In Pure Spirit

For open minds

Using Google to track cryptids

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The travel site Next Vacay has used what people search for to work out where in the world we might see cryptids.

How? Here’s what they say;

We utilized our keyword tool to identify countries and states which had high levels of search volume in relation to these cryptids, as well as associated terms ([Cryptid] Real, [Cryptid] sightings, [Cryptid]. For each cryptid, we divided the search volume by the country’s population, which provided us with the country that had the highest search volume per capita. A limitation present in this study is that we were unable to look into each country’s search volume for cryptids in their native language. Additionally, we could not consider every local variation of the cryptid’s name. The country with the highest search volume for each cryptid was avoided, as only a couple of countries dominated due to the size of their population.

Cryptids of the world

Using Google to track cryptids

There are some weird stats and Next Vacay noticed that California gets a lot of people searching vampires whereas Georiga looks for mermaids and worryingly Texas focuses on chupacabra.

Where in the world are Banshee?

Where in the world are Elves?

Where in the world are Werewolves?

Where in the world are Unicorns?

Where in the world are Mermaids?

Where in the world are Fairies?

Where in the world are Vampires?

Where in the world are Yeti?

Where in the world are Leprechaun?

Where in the world are Chupacabras?

Where in the world are Bunyip?

Where in the world are Jumbee?

Where in the world are Kappa?

Where in the world are Kraken?

Where in the world are Ningen?

Where in the world are Wendigo?

Where in the world are Bigfoot?

In Pure Spirit

What do you make of the work? A useful tool or just a marketing stunt?

Steve Alten interview: Where is Megalodon hiding?

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Steve Alten is the author of the hugely popular Meg series. The fictional series starts when Navy deep-sea submersible pilot Jonas Taylor encounters a Carcharodon megalodon while exploring the infamous Mariana trench. He barely survives the encounter but then has to warn a sceptical world that the 70-foot shark is real.

The latest book in the series, Meg: Nightstalkers, deals with the nightmare scenario of escaped megalodons and other ancient monsters making their way free.

In Pure Spirit is really lucky. Steve’s made time to answer some of our Carcharodon megalodon questions. Buckle up and read on!

Q. Some folk like to hope that Carcharodon megalodon survives as a species. Why do you think that is? Isn’t a strange thing to hope for?

Not at all. Just as visitors would come to a Jurassic World, they’d love to witness the most vicious predator ever to have lived … albeit from a safe distance.

Q. Do you think the Mariana trench has any real surprises left for us?

It’s all new. This is a 40 mile wide, 1550 mile long unexplored realm. The latest exploration found hydrothermal vents (as I predicted 20 years ago) and an albino “ghost shark!”

Q. You must have been subjected to dozens of survival theories from fans since you started writing Meg. Which have been the most memorable ones?

I favor the rise of Orca as the most likely theory which resulted in the Megs disappearance. An orca is no match for a Meg, but killer whales hunt in pods, and a pack could easily kill a lone Meg. Orca hunt along shorelines and would have decimated Megalodon nurseries. The only escape for adults would have been to inhabit deeper waters where the whales could not access. Could Megalodon still be alive without us knowing it? Absolutely. We’ve only explored 5% of the oceans and less than 1% of the deep…

Q. How do you keep up with science and the real world mysteries of the deep oceans?

I research every novel thoroughly to flesh out the story. Plus I answer every email personally, which introduces me to experts far smarter than myself.

Q. Which other deep water stories are you tempted to explore?

The LOCH takes on Loch Ness, VOSTOK explores the subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and The OMEGA PROJECT takes us to our planet 12 million years in the future…so I’ve  been tempted and went there! Check it out at www.SteveAlten.com.

Very weird: Monsterous Kappa rises from the river

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A Kappa is a Japanese water goblin or demon. It’s name means River-child and a local would describe it as a Yokai.

This Kappa is at home in the pond at Tsujikawayama Park near Fukusaki in Hyogo Prefecture. The head of the beast is important; Kappa’s have power while their hairless patch is filled with water.

Some consider Kappa also to be cryptids. As a cryptid it means there might actually be river-creatures not yet documented by science, that fit the Kappa description, living in Japan.

In Pure Spirit

What Kappa myths and legends do you know? Share them in the comments below and discuss with other readers.

Tempted by a holiday in Japana? Sites like Kuoni offer package deals and Expedia has a range of Tokyo breaks.

(Via Rocket News 24)

Is this video evidence of a weird monster in the Mekong River?

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Is this the Mekong Monster?

