Pop Cryptid Spectator #4
Hello and welcome to the 4th Pop Cryptid Spectator – my chronicle of the changing appearance of and attitudes towards “cryptids” in popular culture. My interest is in exploring the crossover of cryptozoology into a mass cultural phenomenon featuring “cryptids”. This edition provides more examples of how cryptids are part of our everyday lives and how science and scholarly efforts can be unwanted intrusions into cryptid belief. Cryptids are a way of framing the world in terms of mystery and monsters and wonder about amazing creatures that may still be out there to find.
In this edition:
Google Underwater view of Loch Ness
Loch Ness Data Set in new statistics paper
Cryptid Media – Frogman: The Croaks are no Hoax
Cryptid Media – Project: Cryptid, Volume 2
Cryptid Stuff – Bath Bombs
Utah Yetis hit a trademark hurdle
Solved, but Ignored
Google Underwater view of Loch Ness
Nessie is a top tier example of a cryptid that was very much a sci-cryptid (viewed with a zoological lens with minimal or no non-natural connotations). After all the effort to search the Loch, there has been no reasonable evidence that a mysterious monster lives in the lake. Nonetheless, Loch Ness remains a top cryptid tourist attraction because the idea of a monster in the lake is so alluring that it eclipses the facts. Nessie as a pop cryptid has no chance of disappearing soon. Nessie is Top of the Pops.
Back in PC Spectator #2, one of the items I shared was about the faked swimming Godzilla on Google Earth. I noted that it was clearly a hoax because Google Maps/Earth did not include ocean views. But, I was mistaken. It does, in some areas. People can post their own photos to Google Maps and some of these are, indeed, from underwater. And, Google includes some special feature projects including Underwater Earth. Google Maps includes a “street” view of the waters of Loch Ness. The photos were part of a 2015 campaign to explore the Loch. According to Jeb Card, who supplied this tip, this associated video was shown at the Loch Ness Investigation Centre for a while.
To try this yourself, zoom into the location where the little Google street “guy” turns into a green dinosaur with a jaunty golf hat. You can take a virtual tour on a boat down the lake. Some of the photos even show an underwater view.
Zoom into Urquhart Castle, turn on street view, and browse the Underwater Earth selections by selecting the little circles representing views
Move up and down to see the murky, peat stained waters.
Loch Ness Data Set
A new journal article has been published by Charles Paxton, Adrian Shine, and Valentin Popov in the Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education examining anecdotal accounts of the Loch Ness Monster. The researchers compiled a data set of 1800+ reports of sightings. The database was used with the intent to instruct university-level students on how to think about anecdotes as data. The abstract says:
“The Loch Ness Monster reports database illustrates the importance of considering independence, inaccuracy and imprecision when considering data and how statisticians might handle anecdotes as data. Whilst the data is inappropriate for directly making inferences about Loch Ness Monsters, it may be appropriate for making inferences about the population of Loch Ness Monster reports.”
Dr. Paxton tells me that existing research shows “there is strong evidence that cultural expectations influence aquatic monster reports.” And he says more on this topic is to come! That’s right in the Pop Cryptid wheelhouse!
Cryptid Media
Frogman: The croaks are no hoax!
I am not a fan of horror, but pop cryptids most certainly excel in this film genre. Out in 2024 was “Frogman” which appears to blend the harmless legend from the real town of Loveland, Ohio into a found-footage carnage-fest. I will not be watching it, but I am interested in how this has not only incorporated the legend, but how it will modify and shape the legend going forward. It looks very much like a Blair Witch effect where people will legend trip to the area of a fictional story to scare themselves. Note that Loveland has two Frogman festivals as they continue to capitalize on the tale. Ribbit!
Project:Cryptid
Comics and illustrated cryptid fiction is key to popularizing cryptids to the public, particularly younger people. Project: Cryptid is a comic series featuring creative tales of half-seen, barely believable creatures. The second volume of collected content is out now. Exclusive peak at Project: Cryptid
Cryptid stuff – Bath bombs
How about a cryptid-themed gift that dissolves away leaving no trace it ever existed, just like a real cryptid experience! Try some cryptid bath bombs which are available on Amazon Japan, Ebay and Etsy.
