Flap: Loch Ness, Alba / Scotland, Jul–Dec 1954
3 reports · 3 separate documents
Water Monster (3).
In the 10 years either side we have 12 other reports within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- Jul 1954 Witness and her son [name] report a huge black thing rising out of the water near Urquhart Castle.
Water Monster · Loch Ness, Alba / Scotland - Oct 9, 1954 A busload of people on the shore near Loch Ness reported seeing something with three big humps moving.
Water Monster · Loch Ness, Alba / Scotland - Dec 6, 1954 The crew of the trawler Rival claims their echo sounding equipment detected a 50-foot-long creature with eight legs and a scorpion-like silhouette in Loch Ness.
Water Monster · Loch Ness, Alba / Scotland · rabbit hole
Sources: Newspaper (2), Reddit (1).
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.