Monsters and Myths

Back in 2005 a ferryboat driver named Bobby Clarke was floating along the Nelson River when something caught his eye on the opposite bank. It was a big black creature of some kind so he took an old camcorder that he kept on the boat and took some footage of the creature. He took a 2:49 video which many people agree on could very well be Bigfoot. Clarke went on to show the tape to friends and alot of the locals in the area and then went onto to sell rights to screen it to “A current Affair”.

Clarke was quoted as saying ” he had been nervous ever since seeing the creature. especially when he takes his ferry over to that side of the river where he spotted the creature”. A Current Affair would launch an expedition to Manitoba to try and locate the bigfoot or sasquatch or signs of its existance but no results were ever published or announced. A few weeks after after the clarke monster sighting was no longer a hot headline the entire magazine would be canceled by fox television.

Here is the Clarke bigfoot footage so you can take a look and decide for yourself !

Two physicists have published an academic paper where they demonstrate, by virtue of geometric progression, that vampires could not exist, since they would almost immediately deplete their entire food supply (a.k.a, all of us).

If you’ve ever read Salem’s Lot (or seen the lame Starsky and Hutch-era miniseries adaptation starring David Soul), then you know that after a vampire decides to settle in your town, the undead begin to multiply at an alarming rate (he bites two friends, who bite two friends, and so on, and so on…).

Putting aside for a moment the issue of how that would impact neighborhood property values, this phenomenon raises an even more pressing question: If vampires are indeed living (unliving?) among us, then shouldn’t we have seen an undead population explosion by now?

Fortunately, our best minds are on the case. Physicists Costas Efthimiou and Sohang Gandhi’s paper “Cinema Fiction vs. Physics Reality” offers a full explanation.

Efthimiou and Gandhi conduct a thought experiment: Assume that the first vampire appeared on January 1, 1600. At that time, according to data available at the U.S. Census website, the global population was 536,870,911. Efthimiou and Gandhi calculate that, once the Nosferatu feeding frenzy began, the entire human race would have been wiped out by June 1602 (thus forever changing the course of history by preventing the invention of the slide rule eighteen years later).

The physicists note:

Another philosophical principal related to our argument is the truism given the elaborate title, the anthropic principle. This states that if something is necessary for human existence, then it must be true since we do exist. In the present case, the nonexistence of vampires is necessary for human existence. Apparently, whomever devised the vampire legend had failed his college algebra and philosophy courses.

Oooh, snap! But, this gauntlet had been barely thrown down before it invited a rebuttal from mathematician Dino Sejdinovic. In his article, “Mathematics of the Human Vampire Conflict” (Math Horizons, November 2008) Sejdinovic faults Efthimiou and Gandhi’s logic, since they have not “accounted for the birth-rate of non-vampires and death-rate of vampires (actually the death-death-rate since they are already dead, but when they die again they should stay dead but stop being living) due to close encounters with stakes, garlic and holy water.” Moreover, “vampires are presented exclusively as greedy consumers: a rational strategy of managing their human resources is not considered.”

Here, Sejdinovic cites the pioneering research conducted by Austrian mathematicians Richard Hartl and Alexander Mehlmann, who published the landmark 1982 paper, “The Transylvanian Problem of Renewable Resources,” later followed up by “Cycles of Fear: Periodic Bloodsucking Rates for Vampires” (Journal of Optimization Theory and Application, December 1992). Hartl and Mehlmann argue that vampires would never be stupid enough to deplete their entire food supply, and by applying the Hopf-Bifurcation Theorem (don’t ask), they demonstrate how vampires can adopt an optimal “cyclical bloodsucking strategy.”

However, there is a serious flaw in the Hartl and Mehlmann model: The assumption that human beings would be docile prey. Their research provoked an outraged response from economist Dennis Snower, who in his article “Macroeconomic Policy and the Optimal Destruction of Vampires” (The Journal of Political Economy, June 1982), declared:

One wonders what conceivable interest the authors could have had in helping vampires solve their intertemporal consumption problem. The implicit assumption of the Invisible Hand (or Fang)-whereby vampires, in pursuing their own interests, pursue those of human beings as well-is of questionable validity. The study by Hartl and Mehlmann is not concerned with the macroeconomic implications of blood-sucking behavior modes. Nor does it consider the policy instruments whereby human beings can protect themselves from vampires. Instead, humans are modeled as passive receptacles of blood whose cultivation and harvest are left to vampire discretion.