The Mekong is a large river; the 7th-longest in Asia that crawls into Thailand where this video was filmed. The name comes from “Mae Man Khong, a term similar in Thai and Lao, which means mother river or mother water. Only the Amazon has more animals per cubic foot and the river is home to a hugely diverse range of life.

Is this a monster though?

In Pure Spirit

What do you make of the video? Odd? Monster? Or just some local animals and some trash?

Now you’ve seen this video are you tempted to back your bags, grab a flight to Bangkok, forget about the political violence in the news today and enjoy a holiday in Thailand?

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology

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Created by Vladimir Stankovic this book charts a range of mysterious animals; these creatures are part of myth and legend but there is no strong evidence for their existence.

The word “cryptozoology” means the “study of hidden animals”, combining zoology with the Greek root “kryptos” or “hidden”. The book was created as part of a master thesis project at the University of Lapland. Sadly, it’s not something you can pick up at Amazon.

I think there’s some traditional European monsters in here along with new world horrors too.

Loch Ness Monster

Mothman

Sea Serpents

Storsjoodjuret

Thunderbird

Yeti

Buru

Chupacabra 2

Dover Demon

Gigantic Octopus

Gloucester Sea Serpent

Jersey Devil

Kongamato

In Pure Spirit

Which is your favourite illustrated cryptid from the collection above?

Mystery giant eyeball washes up on beach

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A huge eyeball from some unknown creature has washed ashore on a beach in Floria.

A man walking on Pompano beach in Florida found the eyeball on Wednesday and wisely reported it to the Flordia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Commission told Huffington Post how odd the discovery was;

“This is definitely an unusual situation, where an eye would be found independent of any other body part.”

The eyeball is large enough that it only just fits in the palm of two hands. It may befrom a whale or a giant squid – but no one is sure.

In Pure Spirit

Do you think this eye has come from an animal we’re already familiar with? What’s your theory? Shark attack on a whale?

Is this Bigfoot?

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We’re used to blurry images of shapes behind trees or highly unlikely looking humanoids when it comes to photographs of Bigfoot. Sometimes the most realistic and believable photographs turn out to be part of a clever viral marketing campaign.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at this photograph.

The photographer is unnamed (but not unknown) and a game trapper from Alberta. A woman, who wasn’t at the scene when the photograph was taken, called Penny and a friend of the trapped uploaded the image to Facebook. She denies this is some sort of escaped gorilla.

“I know this person. They are a dogsledder and would in no way be the type to try to fool around with fake pictures. They actually think it’s a bear and cub but for some reason they only have one photo. Strange.”

In Pure Spirit

Bear? Gorilla?

Hoax?

What are your thoughts on this photograph? If this isn’t Bigfoot – could this photograph perhaps explain why people sometimes mistake bears for Bigfoot?

New photograph of the Loch Ness monster

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A new photograph of what might be the Loch Ness monster has been published. The photograph shows an animal-like hump, with ripples that seem to suggest a turn, in the otherwise fairly still waters of Loch Ness.

There is a catch. The photograph was taken by George Edwards – who has hunted Nessie for 26 years and holds tours. Now, if anyone is going to be able to take a photograph of the Loch Ness monster then it’ll be someone like Edwards who is out on the waters, with a camera ready, more than anyone else. However, as Edwards isn’t a neutral – people will suggest his account his bias.

In the British newspaper, The Daily Mail, he says;

“It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey colour. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away but it’s difficult to tell in water… I’m convinced I was seeing Nessie as I believe in these creatures. Far too many people have being seeing them for far too long.”

“The first recorded sighting was in 565AD and there have been thousands of eye witness reports since then… All these people can’t be telling lies. And the fact the reports stretch over so many years mean there can’t just be one of them. I’m convinced there are several monsters.”

In Pure Spirit

Do you think there is something in Loch Ness? Is it hundreds of years old or are there a family of them? Surely we’d have a better photograph by now.

Unknown sea creature or intestines?

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The video above shows a creature discovered during works in the docks in Kiel, Germany. It was captured and brought to the IFM-Geomar-Institute.

It’s not clear what the creature is. Many on YouTube suggest it looks like intestines with connective tissue but that doesn’t explain why the “creature” continues to move in the bucket or even why it needed to be captured. Others suggest it’s a type of Hagfish.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Is this is a creature… what could it be?

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This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth, science and faith combine here. So do editorials and technology; In Pure Spirit uses affiliate marketing and some links might earn us money. You can read more about that here.

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