PARANORMAL & MONSTER LEGENDS

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

Pooka...

[tv horror]

He's the cute one, try the faoladh or conriocht legend. 

[CreepysFan]

Thanks Mark, if you like those stories you should hear the ones about the Banshee I kid you not!

   

I always thought if you heard the Banshee, it mean't your death was near.

[Dr. Madd]

Sasquatch: Yes. Too many people seeing too much alike
Yeti: Seems likely, given they have remains
Dragons: I personally believe they once existed.
Santa Claus: You would not believe me if I told you
Loch Ness: Nope.  Too cold for a sea reptile, and too small to support a colony of whales.

[tv horror]

Creepysfan the Banshee is a lamenting fairy it can come as a warning of death, although there are stories of them spiriting people away with the lure of her comb. 

[Hepcat]

Loch Ness: Nope.... too small to support a colony of whales.

While Loch Ness is too small, Lake Champlain and Lake Okanagan are plenty big enough for the likes of Champ and Ogopogo.

[Dr. Madd]

While Loch ness is too small, Lake Champlain and Lake Okanagan are plenty big enough for the likes of champ and Ogopogo.

Too cold for a sea-reptile. Maybe a Zueglodon or a Basilosaurus.

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

Loch Ness Lake

Max. length 36.3 km (22.6 mi)
Max. width 2.7 km (1.7 mi)
Surface area 56.4 km2 (21.8 sq mi)
Average depth 132 m (433 ft)
Max. depth 226.96 m (744.6 ft)

[Hepcat]

Too cold for a sea-reptile. Maybe a Zueglodon or a Basilosaurus.

That's why we breed hardier lake monsters in these here parts.



The only measure at which Loch Ness compares favourably to our monster inhabited lakes is depth yet depth is really a superfluous measurement. Fish and other aquatic beings live close to the surface where there's sunlight.

Lake Champlain

Max. length 201 km (125 mi)
Max. width 23 km (14 mi)
Surface area 1,269 sq km (490 sq mi)
Average depth 19.5 m (64 ft)
Max. depth 122 m (400 ft)

Lake Okanagan

Max. length  135 kilometres (84 mi)
Max. width 5 kilometres (3.1 mi)
Surface area 351 square kilometres (136 sq mi)
Average depth 76 m (249 ft)
Max. depth 232 m (761 ft)

[Flower]

I believe that there are many things that can't or shouldn't be explained.

I just hope that leprechauns don't exist .. Darby O'Gill and the Little People still scares me.

[Fester]

I believe that there are many things that can't or shouldn't be explained.

I just hope that leprechauns don't exist .. Darby O'Gill and the Little People still scares me.

I thought Sean Connery's toupee and singing was more unnerving. 

Seriously, what got me as a kid seeing the movie, was that Cóiste Bodhar arriving to take Darby away!

[RedKing]

Too cold for a sea-reptile. Maybe a Zueglodon or a Basilosaurus.

They have recorded echo location like whales or dolphins use in Lake Champlain before.

[vintagehalloweentoys]

I think there is a remote possibility of Big Foot existing....I think it's a very unlikely possibility. I will say this, where I live in South Eastern Michigan (about 50 miles west of Detroit), I had never seen a variety of wild animals in all my years of living out here until the past 2-3 years. I saw a bald eagle, a fairly large coyote, and several wild turkeys in my lawn or near my house (I live on a country road)....It's not that I wasn't aware those animals were potentially around my home all of these years, I just never saw any of them until recently. So I guess the mere fact that there is a huge amount of remote forest land in the U.S. and Canada would lend some degree of possibility that a Yeti type creature could exist....I just think someone would have found one by now.

Ghosts? Demons? Evil Spirits?...Probably not. I think your mind can play tricks on you, and maybe if you see a shadow or a something your brain might fill in the blanks, and say "I saw a ghost!". I think it's a very universal emotion in people to feel some sort of spirituality (even if there is no religious connection), so do I think there could be good, bad, or evil energy?...Maybe. I'm also a certified massage therapist and the school that I went to for massage had a course in reiki energy work...Some people were really into this stuff. I will say this, if I get around a really stressed out or angry person (even if I'm not aware that they are stressed or angry...like standing next to someone at a grocery store), it can feel like I'm standing next to a heater....The anger and stress from some people manifests itself as heat to me. Kind of weird. I think this kind of stuff (a 6th sense if you will) needs a lot of scientific study, and most scientists and researchers would rather spend their time making money for drug companies and getting paid by drug companies....There's no money in researching paranormal type stuff.

