February 20, 2011

Brooding About Bownessie

The new image of a four-humped beastie spotted in Lake Windermere is being called “Bownessie.”

Of course, everyone but my kindergarten teacher has sent me emails with a link to look at this image. I appreciate the attention the creature picture is getting and I have not ignored it. Or your emails.

Indeed, here at the International Cryptozoology Museum, I am deeply brooding about Bownessie. What is it, what does it mean – on many levels -, and what happens next?

Bownessie

Hump-backed: The image of Bownessie taken by IT worker Tom Pickles on Lake Windermere while kayaking.

Of course, some of the thinking goes in the direction of what exactly are we seeing.

But then various lines of analysis must go to who is giving us this data. What do we know about the two people ~ Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington ~ who are responsible for the imagery?

Bownessie

Remember, the evidence brought forth is only as trustworthy as the people bringing it to us. What do we know about Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington who saw the creature during their company’s team building exercise? Of course, I am not saying they are not to be taken seriously.  But it is up to the UK investigators to do some background checks, as should be done in any thorough inquiry.

What we do understand is that other images of Lake Monsters like Bownessie have come before. With varying results.

Some are unexplained. Some are fakes and hoaxes. Some are garbage (plastic trash) bags. Some are otters. Some are humans. Some are other known animals. How does this new image of Bownessie enlighten us about lake cryptids? I am pondering such thoughts.

Some Lake Monster photos certainly do stimulate speculation. Are they unexplainables? Is the Bownessie photo to join them?

A fake Ogopogo.

Caddy? Moose? What?

The Loch Ness Monster photo by O’Connor in 1960 is blamed on a large plastic bag today. Others have been linked to similar mundane fakery.

Recognize this? It is the posterior of a human female swimming.

otters

Tony Markle Otter Photo

Sometimes objects in lakes are otters. Click on this Tony Markle photograph for a larger view of the accompanying article and image.

Don Getty River Otters Photo

Photo is by Don Getty of river otters in the Grand Tetons. Used with full permission of Mr. Getty.

Nahuelito

Nahuelito

The two photographs of Nahuelito from Argentina, allegedly taken on
April 15, 2006
, above. Some feel they are probable hoaxes.

A frame from the E. Olsen Lake Champlain video. What does it show?

So, what are you thinking about this new Bownessie photo and this new wave of brooding about lake monster imagery?

Bownessie

Share your thoughts, please.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Lake Monsters, Loch Ness Monster, Pop Culture