#lochnessmonster — Public Fediverse posts

No explanations, just believe

Once upon a time, when “cryptozoology” was invented as a field, the idea was this: Behind every strange animal report was a real animal we hadn’t identified yet. If the creature’s reputation was dramatic enough, it accrued even more amazing qualities along with additional tales. But such mysterious animals were NEVER found. The evidence did not get better. Some of the original dramatic stories eventually were revealed as more exaggerations than reality. Modern monster reports are far less revealing (because we can now check the details). The body of claims for any particular creature is so ambiguous as to be essentially worthless, except in the context of local folklore, where it gains new life as the monster spirit of place.

The golden era of cryptozoology ended by the late 1970s. The incredible photos of the Loch Ness Monster, the Bigfoot films, and the Yeti footprints made a huge splash but subsequently fell under heavy suspicion. Most have been definitively established as hoaxes, or misidentifications. Yet, those reveals have been ignored. There are even many cryptid-curious people who don’t know that the infamous Surgeon’s photo of Nessie was a hoax. They still carry that iconic image in their minds. We reject the truth and conveniently substitute our own.

For most local cryptids that are undergoing a resurgence in popularity within small towns across the US, the basis for their existence is a smattering of dubious tales during an initial flurry of events. Sometimes, only one questionable event. Then, people may shoehorn weird accounts from the past into the same framework, or imaginative observers will interpret their own weird event as another creature encounter.

Without exception, this “evidence” is poor, too poor to add anything more to the phenomenon except media publicity and heightened speculation. There has never been solid evidence for one of the iconic cryptids. Yet, as we can observe today, that does not matter one whit. There will still be believers.

Cryptids such as the Fresno Nightcrawler, the billowy pale ambling pair of legs, gained attention based on one grainy video that was a copy of a copy of a screen showing a low-res security recording. That was the extent of the evidence that bloomed into merchandise, artwork, other poorly sourced stories, hoaxes (that people still present as real) and copycat videos.

The Van Meter Visitor, the huge winged beast of an Iowa coal town with a spotlight horn, is based on a preposterous tale from a local paper. It involved some real names, which gives it credibility, but the events are certainly manufactured sensationalist fodder designed to entertain and sell newspapers.

Mokele-mbembe, depicted as a sauropod dinosaur in the lake regions of Central Africa, was formulated by overly-eager white explorers misled by their own hopes of a new “lost world”. No one ever documented the creature well enough to make heads or tails of it, but any unusual noise or ripple was attributed to it. Creationists kept the dream alive nearly to the present day, based on long-outdated cultural views of prehistoric creatures.

I could go on with dozens of similar examples where the initial push for the existence of a cryptid was established half a century ago (or more) based on doubtful evidence. The original evidence or new observations got less persuasive over time (as technology improved), only to be resurrected in the 21st century as beloved pop cryptids, regardless of the evidence quality. If these were real animals, this is not the way the story would unfold.

A recent opinion piece on the Altamaha-ha river monster of Georgia laid bare how cryptid fans no longer need evidence to believe in their favorite monsters. In fact, the facts just don’t matter at all. In a June 2026 article, author Steve Hudson speaks lovingly of Altie as he visits its space:

But why must we always seek explanation? What’s the fun in that? Maybe it’s just…Altie. That’s what I was kind of hoping, deep down, as I walked along the river there just the other day.

He notes that he just wants to see it, to have that moment of magic, to “keep the legend alive”. The hoax from a few years ago didn’t make people believe it any less. The hoax was an effective way to revisit the legend, instead of discounting it. The locals still celebrate Altie and adore it even more that it remains hidden, open to interpretation to be whatever you want it to be.

For an excellent historical account of another aquatic creature that had a heyday and then turned into a perfectly useful icon, I encourage you to check out Chessie: A Cultural History of the Chesapeake Bay Sea Monster by Eric Cheezum.

Those who still say cryptozoology should be a zoological effort to find and name the real creatures behind the legends are still living in that 1970s era. We are so very far beyond that. Reality can be tough to take. People much prefer an alternative reality of their choosing today. I can’t always blame them for that. It’s infeasible to search for a singular monster based on belief and speculation. But it is enlightening to recognize and understand why we still embrace and celebrate pop cryptids. The idea of them is magical; it gives us hope and joy.

