Monsters and Myths

The remains of a Loch Ness-style creature that lived in the English Channel 200 million years ago have been found on a beach.

Archaeologists have spent months piecing together dozens of old bones found encased in limestone on Britain’s Jurassic Coast by a fossil hunter.

After nearly completing the jigsaw-like puzzle they have disclosed that the skeleton, which is 70 per cent complete, is that of a 12ft long plesiosaur.

The marine reptile resembled the Loch Ness monster with its long thin neck and tail, four large flippers and razor-sharp teeth.

Plesiosaurs existed during the Jurassic period 150 to 200 million years ago when what is now the Channel was a shallow, tropical sea.

Detailed examination of the bones revealed teeth marks from where a predatory dinosaur would have feasted on the carcass of the “lake monster”.

Richard Edmonds, science manager for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, said: “They are rare. There are only 10 known examples of complete or even partial skeletons of this species.

“I have been doing this for 30-odd years and I have only ever found the odd bone.”

The remains were discovered by Tracey Marler under rocks on Monmouth Beach near Lyme Regis, Dorset.

She first found a single bone in limestone. She and partner Chris Moore, an expert in fossils, returned to the scene and they found four more bones.

After further excavation about 150 vertebrae bones and parts of its skull and jaw which had one tooth in it were uncovered.

“It came out in pieces but you could clearly see how it looked. The tail bone was in position,” said Mr Moore.

“Some of the back bones were completely in place where they should be and the neck bone was there as well. You could see some of the bones had actually been chewed up a bit.

“There are teeth marks and you can see how the skeleton had been torn apart by some other nasty marine reptile.

“Plesiosaurs lived in shallow, warm tropical seas. They had long necks and sharp teeth and would have chased after and eaten fish.

“Their predator would have been the ichthyosaur which was carnivorous.”

Natural England worked closely with the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site team to carefully extract the fossils.

It is hoped the skeleton will go on public display at the Lyme Regis Museum.

Source: sanfranciscocronical

‘ALLO ‘ALLO star Vicki Michelle took a pleasure cruise on Loch Ness and had a close encounter with Nessie herself.

Vicki was appearing in the stage version of the classic telly comedy at the Eden Court in Inverness.

And she and the rest of the cast got more than they bargained for when they enjoyed a sightseeing trip on the loch’s Jacobite Queen cruise ship.

The boat was on its way to Urquhart Castle when the crew picked up a strange signal on their sonar.

Vicki dashed below decks for a look, and was amazed to see five mysterious “arch shapes” on the screen.

The boat’s skipper said he’d never seen anything like it in his 15 year on the loch. Monster-hunters plan to investigate the sighting further.

Vicki, who plays saucy waitress Yvette in ‘Allo ‘Allo, said yesterday: “Perhaps Nessie’s a fan of the show!”

She added: “I caught an arch shape on the monitor, followed by four more.

“The whole cast had been hoping to see something on the trip. And if it was Nessie, that positive energy probably brought her out.

“In all seriousness, whether it was Nessie or not, we all definitely saw something on that monitor.”

Loch Ness researcher Adrian Shine, who has spent years investigating the monster mystery, said: “This has got me puzzled. It has every appearance of a genuine sonar contact.

“It certainly adds to the Loch Ness mystery and will be the subject of further investigation.”

The ‘Allo ‘Allo stage play, starring Vicki and Hi-De-Hi’s Jeffrey Holland as Rene, was on in Inverness from May 18 to 23. The cast are now continuing their UK tour.

Source: dailyrecord

Last July, a couple found the carcass of a strange beast washed up on New York’s coastline. The creature resembled no animal we know of and was immediately labeled The Montauk Beast, Montauk being the place it was discovered.

Now, photos have been released of a second strange creature which could be another Montauk Beast, It was found in roughly the same area but looks slightly different. The couple who found it bagged it and have it on ice for, well, who knows what reason.

