Essay/Term paper: Myth or reality, today's perception on monsters

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Literature Essays

Myth or Reality, Today's Perception on Monsters

Monsters, which are seemingly just myth and fantasy, do have some truths to their legend. In fact, some creatures may have actually existed and still do today, even though they should not be percieved as monsters.
What if the stories of a giant "ape-like" creature that have circulated over the globe for centuries were true? There have been numerous sightings and first-hand accounts of this creature everywhere in the world, from the United States to the Himalayas. One of the more famous sightings took place at Bluff Creek in 1967. Roger Patterson and a friend were horse back riding when they saw a huge hair covered creature. It began to run away when it noticed the two men, but not before Roger shot some film of the creature. The creature that was filmed was a female, while you cannot see in this view, breasts are clearly visable in other frames of the film. Scientists who have studied the film have said that the estimated stride of the creature is larger than that of a man. They also say it would have been very difficult for a man to simulate this larger stride. Footprints were the same type as typically found at a Bigfoot sighting. A more recent sighting of Bigfoot took place last year on July 11, in the Wild Creek area in the foothills of Snoqualmie National Forest.The picture was obtained from the photographer bt Cliff Crook, the director of Bigfoot Central. The cameraman was out on a hike when he heard splashing coming from the stream below him. He then found himself face to face with the creature. Usually after most sightings, footprints of the usually large creatures can be found. Footprints have been found everywhere including at these two mentioned sightings. The length of the prints has varied between 1' to 2.5' indicating from scientific study that Bigfoot could be as tall as nine feet. Also the deep inprint that is left indicates that the creature could weigh as much as 600 pounds. Researchers at Ohio State University hope to come within a hair of verifying the existence of Bigfoot. Scientists are using a new DNA matching process to determine whether there may be more to the Sasquatch legend than some blurry film footage and a few giant footprints. The evidence consists of two tufts of hair, each with about a dozen individual strands, recovered in Washington State after a recent sighting. "This is the first time that I'm aware of that anybody will be able to do any DNA extractions on Bigfoot," said Frank Poirier, chairman of Anthropology. "I don't expect anything to happen because I'm pretty sceptical about this. But good science requires some wild goose chases from time to time." The hair that is being tested was from creatures reportedly observed at a distance of about 100 feet in a dence, dark forest. If the Washington hair samples turn out to be from an unknown primate, it will be compared with hair samples reputed to be from the ancient Chinese "wildman", a human-like primate that was investigated in Asia. There is much evidence that to prove that a Sasquatch could be an actual species of ape, maybe even a decendant of Human beings themselves.
The Loch Ness Monster is one of the most compelling myths in human lore, and for good reason because some of the scientific fact that lay behind it is amazing. The vast majority of the Earth's oceans and seas are unexplored. Is it really hard to believe that there are creatures that live so far down or in such remote areas, that they are rarely, if ever, seen by humans. The Giant Squid was thought of as a creature of myth and legend until recently, when scientists found corpses of such a creature. Many of these "sea serpents" descriptions are similar to creatures that are thought to be extinct. The Coelacanth was thought to be extinct for 70 million years until it was discovered alive and well in 1938.Loch Ness is located in the North of Scotland and is one of a series of interlinked lochs which run along the Great Glen. The Great Glen is a distinctive incision which runs across the country and represents a large geological fault zone. For many years it has been supposed that there is a large dinosaur-like "monster" resident in Loch Ness. The evidence for it's existence are a series of sightings of a Plesiosaur-like dinosaur throughout the last 100 years. The case has been occasionally been supported by indistinct photographic evidence. However, several scientific studies have been conducted, including thorough sonar surveys of the Loch, and these have not revealed any presence of such a "monster". Many people believe that the size (21 square miles) and great depth of the Loch (almost 800 feet), together with potential underwater caves, gives the monster many places to hide. Regardless of the truth, suggestion of the monster's existence makes Loch Ness one of Scotland's top tourist attractions. One of the more famous sightings of the monster occured on July 22, 1933. Mr. and Mrs. George Spicer of London were driving along the Loch Ness Lakeshore Road returning from a holiday in Northern