For more on Pop Cryptids, check out my 20 part newsletter series Pop Cryptid Spectator.

No explanations, just believe

Once upon a time, when “cryptozoology” was invented as a field, the idea was this: Behind every strange animal report was a real animal we hadn’t identified yet. If the creature’s reputation was dramatic enough, it accrued even more amazing qualities along with additional tales. But such mysterious animals were NEVER found. The evidence did not get better. Some of the original dramatic stories eventually were revealed as more exaggerations than reality. Modern monster reports are far less revealing (because we can now check the details). The body of claims for any particular creature is so ambiguous as to be essentially worthless, except in the context of local folklore, where it gains new life as the monster spirit of place.

The golden era of cryptozoology ended by the late 1970s. The incredible photos of the Loch Ness Monster, the Bigfoot films, and the Yeti footprints made a huge splash but subsequently fell under heavy suspicion. Most have been definitively established as hoaxes, or misidentifications. Yet, those reveals have been ignored. There are even many cryptid-curious people who don’t know that the infamous Surgeon’s photo of Nessie was a hoax. They still carry that iconic image in their minds. We reject the truth and conveniently substitute our own.

For most local cryptids that are undergoing a resurgence in popularity within small towns across the US, the basis for their existence is a smattering of dubious tales during an initial flurry of events. Sometimes, only one questionable event. Then, people may shoehorn weird accounts from the past into the same framework, or imaginative observers will interpret their own weird event as another creature encounter.

Without exception, this “evidence” is poor, too poor to add anything more to the phenomenon except media publicity and heightened speculation. There has never been solid evidence for one of the iconic cryptids. Yet, as we can observe today, that does not matter one whit. There will still be believers.

Cryptids such as the Fresno Nightcrawler, the billowy pale ambling pair of legs, gained attention based on one grainy video that was a copy of a copy of a screen showing a low-res security recording. That was the extent of the evidence that bloomed into merchandise, artwork, other poorly sourced stories, hoaxes (that people still present as real) and copycat videos.

The Van Meter Visitor, the huge winged beast of an Iowa coal town with a spotlight horn, is based on a preposterous tale from a local paper. It involved some real names, which gives it credibility, but the events are certainly manufactured sensationalist fodder designed to entertain and sell newspapers.

Mokele-mbembe, depicted as a sauropod dinosaur in the lake regions of Central Africa, was formulated by overly-eager white explorers misled by their own hopes of a new “lost world”. No one ever documented the creature well enough to make heads or tails of it, but any unusual noise or ripple was attributed to it. Creationists kept the dream alive nearly to the present day, based on long-outdated cultural views of prehistoric creatures.

I could go on with dozens of similar examples where the initial push for the existence of a cryptid was established half a century ago (or more) based on doubtful evidence. The original evidence or new observations got less persuasive over time (as technology improved), only to be resurrected in the 21st century as beloved pop cryptids, regardless of the evidence quality. If these were real animals, this is not the way the story would unfold.

A recent opinion piece on the Altamaha-ha river monster of Georgia laid bare how cryptid fans no longer need evidence to believe in their favorite monsters. In fact, the facts just don’t matter at all. In a June 2026 article, author Steve Hudson speaks lovingly of Altie as he visits its space:

But why must we always seek explanation? What’s the fun in that? Maybe it’s just…Altie. That’s what I was kind of hoping, deep down, as I walked along the river there just the other day.

He notes that he just wants to see it, to have that moment of magic, to “keep the legend alive”. The hoax from a few years ago didn’t make people believe it any less. The hoax was an effective way to revisit the legend, instead of discounting it. The locals still celebrate Altie and adore it even more that it remains hidden, open to interpretation to be whatever you want it to be.

For an excellent historical account of another aquatic creature that had a heyday and then turned into a perfectly useful icon, I encourage you to check out Chessie: A Cultural History of the Chesapeake Bay Sea Monster by Eric Cheezum.

