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Well heck, Old Rover, I'd like to see them. Draw my own conclusions. I was the Science Editor for a daily newspaper back in my youth and you'd laugh yourself silly over some of the photos I received over the years. It became very obvious to me that most (I did not say "all" )so called rational human beings can be so easily fooled by the most mundane objects. And to top that off, even when you showed some of these people where they were mistaken they would then accuse you of "covering up the truth". I rarely exposed the "truth" in print but would generally answer these inquirys by mail. So I have seen my share of fabricated and misleading pictures. Once in a while you'd get a "good one". Those generally generated considerable news coverage. But there is nothing like a wild story to spark readers interest. Some of these farfetched, tall tales, only grew as you attempted to put them down logically. In our area we had the Dernberger fiasco. The story was so sensationalized that it spread nationally, maybe internationally, I'm not certain. That tale was so bizarre and totally off the wall that you would think any normal intelligent person would know it was false. But that was not the way of it. Luckily the paper I worked for took my advice and steered clear of it. Our competition latched on to the tale and made front page off and on for a few weeks. I'm sure it sold papers. But newpapers are suppose to print facts not juvenile day dreams. At least that was true 50 years ago. Anyway at the end the other newspaper ended up with egg on their face. Another story that came our way was the famous "Mothman" story. I'm sure you've heard that one. Even when the truth is known, no one wants to believe it. Not exciting enough.
 
An unusual example of a piffleist with another string to his bow...

Used to be good. Now batshit insane sadly.

If you feel that way, I strongly advise you not to look at some of the other photos and videos that have cropped up recently. The Caerphilly yeti, and the three legged fox thylacine in particular

Oh you bugger...how can I resist now!
 
Well heck, Old Rover, I'd like to see them. Draw my own conclusions. I was the Science Editor for a daily newspaper back in my youth and you'd laugh yourself silly over some of the photos I received over the years. It became very obvious to me that most (I did not say "all" )so called rational human beings can be so easily fooled by the most mundane objects. And to top that off, even when you showed some of these people where they were mistaken they would then accuse you of "covering up the truth". I rarely exposed the "truth" in print but would generally answer these inquirys by mail. So I have seen my share of fabricated and misleading pictures. Once in a while you'd get a "good one". Those generally generated considerable news coverage. But there is nothing like a wild story to spark readers interest. Some of these farfetched, tall tales, only grew as you attempted to put them down logically. In our area we had the Dernberger fiasco. The story was so sensationalized that it spread nationally, maybe internationally, I'm not certain. That tale was so bizarre and totally off the wall that you would think any normal intelligent person would know it was false. But that was not the way of it. Luckily the paper I worked for took my advice and steered clear of it. Our competition latched on to the tale and made front page off and on for a few weeks. I'm sure it sold papers. But newpapers are suppose to print facts not juvenile day dreams. At least that was true 50 years ago. Anyway at the end the other newspaper ended up with egg on their face. Another story that came our way was the famous "Mothman" story. I'm sure you've heard that one. Even when the truth is known, no one wants to believe it. Not exciting enough.

Interesting post Brig. Can you expand on the 'Dernberger fiasco'? I'm intrigued.

For you and CoastalJames here's the Welsh yeti story

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...se-encounter-elusive-Yeti-Welsh-woodland.html

I'm sorry about that.

And the thylacine videos, of which there are two recent offerings, are both over on this thread;

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/thylacine-post-1936-sightings.29282/page-11

On pages 10 and 11.

I'm sorry about those too.
 
The Deernberger story still shows up in the cheaper less credible UFO magazines. It occurred near Parkersburg, West Virginia back in the 1960's. A TV repairman named Derenberger (I may have mis spelled his name) claimed he was stopped on the road by a flying saucer and he was approached by a smallish man (man?) in a spacesuit who communicated with him by mental thoughts rather than speaking. He claimed to be from a planet a million miles from Earth (A million miles from Earth would have made this planet our closest celestral body after the Moon) and his name was Kuld (pronounced "Cold"). Mr. Kuld said his planet was smaller than Earth and was no memace to Earth (Gee, what a relief). He also said he would visit Derenberger at his farm on a certain night that week. Our competing newspaper grabbed this story and made it page one. The Editor of the paper I worked for as Science Editor, called me in and asked me about it. After I was finished pointing out the major flaws of Mr. Kold, my paper decided to let it alone. So on the night Mr. Kuld was scheduled to appear at the Derenberger farm the county experienced its biggest traffic jam. It took hours to get all of the UFO enthusiasts untangled and sent on their way. Needless to sat, Mr. Kuld never appeared. Mr Derenberger said the traffic jam scared him off. The Science Editor of the opposing newspaper was not put off by Mr. Kulds nonappearance. He seemed to still believe the guy. So a secret meeting of this Editor (who I will not name) and Mr. Kuld were set up. Mr. Kuld still had cold feet and never appeared. Just about the time the excitement was starting to die down, Mr. (note I said Mister as in male) Derenberger announced that Mr. Kold had made him (Mr Derenberger) pregnant. To the credit of the other Science Editor, that announcement killed the story (remember I said, "Egg on their face". We, that is, my paper did not rub it in. We let it die a natural death. The opposing paper never mentioned Mr. Derenberger's pregnancy; but they dropped the whole thjng practically mid sentence. Mr. Derenberger sold out and moved away (apparently before the birth of Derenberger-Kuld's baby) as no birth announcement was ever made. This whole fiasco had gone on for several weeks. That was over 50 years ago and I have forgotten a lot of it. But I gave you a synopsis of events.
 
