YET MORE SIGHTINGS OF UNUSUAL ANIMALS
This paper first appeared in the Autumn edition, volume 26 of the 'Skeptical Intelligencer', 2023
James Randi, amongst many other skeptics, was very fond of using the analogy 'the unsinkable rubber duck'. This refers to apparently mysterious occurrences or phenomena which, despite the availability of rational explanations or refuting evidence, continue to be treated as unsolved mysteries, like the rubber duck that refuses to stay under the bathwater once it is released (so I'm told). Common examples of such phenomena periodically bob up in the news (sometimes with the tag 'enduring mystery', 'has the mystery finally been solved?' etc.). These include the Loch Ness monster, the Bermuda Triangle, the Turin Shroud, certain celebrated UFO sightings, crop circles-the list goes on. Though the dominant message is usually that they are hitherto unexplained (e.g. by scientists), the media may sensibly seek the opinions of experts to provide a mainstream explanation. Interest then disappears (the duck submerges) only to flare up again at some later date (the duck bobs up at the surface, smiling as ever and none the worse for its underwater absence).
With any of these phenomena, if you want to bet that the day will eventually arrive when the mystery is universally declared to be solved and the case is closed, go ahead. Much more likely is that 'this one will run and run' as the papers used to stay. The duck will obstinately keep breaking the surface. Indefinitely.
And so it was with a groan that I, and I suspect many other people, heard on the news that over a weekend in August 'Scientists and volunteers will scour the waters in the biggest search since the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau studied the loch back in 1972 (note 1). Here the unsinkable rubber duck analogy is apposite in more ways than one.
'It's one of the world's biggest unsolved mysteries: Does The Loch Ness Monster Exist?' the online BBC news report asks. 'We could have more answers soon (no, we'll have more questions-Ed.) as the biggest search in 50 years will use new technology and volunteer research teams to try to prove whether the Loch Ness monster is fact or utter fun fiction. The plan is to combine new technology to scan and listen to underwater signals from Nessie whilst volunteers watch the surface of the water to spot any monster moves.'
The observations and conclusions of the survey have yet to be published but early reports (note 2) suggest that that no conclusive evidence has been found. So long, rubber duck-see you later.
Big cats
Aside from the Loch Ness monster, there has lately been a related upsurge of interest involving sightings of animals turning up in the wrong place, namely big cats. This was precipitated by the announcement in July that a lioness had been seen in the south-western outskirts of Berlin. The sighting was taken seriously; a police search was mounted, and residents were advised to stay in their homes. Over a day later, the hunt was called off when it was announced that the animal was probably a wild boar (note 3).
As reported in previous issues of the Skeptical Intelligencer, sightings of big cats (mostly panthers, pumas and lynxes) have been common in the UK for decades (note 4) and some of these creatures have attained celebrity status (e.g. the Surrey Puma and the Beast of Bodmin). Although very occasionally there may be a proven sighting of a known escapee from a zoo or private collection, the idea that these animals are endemic in the UK and have always been (or have been since the Dangerous Animals Act, 1976, which may have led to some private owners releasing their captives) has not been convincingly demonstrated. Again I suspect rubber-duckery; we reached a steady-state position long ago, sightings will continue indefinitely with occasional surges of interest in the media, and there will be no final resolution.
Incidentally, lions are rarely reported in the UK. A celebrated instance is that of the Essex lion in August 2012 (note 5). As with the Berlin lion, the police took the sighting seriously. Interestingly, in both cases a witness or witnesses claimed to have heard a roaring noise in the vicinity at the time of the sighting. The police soon called off their search when it was decided that in in all probability the 'lion' was a large domestic cat, a Main Coon called Teddy Bear (note 6).
Notes
- https://tinyurl.com/25mve5z3
- https://tinyurl.com/9kx7ww23
- https://tinyurl.com/mbpp769a
- See the British Big Cats Society website at http://www.britishbigcats.org/; see also https://tinyurl.com/2y9tjfdv for a recent balanced newspaper article on this subject.
- https://tinyurl.com/5yju5hzm
- https://tinyurl.com/y4h9n9m9