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8/16/18: SEA REX W/ STEVE ALTEN AND KEV BAKER

Ron Patton | August 16, 2018

SEA REX

MONOLOGUE WRITTEN BY CLYDE LEWIS

Over the weekend, Janine and our neighbor decided to get out of the house and go see a movie. We all agreed that we wanted to see The Meg. I remember when the film, Jaws was in theaters, I decided to read the book by Peter Benchley and it was the first book I ever read cover-to-cover in one day. Many of us remember just how much of an impact Jaws had on us, and now Shark Week is a very popular segment on the Discovery Channel and apparently is far better than having sex according to Stormy Daniels, who claimed the President wanted her to watch Shark Week instead of fooling around.

I also thought it was hilarious when I bought my ticket to see The Meg – the guy selling the concessions asked me if I was a “Family Guy” fan and it was then I realized that The Meg was kind of like the idea Peter Griffin had about “Bigger Jaws” – a movie like Jaws except Jaws is threatened by an even bigger Jaws that has to work with Hooper and Captain Quint to fight a common enemy.

There are also those awfully bad Sharknado films that are good for a laugh, even though the thought of a Sharknado is quite terrifying. Tornadoes or waterspouts are too weak to lift sharks into the sky, but they have been known to pick up fish, frogs, and alligators – only to have them rain down in various places.

In fact, fish and frog falls have always been a staple in Fortean investigations into the bizarre and unknown.

Fish falling from the sky and unknown paranormal occurrences on the water have fascinated people for centuries.

Back in 2010, one of the more enjoyable projects I was involved with was a documentary that was called, Return to the Bermuda Triangle. I was flown out to Florida by a production company and while I made a few trips on the water most of what I had to say was from the studios of WFLA. This was long before I was a syndicated talk show host.

I was called upon because of a radio show that I did called, The Haunted Abyss, where I was able to speak about the Bermuda Triangle, Sea Monsters and the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

The television show was an amazing success and two years later I was granted the first interview with Peter Lindberg of the Ocean X team, to discuss the Baltic Sea anomaly.

You may remember that in 2012, The Ocean X Team dove down to a circle-shaped object in the Baltic Sea and met something they never experienced before. First they thought it was just stone or a rock cliff, but after further observations the object appeared more like a huge mushroom, rising 10-13 feet from the seabed, with rounded sides and rugged edges. The object had an egg shaped hole leading into it from the top, as an opening. On top of the object they also found strange stone circle formations, almost looking like small fireplaces. The stones were covered in something resembling soot.

The path to the object itself can be described as a runway or a downhill path that is flattened at the seabed with the object at the end of it. The fascinating thing was that the object resembled the Millennium Falcon from Star wars and there was speculation that what was observed was a USO – an Unidentified Submerged Object.

I can tell you that there is something quite mysterious about the ocean and what may be lurking in the waters below.

We all know that the water dwelling alien Titans spoken of by H.P. Lovecraft are said to be a myth yet their spirits continue to haunt even the most skeptical of explorers. The waters still have many mysteries that lay in wait for those unfortunate enough to become snared in their perilous trappings.

Sailors who have traversed the deep areas where the creatures dwell hold sacred in their hearts what they have seen out in the void alone and sometimes to their sheer terror some of the more horrific secrets unfold and they never live to tell the tale.

Sailing out into the ocean can be compared to going out in space as there is life in the ocean that can be considered bizarre or alien and there are also those bizarre reports of strange craft, lights and sea creatures that get reported every now and again.

Many stories have been buried regarding UFO’s and their relationship to the sea. Their emergence from the liquid medium has gone relatively ignored yet most UFO sightings happen over bodies of water. They descend from the sky and plunge into the sea or the inland lake. This raises the question “Do aliens find refuge in our seas?”

In the book, Atlantis Rising, Brad Steiger speculated that fluid friendly aliens could be traced to inner space. He writes that we may look no farther than Atlantis, the legendary and mysterious Island that sank below the waters to find some of our Alien masters. Atlantis allegedly is situated in the middle of the Atlantic, which is coincidentally a place where vicious Hurricanes develop and many Ocean disasters have taken place.

Hurricanes of course are why the Bermuda or Devils Triangle is a very dangerous place.

