Flap: Mokelumne River, California, Sep–Oct 1881
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
- Sep 1881 Witnesses report a water monster in the Mokelumne River attacked and drowned a man attempting to capture it, with another death attributed to the same creature…
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California - Sep 1881 A water monster is said to inhabit the Mokelumne river above Jackson, Cal., with Chinese people claiming it killed one of their number.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California - Sep 1881 Witness reports that a water monster is said to inhabit the Mokelnmne river above Jackson, California, and has killed one Chinese person.
Water Monster · Calaveras County, California - Sep 1881 Witness reports that a water monster inhabits the Mokelumne river above Jackson, California, and has killed one Chinese person.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California - Oct 1881 Witnesses report a water monster in the Mokelumne River attacked and drowned a Chinese man who tried to capture it.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California
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.