Lake Monster Mysteries (5 page)

The many other apparently hoaxed photographs of Nessie include one taken in 19 51 of a three-humped monster—or, rather, three misaligned and unnatural-looking humps. The monster they supposedly belonged to was unseen and left no wake.

Another photo showing two humps of different sizes was taken in the water beside Urquhart Castle in 1955, but there are two versions of the photograph, prompting monster-hunting professor Roy Mackal to ask: “If the object did, indeed, appear on the water in the original negative exposed of the scene, why was it necessary to rephotograph the
‘original' print, with the resulting two different versions?” (quoted in Binns 1984, 99–100, 102).

And then there are the photographs of the Loch Ness monster and other lake denizens attributed to Tony “Doc” Shiels. Here, perhaps, we must consider the source: Shiels, a magician, self-described “psychic entertainer,” and professional Punch and Judy man, is also the author of books on successful hoaxing techniques. He told one magazine, “I am sure Nessie appeared as a result of my psychic powers” (Nickell 1994; Chorvinsky 1993). Shiels has also offered photos of the “Lough Leane aquatic monster,” allegedly made near Killarney Island in 1981, and of a sea serpent named Morgawr. Unfortunately, these two double-humped, long-necked creatures are “strikingly similar,” possibly, according to one researcher, “shot using the same technique, that of a sculpted plasticine monster stuck onto a pane of glass in front of the camera” (Chorvinsky 1993).

Still other Nessie photos may not be hoaxes but depict some natural object, such as driftwood or a swimming deer. A motion picture film taken in 1960 by monster hunter Tim Dinsdale was analyzed by the Royal Air Force's Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Center, which concluded that the moving object, seen from a mile away, could be a motorboat. Indeed, Dinsdale reported that the object was a reddish brown color, to which Binns responded in
The Loch Ness Mystery Solved:
“An object which appears reddish brown at such a distance is clearly something which is relatively brightly coloured. Reddish brown is a reasonable color for a motor boat, but an unusual one for a Loch Ness monster” (Binns 1984, 107–25).

An underwater photo taken in 1972 by Robert Rines and a crew from his Academy of Applied Science garnered considerable media attention for its supposed depiction of a “flipper” from an unknown creature. As it happens, the computer-enhanced picture was found to have been “significantly altered to give the impression of the flipperlike objects that appear in the published version” (Razdan and Kielar, 1984–85). The
unaltered
picture could depict virtually anything (
figure 1.4
). In addition, the academy's sonar evidence, which Rines cited as supporting his interpretation of the “flipper” photograph, was discredited by an expert review (Razdan and Kielar, 1984–85).

Figure 1.4
Underwater picture supposedly of a monster's flipper, made in 1972 by Robert Rines (above), was heavily enhanced. The unenhanced picture (below) isn't proof of anything. (Photos courtesy of the Academy of Applied Science)

Defensively, Rines told
60 Minutes II
(December 5, 2001): “I'm crazy, I'm crazy. You know Christopher Columbus; I'm nowhere near the great man he was, and he was told by all the people who knew everything about science, everything about geography, ‘Don't go Chris, you're gonna drop off the end of the flat earth.'” He added, “Sometimes too much knowledge prevents you from even looking.”

In 2003, a team sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) surveyed the entire loch “using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology.” The team speculated on how a marine reptile like the plesiosaur, which became extinct with the dinosaurs, might have survived in Loch Ness's cold waters. The researchers studied the habits of such marine reptiles as leatherback turtles and crocodiles to determine how a plesiosaur might have behaved. According to a press release (BBC 2003), “They hoped the instruments aboard their search boat would pick up the air in Nessie's lungs as it reflected a distorted signal back to the sonar sensors.” Although the team did locate a submerged buoy used to test the equipment's capacity, they found no trace of the fabled monster. Reported one of the searchers, “We went from shoreline to shoreline, top to bottom on this one, we have covered everything in this loch and we saw no signs of any large living animal in the loch.” A colleague added, “We got some good clear data of the loch, steep sided, flat bottomed—nothing unusual I'm afraid. There was an anticipation that we would come up with a large sonar anomaly that could have been a monster—but it wasn't to be” (BBC 2003).

To test people's perceptions, the BBC team secretly raised a fence post in front of a group of tourists. Although most later said that they had seen a squarish object, several who were asked to make sketches drew “monster-shaped heads” (BBC 2003).

Another search was conducted later that year by Lloyd Scott, who completed a twenty-six-mile, twelve-day walk along the loch's bottom to raise money for children suffering from leukemia. Wearing an old-fashioned
diving suit from the 1940s, fitted with a metal helmet that weighed forty pounds, Scott reported not a single sighting of Nessie, instead describing the experience as “very cold and very lonely” (Loch Ness 2003).

Despite these and other extensive searches over the years, no authentic trace of the monster has ever been discovered. As
Time
magazine once reported, there would have to be at least twenty animals in a “breeding herd” for the species to continue reproducing over the centuries (Myth 1972).