Utah Yetis hit a trademark hurdle
Back in September, rumors swirled that the new National Hockey League team in Salt Lake City (previously the Arizona Coyotes franchise) would be named the Utah Yetis. The use of a cryptid name would reaffirm how cryptids continue to exert their large presence as sport team mascots, particularly in hockey. The NHL already has the New Jersey Devils and the Seattle Kraken (whose matchups are sometimes called the “battle of the cryptids”). But the plan to adopt the Yeti name is now on thin ice. While cryptids are notably copyright and trademark-free, the “Yeti” name is now synonymous with the cooler brand. The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected the proposed name due to a “likelihood of confusion” with the existing brand. Strangely, the YETI cooler brand doesn’t use the Yeti creature in their branding. The hockey team still has a chance to make their case. Seems like a collaboration between the two entities would be a monstrously smart deal! Hoping for the best.
Solved! But ignored.
There is a strange internet phenomenon whereby people fixate on a photo or news story or, in this case, a favorite cryptid, without ever digging in deeper to find out more about it. Below are three cases where actual bodies of mysterious creatures were found. Legitimate, reasonable explanations are published which are well-supported by animal experts, testing, or even DNA in one case. Yet the creature maintains a “cryptid” label, suggesting it is unknown. The creatures are even depicted as exaggerated animals by those who speculate what they looked like in life, even though the bodies were discovered in less than prime condition.
Zuiyo Maru carcass. A carcass was hauled up by the Japanese fishing trawler, Zuiyo Maru, near New Zealand in 1977. Japanese scientists who saw the photos stated the creature was a dead plesiosaur, a marine reptile extinct for 66 million years. However, the greater scientific consensus was that the carcass was a decaying basking shark. This animal decays in a certain way where the lower jaw drops off, giving the impression of a small head and long neck remaining. The description, measurements, and tissue samples all supported the basking shark conclusion. The story of a plesiosaur continues to circulate in popular culture. See: http://www.paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm
Texas chupacabra. The strange canid lurking around Phylis Canion’s ranch in Cuero, Texas surprised her by its hairlessness and odd proportions. When it ended up dead on a road in 2007, she saved the remains. What might have been the same kind of creature was also caught running on a police dashboard camera a year later. The hairless, weird-looking canid was dubbed a “chupacabra” (or “Texas blue dogs”) and inherited the legendary blood-sucking, livestock-murdering legend of the much more alien-type original creature from Puerto Rico. Canion had her animal DNA tested. The results, without question, showed it was a coyote. However, the animal clearly had genetic conditions and/or a disease that caused it to have additional unusual features. To this day, mammals suffering from mange (coyotes and foxes are the most common) are often called a “chupacabra” by the media.
Montauk Monster. Summer 2008 gave us the Montauk Monster, another mostly hairless and bizarre-looking carcass from a Long Island beach. It was well-photographed and thus began the game of “mass opinionating” that is now standard on social media where everyone who knows nothing about nature insists they know what the thing is – a mutant, alien, or new species – or they make dumb jokes in the comments about it. Like the Zuiyo Maru carcass, the degree of decay fooled people who don’t know how decomposition works. The immersion in water rendered the carcass bloated and hairless, the soft face parts fell off exposing the bone which some saw as a beak. It wasn’t a beak. The animals was, without a doubt, a raccoon. But that explanation was unsatisfactory to those who really wanted it to be new and weird. They refused to accept the natural conclusion because it didn’t suit their wider, werider needs. The Montauk Monster, as a beaked, monstrous bloated beach marauder, still remains some people’s favorite cryptid. See: https://tetzoo.com/blog/2021/10/23/montauk-monster-a-look-back
Pop cryptids live on, seemingly in spite of expert, scientific analysis. These few examples strongly suggest that no amount of investigation or lab tests will ever truly “solve” the most famous cryptid mysteries. Perhaps because many people don’t want the answer. They will continue to believe in and promote what they wish it to be, and ignore the reasonable conclusion.
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