It is also a place where scientists have offered many explanations as to why it is so mysterious and nefarious. They have bent over backwards to try and kill the mystery by offering explanations as to why planes and boats have gone missing in the region.

Now science is saying rogue waves happen in the region which may explain why boats have disappeared in there.

Scientists have also been keen into trying to debunk or at least lift the veil of mystery that hovers over Loch Ness is Scotland. Of course, the area is the famous home of Nessie or the Loch Ness monster.

The prospect of the Loch Ness Monster holds people’s’ interests. The Loch Ness monster is a cryptid, a hidden unknown animal, which joins the likes of dragons, yetis, and Bigfoot.

The problem is that the creature has been fortified with a supernatural element to it.

Scientists that are keeping the faith are hoping for something more down to earth. Some even have the idea that a prehistoric plesiosaur is living there.

Sightings have littered the historical record – some are compelling while others have been deemed hoaxes. Critics say it all benefits the tourist industry; however, lately there have been some scientists that are using sophisticated equipment to try and find DNA of the creature –dead or alive.

A Scottish government wing has an actual plan if the Loch Ness Monster is ever discovered. The Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) prepared a plan in 2001, in which they stated was “partly serious, partly fun,” this code of practice was drawn up in the event that a new species was discovered in the Loch. It states that if a DNA sample is taken of the creature it should be released back into the loch afterward.

In recent times, there has been renewed interest in Loch Ness after a group of scientists set out to find out what’s in the lake by using something called environmental DNA or eDNA. An international research team led by University of Otago geneticist Neil Gemmell began collecting water samples from the loch in April of 2018.

By sequencing DNA fragments, they can find what type of species are in Loch Ness. Environmental DNA is a powerful tool for researchers because they can get a genetic footprint of an entire ecosystem all at once.

Many cryptozoologists state that Nessie could be a surviving plesiosaur, which is a marine reptile that lived in lakes some 65 million years ago.

In theaters now is a film called, The Meg, which is by all observations a science fiction movie that deals with a supersized shark called the Megalodon that somehow comes up from the deep ocean to terrify humans.

Megalodons are like the T-Rex of sharks or the Sea Rex, if you pardon the pun.

The megalodon shark is widely regarded as both the largest shark to have ever lived on Earth and one of the largest vertebrate predators in history. Megalodons roamed the seas from around 28 million years ago until 1.6 million years ago, when they were wiped out during the Pleistocene extinction.

But some people are not satisfied with this and are convinced that they might still exist. In fact there are a few videos on YouTube which purport to show sightings of the massive fish.

While most scientists will say that the Meg has died out there have been discoveries of sea creatures that were thought to have died off.

On particular creature is the Coelacanth. The coelacanth is one of the oldest species of fish in the world. It is considered by many to be an actual living fossil.

It was thought to have been extinct since the end of the cretaceous period over 65 million years ago. Fossils of the coelacanth have been found that date back over 350 million years. But, against all odds, in 1938, a fisherman actually caught a live coelacanth off the coast of South Africa.

A second specimen was captured in 1952 off the coast of the Comoros Islands off the eastern coast of Africa near Madagascar. Needless to say, this caused a sensation throughout the scientific community. Since then, live coelacanths have been sighted and photographed many times in the wild.

I remember when I was a kid, I first heard of the discovery from a B- movie called, Monster on the Campus, where the blood of this ancient fish turns animals, insects and people into primitive beasts.

The first megamouth shark was captured on November 15, 1976 about 25 miles off the coast of Kāneʻohe, Hawaii, when it became entangled in the sea anchor of United States Navy ship AFB-14.

The species was identified as being of a new genus within the planktivorous shark species.

Examination of the 14.7-ft, 1,650-lb specimen by Leighton Taylor showed it to be an entirely unknown type of shark, making it – along with the coelacanth – one of the more sensational discoveries in 20th-century.

Once again, this highlights the fact that even relatively big shark species can escape our radar and spend years lurking in the oceans unnoticed.

We’ve only explored 5% of our oceans and less than 1% of the deep waters and there is always a slight chance that a Meg may have escaped extinction by going deeper into the ocean.

There were stories of the Kraken being caught off the coast of New Zealand. There have also been giant squids that have washed up on shores all over the world.