Lanulose was named when TV Ads were pushing products with lanolin for your skin. When you're older than dirt, you remember these things. <pthman was another fiasco that still rumbles along, making money for a few oppertunists. I tried to cover the Mothman story but it was so convoluted that our editor thought it would simply irritate the people in southern West Virginia. Don't misunderstand me. I was born and raised in West Virginia and I have great respect for the people of that state. But the facts of the Mothman case just don't match up with the hoopla generated. The Mothman witnesses, in my opinion were highly questionable. I don't mean they were dishonest; I mean they were highly impressionable. A number of objects attributed to Mothman were found, later, to be very mundane. For example, the golden egg was discovered to be a missing shot putt from the highschool athletic department. The young man who insisted a big birdlike creature chased and tried to get into his car traveling almost 100 mile per hour. The kid had a loose top convertible. This was an obvious case of runaway imagination. In fact I found the "monster hysteria" in the area to be rampant making serious investigation impossible. Mothman suddenly appeared to a woman and her children in an abandoned area. He had two huge black wings, no head and red glowing eyes. Yes. I suspect the extremely frightened family saw what they said they saw. But it wasn't what they thought it was.
Much later, several years later, I discovered what these people saw. I'm sure everyone remembers the Viet Nam war. Whether or not you agreed with that war is beside the point. Special Forces were using areas of southern West Virginia as a staging area to test the skills of a squadron of "Black Ladies", not actually females, this group of hang glider specialists used the identification name sake. West Virginia was sele4cted for the tests because it was sparsely populated and the hilly landscape was similar to Viet Nam. One of the hang glider pilots got lost and came down a bit closer to civilization than was intended. At that time night vision goggles had a pinkish red look to them, unlike the green you see today. The glider pilot had to radio out for pick-up. When the helicopter picked him up he appeared to disappear straight up. One can only imagine what importance a totally panic stricken witness would even notice the noise. This episode has never been admitted by the government so the yearly Mothman festival goes on yearly, attracting tourist dollars. I even had a well known cryptozoologist tell me to surpress the truth because the people in that area of the state were hard pressed and needed the money. The truth is too mundane. As for the fall of the Silver Bridge that is often blamed on Mothman. I was amoung the volunteers who dragged the river for bodies (I didn't find any, Thank-God) but we snared a large number of sunk automobile bodies. That bridge was in obviously bad shape. When it fell, it was packed solid with holiday traffic. Its collapse was tragic, but mothman had nothing to do with it. This is all in my past. In 50 years you forget a lot of details. But the main facts stay with you. The main fact here is that Mothman never existed; he was the child of mass hysteria.
 
The Welsh Bigfoot may be a bigfoot. But, as with so many of the shy creature's photos, he is not exactly clearly seen. I have cousins in the mountains of West Virginia who, if they shed their shirts, would look a great deal like bigfoot from the back. My own branch of the family isn't so very hairy, but others of our clan are so hairy it actually looks like fur. Except Bigfoot is usually black or brown or white not rusty red or blond. Did you read about the poor guy in Oregon who was swimming in a river was shot and killed because some bozos on shore thought he was a Bigfoot. That's what a news report said. Hate to think anyone is that dumb.
 
In reference to my last post. I consider Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, Yeti or whatever you might call him to be at least an endangered creature or at most a human relative. I could never kill one unless I was attacked (self defense). Russia is so certain their creature exists they have deemed it endangered and killing one illegal. Capture or study but not available to big game hunters.
 
Mothman never existed; he was the child of mass hysteria.

I see your explanation did not meet with a welcome on a site that promotes Mothman merchandise!