Sea creatures? There's a great deal of the oceans that haven't been explored, so I think there is a much higher probability that something big and scary might exist deep below the surface. Loch Ness Monster type creatures in lochs and lakes not so much (most of these bodies of water have been thoroughly checked out).

Aliens/Extra Terrestrials.....Probably. The universe is very vast, and I think there's a good chance that the Earth is not the only game in town.

Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies.....no (unless were talking mentally ill people who think they are vampires, werewolves, or zombies).

It is a fun topic though!

[Hepcat]

The first recorded sighting of Bessie in Lake Erie occurred in 1793 and have continued to re-occur fairly frequently but at random intervals ever since. Most of these sightings have occurred in the western basin of the lake close to the U.S. side.



Reported to be between 20 and 60 feet in length, Bessie is likely to be nothing other than a family of plesiosaurs.



Lake Erie would be a particularly prospective environment for plesiosaurs since as both the southernmost and shallowest Great Lake, it's particularly nutrient rich and therefore hosts an abundance of fish life. (Lake Erie in fact supports a thriving commercial perch fishery from ports such as Port Dover and Port Stanley.) There would therefore be more than enough fish life in Lake Erie to support a colony of plesiosaurs. And of course nothing would prevent individuals of the species during the summer months from ranging north up the Detroit River into Lake St. Clair and then up the St. Clair River into the enormous Lake Huron-Lake Michigan watershed.

Here's the episode of the Crypto Files dealing with Bessie:

Bessie - Crypto Files

And here's another good video clip about Bessie:

Bessie - Cryptid Files

The Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League of course derive their inspiration from Bessie:

[Hepcat]

From Geek.com:

Octopuses are aliens — or, at least, so vastly different in their genetic makeup that they might as well be considered out of this world. Scientists recently sequenced the first genome in the Octopus Genome Project, a huge undertaking to map out the entire DNA structure of the complex cephalopod. What they found was simply incredible.

Researchers at the University of Chicago took on this project and chose the California two-spot octopus for their subject. Then, they learned that a group at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan was working to break down the genome as well. So the two combined forces, and together, unlocked many of the mysteries surrounding the octopus. The results were recently published in the science journal, Nature.

Octopuses have 33,000 genes, roughly 10,000 more than a human. This alone sets it apart from any other invertebrate in the world. They are also uncannily clever, with the ability to open jars, solve puzzles, and even use tools. It's no wonder that some might think this creature is from another planet. In uncovering the sequence, scientists found that octopuses have a similar set of genes to those found in humans, that make up a neural network in their brains, which accounts for their quick ability to adapt and learn. We also share a large brain, closed circulatory system, and eyes with an iris, retina, and lens. All of these independently developed in another species vastly different from our own mammal origins.

Another focus of the study was looking at the octopus' ability to camouflage itself in the blink of an eye. Now, with the sequence coded out, researchers can study exactly how the octopus can change its skin within milliseconds. If unraveled, this could lead to major breakthroughs both in neuroscience and engineering, in terms of creating garments and structures that could have instant camouflage ability.

A huge discovery was the ability of the octopus to improve on its own genetic code. This is common in humans and other animals, but the ability at which the octopus can edit its own RNA is pretty wild — they are able to adapt their nerves in order to withstand the extreme cold of the deep ocean. The scientists also took a long look at the genes that make up the octopus' suckers. It was discovered that part of the sucker function allowed for the animal to taste, in addition to catching its dinner.

There's still a lot to uncover from this project. Scientists have only just begun the process of breaking down the genome. The map is laid out now, and it will be only a matter of time until researchers chart the unknown territory of the octopus.

And from Quartz

A controversial study has a new spin on the otherworldliness of the octopus

Octopuses are strange, smart creatures that certainly seem alien—what with the tentacles, camouflage, and shape-shifting skills. Still, the idea that they actually came from outer space would seem to fall strictly into the realm of sci-fi; an update of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu, say.

But in these interesting times, real life reads like fiction. Recently, a group of 33 scientists worldwide—including molecular immunologist Edward Steele and astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe—published a paper suggesting, in all seriousness, that octopuses may indeed be aliens.