Scotland when their car nearly struck a huge, black long-necked creature. The "prehistoric animal," as Mr. Spicer described it, shambled across the road, slithered through the underbrush, and splashed into the murky Loch. Had the Spicers experienced a rare land encounter with the Loch Ness Monster? To date there have been over 3000 recorded sightings of the celebrity monster, according to cryptozoologist Roy P. Mackal, author of "The Monsters of Loch Ness". This figure may be on the high side, but whatever the figure is, Nessie is certainly one of the most-sighted monsters in the world. Only a month before the Spicer sighting a less-talked about sighting had been reported by James MacIntosh. He was travelling home to Inverness after a fishing trip with his son, also named James. Young James had first sighted the unidentified object, telling his father, "Dad, that's not a boat." "I was concentrating on my driving but I looked over the Loch and I suddenly saw this brown thing with a neck like a giraffe break the surface. It was was an eerie experience. It was swimming quite swiftly at the time," recounted the elder MacIntosh. While the world first learned of a Loch Ness Monster in July, 1933, there had been numerous earlier sightings of a large unidentified creature in the Loch, dating back to St. Columba's oft-mentioned encounter with an unknown creature in the River Ness in 565 A.D. Now with all the popularity of Nessie in the 30's there have been quite a few hoaxes. One insodent involved a couple of teenagers building a raft which looked like Nessie and taking a picture. The picture made them famous but was exposed as a hoax shortly after. One theory on the Loch Ness Monster still holds true today. The theory is that Nessie is a Plesiosaur, a dinosaur which was thought to be extinct along with all the other Dinosaurs. Not only could there be on Monster, but it would make more sense to say that there is a community of Plesiosaurs living in the Loch. Plesiosaurs were air breathing amphibians, which would explain why there have been so many sightings of a sea creature, even on land. Because of numerous sightings, and some good scienific theory, Nessie has built a reputation for being a possible reality.
Sharks, viewed as monsters by most, are just part of the ecosystem and deserve to be treated as any other predator, not as monsters. In the movie "Jaws", a shark is seen terrorizing a small community of people in the heat of Summer. The shark in this movie is a Great White, which nowadays is the largest and most feared shark at up to 15 feet long. However the movie does exaggerate quite a bit, and the shark is made to be 22 feet long, a huge exaggeration by any means. This movie made sharks out to be massive, unthinking maneaters, which in real life is not true. Most people, even now have that same attitude about sharks, which is completey ignorant. Personally, after I saw the movie, I was afraid of the swimming pool, but as I was educated about the subject, I lost my fear completely. A trip to Sea Worldand the Florida Keys, where I swam with sharks proved that I was over that. Most shark attacks happen for some reason, whether it be because the shark confused the surfboard for the underside of a seal, or the bright colours of the man's swimsuit peaked the sharks curiosity. Besides, shark attacks are so few and far between that you are more likely to die from a bee sting than a bite. Very few people actually know what goes on when a shark feeds. Just imagine........a young Californian sea lion splashes about on the surface of the Pacific Ocean but ten metres from it's safehold, a massive rookery of the sea lions all basking on the rockey shores of Northern California. Luckily, the unexperienced sea lion is among a small "raft" of older sea lions, a tactic used by sea lions to ward off predators that go after sole, lone individuals.........and then the young pup strays a little far from the frolicking adults, out into the open waters. The pup looks around, confused as to where everyone has gone. He at once spots the raft, and starts a feeble attempt towards them. Splashing about like a puppy dog walks, the young sea lion inches towards the group of adults, nearly there. Suddenly from behind the pup, a wall of water rises up in the sinister outline of a large shark , it's caudal fin swishing violently from side to side. The pup keeps swimming, but it is no match for the twelve foot long Great White Shark closing in from behind. The shark takes the pup quickly and quietly, closing it's massive jaws and jerking it's head repeatedly. This feeding described was a more passive attack, by the Great White's standards. Usually the first encounter is a massive blow from the snout of the shark or a small bite to get a feel for it's prey. That is also why 90% of shark attack victims survive, humans do not taste as good as a fatty seal and can usually escape after the enitial contact. Even though sharks have the capacity to behave like monsters, they act on instinct alone and do not hunt humans beings purposely.
Monsters, whether they be fictional or not, all have some truth in them. Whether they be real or not all depends in how you see them.