The Ghost Picture of 2003

2003's big Ghost Picture story came from England. A surrealist shot of a figure clad in medieval attire standing by a castle door sent a chill down the spine of viewers all over the world. While old hands in the paranormal community sat back and waited for the inevitable others enthused that here finally was some proof of a haunting.

Someone in the scientific community will present evidence that Bigfoot, the Loch Ness, Monster, the Chaupbra, or another object of Cryptozoological interest is non-existent. This will be followed almost immediately by a spate of news items calling this evidence non-existent and the battle rages on.

>From the BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3096839.stm) July 27, 2003

BBC 'proves' Nessie does not exist

A BBC team says it has shown there is no such thing as the Loch Ness monster.
Using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to ensure that none of the loch was missed, the team surveyed the waters said to hide Scotland's legendary tourist attraction but found no trace of the monster
The article describes a special that ran on the BBC network documenting their hunt and subsequent finding that there was no Loch Ness monster.

Immediately cryptozoologists pointed out several problems with the investigation, which had relied heavily on sonar. Sonar is not only difficult to read at the depths seen in Loch Ness but they also pointed out that the loch is known for its caves, which would have defied this particular type of equipment.

Again according to the article: "Previous reported sightings of the beast led to speculation that it might be a plesiosaur, a marine reptile which died out with the dinosaurs."
Both the article and the documentary special bring up the plesiosaur theory. The documentary narrows the field until they allow only the plesiosaur as a plausible explanation for the sightings other than misidentified natural phenomena. Once they have discounted all other creature theories, and then explained the sonar tests they have conducted, the narrator finally dismisses the plesiosaur also, since...well, the creature does not act like this particular marine dinosaur. It seems they attempted to hold up only one possibility merely to be all the more able to knock the theory down. Since they have declared Nessie must be, if anything, a plesiosaur, but can find nothing that acts the way they theorize a plesiosaur would behave their finding is that everyone who has seen something unidentified in those waters must be mistaken. That no human being has ever seen this particular specimen of marine reptile, that we have only fossil records of them, and that we have only a general idea of how they behaved, mated, raised their young, or breathed underwater, apparently does not bother those who produced the documentary. Dinosaur or not witnesses continue to spot something odd in waters of Loch Ness and whatever it is that prowls the loch, it has always lived by it's own rules.


Safe prediction: There will be a new conspiracy theory for the coming year.

Conspiracy theories for 2003-too many to count.

2003 was a banner year for Conspiracy theories for a few reasons. John Kennedy was killed in 1963 making the third year of the new millennium the 40th anniversary of the slaying of a president. While the 9/11 shock began to wear off the threat of terrorism loomed large in the nation's fears. When troops were dispatched to Iraq, many in the U.S. felt that not only were their questions about the war unanswered, but that they were socially penalized for even asking them. All of the factors and many more, combined to make even keeping up with all the new theories almost impossible.
Kennedy
While very little new information has emerged about that day in Dallas, new ideas of what might have happened and what might have been done to prevent the tragedy are constantly being brought forth. Several new books were published in 2003, as well as several documentaries that dealt with theories that have been around since the assassination, as well as a few new ones. Rumors that had previously only been whispered about, or muttered under a theorist's breath now were spoken out loud and in some cases like the book Deep Politics and the Death of JFK by Peter Dale Scott found new life in a well researched, serious minded retelling.
Perhaps feeling stymied in discussing modern day questions in the area of politics two Television channels went out on limb with stories about past cover-ups. CBS was brought to task by the GOP, and friends and family of Ronald Reagan when a mini-series they had produced brought up the possibility that the former President had developed Alzheimer's while still in the Whitehouse. CBS insisted that it's decision to pull the mini-series, which might be ran later on cable, was not caving in to these pressures, but due to problems with the production itself. The History channel also snagged unexpected controversy when it ran its series on JFK assassination conspiracy speculation. While the possibility that Lyndon Baines Johnson may have been involved in a plot against Kennedy had been mentioned before this series went into detail regarding many allegations made against Johnson before and after that day in Dallas. Following the first run of the series the Johnson family, friends and supports were adamant in demanding the story not be aired again. They requested, as had the Regan family that the series be pulled from any further broadcasts. Instead unlike CBS the History channel placed a disclaimer before each commercial stating that that the program did-not-necessary-reflect-the-ideas-and-opinions-of-the-management.

Old controversies may have found new life on television, but new political deductions and accusations starved for airtime have found a life-support system on the Internet. Theories regarding the current administration, UFO cover-ups, and mysterious deaths that can't find prime time dot the landscape of the information highway.

Shadow Government and other Conspiracies: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/agencies.html
Bilderberg Group Conspiracy and other theories: http://www.crystalinks.com/conspiracy.html
Modern Conspiracy: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Higdon111401/higdon111401.html
Cable T.V. has also waded in on the Conspiracy topic: http://www.techtv.com/techtv/index.html/


Prediction: A few hundred Urban Legends will pop-up and take unsuspecting people for a ride.

You hear from a friend that her other best friend's uncle's neighbor had a bizarre situation happen to her. The story seems to be so unusual or unlikely that it can't be true. Then you hear that it happened to someone else, then another--so it must be true right? New Urban Legends used to crop up about three or four times a decade. Now the rate seems to be about half a dozen a month.

My favorite for last year was this one found at snopes.com:

The ACLU is seeking to have cross-shaped headstones removed from federal cemeteries.
The only joy that can be had when someone sends you an email that you know contains bad information is watching to see who will take the bait and turn purple with unnecessary rage. As the article http://snopes.com/politics/religion/cemetery.asp explains this rumor that found it's way into the emails of so many is false.
A new show on Urban Legends is apparently familiar with the snopes site. In mid-2003 the show ran a brief recounting of one story from the sites Lost Legend Section. Apparently they did not read through the disclaimer from that section of stories.
These legends aren't really lost -- we've known where they were the whole time! We created The Repository of Lost Legends (TRoLL for short) for those of you who don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. If you have a taste for the unusual and arcane (and can suspend your disbelief just a little), sample some of these precious gems.

If you are stuck in a job you don't enjoy for another year don't feel too sorry for yourself, at least you weren't this cable channel shows fact checker. For the record Mr. Ed was a horse...of course.

So, taking a walk through the memory lane for 2003 should leave you prepared for all the fun events fate has scheduled for 2004.

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