The paper, published in the March issue of the the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, is controversial, obviously, and the vast majority of scientists would disagree. But the paper is still worthy of discussion—for one, as a thought exercise, because outlandish ideas are often initially rejected. And in provoking us with seemingly bizarre theories, it forces us to acknowledge that there are aspects of life on Earth for which classic evolutionary theory as yet has no explanation.

The octopus, for example, is traditionally considered to come from the nautiloid, having evolved about 500 million years ago. But that relationship doesn't explain how these odd cephalopods got all their awesome characteristics or why octopuses are so very different, genetically speaking, from their alleged nautiloid ancestors. The paper states:

The genetic divergence of Octopus from its ancestral coleoid sub-class is very great ... Its large brain and sophisticated nervous system, camera-like eyes, flexible bodies, instantaneous camouflage via the ability to switch color and shape are just a few of the striking features that appear suddenly on the evolutionary scene.

The transformative genes leading from the consensus ancestral nautilus to the common cuttlefish to squid to the common octopus can't be found in any pre-existing life form, the authors say.

So far, so good. But then the paper gets highly speculative. The researchers continue, "It is plausible then to suggest they [octopuses] seem to be borrowed from a far distant 'future' in terms of terrestrial evolution, or more realistically from the cosmos at large."

To make matters even more strange, the paper posits that octopuses could have arrived on Earth in "an already coherent group of functioning genes within (say) cryopreserved and matrix protected fertilized octopus eggs." And these eggs might have "arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago." The authors admit, though, that "such an extraterrestrial origin...of course, runs counter to the prevailing dominant paradigm."

Indeed, few in the scientific community would agree that octopuses come from outer space. But the paper is not just about the provenance of cephalopods. Its proposal that octopuses could be extraterrestrials is just a small part of a much more extensive discussion of a theory called "panspermia," which has its roots in the ideas of ancient Greece.

The word "panspermia" translates to "seeds everywhere." The idea is that the seeds of life are everywhere in the universe, including space, and life on Earth may originate from "seeds" of some kind in space. In this paper, the authors argue that the "seeds," or alien life forms invading Earth, come in multiple forms, including "space-resistant and space-hardy" viruses and bacteria. It supports this argument by pointing to organic matter found in comets, as well as various medical studies on the inexplicably intelligent self-replicating abilities and super-strength of viruses. The paper reviews 60 years of experiments and observations from a range of scientific fields to support its unusual conclusions.

Virologist Karin Moelling of the Max Planck Institute Molecular Genetics in Berlin isn't convinced, although she says that the paper is worth contemplating because there's still so much we don't know about the origins of life on Earth. She writes in in a commentary in the same publication, "So this article is useful, calling for attention, and it is worth thinking about, yet the main statement about viruses, microbes and even animals coming to us from space, cannot be taken seriously."

Evolutionary scientist Keith Baverstock from the University of Eastern Finland, in his commentary on the paper (paywall), is equally wary. The proposed theories "would support an extra-terrestrial origin of life," he writes. Still, they don't necessarily lead to that conclusion; there are other plausible explanations for the evidence the paper offers.

The authors are well aware of the intellectual resistance to their ideas, writing:

We certainly do not want this paper to read, as one reviewer has put it, 'somewhat like a last-ditch and exasperated attempt to convince the main stream of the scientific community that...life has been carried to this planet from elsewhere in the universe on comets/meteorites.'

The researchers acknowledge that some forms of life originated on Earth. But they still say that other, perhaps earlier, forms originated elsewhere, like outer space. In other words, they argue that the two ideas aren't mutually exclusive, and, taken together, they would help fill in some gaps in the current scientific understanding that the classic evolutionary theory cannot.

The paper is intended to be provocative. That said, it did withstand a year of intense peer-review before publication. As Steele told Cosmos, "It has thus passed some severe and tortuous tests already."

If for no other reason, the ideas proposed in this rather radical paper are worthy of our attention because we always tend to agree with what we already believe. Yet the history of science is full of theories that were mocked and rejected out of hand, only to finally be accepted as truth. Or, in Steele's words, "The situation is reminiscent to the problem Galileo had with the Catholic priests of his time—most refused to look through his telescope to observe the moons of Jupiter."

Consider these scientists intellectual troublemakers. You don't have to agree with their theories about octopuses from outer space to appreciate their contribution to the great conversation about the origins of life. Society and science need people to articulate unconventional ideas and shake up the status quo. They provoke us to rethink what we imagine we know.