wonder of Ness" by James Jeffrey Paul. Some may recall James as the man who recently donated his collection of Loch Ness Monster books to the Inverness Library. His book is reviewed here by Kirkus Reviews and you can find out more at Amazon.




Amazon previews the book thusly:

"To some, Loch Ness is a joke. To some, it is the most important thing in the world. A major new expedition has been formed to locate the elusive creature of Loch Ness. Suddenly it seems as if everyone in the world is rushing to join the expedition, and for every conceivable reason. For each of them, it will be a journey into wonder--and a plunge into mystery, terror, and his own personal heart of darkness. A grand symbolic adventure in the tradition of Moby Dick and The Hunting of the Snark."

The second book is entitled "The Loch Ness Legacy" by Boyd Morrison. His book is discussed by the Highland newspaper, the Forres Gazette here and is listed on Amazon though strangely they list it unavailable despite an August publication date. His own website also promotes it. I haven't read these books myself, so offer no comments either way!




And, finally, before the Loch Ness Monster there was the Loch Ness Kelpie. In recognition of that ancient Highland terror, two 100 foot high Kelpie statues have been unveiled near Falkirk and have received national attention. They're looking good and I hope to visit them some time!






Thursday 21 November 2013

The Problem With Nessie Photographs

You might think the title suggests this is an article about debunking Loch Ness Monster photographs. But it is not, it is rather the problems researchers such as myself have in accessing what is presented as evidence for the creature. Take a look at the four pictures below of the Hugh Gray picture (which just turned eighty years old).





This highlights the first problem with trying to assess Loch Ness Monster pictures - the quality of the reproduced image.

The first picture is the best one and is called the Heron-Allen image but more often than not it is the inferior over-contrasted third image that has made its way into the literature. Ted Holiday used image three for his detailed analysis in "The Great Orm of Loch Ness", but it is my opinion that if he had had access to the Heron-Allen image he would have come to a very different conclusion about what that picture showed - a fish like head gawping at us on the right. 

But to be fair, some newspapers at the time did faithfully reproduce the untouched image. For example, the Daily Record was so impressed by the image that they decided not to put it through their normal retouching process which would have "enhanced" what they though were relevant features. The 1934 Gould book reproduced that native image. In fact, so used were readers to seeing such retouched pictures that the editor saw it fit to put a clear statement in the article that the picture was completely untouched.

Not so lucky were readers of the Aberdeen Press and Journal who were subjected to image number two which is a travesty of photographic reproduction. It is in fact what the picture looks like after going through the retouching processes of the time and gives a wrong impression of what is in the picture. However, the Press and Journal repented of their deeds and showed the untouched picture the next day!

Image four is one for the future. It is also a retouched picture by Tony Harmsworth which he created to try and demonstrate the presence of a labrador dog in the picture. He was not being deceptive and was upfront about his effort. However, Tony, I would say the chances are well odds-on that this picture will eventually end up on some website touting it is as a faithful reproduction (if it hasn't already).

ZOOMING IN

The second problem with Nessie photographs is the zoom-in symptom. Time and again we see pictures which zoom in to get a close up of the beast or so called beast. The Hugh Gray picture above is a zoom in but it is not the only one. The Surgeon's Photograph is typically displayed as below.



When the Daily Mail first printed it in 1934, it was typically a zoom in to increase the "Wow!" factor.


But the actual, uncropped image seemed to disappear from view for years until it was discovered in the 1980s (correct me if I am wrong on that point). Now we have a frame of reference and a better idea of what is going on. When you have an uncropped picture and know something about the camera, you can extract more information about objects in the picture which can be used to support a given opinion of the picture.




It's a problem that pervades many Nessie pictures and can prevent further progress on whether the picture is the genuine article or something else. Photographs which suffer from this lack of frame of reference are the Hugh Gray and F.C.Adams pictures but others get printed blown up and getting the original can be next to impossible.

JUST PLAIN GONE

But it gets worse when we realise that some pictures just seem to have been completely lost to researchers or are locked up somewhere gathering dust. This is especially applicable to motion pictures. For example, where is the G.E. Taylor film of 1938? A still is shown below but that is just not good enough!



