Flap: Lake Michigan, Aug–Sep 1867
5 reports · 5 separate documents
Water Monster (5).
In the 10 years either side we have no other reports within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- Aug 1867 Witness reports that skippers and many other people saw a large sea serpent in Lake Michigan, described as being about a hundred feet long.
Water Monster · Lake Michigan - Aug 1867 Dwellers on Lake Michigan claim there is a monster in the lake, possibly a whale, sea serpent, mermaid, or beast, and an expedition is being contemplated.
Water Monster · Lake Michigan - Aug 1867 Witnesses report that two young ladies in Manitowoc saw a dark bluish creature fifty or sixty feet long off the mouth of the river.
Water Monster · Manitowoc, Wisconsin - Aug 1867 A reporter retells a humorous story about Phelim and Tim encountering a large sea serpent while sailing in Lake Michigan.
Water Monster · Lake Michigan - Sep 1867 A German fisherman and others report seeing a huge sea serpent in Lake Michigan near Chicago, Michigan City, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee.
Water Monster · Lake Michigan
Sources: Newspaper (5).
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.