Conference hydra::dejavu

    	I think some major questions to ask are, where did it come from
    originally, are there any "legitimate" photographs of it, or is
    it all a hoax?                             
    
    	Larry
    

.1
    
    Regular readers of this notes file know that I am a strong supporter
    of objective evidence, but lets not let "debunking fever" get in
    the way of meaningful investigation.
    
    You seem to imply that the only two choices are "legitimate"
    photographs or hoax.  Other possibilities include real sightings
    without objective evidence, misperception, misinterpretation, and
    non-deliberate exageration.
    
    From .0 what we have is a large number of at least partially
    independent reported observations.
    
    In an article I read perhaps 10 years ago it was stated that there
    were at that time *no* photographs or film of a real, serious auto
    accident.  Apparently, there were some large, uncollected rewards
    out from newspapers for such photos.  Even if this is not still
    true (or was not true then) I would bet that there are very few such
    photos in existence.  I do not seriously doubt the existence of
    serious auto accidents on that basis (not THAT would be a conspiracy
    theory to end all conspiracy theories).  Brief spontaneous phenomena
    are very hard to photograph.  In my mind a major doubt about the
    photographic evidence for flying saucers is not their scarcity but
    their commoness.
    
    In any case, it is now next to impossible to distinguish "legitimate"
    photographs from good fakes.  National Geographic for example, has
    been taken to task for its habit of doctoring photographs for better
    effect (e.g., removing telephone pole which destroy the sense of
    a primitive dirt road in Africa, extension upward of a headress
    to fit the cover better, or moving Egyption pyramids around to provide
    better "balance").
    
    				Topher

    	I was just playing "Devil's advocate" (not the real Prince of
    Darkness), as I find it to be one of the better ways to get to the
    bottom of an issue to see whether such things are "real" or not.
    
    	I know there are those in here who do not subscribe to the
    scientific method, and tend to go on faith - I guess you could even
    say one can have "faith" in what science reports to the world; but
    until something "bettr" comes along, I prefer to scrutinize the
    "unusual" against the knowledge of this reality.
    
    	Larry
    

    As mentioned in .0, because the article is so long, I don't want
    to enter it in its entirety (sp?), but here are a couple of excerpts...
    
    "....Not only country folk but people of all social classes have
    seen Shuck, including Lady Walsingham---who, with her friend Lady
    Rendlesham, was in Leiston (Suffolk) churchyard towards the end
    of the 19th Century when this beast materialized out of thin air.
    John Stow (1525-1605) wrote an account of this mysterious creature
    in his famous "Annuals".
    
    "Shuck, in his more malevolent forms (article mentions he/she takes
    on many forms/colors -- AFI) or moods, has been known to drag children
    along by their clothes, grip people by the throat, and kill sundry
    persons in spectacular ways.  At Hatfield Peverell (Essex) a driver
    lashed out at him with a whip--whereupon the man, his horse, wagon
    and load were immediately reduced to ashes in a fiery encounter."
    
    "The Black Dog legend has intrigued students of folklore and the
    paranormal to such an extent that he has been the subject of many
    a learned treatise.  Miss Ethel Rudkin has spent some 50 years of
    her life studying this one apparition, which some claim has haunted
    East Anglia for over a thousand years.  She wrote a full-length
    work on him called "The Black Dog"." (I haven't found the book --
    AFI)  
    
    There are two popular beliefs as to the dog's origin.  One is that
    there was a shipwreck off the Norfolk coast which claimed the life
    of the skipper, who was buried in the nearest churchyard, but the
    body of his faithful dog (wolfhound) was buried on the beach.  The
    dog spends eternity searching for his master.
    
    The other is that he was left behind after Viking invasions.  Their
    god was Odin who was himself a cyclops with a one-eyed dog who
    accompanied him everywhere he went.
    
    "Here and there in England you will find a Black Dog Inn, or Dog
    Lane, even Shuck Lane, all named after regular sightings by many
    people.  The word Shuck comes, of course, from the Anglo-Saxon word
    "Soucca", meaning Satan."
    
    "....One account which came to me (author) direct from a middle-aged 
    couple with no knowledge of--or previous interest in--the paranormal 
    was the result of seeing this monstrous, black, dog-like shape with
    glaring red eyes on a roadside near Dedham (Essex), only nine miles
    from where I (author) live.  Their description of what they saw
    was typical of other sightings of which they vowed they had no
    knowledge.  The fact that they went stone cold in a heated car adds
    credibhility to their story...."
    
    Enjoy!
    
    Ann

    	In regards to the man driving a wagon who was burned to ashes
    for whipping Shuck, do they have the ashes, or pictures (sorry),
    or confirmed that this man is missing?  
    
    	Larry
    

    Re .5
    
    I have no knowledge of the "phantom" other than what is presented
    in the article....which was written for those with an interest in
    dogs, not an interest in the paranormal.
    
    I entered the note to see if I could gather more info (perhaps from
    the DEJAVU readership in England?) on the "beast".
    
    Ann

    I know nothing of this legend.  It occurs to me, however, simply
    as a matter of interest, that it may form the basis of the Sherlock
    Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles."  Conan Doyle was,
    as is well known, an active Spiritualist and folklorist.
    
    					Topher