I can tell I did not read over that article before posting it.
But, I warned you guys before hand. So many edits!!!
Here is the updated version, which I will be posting on the blog. Any last comments before I post?
Dragons: The Present (part 4 of 4)
So, we have arrived at the fourth and final blog post, and perhaps the most anticipated. Modern day dragons/dinosaurs. I’m going to try and give you guys the highlights, instead of the in depth, overload info that I am known for.
Our post is actually going to start off with none other than the Loch Ness Monster, lovingly called Nessie. Now, before you all think I’ve gone over the deep end and believe in all kinds of conspiracy theories, let me explain myself.
Loch Ness Lake is found in Scotland. It is 1.5 miles wide, 24 miles long, and at least 1,000 feet deep. It is said that Loch Ness Lake is large enough to drown everyone in the world, at the same time, and still have room for more people. So it is a huge lake. It also has a fascinating structure, perfect for a creature to hide in. The lake sits nice and cozy in a valley nestled inside of a mountainous region with mountain peaks walling it in on all sides.
In 1933 a road was built in order to help develop Loch Ness into a tourist attraction. Immediately, rumors began to spread about a strange creature dwelling in the waters of the lake. Within the first year there were 52 separate accounts given. Now, many people discount these sightings, but I personally find these accounts very fascinating for a number of reasons. We are talking about 1933, not 2011. During this point in history a man’s word was still held in very high regard. The honor of his name was all he had. We know historically that it would not have been popular for a man in that time to say he had seen some unidentifiable sea creature. This kind of statement could land a man being classified as certifiably insane and placed in an asylum (it was still happening at this point in history). Now there were 52 reported sightings that year. There is no positive way to know if all of these sightings were in fact legitimate, but how many people do you think would put themselves out there on the line for false information?
By the time the 60’s had arrived there were 9,000 sightings reported. Now, I think it is safe to discount a lot, if not most, of those sightings. The tales of Nessie had grown by this point, and it had become popular for people to say they had seen Nessie. Now the sightings are over 11,000.
One sighting of Nessie was by a family called the Spicers. They reported that they had seen Nessie carrying off a sheep in her mouth. The next day, the neighboring sheep herder was questioned as to the size of his flock and he replied that three of his sheep had come up missing.
World Book Encyclopedia put a sub into the lake to try and look around for the legendary Nessie. The men in the sub said the water was so black that you could barely see 10 feet in front of you. They claimed it would be next to impossible to find Nessie in the lake, no matter how large she was. However, their orders were clear, and so they continued with the journey. The man driving the sub reported this after they surfaced many hours later, “Nessie is pretty elusive. We thought we might have had her as we approached a shelf in the lake. We could see a large, dark outline lying there. But, as we continued submerging and coming closer, the object suddenly darted. The wash from the movement sent our sub way off course, making our craft circle around. We lost the object. Was it Nessie? We aren’t sure. We didn’t get a good enough look at the thing. But we are sure it was huge, and if it wasn’t Nessie, I’d hate to think what else it might have been.”
Now, this fact fascinated me, because it has major implications. If an underwater cave is found leading up to a land cave that opens into the mountains, this would not only provide Nessie with an undisturbed hiding place, but would also afford her an entrance and exit to and from the lake without having to travel through the populated resort that has built itself up around her dwelling. Nessie could go swipe her sheep from a mountain farm with very little inconvenience. She simply swims to her exit, crawls through the cave, exits through the entrance, and goes journeying at night for her prey. While these theories and speculations cannot be proven, they do solve several of the arguments raised against the improbability of a creature, with Nessie’s size and habits, being able to remain hidden away from the public.
Arthur Grant, a veterinary student, was riding his motorcycle late one night at 1:30 am through the mountains. It was very foggy out. He nearly crashed his bike when, out of the fog, he saw a huge creature, sheep in its jaws, crossing the old country road.