Hooyah! Snower argues that the mortal world can manage its resources in a manner that keeps the undead population in check, while simultaneously promoting long-term economic growth:

A transfer of labor services from the widget sector to the stake sector reduces human welfare at present but may raise welfare in the future (since an increase in stake production reduces the vampire population and thereby increases the future labor force whereby future widgets may be produced).

Still, I’m not entirely confident in Snower’s conclusions-not least because his complex mathematical proof indicates that the complete destruction of vampires would not be “socially optimal.” (And you wonder why economics is known as the dismal science?)

In fact, all of these models rest upon the assumption that vampires are at the top of the undead food chain. Who says that the blood-sucking population is not kept in check by something that preys on vampires? Time to consult the zoology journals.

Source: io9.com

He ekes out a solitary existence deep in the woods, surviving by snaring rabbits and foraging for berries.

But when nature alone cannot satisfy his needs, the shaggy bearded recluse will leave his lair and, with the stealth of a wild animal, go on the prowl for other prey in the nearby villages.

Locals call him ‘The Wolfman’ and blame him for a series of thefts of milk from their doorsteps.

The one man mini-crimewave is also suspected of a string of thefts of shopping from parked cars and clothes from washing lines during his furtive forays into the civilised world over the last two years.

Police have tried to catch him during searches on foot and have even sent up a helicopter with heat-seeking equipment to track him down, but he has so far always managed to avoid capture.

He knows the miles of paths through the dense woodland near Ammanford, South Wales, where he lurks, so well that even when officers are on his trail, he manages to give them the slip.

Abandoned hideouts made from board with plastic roofs have been found, suggesting he moves around to avoid arrest.

Some locals believe ‘The Wolfman’ - said to be in his 30s and to look ‘dishevelled’ - also hides in holes in the ground.

In the hamlet of Pantyffynon, which is one of his hunting grounds, disgruntled householders have threatened to send out vigilante search parties to find him.

Now there are also fears that child fans of the X-Men comic book superhero Wolverine, as played by Hugh Jackman, might think it fun to go looking for him and put themselves in danger.

Today one villager said: ‘We want him caught before something serious happens.’

Police have vowed they will catch him ’sooner or later’ and have appealed to locals not to start scouring the woods themselves.

Sergeant Charles Gabe warned: ‘We would advise people not to take the law into their own hands or approach this man.

‘We’ve found one or two hides where we believe he has been sleeping. We think he catches rabbits and eats berries or whatever else he can get his hands on.

‘But although we’ve had the police helicopter overhead using heat-seeking equipment we’ve still been unable to locate him.

‘This a massive thickly-wooded area - and one he obviously knows well.

‘On one occasion a couple of our guys came close to nabbing him but he scarpered back into the woods. But we are sure he will be caught sooner of later.’

Local councillor Hugh Evans said: ‘It’s a very strange case and no-one seems to know who he is.

‘But he must be a bit of a Rambo type and pretty tough to have survived the bitterly cold winter living out in the open.

‘The area where he is living is thickly-wooded and forested - the sort of area where it is easy to disappear.’

‘The Wolfman’ lives in the woodland on an area of  reclaimed coal slagheaps known locally as ‘The Tips’.

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman said: ‘We want to question him over several alleged incidents.’

Source: Dailymail.uk

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

THE Yowie has been unfairly blamed for the death of a dog in the Top End, according to one of the world’s leading cryptonaturalists.

Territory Yowie researcher Andrew McGinn told the Northern Territory News yesterday the dog’s death could be the work of the Bigfoot-like beast.

“The way the guy’s dog was killed was typical of a Yowie,” he said.

“I know it sounds fanciful but over the past 100 years, dogs get killed or decapitated and people report feeling watched, having goats stolen or seeing some tall hairy thing beforehand.”