What is most disturbing is that it has been reported that off the San Diego coast, scientists earlier this month recorded all-time high seawater temperatures since daily measurements began in 1916. Measurements off Scripps Pier in San Diego show that the waters there have reached 79.5 degrees Fahrenheit on August 9. This is pushing some creatures closer to shore – and many are dying.

This has also triggered a number of bizarre “globsters” meaning dead underwater creatures that are washing up on shore. Many of them are unidentified and look like classic sea monsters.

Throughout history, people have thought that globsters were the remains of sea serpents, sea monsters or, more recently, dinosaur-era creatures thought to be extinct, such as plesiosaurs.

The remains of the large sea creature washed up on Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Maine. The corpse was about 15 feet long and 4 feet wide and weighed about 500 to 600 pounds.

A massive ‘globster’ washed up on a beach in the Philippines last may. It was huge and had strands of hair attached to it.

Another one washed up on the shores of Russia on August 15th.

Because so many creatures die at sea and so many sea creatures are very massive, their remains only slowly decay or get eaten, and bones can fall away and sink as other parts decompose, meaning that when the remaining parts of the animal wash ashore, they’re often impossible to identify.

However, there are some that have washed ashore that are quietly removed for study as they have unknown origins.

The Canvey Island Monster is the name given to an unusual creature whose carcass washed up on the shores of Canvey Island, Britain in November 1953. A second, more intact, carcass was discovered in August, 1954.

The 1953 specimen was described as being 76cm long with thick reddish brown skin, bulging eyes and gills. It was also described as having hind legs with five-toed, horseshoe shaped feet with concave arches, suggesting it walked on two legs but no forelimbs.

Its remains were cremated after a cursory inspection by zoologists who said that it posed no danger to the public. The 1954 specimen was much larger (120cm) and weighed just over 11.3kg. It was fresh enough for samples to be taken from its eyes, nostrils and teeth, though no official explanation was given at the time as to what it was or what happened to the carcass.

Another strange monster was plastered all over the mainstream media and was dubbed the Montauk Monster. This creature was named after Montauk, New York, where it washed ashore in 2008.

Many have speculated it might be the mutant product of experimentation at the controversial Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Other suggestions have included raccoon, turtle or water rat but the truth is not known because, the carcass vanished before samples were taken.

The Beast of Tenby had the unfortunate appearance of several mangy animals fused together, although, to be fair, it was obviously decomposing.

The bloated creature was found at Tenby in Wales in 2013 by Peter Bailey, and reminded a lot of people of the Montauk Monster.

The creatures make you wonder if author H.P. Lovecraft was right about the alien titans that lurk in the cold depths of the sea.

H.P. Lovecraft wrote about Cthulhu. It was one of the first stories to rise up and speak of a malevolent serpentine extraterrestrial. Cthulhu had a brood that was scattered throughout the earth after Pangea, the time where the continents were connected.

These hideously demonic Titans were half-dragon, half-octipoid and would often find themselves at odds with other alien races that visited this planet. A cataclysmic event took place that wiped out the dinosaurs and sent Cthulhu and his spawn to various underwater dwellings. These dwellings were great stone palaces, which sank beneath the waves trapping the spawn and keeping them in suspended animation.

An earthquake allows Cthulhu to roam the seas again causing slaughter and chaos. After his reign of terror, his island fortress sinks below the surface and Cthulhu sleeps with the promise of his return. His return of terror and bloodshed. His return of disasters that only take place upon the waters.

Of course, Cthulhu is a myth that has entertained many readers since 1926. However a freelance writer from New York has found a coincidence in some little known scientific research. John Vincent Sanders captured my attention when he wrote an article for Fortean Times Magazine called “Titans Below.”

He claimed in his article, that during a Discovery Channel Broadcast called “Creatures of the Abyss” that a mysterious sound had been detected in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between New Zealand and Chile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfsXgcAfzvU&t=387s

I have features these ocean sounds many times on my show – they are quite compelling and makes you wonder about what is out there.

The location of these sounds are coincidentally enough in the same area of the ocean where Lovecraft claimed Cthulhu now sleeps awaiting his revenge on the world.

As we watch a magnificent killing machine like the Megalodon in The Meg, we can once again speculate about what we might be overlooking when we explore the various uncharted places in our world’s oceans.

https://soundcloud.com/groundzeromedia/sea-rex-w-steve-alten-and-kev-baker-august-16-2018

Written by Ron Patton




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