In 1977 underwater cameras were installed into the lake in order to help shed some light on the folklores that were being spread about this monster inhabiting Locke Ness. Sonar devices were attached to the cameras which caused the slightest movement to snap a picture on the camera. After months of nothing (and lots of money spent in installing these devices) a picture was captured that sent chills to many hearts. The picture was of a single dorsal fin brushing by the camera. The water appeared very agitated in the picture, as if the water was moving by very rapidly with the object.
There is so much more info I could give on Nessie, but I think this is a good overview for you. Now I want to branch off on a few others.
In 1977 a 32 foot long creature was hauled up by a fishing boat in New Zealand from 900 feet below the surface. The decaying carcass had become tangled in the nets of the fishermen. The creature weighed 4,000 pounds and was rotting; giving off a foul smell the fishermen could barely stand. It appeared (from what was left of it) to have a long neck, small head, large dorsal like fins on its sides, and a long, massive tail. It is important to note that a number of years after this event, some scientists concluded that this was in fact the decaying body of a basking sharp. For those of us who have seen the pictures, that’s a pretty hard pill to swallow. After all, how many basking sharps do you think weigh that much, in the decaying process, and stretch to have a neck, tail, or dorsal fins, of that length? It is interesting to note that scientists have come back and countered this statement, making the debate of the possible sea creature a circular argument.
In 1987 the Japanese put 50 boats on the lake with deep sea sonar scanners in order to map the bottom of Loch Ness Lake. What they found was large, caterpillar looking objects rising to the surface from the bottom of the lake like pillars with flat shelves on top of them. The scanners also told them that that the bottom of the lake was wrinkled like a raisin with so many ridges, pits, and hideaways that there were thousands of places for Nessie to hide and remain elusive. However, the greatest find revealed by the scanners was the fact that there were many underwater caves that led up into the mountains from the lake.
In Africa there are tales of flying dragon/dinosaurs. Africa also houses the elusive Mokele-mbembe,a land dwelling monster, deep in its jungles. The first thing to note about Africa is that 90% of its swamps and jungles are unexplored, except by the natives that wander around in some areas. This leaves a lot of room for creatures to hide without detection. The jungles and swamps are also a perfect environment for reptilian creatures because of the humid greenhouse effect that is replicated there.
Kongamato is one of Africa’s most widely talked about creatures. Kenya also claims a Bottom Singa which is described as looking similar to a Pterosaur. Both of these creatures are reported to be scavengers, preferring to feed on rotting flesh more than anything else (there goes our happy views of Petrie being a plant eater). The natives say they have to bury their dead twelve feet deep in order to keep the creatures from scavenging and digging up their gravesites.
One such creature (which seems in far more abundance than our lovely Nessie) was shot in Anicona (though the report did not spread far). Its wings were similar to a bat, but were sturdier, with thick veining. Those who have seen sightings of these creatures claim that they appear to have very sensitive hearing. They are described as being 9 feet tall with ridges on their heads that run down their backs to their tails. The coloring is a dusty grey (good camo) with a snout similar to a crocodile. They also claim these creatures are not scaly. The description is more like rough, calloused skin, similar to a crocodile or turtle.
One of the more intriguing stories about these flying creatures is from a man and his wife (she was holding the lantern for him) who were fishing off the banks of a river in Africa. Their boat was attacked by one of the flying terrors. It kept swooping down towards the boat, aiming at the light the woman held, like a bug flies at a light bulb. They extinguished the light and the creature drifted away. The man and wife swore that the creature glowed with a slightly phosphorescent glow as he flew off in the night.
Now, this proved to be very interesting to scientists. They began to look at these creatures in a new way. The theory that developed is that perhaps these creatures may dwell in caves where they hang upside down like a bat (purely speculation) and a type of algae grows over their bodies which gives them that phosphorescent glow at night. It could be a type of symbiotic relationship. No one knows.
One of the more frightening personal encounters with a sea monster was relayed by teenaged Edward Brian McCleary, who said that his nightmare story began on the pleasant Saturday morning of the 24th of March, 1962, in Pensacola Bay, Florida. McCleary and 4 friends - Eric, Warren, Brad and Larry – were in an air force rescue raft bound for a sunken ship site a few miles off the coast. An event occurred this day which changed Edward’s life forever.