Those who still say cryptozoology should be a zoological effort to find and name the real creatures behind the legends are still living in that 1970s era. We are so very far beyond that. Reality can be tough to take. People much prefer an alternative reality of their choosing today. I can’t always blame them for that. It’s infeasible to search for a singular monster based on belief and speculation. But it is enlightening to recognize and understand why we still embrace and celebrate pop cryptids. The idea of them is magical; it gives us hope and joy.

For more on Pop Cryptids, check out my 20 part newsletter series Pop Cryptid Spectator.

“Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed”

The first recorded sighting of a monster connected to Loch Ness is given in Adomnán’s VITA COLUMBÆ (“Life of St Columba”, c.7th/8th century CE). St Columba sends it packing

3/4

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/columba-e.asp

#Scottish #history #LochNess #LochNessMonster #StColumba #saint

The May M.T Almanac

Pull up a chair, grab an ice-cream and hold onto your sunhats, because May is never quite as innocent as it looks!

It all starts on 1st with Beltane. Yes ‘Beltane’. Don’t come for me with your alternative spellings and pronunciations, I call it Beltane and I pronounce it “Bell-tane”. You may spell and pronounce it differently. That is your right. Many people do. We are, after all, human and we all have our own, slightly different takes on these things. That’s ok. We are inclusive here at Mysterious times. Anyway, I digress…

Beltane is an ancient fire festival which marks the beginning of summer in the Gaelic and Pagan calendar and has it’s own May Day customs of greenery, dancing, flowers and thresholds. May 1st this year (2026) falls on a Friday, while the May Day Bank holiday follows on Monday 4th

“But why?” I hear you ask,

“Why do we celebrate the Bank Holiday on Monday and not on the actual date?”

The answer to that is probably very simple.. but I can’t remember it at the moment. I’ll look into it and get back to you later. Stop interrupting. There will be time for questions like that in the comments. Moving on… Where were we?

Ah yes! Thresholds…

So, May is all about thresholds, and if you haven’t swept yours already, you’d better get to it. We will cover all the ins and outs of thresholds in another article, but for now let’s just say it’s believed by many to be most beneficial if you make sure yours are all in order before Beltane. So get your broom out.

In Christian calendars, it’s all about saints and workers (and probably spring cleaning). In the first few days of May we have St Joseph the Worker (Jesus’s dad), St Philip and St James (apostles)and St Athanasius (The Black Dwarf).

The Bahá’í Twelfth day of Ridván falls on the 2nd May, marking the close of one of the faiths holiest festivals.

Judaism brings Lag Ba’Omer in early May.

Meanwhile, the Christian calendar marches onwards toward Ascension Day on the 14th and Pentacost on the 24th.

May 25th offers another chance for Brits to descend on beer gardens and garden centres – It’s Spring Bank Holiday Monday!

Shavuot falls on 22-23rd May, the Declaration of the Báb is observed on the 24th, Hajj is listed from 24-29th, Eid al Adha from 26-30th, the Ascension of Bahá’ u’lláh also on the 29th and Vesak, or Buddah Day on the 31st May. Dates for lunar observances may vary slightly between community and sighting of the moon, but May 2026 is unusually crowded with sacred times.

This month is also, quite delightfully, the month that gives us National Paranormal Day on the 3rd May. It is a modern, unofficial observance rather than an ancient holy day, but it feels very at home here, tucked between Beltane fires and a month of apparitions, monsters and strange lights.

Talking of which – Cryptozoology! Yay!

May begins with one of the great monsters of modern folklore. On 2nd May 1933, the Inverness Courier published the report that helped launch the modern Loch Ness Monster legend, after Aldie Mackay claimed to have seen an enormous creature rolling and plunging in Loch Ness. The actual sighting was said to have occurred in April, but it was the May newspaper report that turned a Highland water mystery into an international monster. From there, Nessie became not only a cryptid, but a cultural force, part beast, part tourism icon, part stubborn ripple in the rational world.

But May’s strangeness doesn’t just stay in the water – and I, for one am very grateful for this because if it did we wouldn’t have any UFO reports like this one from McMinnville, Oregon.

