BILK

Magazine Overview

This issue of BILK, number 73, published bi-monthly by Ulrich Magin from Rastatt, Germany, focuses on the September 1996 period. The primary themes explored are 'Behemoth' and 'Leviathan', with a significant portion dedicated to reports of cryptid sightings and related phenomena.

Behemoth

The 'Behemoth' section details numerous new sightings of the Loch Ness Monster. These include:

• September 1995: Rob Naylor photographed an object, described as fuzzy, opposite Urquhart Castle.
• March 1, 1996: John Northcote observed a moving 'large brown mass' at Loch Ness.
• March 14, 1996: Gary Campbell observed a 'black hump' at Abriachan, leading to the founding of the Loch Ness Monster Fan Club.
• April 9, 1969: A black hump was observed by tourists near Fort Augustus, which was identified by Rip Hepple as likely a boat wake.
• May 1995 (or before): Jonathan Murphy and a film crew, while shooting a commercial with a Nessie dummy, spotted and filmed 'something a bit spooky' in the loch, though the film itself showed nothing.
• June 13, 1996: Dave and Kathie Munro, along with 16 others, witnessed 'a wave moving at great speed across Foyers Bay'.

The issue also reports on the Lake Tianchi monster in China. A video-tape was shot in the summer of 1994. In August 1996, additional information emerged regarding sightings and expeditions. Strange creatures, reminiscent of Nessie, are said to inhabit the 200-meter deep Lake Tianchi. An international expedition was planned for August 1996 to investigate. Photographer Wang Ying reportedly snapped four creatures on July 4, 1996, which China's official news agency Xinhua described as dinosaur-like, frolicking and creating waves up to two meters high. Local authorities have compiled sighting reports dating back to the beginning of the century.

Brief notes include a mention of the 'Drachenstich' festival in Furth im Wald, Germany, where a dragon model is killed annually, and the founding of a new 'Nessie Fan Club' by Kathy and Gary Campbell. Sightings of a 'Monster in a gorge in China's Hubei province' and the 'Lake Van Monster' are also briefly noted. Additionally, an allegation that a surgeon's photo of Nessie is a fake is refuted.

Leviathan

This section focuses on sea serpents. Francois de Sarre contributed an article from the Berlin magazine 'Challenge', concluding that a strange, half-digested carcass found inside a sperm whale's stomach at Naden Harbour, British Columbia, in 1937, was a true and unidentified sea serpent. De Sarre posits it was a mammal, unlike the Canadian authorities' classification.

The 'Malaysia' subsection notes a similar situation where Malaysian fishermen caught a semi-decomposed carcass of a sea serpent off Langkawi in May 1996. Malaysian scientists identified it as a killer whale. Karl Shuker, however, concluded that based on details of the fins, its identity could not be definitively determined.

News on recent 'Caddy-sightings' is also referenced.

Kraken

A brief mention of expeditions fishing for giant squids is included, referencing The INFO Journal.

USO

Further articles on UFOs over Inverness and the Moray Firth are mentioned, with reference to the Inverness Courier and Andreas Trottmann's Loch Ness Newsclipping Service.

Marine Life

This section covers various marine phenomena:

• Porpoises attacking dolphins: This story was widely reported in the German press after being covered in the August edition of Kosmos.
• Dolphins saving a tourist: Dolphins reportedly saved an English tourist from a shark attack in Israel.
• Shark panic: A shark panic occurred along the Italian Adriatic coast after fishermen observed gigantic, 15ft long sharks. Officials later explained these were mistaken observations of sunfish, though a shark of that size would likely have been a harmless basking shark.

Brief Notes:

• Lake Constance, Germany: A pelican, not usually found in Germany, appeared on the lake in August 1996, possibly escaped from a zoo or found its way from southern Europe.
• Venice, Italy: The city is described as having about a dozen islands where buildings have sunk, creating a 'mini-Atlantis' of submerged ruins. The Consorzio Venezia Nuova is working to locate these ruins, and expert Luigi Fozzati has created an archaeological map of the lagoon. Finds include an ancient abbey on the lost island of San Marco, Bronze Age artifacts, and Roman ruins.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the persistent reports and investigations into large, unidentified aquatic creatures (cryptids) such as the Loch Ness Monster and sea serpents. The magazine appears to present various eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence, and expert analyses, while also acknowledging skeptical explanations like boat wakes or misidentifications. The editorial stance seems to be one of open inquiry into these phenomena, presenting information from multiple sources and encouraging further investigation, as evidenced by the mention of expeditions and fan clubs. The inclusion of UFO and other unexplained phenomena suggests a broader interest in the anomalous.