Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

Coast to Coast AM deals with UFOs, strange occurrences, life after death, and other unexplained phenomena.Full Bio

 

Study Suggests 'Dinomania' Spawned Nessie-like Sea Monster Sightings

A fascinating new study argues that reports of Nessie-like sea monsters can be traced back to the public's fascination with dinosaurs which exploded when the ancient creatures were first discovered. Charles Paxton and Darren Naish reportedly collected over 1,500 accounts of mysterious aquatic beasts dating all the way back to 1801 and subjected the data to a statistical study in search of possible trends over time. What the researchers found was a distinct uptick in the number of long-necked plesiosaur-like creatures which began at around the same period in the 19th century when dinosaur fossils were first being found.

Incredibly, their paper observes, as our understanding of aquatic dinosaurs grew, so too did the frequency of contemporaneous reports featuring the fantastic beasts, increasing from around 10 percent in the early 1800s to nearly half of such sightings taking place in the 1930s. This 'dinomania,' as the researchers call it, appears to have had an influence on the creation of the infamous 1934 hoaxed image of the Loch Ness Monster known as the Surgeon's photo which depicted the legendary creature as a remnant plesiosaur. In turn, the frenzy surrounding that story seemingly solidified the transition in perception of 'sea monsters' from serpents to aquatic dinosaurs.

More on this thought-provoking story at the Coast to Coast AM website.


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