Cryptozoology

[Arachne]

Does anybody else take cryptozoology seriously? This is the study of animals that aren't officially proven to exist, the abominable snowman, bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, etc.. being famous examples.

Personally I'm a firm believer in many of these animals.

 

[Vince]

I'm undecided about these creatures. Another group of animals that gets a lot of attention near where I live are the chupacabras, which I think translates to goat suckers. I've read they're really just very diseased coyotes though, so it's tough to know what to believe.

I do find these animals to be very interesting in any case, and I'd love to see more evidence come out in the future.

 

[Myrddin]

I'm always interested in these creatures. I wouldn't say I'm a firm believer in them, but I do like to entertain the idea that they might exist -- there's certainly no proof that they don't. The one creature I've likely spent most of my time on researching is Nessie. She's definitely one of my fav's. I have some of my own ideas on what she is and how the lake could support her size (and possibly why some researchers who have gone out on boats haven't actually found her).

 

[LegendofJoe]

There are some serious cryptozoologists out there, but they usually find animals that are not nearly as exciting as bigfoot and Nessie.
Personally I don't believe in them. Saying that there is no proof that they don't exist does not mean much since you are asking to prove the negative.
You cannot prove fairies do not exist, but that does not mean that they may exist.
Some people are liars, others pranksters and others have overly active imaginations. This is the apparatus for such things.
All it took was for one person to think they saw Elvis, and to this day some feel he is still not dead.

 

[Myrddin]

There are some serious cryptozoologists out there, but they usually find animals that are not nearly as exciting as bigfoot and Nessie.
Personally I don't believe in them. Saying that there is no proof that they don't exist does not mean much since you are asking to prove the negative.
You cannot prove fairies do not exist, but that does not mean that they may exist.
Some people are liars, others pranksters and others have overly active imaginations. This is the apparatus for such things.
All it took was for one person to think they saw Elvis, and to this day some feel he is still not dead.

I think until you prove something either way, the possibly of whether it exists or not remains open. I mean, yes, you cannot prove that fairies exist, and yes, that does not mean that may exist. But neither does it mean that they can't exist; because there is no proof either way. (I'm not saying that I believe in fairies, because I don't. Only that it was your example.) Also, Nessie is much bigger than fairies -- and I don't mean by size. Well the idea of fairies was started by storytellers, Nessie was started by observers and what they believed they saw. She is much more... "tactile". We are now back to the difference between myth stories and legends.

 

[LegendofJoe]

I said that you cannot prove that fairies do NOT exist. You can prove their existence: just catch one.
The same thing goes for Nessie. Find compelling proof.
I guess there is always a slight possibility that She may exist, and that we just do not have the evidence yet.
But after awhile you just have to say that it is probably unlikely.
If I drained loch Ness in order to prove once and for all if she is there, and I don't see her, a believer might still say that I proved nothing: she could have snuck out of the loch during the night. This is what I meant by not being able to prove that something does NOT exist: there will always be a loophole that some believer or "open-minded" person will point out. So you have to make a choice as to what is most likely. For Nessie it is unlikely.
Ecologists give reasons why it is unlikely, and the guy who took that famous photo (the Surgeon photo),
finally admitted before he died that he faked the photo.
Fairies are not as different as you might think. There are people who go around claiming they see fairies too. Look at the famous Cottingly fairies.
They were believed in by such people as Arther Conan Doyle. It was when the two girls were very old did they admit that thet created the fairies from paper cut outs.
I really loved Nessie when I was a kid, and I hope she existed. When I later realized it is more likely she is an urban myth propagated for many reasons, I was not too dissapointed. She still exists in a way, through our imaginings of her.
I feel the same way about Bigfoot, chubracaba, jersey devil, UFO abductions and others.

 

[Myrddin]

I said that you cannot prove that fairies do NOT exist. You can prove their existence: just catch one.
The same thing goes for Nessie. Find compelling proof.
I guess there is always a slight possibility that She may exist, and that we just do not have the evidence yet.
But after awhile you just have to say that it is probably unlikely.
If I drained loch Ness in order to prove once and for all if she is there, and I don't see her, a believer might still say that I proved nothing: she could have snuck out of the loch during the night. This is what I meant by not being able to prove that something does NOT exist: there will always be a loophole that some believer or "open-minded" person will point out. So you have to make a choice as to what is most likely. For Nessie it is unlikely.
Ecologists give reasons why it is unlikely, and the guy who took that famous photo (the Surgeon photo),
finally admitted before he died that he faked the photo.
Fairies are not as different as you might think. There are people who go around claiming they see fairies too. Look at the famous Cottingly fairies.
They were believed in by such people as Arther Conan Doyle. It was when the two girls were very old did they admit that thet created the fairies from paper cut outs.
I really loved Nessie when I was a kid, and I hope she existed. When I later realized it is more likely she is an urban myth propagated for many reasons, I was not too dissapointed. She still exists in a way, through our imaginings of her.
I feel the same way about Bigfoot, chubracaba, jersey devil, UFO abductions and others.

Mr. Burns already drained the loch -- and did prove that she was indeed there. She went back to Springfield to work at his casino.

Getting serious again, I would think it's safe to say that she could not sneak out of the loch. Something as large as her just couldn't sneak away overland without being spotted by someone, and any aquifers that may have been there would most likely be gone by now, caved in. I would also like to point out the underwater cavern that is located by Urquhart Castle, granted I have no idea how large it is, but should still be considered a possibility as a hiding place for Nessie. You can really only be open-minded to a certain point before it just turns into denial. All I'm saying is she could be there; I'm not saying she is.

 

[Allie-Gator]

You never know. There are still a lot of unexplored spots on this planet and it's not out of the realm of possibility that some of these animals are still undiscovered. Until we have explored EVERYTHING, I will still entertain the possibility of the presence of these creatures.

 

[LegendofJoe]

Myrddin
I had to laugh when you talked of Burns draining the loch.
Did you mean the poet Robert Burns, and does he have a casino named after him?
Well, all I can say is until it is drained, or until we have some means of gathering hard evidence, I'll remain skeptical.
I will not say that Nessi's existence is absolutely impossible, just doubtful.
It would be cool if there was a plesiosaur lurking down there.

 

[Myrddin]

Myrddin
I had to laugh when you talked of Burns draining the loch.
Did you mean the poet Robert Burns, and does he have a casino named after him?
Well, all I can say is until it is drained, or until we have some means of gathering hard evidence, I'll remain skeptical.
I will not say that Nessi's existence is absolutely impossible, just doubtful.
It would be cool if there was a plesiosaur lurking down there.

I meant C. Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons. There's an episode where he drags Homer and Willy to Scotland to find the creature and ultimately ends up draining the loch -- flooding the nearby village in the process -- to locate it.

I think if there is a creature in there, it is a serpentine something as most witnesses describe it with varying numbers of humps on its back (maybe the humps are its back, coiled up diffrently each time). It would be neat if there were something in there, maybe some kind of large eel. Don't know, but you might be intrested in reading The Loch by Steve Alten. It's a fictional thriller, but with a large amount of research put behind it.