There are various theories as to what the Montauk Beast could be. Some suggest it’s a half-decomposed pig or dog, others claim it’s a movie prop, while other still think it may be a genetic experiment from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

The most outlandish theory is it’s a form of biological warfare, meant to contaminate the water around New York. Whatever the truth, it’s certainly a weird sight to behold. Maybe the Loch Ness Monster swam to America and had some offspring?

Source: webhub

Fifty years ago sightings of the Loch Ness Monster or ‘Nessie’ were common and few Scottish locals doubted the presence of an exotic water creature in their locale which might have been the last living member an isolated relic Plesiosaur population. Sightings of Nessie have decreased over the last few years and extensive and thorough scanning of the Loch Ness by scientists and researchers have failed to produce any evidence of Nessie. This has led many to believe, sadly, that this gentle, secretive creature had passed on. Now, astonishingly, frequent sightings are being reported of a creature living in the English Channel that appears, judging by images (picture above, video below) captured by astonished witnesses, to be similar in form to Nessie. This cryptid has been dubbed ‘The Channel Creature’.

Many are now asking: Is Nessie the Channel Creature? Is it possible that a hidden water passage exists linking the Loch Ness to the ocean? Perhaps Nessie instinctively realises that open knowledge of her presence would jeapordise her existence and has thus moved out to sea. UFO activity in the area is fairly frequent and a UFO is reported to have crashed in the region some five years ago. Was Nessie placed in the lake by extraterrestrials and then moved by them for her own safety?

Some Nessie researchers claim that scientists are aware of the Loch Ness Monster’s presence and the existence of a secret underwater tunnel leading to the sea ‘She goes out to mate, thus perpetuating the elusive species. But she always returns home to the Loch Ness’ one told us.

THE fossil of a ‘Loch Ness monster’ has been discovered on the Lyme Regis coast.

Hundreds of miles away from its usual home in the Scottish lakes, the fossil of a four-metre plesiosaur has been unearthed on Monmouth Beach.

The extinct marine reptile lived in Dorset’s Jurassic seas around 150 to 200 million years ago, although in popular culture it has been likened to ‘lake monsters’, including the Loch Ness monster.

Local fossil collector Tracey Barkley discovered a number of bones from the creature in the ammonite pavement within the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs National Nature Reserve (NNR).

Richard Edmonds, science manager with the World Heritage Site Team, said: “They are very rare. There are only 10 or 12 known examples of complete or even partial skeletons of this species. I have been doing this for 30-odd years and I have only ever found the odd bone or two.”

The remains of the elusive reptile were extracted and Charmouth fossil expert Chris Moore is now preparing the specimen for display.

Mr Edmonds said: “From what has been done so far we can already see it has actually been chewed up a bit. Some of the back bones are completely in place where they should be and some are missing.

“There are teeth marks and you can see how the skeleton has been torn apart by some other nasty marine reptile.”

But the decision to remove the fossil plesiosaur from the ammonite pavement was not an easy one. “The specimen could not have been in a more sensitive location, in the famous and iconic ammonite pavement, and there was a risk that we could damage the pavement by the act of removing the fossil,” said Mr Edmonds.

Because of the potential scientific importance of the fossil, it was decided the specimen would be extracted. If left in place, it could potentially have been destroyed by novice collectors or eventually washed away and eroded by the sea.

Tom Sunderland of Natural England, who manage the NNR, said: “There are restrictions on collecting fossils in the NNR, particularly the removal and sale of specimens but we need to work with collectors and the general public in order to strike the right balance and ensure scientifically important fossils are not lost.”

Mr Edmonds said this latest find would not have been possible without the help of local fossil hunters.

Source: bridgeportnews.uk

Beneath the cold, isolated waters of north western Canada a fifty foot swimming monster is said to lurk. The stories from North West Canada’s Lake Okanagan date back to the earliest First Nation peoples, who lived in fear of this terrifying creature of the lake that became known as ‘Ogopogo’.

