One of the most interesting theories I've came across in some time, from the Beeb...
Elephant theory in Nessie search
Unexplained Nessie sightings could have been elephants swimming
Unexplained sightings of the Loch Ness monster could have been elephants enjoying a swim, a scientist has said.
Neil Clark, curator of palaeontology at Glasgow University's Hunterian Museum, spent two years researching Nessie.
He said they could have been circus elephants, as fairs visiting Inverness would often stop on the banks of Loch Ness to give the animals a rest.
The trunk and humps in the water would bear similarities to some of the most famous Nessie photographs.
There have been reporting sightings of "something" in Loch Ness dating back to the 6th Century and it has grown into one of the world's most enduring myths.
Hazy photographs and eyewitness accounts have sprung up over the past 100 years, without offering conclusive evidence that Nessie exists.
Dr Clark said most sightings of Nessie could be explained by floating logs or waves.
But he is promoting the elephant theory because his research showed circuses were a common occurrence in the area, particularly from the early 1930s.
"The circuses used to take the road up to Inverness and allow their animals to have a rest, swim about in the loch and refresh themselves," he said.
"It's quite possible that the people around Loch Ness saw some of these animals.
"When their elephants were allowed to swim in the loch, only the trunk and two humps could be seen - the first hump being the top of the head and the second being the back of the animal.
"The elephant theory would not explain some of the later sightings. I don't know when the last circus to Inverness was, but I'm presuming there were some after 1933."
Asked whether he believed in the Loch Ness monster, Dr Clark said: "I do believe there is something alive in Loch Ness."
Dr Clark's findings are published in the Open University Geological Society journal this month.
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I so wanted to believe there was somthing in Loch Ness, sadly however one team as literally combed that lake from one end straight to the other. There's bearly ANYTHING in the Loch. Much less a monster...
"The real ideological schism in America is not Republican vs Democrat; it is North vs South, Urban vs Rural, and it has been since the 19th century."
-Mike Wong
i thought i remembered seeing one of those discovery programs where they claimed to have had a brief 'sonar contact'. then again, hardly verified or anything.
it would be cool though if there was like a pleisiosaurus in there (which is an often heard theory).
I want you to find the fattest target you can. Government house,
missile site, McDonald's, whatever.' - Crichton
Unless they can pin a specific carnival to a specific date to a specific sighting, I will dismiss this as utter bullshit and straw-grabbing. "Could be" my sweet ass...
Yeah. Sorry. I know there were sighting before it, but for some reason, like with the bigfoot myth, I think of the first piece of 'famous' evidence as the 'first sighting' when I should be using a term more like 'first sighting with "evidence".
Ryushikaze wrote:Yeah. Sorry. I know there were sighting before it, but for some reason, like with the bigfoot myth, I think of the first piece of 'famous' evidence as the 'first sighting' when I should be using a term more like 'first sighting with "evidence".
Newspaper hoaxes are not evidence.
And the 1930s "Surgeon's Photograph" is exactly that; a hoax, a fraud, a toy submarine with a fake head tacked on.
Right, so the elephant was never spotted out of water how?
In any case, so many lakes have tales of monsters, it’s blatantly clear that there is nothing to be found. Loch Ness would have a much better story if it was unique, because the more something is reported, the easier evidence should be to obtain, and yet no real evidence exists.
Much as I wish monsters where real..
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Ryushikaze wrote:Yeah. Sorry. I know there were sighting before it, but for some reason, like with the bigfoot myth, I think of the first piece of 'famous' evidence as the 'first sighting' when I should be using a term more like 'first sighting with "evidence".
Newspaper hoaxes are not evidence.
And the 1930s "Surgeon's Photograph" is exactly that; a hoax, a fraud, a toy submarine with a fake head tacked on.
Ryushikaze wrote:The problem is that I thought Elephants stayed a bit higher on the water than the picture would suggest.
Well, googling 'swimming elephant' gives:
Robert Gilruth to Max Faget on the Apollo program: “Max, we’re going to go back there one day, and when we do, they’re going to find out how tough it is.”
An elephants swimming is one of the darndest things I've ever seen.
I've heard that elephants are actually sea mammals that have have evolved into land creatures. Which is quite cool - Sea mammals are land creatures that returned to the sea, so elephants are actually evolving into land creatures for the second time! Damned things can't make up their minds...
Although there is little scientific data on the subject, observations by naturalists in the field seem to support the fact that some bats swim in stressful situations but that it is not normally part of their ordinary behavior patterns. For example, flying foxes, often island inhabitants, may have to fly long distances to obtain food. A forced landing or a foray over water to collect fruit which has dropped and floated there may necessitate an unexpected swim. Photographs of the flying fox, Pteropus giganteus, show the animal actually swimming, using its wings and feet to reach land rather than floating or paddling.
Granted, this isn't nearly as impressive as their ability to fly.