But Tim the Yowie Man, a former economist who turned his hand to Yowie research after spotting a hairy beast on a bushwalk 15 years ago, said the Yowie was not to blame.

“I’m very concerned that the Yowie is being incorrectly portrayed as an aggressive creature that is posing a danger to people’s pets,” he said.

“In over 150 years of Yowie reports all over Australia, I’ve never heard of a Yowie ripping an animal’s head off.

“It is my understanding that in this case there is no evidence that proves a Yowie is responsible for biting the head off a seven-month-old puppy.

“To speculate, with a lack of conclusive evidence to back the claims, that the decapitation of this poor puppy was the work of a Yowie is alarmist.”

The Canberra cryptonaturalist said there had only been a handful of Yowie reports from the Territory in the past 15 years.

“One turned out to be a hoax, another turned out to be a hairy naked human running across the Stuart Highway near Alice Springs and the other was of spurious origin,” he said.

Source: ntnews

NORTHWEST COVE — Bloodshot eyes as big as saucers, a body coated in mossy hair, spinal protrusions along undulating bodies covered in scales 15 centimetres long. These are just some characteristics of the “denizens of the deep” spotted off the coast of Nova Scotia as recently as a few years ago.

Sea captains have seen them. Military men have seen them. And Andrew Hebda, curator of zoology with the Nova Scotia Museum, says there’s definitely something to these sightings of monsters and sea serpents.

The question is what?

Granted, he said, there’s no doubt some creatures were likely seen through the bottom of a rum bottle, “but the point is, they saw something.”

In 2003, Wallace Cartwright was in his lobster boat off Alder Point, Cape Breton, when he saw a sea serpent about eight metres long. It was the diameter of an oil drum and he followed it until it dove down deep and disappeared.

Two hundred years earlier, a woman by the name of Mrs. W. Lee saw a 30-metre sea monster off the coast of Cape Breton. “Its back was dark green and it stood in the water in flexuous hillocks and went through it with infectious noise,” says one account of her sighting.

Pretty enthralling stuff for Mr. Hebda, who is writing a book on these mysterious creatures of the deep.

He spoke at the community centre here on Sunday at an event hosted by the Athenaeum Society of Nova Scotia. “You’re in sea monster central in Nova Scotia,” he told them.

In 1833, five fellows were out fishing off Mahone Bay when they reported seeing a monster some 180 metres from their boat. They provided good detail despite the rum they had drunk.

It was about 31 metres long. “We saw the head and neck of some denizen of the deep, precisely like those of a common snake, in the act of swimming, the head so far elevated and thrown forward by the curve of the neck as to enable to see the water under and beyond it.”

There have been pockets of such sightings around the province, many of them quite similar despite the decades, if not centuries, that pass between them. And they tend to be in warmer waters, shipping channels and fishing grounds.

Many of them have been off the South Shore, as well as the Pictou area and Cape Breton.

Mr. Hebda is writing a book about sea monster sightings and has been inspired by the detailed accounts he’s collected. In 1975, Keith Ross was in his boat off Cape Sable Island with his son Rodney when a sight suddenly rose before them. “It had eyes as big around as saucers and bright red-looking. I mean, you could see the red in its eyes like they were bloodshot. It had its mouth wide open and there were two big tusks — I call them tusks — that hung down from its upper jaw.”

Mr. Ross roared his boat away from the grey, snake-like body as it passed astern.

The Mi’kmaq first recorded similar serpents in petroglyphs found at Kejimkujik National Park. The first documented account was by Nicolas Denys of a merman spotted in Canso Harbour in 1656. The first reported sighting in Halifax Harbour was of an 18-metre serpent in 1825.

The fishermen’s world revolves around things they see every day. Mr. Hebda said when they see something unusual, they want to know what it is. Sometimes the answer is quite innocuous. Often the truth will never be known.

For instance, Mr. Cartwright may well have seen an oarfish, also known as the king of the herring, when he was working off Cape Breton six years ago. “Do we know everything that’s out there? No, no we don’t. Have we seen everything that’s out there? No, now we haven’t,” but Mr. Hebda suspects there’s an explanation for pretty much every case — whether it’s a rare tropical fish brought north by warm currents or the distorted vision produced by the thick glass at the bottom of a bottle of spirits.