Barr, Robert. 2001. Tremors get credit for Nessie.
Albuquerque Journal,
June 28.

BBC “proves” Nessie does not exist. 2003. Release from BBC News.
http://news vote.bbc.co.uk
.

Binns, Ronald. 1984.
The Loch Ness mystery solved.
Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

_____. 1995. Letter to Joe Nickell, December 11. Quoted in Nickell 1996.

Boese, Alex. 2005. Loch Ness monster tooth. Museum of Hoaxes Web site.
www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/forum/forum_comments/2964/
.

Chorvinsky, Mark. 1993. Our strange world: The Lough Leane monster photograph investigation.
Fate
(March): 31–35, (April): 31–34.

Genoni, Tom. 1994. After 60 years, the most famous of all the “Nessie” photos is revealed as a hoax.
Skeptical Inquirer
18, no. 4 (summer): 338–40.

Gould, Rupert T. 1934.
The Loch Ness monster.
London: Geoffrey Bles. Reprint, Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1976.

Hoggart, Simon, and Mike Hutchinson. 1995.
Bizarre beliefs.
London: Richard Cohen Books, 196–99.

Loch Ness is cold at the bottom. 2003.
Albuquerque Tribune,
November 10.

Myth or monster. 1972.
Time
20:66.

Nickell, Joe. 1993.
Looking for a miracle.
Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

_____. 1994.
Camera clues: A handbook for photographic investigation.
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 170–71.

_____. 1995.
Entities: Angels, spirits, demons, and other alien beings.
Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

_____. 1996. Nessie hoax redux.
Skeptical Briefs
6, no. 1 (March): 1–2.

Radford, Benjamin. 2003. Extensive Loch Ness search by BBC team yields no monster.
Skeptical Inquirer
27, no. 6 (November–December): 7–8.

Razdan, R., and A. Kielar. 1984–85. Sonar and photographic searches for the Loch Ness monster.
Skeptical Inquirer
9, no. 2 (winter): 147–58.

Smith, Richard D. 1995. The classic Wilson Nessie photo: Is the hoax a hoax?
Fate
(November): 42–44.

Termed North America's Loch Ness monster and known affectionately as “Champ,” the legendary Lake Champlain monster reportedly haunts those waters. Lake Champlain was formed roughly ten thousand years ago when an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, the Champlain Sea, was transformed by receding glaciers into an inland, freshwater body (Zarzynski 1984a). This lake—and some say the creature, too—was “discovered” in 1609 by Samuel de Champlain. Since then, the 125-mile-long lake, situated between New York and Vermont (with 6 miles extending into Quebec), has received much attention (
figure 2.1
). In 1873 and 1887, showman P. T. Barnum offered huge rewards for the monster—dead or alive (Zarzynski 1984a, 83). More recently, there has been much cryptozoological interest and the development of a burgeoning Champ industry.

Proliferating sightings, “theories” of self-styled monster hunters, and even a Holy Grail photo of the supposed beast have spawned innumerable newspaper and magazine articles, books, entries in paranormal compendia, and radio and television segments, as well as key chains, mugs, T-shirts, and other paraphernalia, not to mention the “Champburger” (a seafood patty on a sesame seed bun). Such endeavors have made Champ the best-known lake monster in the United States and, except for British Columbia's “Ogopogo” (see
chapter 7
), in all of North America. “Few cryptozoologists deny the possibility of Champ's existence,” states W. Haden Blackman in his
Field Guide to North American Monsters
(1998), “and many openly accept the creature,” believing it to be a plesiosaur, zeuglodon, or other unknown or erstwhile extinct
creature. Champ seeker Joseph Zarzynski has even given it a name:
Beluaaquatica champlainiensis,
or “huge water creature of Lake Champlain” (Owen 1982).

Figure 2.1
Map of Lake Champlain, showing selected sites. (Map by Joe Nickell)

To assess the reputed phenomenon, the two of us launched our own investigation in the summer of 2002 to examine all aspects of the Champ legend. Unlike some so-called investigations—which, though long running, were largely attempts to collect sighting reports—we believe ours to be the most wide-ranging, hands-on investigation of Champ ever conducted with an intent to solve, rather than promote, the mystery.

Joe Nickell

Our investigation was multifaceted. I made an advance trip (August 2–4, 2002) to take in the annual Champ Day celebration (August 3) in Port Henry, New York, interview various people, buy books, and otherwise scout resources and make plans for our subsequent two-man expedition planned for August 22–26.

In the interim, we both studied the myriad articles and books on Champ and other alleged lake monsters. Ben Radford did extensive work to ready experiments regarding a famous 1977 Champ photo taken by Sandra Mansi, while I located her by phone, arranged for an interview, and borrowed a vintage camera (from photo expert Rob McElroy) like the one Mansi had used. We discussed options, drafted itineraries, obtained and readied gear, and made other preparations.