The Ogopogo “Lake Monster”

Treatment of these eyewitness testimonies of the Canadian

cryptid named “Ogopogo”, resembles many of the reactions

some people have to the ropen or duwas sightings in Papua

New Guinea, or the Sasquatch sightings of North America.

Evidence in the form  of eyewitness testimony is all too

often treated as if it were non-evidence, unfortunately.

It’s common practice for many major documen-

tary producers to either ignore the possibility of

living pterosaurs or dinosaurs or to treat unortho-

dox sightings as if unreliable,  simply because

what is  described seems  to be a dinosaur or a

pterosaur. A recent episode of “Proof Positive” ended with a conclusion that was surprising only

to those who are not aware of this tendency for

standard models to dominate media productions.

 

It was admirable that they featured several eye-

witness testimonies involving some dramatic

sightings on Lake Okanagan in Canada. It was

also interesting to see several strange breaking

waves surrounded  by calm water on the lake.

When the footage was analyzed by a forensic

videographer, however, it seems that the eye-

witness testimony was mostly ignored. These

video segments were taken out of context, as

if there were no eyewitnesses of the lake mon-

ster known as Ogopogo.

 

Of course, with a name like “Proof Positive”, it

would be expected that the producers or writers

were looking for irrefutable evidence. It may

be, however, that standard model philosophy,

which is treated as if it were scientific fact, in

the media and in many classrooms in America,

is playing a part in how these investigations

are done by the major documentary producers.

 

This television program ended with a limited

analytical reasoning on the videos of the large

waves. One of the questionable assumptions

used in coming to their conclusions was that

for unusual waves to be relevant to the investi-

gation, they need to show the continuous move-

ment of one large creature that moves quickly

near the surface for a period of time. Whales

and other large oceanic creatures don’t always

move this way. Neither are they always found

as lone individuals. Why would Ogopogo be

very different in behavior? Why should the

producers of Proof Positive use such strange

assumptions?

 

The main point in the program’s side of the case

(for doubting the existence of a large unknown

creature living in the lake) appeared to be in the

hands of one  forensic videographer  who had

analyzed some of the video footage of waves on

the lake. This expert did not seem to have done

any analysis of eyewitness testimony. He did not

seem to have been involved with any analysis of

the underwater sonar sightings that seemed to be

credible evidence for one large creature moving

in the depths of the lake. He only analyzed some

of the video footage, most of which was of major

wave action surrounded by calm water. He did

not find evidence for one lone creature in any

continuous swimming activity just beneath the

surface of the lake. That was it.

 

Some important points that were not taken into

account in this Proof Positive episode:

 

   1) The Ogopogo phenomenon may very

       well be of a group of creatures, rather

       than just one lone individual.

   2) Waves do not need continuous energy

        input in order to continue existing.

   3) Wind over the surface of a lake creates

        moderate to large areas of small ripples,

        not a very small area of a few large waves.

   4) All evidence should be considered if we

        seek to draw an objective conclusion.

   5) The question should be: “Is a large un-

        known creature(s) living in this lake?”,

        not “Does this video footage show any

        continuous monster activity right here.”

 

Each of the above points is relevant either to the

program-side or the cryptozoologist-side. The

presentation by Proof Positive is not objective

research to try to explain this phenomenon, but

may be  an attempt to protect  standard-model

philosophy that is threatened by evidence.

 

Fortunately smaller producers are more likely to

dare to consider unconventional possibilities and

hopefully take a more objective position in both

presenting and  especially evaluating evidence.

Ogopogo on Proof Positive

Considering the question, “Is there one or more

large, scientifically unclassified/unacknowledged

creatures living in Lake Okanagan?”, what does

an objective evaluation of the evidence suggest?

The evidence presented on Proof Positive is in

three types:

 

   1) Eyewitness testimony

   2) Underwater sonar findings

   3) Video, photos, and home movie footage

 

Although not all of these evidences gave solid

support to an affirmative answer, many of them

very much did so. Nothing in the program gave

any valid reason to disbelieve in the creature(s).

 

By setting aside the irrelevant circumventions

of the producers,  an objective analysis of the

evidences suggests an unusual large creature

or creatures live in this lake.  Ancient legends

of “Ogopogo” may lend credence to this.

 

What about the expert’s analysis of the waves?

One of his assumptions is that there is either one

large creature or none. He does not consider the

possibility of several of them together. This has

led him to dismiss one or more of the videos as

not supporting the “monster” case. His idea of

wind and swimming fish together, as being one

possible cause of a few large waves, is hard to

imagine reasonably. Not only is it not natural

for wind to be concentrated in the way shown

on the video, it would not be natural for fish

to be found at that precise location, swimming

in the same direction, reinforcing such action.

 

To those who have observed rivers and lakes,

these waves are made  by either  *boat wake

or by some large object just  under the surface.

Wind may cause a moderate to large area of

a lake  to have ripples or small waves, but not

an extremely limited area to have just two or

three large breaking waves. (*No boats were

in the area at the time of videotaping.)

 

It is much more reasonable to conclude there

was one or more large creatures that either just

broke the surface or were near the surface, and

that their activity caused the wave action. It is

not important that a creature may not have been

swimming quickly at one location, just beneath

the surface, for a considerable period of time.

 

The theory that the wave action was caused by

one or more large aquatic creatures is entirely

consistent with the eyewitness testimony. More

than one person who has seen “Ogopogo” on

the surface of Lake Okanagan, has described it

in terms of a very large creature.

Ogopogo more objectively

Cryptozoology and living

dinosaurs and pterosaurs

Ogopogo is not the only candidate for being a

living dinosaur. Several areas in Africa, South

American, and the Southwest Pacific may be

remote enough to harbor dinosaurs and ptero-

suars sufficiently to make any major discovery

by Westerners difficult. Not only is this a real

possibility, but numerous reports point to this

extraordinary idea as being feasible.

 

If these dinosaurs and pterosaurs are still alive,

why haven’t scientists brought this to light? Is

there any valid reason that such an incredible

thing as “living dinosaurs and pterosaurs” has

not been proven by early in the 21st Century?

 

First, we need to remember that when many

people in  developed  countries mention the

word “science”, they often mean one or more

of the standard models of Western science.

An example: General Theory of Evolution,

also known as Universal Common Ancestry.

Not all scientists follow the standard models.

Some have no confidence in them.

 

Second, funding for major expeditions usually

comes from organizations that are aligned with

standard model philosophy. They don’t usually

have any inclination to hunt dinosaurs.

 

With many people in third world countries,

however, Western standard models are not a

consideration. People report what they see.

What we would call dinosaur or pterosaur,

people in undeveloped countries call Mokele-

Mbembe or ropen. What may be an aquatic

dinosaur, some call Ogopogo.

http://www.livepterosaur.com/ogopogo

The producers of Proof Positive

are to be commended for what

evidence was presented on the

Ogopogo phenomenon. Much

eyewitness testimony gave us

a idea about what may live in

this lake. We should consider

the possibility  that what the

witnesses describe, may be

a colony of aquatic creatures

that include large individuals.