According to accounts of this ominous creature, it has a large snake like body, large eyes and can move at high speeds. Sightings of this lake creature are so common that it has been seen more times than Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, making Ogopogo the world’s most documented lake creature.

With new, recent photographic evidence and an array of high technology, MonsterQuest will launch one of the first major expeditions to this lake. A helicopter outfitted with a thermal camera will scan the lake for signs of the creature while a dive team stands ready to jump into the hazardous waters, ready to capture the necessary evidence.

“On tonight’s MonsterQuest, the results of the baby Ogopogo body find will be revealed.”

THE MYSTERY of what happened to the infamous Loch Ness monster hoaxer has finally been solved.

Frank Searle lived on Loch Ness during the 1970s and became a celebrity when he claimed to be the first person in history to capture real pictures of Nessie.

His most famous photograph, which many likened to a floating tree trunk, brought Searle base. He even inspired a monster-hunter character played by Keith Allen in the 1996 Hollywood film Loch Ness, starring Ted Danson.

However, rumours soon started to emerge that his pictures were a hoax and The Loch Ness Story, a book by the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell, labelled them fakes.

After being exposed as a hoaxer, Searle’s own life became a mystery when he seemed to disappear without trace in 1983 after leaving Loch Ness.

He went missing shortly after Adrian Shine, of the Drumnadrochit-based Loch Ness Project, was injured in a petrol bomb attack following a war of words with Searle.

Suspicion fell upon Searle and friends and fellow monster hunters placed adverts in newspapers in an attempt to track him down, but he remained missing for 22 years.

But now a film crew, making a documentary on Searle, has discovered that he died a few weeks ago, aged 84, in the Lancashire town of Fleetwood.

Andrew Tullis, the film-maker behind the documentary The Man Who Captured Nessie, which is to be broadcast by Channel 4 later this year, said: “Rumours on his whereabouts ranged from treasure-hunting in Cornwall to lecturing on monsters in the United States, or even lying at the bottom of Loch Ness.

“But, during the production, a lead brought me to Fleetwood where I discovered that Searle had lived quietly for the last 18 years. And, in fact, he had died a few weeks before my arrival.

“Searle was loved and loathed in equal measure, but his place in the history of Loch Ness hoaxes is assured.”

A former paratrooper, Searle gave up his job as a greengrocer in London in 1969 to relocate to Loch Ness and set up “The Frank Searle Loch Ness Investigation”.

He produced 20 supposed images of Nessie, one of which even showed a UFO in the same shot. A dossier produced on Searle’s work convinced many that his “monsters” were really constructed from fence posts, socks, tarpaulins and, on one occasion, the cutting and pasting of a dinosaur postcard on to an image of disturbed water.

Roland Watson, a fellow Loch Ness monster hunter from Edinburgh and friend of Searle’s during his stay on Loch Ness, said: “Frank lived permanently by the north shore of Loch Ness in various tents and caravans from 1969 to 1983, whereupon he upped tent pegs and left the loch for good.

“Since that day nothing was ever heard from him. It was as if he vanished as quickly as a sight of the monster herself.”

Source: thescotsman

The first recorded sighting of a “monster” in Loch Ness was nearly 1,500 years ago. Apparently, a huge, ferocious beast leaped out of a lake near Iverness, Scotland, and ate a local farmer. Since then, the lore of Nessie has grown and grown.

A photograph, taken in 1934 by a London doctor, seemed to show a dinosaur-looking creature with a long neck emerging from the water, and it fueled the Nessie obsession.

Then a home movie shot in 1960 showed a family picnicking near the water, but the movie also shows a strange figure swimming nearby.

British intelligence analyzed the film and concluded it was probably “something animate.”

Millions of people have peered into this forbidding water, in search of the truth. One-thousand visitors have reported unusual sightings.