Keel has his own thread and he has a lot of fans. The books are certainly quite compelling and his own papers suggest he was swallowing his own stuff to a large extent. Returning to them, they seem the record of a breakdown with racing thoughts and disturbing synchronicities. The closest thing to them is Strindberg's Inferno, the occult diary of his years as a late Parisian alchemist. His mental collapse was, however, shrewdly spiced up between his diaries and their publication. Even in their darkest moments, writers have one beady eye fixed on the audience! :cool:
 
Stands to reason, James, I have never written an exposure on Mothman that didn't ignite a protest. Like I have said before, " The truth is too mundane, common. Not exciting enough". Now you can understand why our editor felt it was best to pretty much ignore the whole thing.
 
James that story in the Military magazine was certainly not mine. About the only thing that guy got right was the fact that hang gliders were used. I was told "Special Forces" was involved, I suppose that would include Green Beret but my source never specified. The Hang Gliders were definitely NOT painted to glow because it was a super secret training situation. But I'm sure the critics of the Soldier of Fortune story would not like my version either. Like I said, Its just too mundane. Not exciting enough. Every body wants to believe in monsters. Shoot down some body's monster and you're going to hear about it. The collapse of the Silver Bridge was coincidental. That bridge was old, had serious rust out and was way overloaded the day it went down. Keel got his moment of fame and probably quite a few bucks as well. But most of his book is horse hockey, in my opinion.
 
James that story in the Military magazine was certainly not mine. About the only thing that guy got right was the fact that hang gliders were used. I was told "Special Forces" was involved, I suppose that would include Green Beret but my source never specified. The Hang Gliders were definitely NOT painted to glow because it was a super secret training situation. But I'm sure the critics of the Soldier of Fortune story would not like my version either. Like I said, Its just too mundane. Not exciting enough. Every body wants to believe in monsters. Shoot down some body's monster and you're going to hear about it. The collapse of the Silver Bridge was coincidental. That bridge was old, had serious rust out and was way overloaded the day it went down. Keel got his moment of fame and probably quite a few bucks as well. But most of his book is horse hockey, in my opinion.
I know it wasn't but your comment is underneath - and very sensible too! :)
I know it wasn't but your comment is underneath - and very sensible too! :)
Thank You I try to be.
 
AAAAh James: Someone took the words right out of my mouth. I do not disagree with the reply; but though it carries my moniker, I didn't write it.
 
Strange indeed. I have no idea. Thankfully whomever it is seems to be in agreement with me.
 
I have heard of that magazine, but I've never read one, much less answered anyt hing on its forum.
 
Concerning the subject of this thread, on his website Shukernature, in the comments section of his post about his new book Here's Nessie, Dr Karl Shuker has this to say;

...possibly leaping seals, or even a photoshop montage? There is nothing in the photo to confirm that it was even taken at Loch Ness, so I'll reserve judgement on that one, I think.
 
No, it was nothing we hadn't worked out. But the opinion of a qualified zoologist and prominent cryptozoologist is worth mentioning on a thread specifically created to discuss this particular photograph.
 
I would put money on it being seals. But, I know in Loch Ness there's Ferox trout. Piscivorous brown trout that can get rather large, the current UK rod caught record is something like 31lbs. Though 2 jumping like that close together I would find odd anyway
 

To get back on track: given that the photographer claims not to have seen the image until he saw the photo...I really don't think that there is any reason to take this seriously.

Nessie is just one of those old toys - along with `Love` - that I've had to put back into the cupboard over the years. I love that area, and the whole romantic ethos which surrounds it, and the characters who've gone in search of Nessie and the books they've written. But...the photgraphic evidence in particular is rather wanting. There's not a single image from the pantheon that is not either: a proven hoax, proba bly a misidentified mundane object or just so ambiguous as to be of no real value as testimony.

It is true that there are a few multiple witness close-up sightings dating from the 60's and 70's that are quite suggestive and harder to dismiss - but such events have declined sharply in recent times. I'm tempted to concur with the veteran Robetr Rhines who contends that the creature has died.

And since there's not a soul with any biological acumen who supports the pleisosuar hypotheisis left, then extinct critter may have been something like - at best- a very large species of eel.

Another possibility is that it is a ghost (whatever `ghosts` are). The whole phenomenon does have a feel of a classic localised `haunting` about it. I believe that even Tim Dinsdale was giving some time to this line of enquiry in his later years. But...it's not what we wanted, is it?
 
Zeke you seem to be spot right. On the other hand a few credibile witnesses have reported a critter big enough to menace a man. St Patrick for one witness with high qualifications.
Though I realize the photo was retouched; the original flipper photo, while noy as clear as the retouched version, does show an animals flipper of considerable size. Nessie may drive us nuts to the end of time; but you've gotta admit those fleeting photos do give us considerable fodder for discussion. Whatever great beastie is.
 
There are probably giant eels in Loch Ness. It's not unlikely.
 
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