On 11th May 1950, Paul and Evelyn Trent took two photographs near their home which showed what they described as a metallic, disc shaped object in the sky. the McMinnville photographs became some of the most famous UFO images of the twentieth century, debated by believers and sceptics alike. What keeps them interesting is not just the object in the frame, but the sheer ordinariness of the setting: A farm, evening light, rabbits to be fed, supper probably waiting. The uncanny often arrives without a soundtrack.

For May 13th, we have a case that could fit comfortably into both paranormal and religious history studies. on this date in 1917, three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal reported the first of a series of Marian apparitions. The Catholic church later approved the devotion and the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima is now observed on May 13th. To the faithful it is sacred history. To historians of the paranormal, it is also one of the twentieth centuries most influential apparition narratives, complete with prophecy, crowds, controversy and a final public miracle claim in October of the same year. Me? I’m on the fence. The story has a lot of similarities to the kind of Fae encounters you find in folklore or Alien encounters in UFOlogy. Talking of UFOlogy (again)…

On the 19th May 1986, one of UFOlogys strongest radar visual cases occurred. In Brazil’s ‘Official UFO Night’, no less than 21 unidentified objects were reportedly seen by civilian and military witnesses across Sáo Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Goiás. Brazilian Air Force radar detected the objects, and five fighter jets were scrambled to intercept them. Whatever you think of the case, it remains significant because this wasn’t just a lone witness in a field somewhere. It was radar, air traffic control, military pilots and an official archive all staring at the same impossible sky.

On 20th May 1967, industrial mechanic Stefen Michalak reported seeing two strange craft near Falcon Lake, Manitoba, Canada, one of which landed nearby. He later sought medical help for burns and the Falcon Lake Incident became one of Canada’s most discussed UFO encounters. CBC called it Canada’s best documented UFO case, although sceptical questions remain around several details, but that’s often the way with the best cases. They refuse to behave for either side.

By the final week, the calendar has got it all going on. Shavuot, Pentacost, the Declaration of the Báb, Hajj, Eid al-Adha, the Ascension of Bahá’ u’ lláh and Vesack crowd together in a few, supercharged days. And that matters because folklore, faith, ghosts, UFOs and monsters all grow from the same human habit – we mark the year, we watch the skies, we tell each other what we saw and we argue about what it meant.

So May isn’t merely a month of Bank Holidays, blossom and bluebells. It’s Beltane smoke and Marian light. It’s Nessie breaking the surface of the public imagination. It’s flying discs over Oregon, radar ghosts over Brazil, burns and mystery beside a Canadian lake. It is saints days, sacred festivals, monster lore and strange skies all arriving under lengthening evenings when people are outside again and the world feels a little bigger, a little more… mysterious. That, perhaps is why May feels so magical. It opens the door and shows you the threshold.

References and Further Reading:

The UK Bank Holiday calendar, The University of Leeds 2025-2026 faith calendar, the Bahá’í calendar, the Catholic Liturgy calendar for May 2026, the Inverness Courier and later histories of the Loch Ness Monster, the McMinnville UFO Festival history, the Brazilian government archive on Official UFO Night, Library and Archives Canada material on Falcon Lake and reporting on the Fátima Apparitions.

Pop Cryptid Spectator #4

Hello and welcome to the 4th Pop Cryptid Spectator – my chronicle of the changing appearance of and attitudes towards “cryptids” in popular culture. My interest is in exploring the crossover of cryptozoology into a mass cultural phenomenon featuring “cryptids”. This edition provides more examples of how cryptids are part of our everyday lives and how science and scholarly efforts can be unwanted intrusions into cryptid belief. Cryptids are a way of framing the world in terms of mystery and monsters and wonder about amazing creatures that may still be out there to find.