Mr. Ross hadn’t been drinking when he saw that tusked animal with the bloodshot eyes. But Mr Hebda said that’s also the year officials confirmed and photographed a walrus in the area.

“People see things, they try to figure out what they saw,” he said.

“Yes, they did see something. What is it? Therein lies the challenge. It’s a voyage of exploration to see what it is.”

Source: thechronicleherald

More evidence of the abominable snowman (more politely known as a Yeti or Bigfoot) has been uncovered in Russia’s Kemerovo Region in southwestern Siberia, the Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.

Vladimir Makut, a local administrator in the Tashtagol district of Kemerovo Region, noted in an interview with the newspaper that sightings of unusual large creatures in the area date far back into Soviet times, when the area contained several prison colonies. The creatures inspired such dread that the prisoners sometimes refused to go out to work. The local native people, the Shors, also have numerous legends about wild “dark people.” Specialists note, however, that, historically, more yeti activity has been recorded in neighboring regions. The Soviet Academy of Sciences even set up a commission to investigate those reports in 1958. It concluded that Altai, which Tashtagol borders on, is a breeding ground for the creature. There the yetis have been sighted in pairs and yeti children have been seen.

Dozens of sightings near Azas Cave have been recorded, all during the winter months. The area is accessible only with local guides and the right equipment, but it is visited by campers and personnel from the coal mining industry. The latest series of reports began last November. Igor Burtsev, director of the International Center for Hominology, noted that the situation is unusual in that reports have come from locals. Local inhabitants rarely report such sightings, even when they are aware of the presence of the mysterious creatures. There were no actually encounters with the yetis, but numerous tracks were found. They were described as similar to bear tracks, but with distinct toes.

Makut organized an expedition to the cave and, after finding tracks himself, called in Burtsev and several regional officials. They also confirmed the presence of footprints in the cave, but declined to enter the cave farther than 30 yards, noting the dangerous conditions. The yetis themselves eluded the explorers.

Komsomolskaya Pravda noted that there have been other recent developments in hominology. Last month, a film crew from Russia’s Channel One television discovered enormous hominid footprints in Abkhazia and interviewed a local resident who stated that she was the granddaughter of a domesticated yeti. According to the woman, Raisa Sabekia, her grandmother, named Zana, was captured by hunters and given as a gift to her grandfather, who was a local nobleman. He eventually taught her to speak. Abkhazia is another region known for the presence of yeti. An Academy of Sciences expedition searched for the creature in that region in Soviet times as well.

Source: mosnews

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 beast lives on - that is the opinion of Falmouth man John Ostins, who is the latest in a line of people claiming to have seen the town’s mysterious ” beast.”

Mr Ostins, who is studying boat building at Falmouth Marine School, contacted the Packet to say that, at the risk of sounding “daft” he had also seen something resembling the unusual creature first revealed on the Packet website thepacket.co.uk and featured in the paper that week.

At the time Falmouth Watersports Centre worker Sam Bradbury claimed to have seen an animal that resembled a cross between a lion, a fox and a kangaroo.

Mr Ostins, from Tregenver Road, claims to have seen the beast in the second week of January - but has been too embarrassed to come forward until now.

He had been walking his dog Oggy on the coastal path between Swanpool and Maenporth at around 5pm when his pet started barking loudly ahead before going “absolutely ballistic” with his shackles up.

Mr Ostins said: “Just as we rounded the bend in the path I briefly saw up ahead a weird looking animal hopping into a gorse bush. I didn’t see it for long, but I can say that it was jet black with a long, bushy tail like I’d imagine a racoon to have, and bigger in size than my Labrador. It also seemed to be moving on two hind legs.”

Oggy went to the bush where the creature rushed to but, unusually, appeared reluctant to go in and look for the animal, which then disappeared.

“It sounds so far fetched and unbelievable that for weeks I kind of made myself believe that it was a dog or something and I completely dismissed it, until I saw the articles in the paper,” added Mr Ostins.

