Flap: Gloucester, Massachusetts, Jun–Aug 1817
6 reports · 4 separate documents
Water Monster (6).
In the 10 years either side we have 1 other report within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- Jun 1817 Witnesses report a historical sea serpent visited Gloucester harbor in the summer of 1817, was approached within 30 feet, raised its head, and sank under a…
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts - Aug 10, 1817 Witness reports shooting at a serpent-like marine animal that sank under their boat and was later seen alive off Cape Ann.
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts - Aug 14, 1817 On August 14, 1817, a sea serpent approached a boat within thirty feet, was shot at, and then sank and reappeared on the opposite side.
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts - Aug 1817 A farmer killed a baby sea serpent with a pitchfork near Good Harbor beach in late summer 1817, which was exhibited and examined by a committee.
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts · rabbit hole - Aug 15, 1817 Mr. [name] saw a sea serpent about 150 yards distant off Kettle Island and made a drawing and description of it.
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts - Aug 16, 1817 James Prince reports a sea serpent appearing three feet out of the water with thirteen bunches on its back, estimated at fifty to sixty feet in length.
Water Monster · Nahant, Massachusetts
Sources: Newspaper (6).
How we find flaps
- Plain rules, no model: reports within 37 miles and about four months of each other are grouped, and a group counts only when it is at least 5 times what that place usually sees over the 10 years either side.
- A flap needs at least 3 reports from at least 3 separate documents: one article listing six sightings is one telling.
- Copies are not confirmations: a story reprinted in thirty papers counts once.
- Investigator logs (BFRO, NAWAC, the Loch Ness Register) are left out, because a busy field season looks just like a flap.
- Only reports placed to a town or county and dated to the month are used. A flap is a burst of reports, not proof of a creature: panics, hoaxes and newspaper fashions make flaps too.