What happened to Peter MacNab's second photograph? And where is the first ever purported film of Nessie taken in December 1933 by Malcolm Irvine? This is not to be confused with his 1936 film which can be viewed here (8m19s in). I would also count the various films and photos captured by the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau in this regard. They are not lost, but are beyond public access.

So, never mind apocryphal tales about sensational films by MacRae and Currie locked away in bank vaults. What about the films and pictures we do know about? It's bad enough trying to convince the world with what we have only to be disadvantaged by this as well.

Such is life. Other historical researchers in other fields will no doubt bemoan the lack of access they have to various items. So I do not regard Loch Ness Monster research as especially obstructed in any way.

Note I haven't even got on to the subject of accessing original negatives, but to be fair, I should not expect so much.

Anyway, back to researching the photos we have. I hope to publish an analysis of the latest photograph by Jonathan Bright next week.








Monday 18 November 2013

Another Loch Ness Monster Painting

I was tempted to selfishly keep this one quiet so I would have less competition from bidders! However, I have shown Andy Walker's art here before and this item that is currently for sale on eBay deserves wider publicity.

It's a painting worthy to be hung on any Nessie lover's wall or even in a cryptozoological museum. Anyway, you can find the item listed here. It is entitled "More Than A Legend" in recognition of Constance Whyte's book. I am sure she would approve.

The auction ends this Sunday (24th November).





Wednesday 13 November 2013

The Jonathan Bright Nessie Picture




I got a heads up that the latest issue of Fortean Times was publishing a new story on a Loch Ness Monster photograph. It was taken by Jonathan Bright who was on a mystery tour of Britain back in November 2011. If you want the full story, get the latest issue of Fortean Times (number 308).

What do readers make of it? Is it a ridged back or a head-neck with a mane like appearance in true Water Horse fashion? On the other hand, sceptics may think it is just a wave, debris or a hoax. I will put up my analysis in due course.

All I will say just now is that if it is a picture of the Loch Ness Monster, it is one of the best (and the first taken in infra-red).





Tuesday 12 November 2013

Some Pathe News Reels on Nessie

The British Pathe website contains a wealth of material on news events covered by the famous media company from decades past. Naturally, the Loch Ness Monster features in a few of them. I found these ones on a search of their archive.

Leslie Holmes sings "The Monster of Loch Ness" from 1934.

LESLIE HOLMES



The Loch Ness Monster and 1933. This fascinating clip mentions the emergence of Nessie but also gives the historical context - what was happening in the world when a strange monster in a remote Scottish loch turned up?

TIME TO REMEMBER -  THE TIME OF THE MONSTER  1933  - reel 4



This clip appeared on the Loch Ness Monster Debate Facebook page, but I include it for completeness. It details Dan Taylor's Viperfish and the Sherlock Holmes model that sunk.

TWO SUBS LAUNCHED




Friday 8 November 2013

The Gordon Holmes Expeditions




Those familiar with the Loch Ness Monster scene will have heard of Gordon Holmes. Back in 2007, his two minute footage of something strange and eel like in Loch Ness caught the imagination of the world's media. I covered some stills from that day here.



But Gordon wasn't there on a tourist jaunt, for that was his fifth trip to the loch in a series of expeditions to hunt down the Monster of Loch Ness. I have been in touch with Gordon since I met him for the first time at the Edinburgh Symposium in April. Having brought me up to date on his activities, I now detail them here.

The summary of his trips is shown below to give you the overview of what Gordon has been up to in the last ten years.
                                                      
2003 -2004: Search the loch using binoculars and camcorder
2005–2007: Underwater search using Hydrophone & tape recorder.    
26th May 2007: Captured two minutes video footage of 2 creatures.    
2008–2010: Radio controlled sonar and hydrophone boats
2011: Radio controlled boat with cam and sonar.
2012: Underwater Cam towed by Radio Control boat.
2013: Helium Balloons lifts cam 80 ft above loch

Gordon says the results have been mixed. Unusual dark shapes were seen in the first two years though he puts that down to windrows and similar phenomena. As Gordon told me:

Visual results (apart from the 2007 sighting) were difficult to interpret due to the distances involved and the general fuzzy shapes etc due to waves, lighting conditions, unpredictable winds and tourist boat wakes.