Source: falmouth packet

Wednesday March 11th 2008 at 9PM / 8PM central on HISTORY.

High in the rugged wilderness of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains a large hairy creature is said to be preying on the elk and frightening residents. The stories date back centuries with the earliest settlers describing terrifying encounters with a large beast whose scream bellows across the hills. Even today ranchers and hikers report a monster they can’t explain that may be attacking their horses. MonsterQuest will sift through the evidence and determine what may be killing the elk. The aerial search ascends to 11,000 ft in search of fresh evidence that could lead to the creature; as the ground team scales the side of Pikes Peak to hunt for the legendary Snowbeast.

Background on the peak’s name:

Pikes Peak (originally Pike’s Peak, see below) is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, 10 miles (16 km) west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County. The mountain was named after Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. (January 5, 1778 – April 27, 1813), an American soldier, explorer, and Freemason, whose Pike expedition, often compared to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.

Pike was born in Lamberton, New Jersey, now a part of Trenton. His father, also named Zebulon Pike, was an officer in the Continental Army under General George Washington and served in the United States Army after the end of the Revolutionary War.

One famed ancestor of Zebulon Pike is John Pike (1613-1688/1689), who was a founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey and a judge and politician of the early colony of New Jersey.

During the period of exploration in Colorado, many would refer to the mountain as “Pike’s Peak,” after Zebulon Pike, the man who first documented it and attempted to climb to its summit. The attempt failed to reach the summit as it was made during the winter months. The snow drifts were reported chest high at the time of the climb.

Edwin James was successful to reach the summit in his attempt during a summer month’s attempt. Later, some suggested “James’ Peak,” after Edwin James, the first man who successfully climbed to the summit. However, in this area there was another “James’ Peak” which made identification of the peak a confusing issue. The name went back and forth until it was settled with a uniquely identifiable name.

Originally the peak was called “Pike’s Peak”, but in 1891, the newly-formed US Board on Geographic Names recommended against the use of apostrophes in names, so officially the name of the peak does not include an apostrophe. In addition, in 1978 the Colorado state legislature passed a law mandating the use of “Pikes Peak” only. Even so, the old name is often seen.

Several people make the mistake thinking that Pikes Peak was named after the shadowy Masonic figure Albert Pike, who was related to Zebulon, through their mutual ancestor John Pike.

Albert Pike (December 29, 1809–April 2, 1891) was an attorney, explorer, soldier, writer, and Freemason. Pike is the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, D.C. (in Judiciary Square).

Albert Pike was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite’s Southern Jurisdiction in 1859. (Some have said that the Civil War was an occult battle between the northern and southern branches of Freemasonry.) He remained Sovereign Grand Commander for the remainder of his life (a total of thirty-two years), devoting a large amount of his time to developing the rituals of the order. Notably, he published a book called Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in 1871, of which there were several subsequent editions. Pike is still sometimes regarded in America as an eminent and influential Freemason.

Is Pikes Peak of significance to Masons?

In 1899, there was a small time capsule inserted into a rock atop Pikes Peak by 500 Masons - who arrived on a special train for the ceremony.

In 1999, on the 100th anniversary of that event, more than 200 Masons from Kansas and Colorado rode the Cog Railway to the summit of Pikes Peak, removed a small bronze plaque and withdrew the copper time capsule. They intended to put a new one in its place - to be opened in another 100 years - but they had misjudged the size of the hole cut into the rock by their 19th century colleagues, and the capsule didn’t fit.

In September 2000, a group of 22 Masons returned to the peak to discover that the bronze plaque atop the rock had been pried off and taken. In its place were several small capsules containing Scriptures and anti-Masonic statements.

The Masons reported the theft to rangers and then inserted their new stainless steel capsule into the flat, 10-foot-square rock, sealing it with concrete. The capsule, like the old one now on display in a Kansas bank, contains a Bible, an American flag, a list of Masons who made the trip and instruments such as a compass and ruler that have significance for the group, founded in the 1600s by European stonemasons.

cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/pikes-peak