One woman named Val who claims to have spotted Nessie said the creature she saw was “very dark gray. Shiny, obviously, because it was wet.”

MIT professor Robert Rines was at a Scottish tea party in 1972 when he and the others spotted what they thought was the Loch Ness monster.

“It was a big tremendous thing. Like the back of an elephant,” Rines said. “It came back, right in front of us and … thuuup. Submerged!”

Rines, now 85, has returned to Loch Ness almost every summer since that first sighting, hoping to prove that he did see a monster.

Using sonar technology, he plumbed the vast, vast blackness of Loch Ness — which is 750 feet deep, 23 miles long, 380 million years old — and claimed he detected large, moving masses.

In 1975, he captured underwater photos of what appeared to be the body, flipper, neck and head of a large animal.

“This is probably a progenitor of something that should have been dead 65 million years ago,” he said.

Since the 1980s, Rines’ underwater sonar and photos have not picked up any trace of a creature. Rines’ latest theory is that Nessie might now be dead, and he wants to comb the Loch’s bottom for bones.

A recent video showed suspicious movement in the Loch. But that was actually me swimming in the inhospitable waters, demonstrating that it’s easy to fake a sighting.

The water was just a few degrees above freezing the day I went in, and it was murky and dark. There aren’t even many fish brave enough to live in here. So what sort of monster would choose to call Loch Ness home?

Some have speculated that Nessie might be a plesiosaur, a type of dinosaur that resembles other lake monsters spotted around the world, and looks a lot like Nessie.

Adrian Shine, head of the Loch Ness Project, has spent 30 years trying to prove Nessie doesn’t exist.

“I don’t happen to believe that Loch Ness is Jurassic Park. I think it’s about the last place on earth a warm water marine reptile of the Jurassic era would actually want to live,” Shine said.

Shine said certain natural phenomenon like boat wakes or unusual currents created when warm surface water meets the cold water below.

These kinds of currents can make a floating log look like it’s swimming upwind, and create visual illusions, Shine said. For science, eyewitnesses are not proof enough. But for me, they’re enough to keep my imagination running wild.

abcnews.go.com/GMA/AroundTheWorld/Story?id=7185124&page=1

Grainy images of a large snake in Borneo’s Baleh river have some locals afraid the mythical Nabu snake is back. Is Borneo’s 100-foot river snake—reported yesterday by London’s Telegraph and captured in photographs real?

Like the Loch Ness Monster, countless UFOs and Bigfoot, it’s hard to say, says Hany Farid, a computer science professor at Dartmouth University, because it’s been captured in such low resolution. “It’s as if you took a blood sample,” he says, “threw away 99 percent of it and asked me to do a forensic analysis.”

An expert of digital photography forensics, Farid notes that with so few pixels to analyze, there’s much less evidence to weigh in one way or the other. At a high resolution—say, 1,000 by 1,000 pixels—tampering gets tougher. At that level, he says, “It’s really hard to do. You’ve got to get it all just right.”

The low level of resolution is precisely why viewers should be skeptical. To make a fraudulent photo, he says, one would want to work in high resolution, fake it as cleanly as possible and then compress it and make it a bit blurry. “That’s a good way of masking any artifacts that you’ve left behind,” he says.

Plus, Farid notes that although the fuzziness of UFO and Nessie photos might add a bit of desirable mystique, in this day and age of high-quality point-and-shoot digital cameras, there really aren’t many reasons why anyone’s daytime photos should be as blurry as those of the Borneo “snake.”

In addition to the resolution of the two snake photos, other characteristics of an easy fake pop up as well, he observes. Both images show the snake in a somewhat open area, not interacting with other objects. It would be a lot more difficult, Farid says, to fake a snake wrapped around a person.

Although Farid won’t opine whether the Borneo photos are real or manipulated, he suggests a handy rule of thumb: “When you look at images, you should think about, ‘How hard would this be to do?’”

sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=are-the-photos-of-borneos-monster-s-2009-02-20