Some sounds were recorded from the hydrophone experiments. The image below shows the hydrophone signature of a tourist boat. Although his self-built hydrophones performed well, the main problem became apparent. In his own words:

However, the problem was the noise pollution from the tourist boats' propellers and their sonar. Plus a low frequency hum from the Power Station at Foyers. After about 5 years, I gave up on this research since any animate sounds would be virtually indiscernible due to the background noise pollution. The only solution to this would be to monitor in the middle of the night and record around the corner of Urquhart Bay away from the power station low-frequency hum.



Two images are further shown from the sonar experiments Gordon conducted over 2008-2011. Gordon stated:

The sonar results (based on my equipment) were very encouraging with several unusual yet solid contacts obtained. Also, I received permission from a few boat owners to monitor their sonar displays and once again I obtained a few convincing solid contacts.




Obtaining these images is, of course, only half the job - interpreting them is the other task. He quotes Dick Raynor as suggesting the second image seen at 65 feet is that of poacher's net support. When I asked him if he had the chance to go back and inspect this area again, he did, but his boat broke down and he had to abandon the operation!

But let us move onto Gordon's novel approach for his expedition this year.  The modus operandi was to attach a spy pen and suspend it over the loch with helium filled balloons. The Aberdeen Press and Journal publicised this in an article dated September 9th and you can see Gordon showing the small spycam he used for the experiments.



Here is the "SKYNESS" project in Gordon's own words.


Hovering about 80 foot above Loch Ness, a tiny camcorder monitors signs of water disturbances. Like a Golden Eagle, the spy in the sky is carried aloft by 10 helium filled foil balloons. This is the latest project by Loch Ness Investigator, Gordon Holmes from Shipley, West Yorkshire. On paper the idea sounds crazy but, surprisingly the results have been amazing. During the last ten years, Mr Holmes has visited the loch armed with sonar, hydrophones, underwater and surface cameras mounted on radio controlled boats. His intention is to record any unusual activities or obtain proof of unknown creatures. 


Originally, I had hoped to drag the cluster of balloons plus cam around the loch using a radio controlled boat, but the winds are so unpredictable. Within minutes, the wind direction can change by 180 degrees. During my first launch attempt, two balloons exploded when blown onto the local sharp rocks. However, by the third attempt on the final day the conditions were perfect to launch. The spy in the sky cam produced better results than previously expected. Duration of the flight was 40 minutes although, the camcorder is capable of 90 minutes recording time.

The main difficulty is turbulent wind causing the SkyNess system to swirl, thus blurring the images obtained. As long as wind-levels remain below 3 knots, the system is capable of discerning any creature surfacing, obviously to observe the strange cluster of balloons. As far as I am aware, this is the first attempt to search for Nessie using the principle of a kite, involving helium filled balloons and a miniaturised cam. Now the system has proved itself, hopefully, future missions will record any unusual activity on the Loch. 

Gordon would like to thank Borlum Farm, Drumnadrochit, for providing access to their loch ness shore side property for his research during the past few years. The first picture shows the balloon rig while the second picture is a picture of Urquhart Bay below taken by the cam from 80 feet up.
 



The next picture is a view from the cam back down to the jetty from where it was launched.



The setup was working well and it was down to Nessie to put in an appearance. That part is pretty much beyond the control of any monster hunter but Gordon sent me one picture to show what the elevated camcorder was capable of. The image below is taken over water which has a depth of 3 to 12 feet and the objects you can see are sunken driftwood and other rubbish. 

This at least demonstrates that objects can be seen below the water surface though (in my opinion), any monster would have to be swimming quite close to the surface to emerge from the opacity of the peat stained water.



So that is Gordon's monster hunting results to date and I am sure monster hunters everywhere will wish him the best of luck as he embarks on future expeditions in the pursuit of the Loch Ness Monster.