The friends were skin diving near the sunken "Massachusetts" when a sudden storm sent them into the ocean. Edward recounts this: “Our boat got caught in the storm and we were drug out farther into the sea. When the storm finally let up, we were left in dense fog. Somewhere, out in the fog, we heard a strange noise, kind of like a porpoise splashing in the water. A sickening odor began to permeate the air, hanging heavy in the fog. It reminded me of dead fish.
The noise kept getting closer and closer. Then, about 40 feet away, we heard a tremendous splash. Waves reached the raft and broke over the side. No boat had made that sound. Through the fog we saw what appeared to be a 10-foot long pole looming out in the fog. On top of this large pole was a bulbous like structure. The pole seemed to bend in the middle and disappear into the fog. Again it would appear out from among the waves, and then gone again. But always closer. We kept hearing what we thought was a hissing sound, but we weren’t sure if it was just our imagination or not.
The quietness that had fallen was suddenly broke by what I can only describe as a high pitched whine. It was so close. We panicked! All five of us put on our fins and dove into the water. I remember yelling for everyone to keep together and stay close to the ship. We were trying to make it to the portion of the wrecked "Massachusetts" that remained above water. Behind us we heard splashing and a strange hiss.
We became split up in the fog. From behind I heard one of my friends scream a blood curdling scream that lasted about a half a minute. Then I heard Warren screaming. 'Help me! It's got Brad! I've got to get outta here - " Warren's voice was cut off abruptly by a short cry.” McCleary’s other friend soon disappeared, leaving only McCleary and Eric. What happened next is the stuff of which lifelong nightmares are made of.
"I got a look at the creature right before my last friend went under. Right next to Eric that telephone-pole-like figure broke water," McCleary stated later to the authorities. "I could see the long neck; I’d say maybe 12 feet, and 2 small eyes. They were green, with oval pupils. Its head was like a sea turtle’s but more elongated. Its skin was smooth and greenish brown. The mouth opened, revealing sharp teeth, and the monster bent over. It dove on top of Eric, dragging him under. When he went down, I think I saw a dorsalish looking fin on its side. I screamed and began to swim past the ship. My insides were shaking uncontrollably."
Somehow the teenage boy managed to swim the remaining 2 miles to shore. He later recalled fragmentary images of sprawling on the beach, stumbling to a tower of some sort, and falling on his face before a group of boys. When he regained consciousness, he was in the Pensacola Naval Base Hospital.
None of the reporters told all the facts of his escape from the hideous sea beast that took the lives of his 4 friends. Each of the various local newspapers carried the story of the tragedy, but they all attributed the boys' death to accidental drowning. McCleary was told that his story about the sea serpent was best left unmentioned (sound like the rest of what we have been talking about? No one wants the public to know.)
It remained for Edward Brian McCleary to write his own account for "Fate", a small circulation magazine that specializes in stories of the strange, the unusual, and the unknown. In his article (May 1965) he asked E.E. McGovern, the director of the search and rescue units, if he believed that the boys had been attacked by a sea monster. "People don't believe these things because they are afraid to," McGovern admitted. "I believe you, but there's not much else I can do."
McCleary drew a picture for the authorities, looking very much like the Loche Ness Monster. After reporting all of his findings, Edward began to drown the memories of his friends and their green eyed predator in heavy alcohol. Edward is now a recovering alcoholic, and does not share his story.
Makes those of us who know scuba divers (my parents) a little leery of the great blue, doesn’t it?
So now we come to the end of our series. We have covered a wide range of info, going from dragons of the past to dragons of the present. There is so much more information out there, this is just a sampling. I’ve heard so many theories, stories, and even seen pictures, but the reality is that all the facts and knowledge in the world cannot convince someone. They must view the information for themselves and come to their own conclusions. My job has been merely to present the facts, but I leave it up to you, my readers, to be the judge. Are dragons real? Should we use them in our works of fantasy? Only you can answer that.
So here is my two cents that you can take or leave, depending on whether or not you want to use it or whether or not I even know what I'm talking about.
) 
I'm sorry, Airi.
