Flap: Rockport, Massachusetts, Jul–Sep 1886
3 reports · 4 separate documents
Water Monster (3).
In the 10 years either side we have 6 other reports within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- Jul 20, 1886 Witnesses report seeing a large marine monster described as a sea serpent near the Rockport breakwater.
Water Monster · Rockport, Massachusetts - Sep 1886 Witnesses report seeing a large, snake-like marine animal near Cape Ann, described as undulating vertically and measuring approximately seventy feet in length.
Water Monster · Essex County, Massachusetts · rabbit hole - Sep 1886 Witness reports the monster has been seen several times this summer, notably off Gloucester.
Water Monster · Gloucester, Massachusetts
Sources: Newspaper (3).
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.