Bilk - no 002 - 1985 05

Magazine Overview

This is BILK magazine number two, published bi-monthly in May 1985 and edited by Ulrich Magin. The subscription cost is £3 for Europe and $5 for the USA. The newsletter focuses on reports of water monsters and other unusual sightings.

BEHEMOTH:

The section on "BEHEMOTH" discusses sightings in Loch Ness. In the winter of 1984/85, a seal was observed multiple times in Loch Ness. The editor, Rip Hepple, believes the duration of these sightings (several minutes) argues against the theory that a seal caused the confusion in 1933. However, Ulrich Magin, after reviewing contemporary reports from the Inverness Courier and The Times in 1933/34, suggests that a seal might have been the original stimulus for the 1933 sightings. He notes that the 1933 sightings were daily, lasted for hours, and the creature's course was followed, suggesting more than just a brief seal encounter. Magin claims that a seal in the thirties could have created the legend, leading to subsequent sightings being misidentifications of wakes, otters, or birds, though he doesn't dismiss the possibility of a real monster.

Lake monsters from Canada and the USA are mentioned in relation to Fortean Times issue 43. In the summer of 1976, Swiss TV placed a model monster in Lake Lucerne, generating worldwide interest. Before the hoax was announced, other individuals reported seeing a monster. Speedboat driver Josef Ulrich claimed to have seen the monster in autumn 1975, and two German divers reported seeing one underwater in spring 1976. The article cites Welt (6.9.76) and Süddeutsche Zeitung (30.8.76) for these reports, questioning how earlier sightings could exist if the 1976 event was a definite hoax.

ISIS:

This section covers reports of mermaids. On October 29, 1984, German Radio station SWF 3 reported on Chinese press-hoaxes, including a report about a mermaid allegedly photographed in a Chinese mountain lake. The date of this Chinese report was not specified. Fortean Times 43, p.35, is cited for a mermaid sighting near Macapá, Brazil, in 1984. The editor expresses skepticism, comparing belief in mermaids to belief in the Easter Rabbit.

LEVIATHAN:

Reports of sea serpents are detailed here. In the summer of 1974, a sea serpent was reportedly seen off New Zealand. Men from a Japanese fishing boat in Australia claimed they saw a sea monster chasing fish near New Zealand about three years prior, but did not report it at the time for fear of being considered strange (Daily Telegraph, 26.7.77). The article also notes that three years before that, other seamen saw a 'marine monster' in the same area, described as resembling a plesiosaur (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 26.7.77). Sea monsters were also reported in that area in 1971 and 1973, and a basking shark caught in April 1977 was claimed by the Japanese to be a plesiosaur. The author wishes to know the source of the two 1974 reports for better description.

Two seaserpent strandings are mentioned from Nessletter 68: one in Bombay in 1819 and another in Laredo, Spain, in 1833. The description of the Laredo stranding is noted as sounding similar to a leatherback turtle, although no carapace was mentioned.

KRAKEN:

This section discusses giant octopuses and other large marine creatures. A 200-foot stingray is said to sink ships in the Philippines, with details in Fortean Times 43. The author humorously questions why tabloids focus on sea serpents when stories of giant swimming donkies might be more interesting.

In August 1936, a young British pupil named Selwyn Guy Phillips was diving for sea-urchins near the island of Lerin in Cannes, France, when he was attacked and nearly drowned by a giant octopus. Captain Anthony Dudley, a swimming instructor, intervened and killed the octopus with a small knife. The Neue Mannheimer Zeitung (25.8.1936) called it 'giant', but no exact size was given, leaving it unclear if it was a true monster or an ordinary cephalopod. The newspaper cited a London newspaper from August 22, 1936, as its source, but the author could not find the report in The Times. The author asks if anyone has more information.

A giant octopus reportedly killed a fisherman near the Philippine island of Cebu. The victim was found with sucker scars on his arms (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 25.10.1979). Several other giant octopus sightings from Indonesia are mentioned, but again, no size is provided.

MARINE LIFE:

A 20-foot white shark is reported to have killed a female swimmer on the South Australian coast, biting her in two pieces. Only a rubber fin was recovered. A fisherman witness described it as 'the most horrible thing I've seen in all my life.'

MARINE MYSTERIES:

An aeroplane reportedly fell into the sea off Brighton, observed by many witnesses. Despite the shallow water at the supposed crash site, no remains were found. The author draws a parallel to stories from the Bermuda Triangle, suggesting that the phenomenon extends to England and should perhaps be called the 'Brighton-Triangle' (The Times, 13.1.1934).

• Several Unidentified Submerged Objects (USOs) are listed:
• April 1939: An unidentified submarine was seen by fishermen and police in Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada. Officials later stated it was a trawler (Neue Mannheimer Zeitung, 24.4.39; Frankfurter Zeitung, 22.4.39).
• July 1, 1976: A Norwegian trawler, the 'Sjoevik', caught an USO in its net in the Barents Sea. After being pulled at high speed, an unmarked submarine surfaced, and its crew cut the trawl wire caught in the net. The Times (15.7.1976) suggests it was probably Soviet.
• August 1976: Near Tsushima, Japan, two trawlers reported a similar incident, described as a repetition of the Norwegian trawler's experience. The USO was probably Soviet (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27.8.76).
• March 15, 1983: Off Bornholm, Baltic Sea, a German trawler experienced the same incident as the previous two, with an USO and a surfaced unmarked submarine (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 16.3.83).

END!

The editor, Ulrich Magin, requests readers to send in new sightings found in the press or books to his address in Mutterstadt, West Germany.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue of BILK Magazine are the investigation of alleged monster sightings, particularly aquatic ones, and the critical examination of these reports. The editor, Ulrich Magin, displays a skeptical yet open-minded stance, often questioning the veracity of reports, suggesting natural explanations like seals or misidentifications, and highlighting instances of hoaxes (like the Swiss TV model). He also expresses a preference for unusual or even whimsical stories, as seen in his comment about 'swimming donkies'. The magazine encourages reader participation by soliciting new sightings, indicating a collaborative approach to collecting and analyzing such phenomena. There is a consistent effort to cross-reference reports with newspaper articles and other publications, demonstrating a commitment to journalistic investigation within the realm of Fortean phenomena.