In this edition:

• Google Underwater view of Loch Ness
• Loch Ness Data Set in new statistics paper
• Cryptid Media – Frogman: The Croaks are no Hoax
• Cryptid Media – Project: Cryptid, Volume 2
• Cryptid Stuff – Bath Bombs
• Utah Yetis hit a trademark hurdle
• Solved, but Ignored

Google Underwater view of Loch Ness

Nessie is a top tier example of a cryptid that was very much a sci-cryptid (viewed with a zoological lens with minimal or no non-natural connotations). After all the effort to search the Loch, there has been no reasonable evidence that a mysterious monster lives in the lake. Nonetheless, Loch Ness remains a top cryptid tourist attraction because the idea of a monster in the lake is so alluring that it eclipses the facts. Nessie as a pop cryptid has no chance of disappearing soon. Nessie is Top of the Pops.

Back in PC Spectator #2, one of the items I shared was about the faked swimming Godzilla on Google Earth. I noted that it was clearly a hoax because Google Maps/Earth did not include ocean views. But, I was mistaken. It does, in some areas. People can post their own photos to Google Maps and some of these are, indeed, from underwater. And, Google includes some special feature projects including Underwater Earth. Google Maps includes a “street” view of the waters of Loch Ness. The photos were part of a 2015 campaign to explore the Loch. According to Jeb Card, who supplied this tip, this associated video was shown at the Loch Ness Investigation Centre for a while.

To try this yourself, zoom into the location where the little Google street “guy” turns into a green dinosaur with a jaunty golf hat. You can take a virtual tour on a boat down the lake. Some of the photos even show an underwater view.

Zoom into Urquhart Castle, turn on street view, and browse the Underwater Earth selections by selecting the little circles representing views.

Move up and down to see the murky, peat stained waters.

Loch Ness Data Set

A new journal article has been published by Charles Paxton, Adrian Shine, and Valentin Popov in the Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education examining anecdotal accounts of the Loch Ness Monster. The researchers compiled a data set of 1800+ reports of sightings. The database was used with the intent to instruct university-level students on how to think about anecdotes as data. The abstract says:

“The Loch Ness Monster reports database illustrates the importance of considering independence, inaccuracy and imprecision when considering data and how statisticians might handle anecdotes as data. Whilst the data is inappropriate for directly making inferences about Loch Ness Monsters, it may be appropriate for making inferences about the population of Loch Ness Monster reports.”

Dr. Paxton tells me that existing research shows “there is strong evidence that cultural expectations influence aquatic monster reports.” And he says more on this topic is to come! That’s right in the Pop Cryptid wheelhouse!

Cryptid Media

Frogman: The croaks are no hoax!

I am not a fan of horror, but pop cryptids most certainly excel in this film genre. Out in 2024 was “Frogman” which appears to blend the harmless legend from the real town of Loveland, Ohio into a found-footage carnage-fest. I will not be watching it, but I am interested in how this has not only incorporated the legend, but how it will modify and shape the legend going forward. It looks very much like a Blair Witch effect where people will legend trip to the area of a fictional story to scare themselves. Note that Loveland has two Frogman festivals as they continue to capitalize on the tale. Ribbit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlXapURCpQA&t=107s

Project:Cryptid

Comics and illustrated cryptid fiction is key to popularizing cryptids to the public, particularly younger people. Project: Cryptid is a comic series featuring creative tales of half-seen, barely believable creatures. The second volume of collected content is out now.

https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/520204/project-cryptid-exclusive-excerpt-introduces-you-to-florida-man/

Cryptid stuff – Bath bombs

How about a cryptid-themed gift that dissolves away leaving no trace it ever existed, just like a real cryptid experience! Try some cryptid bath bombs which are available on Amazon Japan, Ebay and Etsy.

Utah Yetis hit a trademark hurdle

Back in September, rumors swirled that the new National Hockey League team in Salt Lake City (previously the Arizona Coyotes franchise) would be named the Utah Yetis. The use of a cryptid name would reaffirm how cryptids continue to exert their large presence as sport team mascots, particularly in hockey. The NHL already has the New Jersey Devils and the Seattle Kraken (whose matchups are sometimes called the “battle of the cryptids”). But the plan to adopt the Yeti name is now on thin ice. While cryptids are notably copyright and trademark-free, the “Yeti” name is now synonymous with the cooler brand. The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected the proposed name due to a “likelihood of confusion” with the existing brand. Strangely, the YETI cooler brand doesn’t use the Yeti creature in their branding. The hockey team still has a chance to make their case. Seems like a collaboration between the two entities would be a monstrously smart deal! Hoping for the best.

Solved! But ignored.

There is a strange internet phenomenon whereby people fixate on a photo or news story or, in this case, a favorite cryptid, without ever digging in deeper to find out more about it. Below are three cases where actual bodies of mysterious creatures were found. Legitimate, reasonable explanations are published which are well-supported by animal experts, testing, or even DNA in one case. Yet the creature maintains a “cryptid” label, suggesting it is unknown. The creatures are even depicted as exaggerated animals by those who speculate what they looked like in life, even though the bodies were discovered in less than prime condition.

Zuiyo Maru carcass. A carcass was hauled up by the Japanese fishing trawler, Zuiyo Maru, near New Zealand in 1977. Japanese scientists who saw the photos stated the creature was a dead plesiosaur, a marine reptile extinct for 66 million years. However, the greater scientific consensus was that the carcass was a decaying basking shark. This animal decays in a certain way where the lower jaw drops off, giving the impression of a small head and long neck remaining. The description, measurements, and tissue samples all supported the basking shark conclusion. The story of a plesiosaur continues to circulate in popular culture. See: http://www.paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm

Texas chupacabra. The strange canid lurking around Phylis Canion’s ranch in Cuero, Texas surprised her by its hairlessness and odd proportions. When it ended up dead on a road in 2007, she saved the remains. What might have been the same kind of creature was also caught running on a police dashboard camera a year later. The hairless, weird-looking canid was dubbed a “chupacabra” (or “Texas blue dogs”) and inherited the legendary blood-sucking, livestock-murdering legend of the much more alien-type original creature from Puerto Rico. Canion had her animal DNA tested. The results, without question, showed it was a coyote. However, the animal clearly had genetic conditions and/or a disease that caused it to have additional unusual features. To this day, mammals suffering from mange (coyotes and foxes are the most common) are often called a “chupacabra” by the media.

Montauk Monster. Summer 2008 gave us the Montauk Monster, another mostly hairless and bizarre-looking carcass from a Long Island beach. It was well-photographed and thus began the game of “mass opinionating” that is now standard on social media where everyone who knows nothing about nature insists they know what the thing is – a mutant, alien, or new species – or they make dumb jokes in the comments about it. Like the Zuiyo Maru carcass, the degree of decay fooled people who don’t know how decomposition works. The immersion in water rendered the carcass bloated and hairless, the soft face parts fell off exposing the bone which some saw as a beak. It wasn’t a beak. The animals was, without a doubt, a raccoon. But that explanation was unsatisfactory to those who really wanted it to be new and weird. They refused to accept the natural conclusion because it didn’t suit their wider, werider needs. The Montauk Monster, as a beaked, monstrous bloated beach marauder, still remains some people’s favorite cryptid. See: https://tetzoo.com/blog/2021/10/23/montauk-monster-a-look-back

Pop cryptids live on, seemingly in spite of expert, scientific analysis. These few examples strongly suggest that no amount of investigation or lab tests will ever truly “solve” the most famous cryptid mysteries. Perhaps because many people don’t want the answer. They will continue to believe in and promote what they wish it to be, and ignore the reasonable conclusion.

For more, click on Pop goes the Cryptid landing page. Make sure you subscribe to all the posts – it’s always free and I don’t send annoying spam. 

You can email me with comments, suggestions or questions at Popcryptid(at)proton.me

Pop Cryptid Spectator is also available on Substack. Please share this with cryptid fans you know!

Pop Cryptid Spectator #3

Pop Cryptid Spectator #2

Pop Cryptid Spectator #1

#cryptid #cryptids #Cryptozoology #Frogman #LochNess #LochNessMonster #MontaukMonster #mysteryAnimal #mysteryCarcass #Nessie #ProjectCryptid #utahYetis #zuiyoMaro

https://sharonahill.com/?p=9221