TWO German tourists who say they have taken a photo of a Tasmanian tiger have returned to the state in a bid to prove the images are legitimate.

A relative of the couple previously tried to sell the photos to Melbourne's The Age newspaper for about $20,000.

The pair have supplied the pictures to the Sunday Tasmanian for nothing, but they still want to be paid $1000 if the images are published interstate.

Experts, including the Sunday Tasmanian's chief photographer Leigh Winburn, have cast doubts over the authenticity of the blurry pictures because:

- The images are blurred despite being taken by an auto-focus camera.

- There is a discrepancy with the dates on the image and that of other images on the same camera.

- The images are very reminiscent of a famous thylacine photograph taken in the 1930s.

The experts say current software packages mean such images can be made quite easily.

But Klaus Emmerichs and Birgit Jansen stand by their claim, saying they took the photos while in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park on February 3 last year.

The German couple confided in thylacine enthusiast Col Bailey about where they say they took the photographs.

Mr Bailey visited the site last week and said he would now begin a thorough investigation.

"I'm 50/50 on this," Mr Bailey said. "But I'm not about to discount it."

Mr Emmerichs and Ms Jansen returned to Tasmania last week and want to try to capture digital video images of a thylacine to prove their photos are legitimate.

Their photographs were at the centre of a storm of controversy last year when they were presented to The Age.

They say they flew to Tasmania from Melbourne on February 1 and caught a bus to Cradle Mountain.

They were keen to walk Tasmania's legendary Overland Track but found that they were ill-prepared for such a changeable and dramatic climate.

On a freezing and wet evening they abandoned the track and headed back to the warmth and comfort of Cradle Mountain Lodge.

The next day they had a Budget hire car brought to the lodge and late in the afternoon headed for Zeehan.

They slept in the car on the side of the road.

On the morning of February 3 they started touring the West Coast.

At about 7.30pm, after a long day driving, they decided to find somewhere to park their car and sleep.

They found a dirt road and pulled off to the side.

"We wanted to eat something and she [Birgit] must have water, we wanted to sleep there," Mr Emmerichs said.

Mr Emmerichs said he could hear running water and walked down an embankment about 20m to a creek.

There he saw an animal he said he had never seen before.

"I see him running, there was a log over the creek, he came snuffling along the ground," Mr Emmerichs said.

A similar snuffling was coming from behind the log and Mr Emmerichs said he believed it may have been another one of the creatures.

"The same noise was coming from near the fallen tree," he said. "I turned the camera on and it makes a noise when I turn it on and his head went up, I made one shot and then I take a second shot and he goes off in the bush.

"It was only about 30 seconds."

Mr Emmerichs said he went and got Birgit to look.

"It was an animal I never see before, so I got her and she came down to the water but then I thought the animal could be angry, it could be violent, if he have young," he said.

He said they then returned to the car and looked at the photographs.

"We decide not to sleep there any more," he said. "We drove to Zeehan and slept in the car."

The couple said they then spent another two weeks in Tasmania touring.

"We saw a picture on the Cascade beer of the tiger but we did not know it was so important directly, we thought it might be rare," he said.

They then flew out of the state and holidayed in Port Douglas before returning to Melbourne to fly back home to Germany.

While in Melbourne they visited Mr Emmerichs' brother, who has been living in Australia since the 1970s.

"I showed him all the photographs and he was very surprised, he said it was the Tasmanian tiger, 100 per cent, he got some books and showed us the pictures," Mr Emmerichs said.

Mr Emmerichs' brother had a friend in the media who suggested the Germans go to a lawyer.

A contract was made between the Germans and The Age to run the photographs subject to them being assessed for authenticity.

The contract is believed to have been for about $20,000.

Mr Emmerichs said he was never interested in money and in fact the couple flew out of the country leaving their brother to handle negotiations.

Mr Emmerichs returned to work in his mattress business in Kamp-Lintfort in Germany, near the Netherlands border.

"I gave my brother permission to act for us because he was here and could speak better English," he said.

Word about the pictures broke.

And in a mesmerising piece of timing, The Bulletin offered a million dollar reward for evidence thylacines still existed.

Experts consulted by The Age raised concerns about the image. The Age never ran the photographs but did run a mock-up of its own showing how software could help produce a similar image.

A number of doubts about the images have been raised.

Photographers consulted by the Sunday Tasmanian say the extent of blurring in the images is not consistent with autofocus on a modern digital camera.

Mr Emmerichs, however, said the images are blurry because he used a function called night vision which simulates a slow shutterspeed and allows pictures to be taken without flash in poor light.

The function consistently produced blurry images and so the couple stopped using it.

Another criticism of the images is that there is a discrepancy with the consecutive dates of the images.

The photograph before the first thylacine image uses the abbreviation JAN for January.

But the thylacine image uses the numeral 2 instead of FEB for February.

Mr Emmerichs said the discrepancy was caused by Birgit changing the format while on the plane to Tasmania.

The camera was still set on German time and date and she tried to reset it coming into Tasmania.

There has also been some criticism of the images that they are very reminiscent of another famous thylacine photograph taken in the 1930s.

A strange play of light has also been suggested as flash flare off a shiny surface.

But Mr Emmerichs said the fact the photographs are embedded on the hardware in his Ricoh camera proves they have not been manipulated on a computer.

He said he did not know he still had the images after leaving Melbourne last year.

The images were left with his brother on a CD taken from the camera's chip.

"But these images are still in the camera, we did not know until we got home," he said.

Mr Emmerichs said he had watched in dismay from Germany as the saga of the photographs played out.

"We came back to get proof," he said.

Where could I see this picture?

There was no photo link with the story:
Link

I would like to see the photo...

Would it possibly be this one? http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/A-Tass...1692630684.html

Good pic but its always something, either its not clear or somethings infront of it so you can't see it 100%.... Who knows!!!!!

I find it utterly amazing how these pics..and many others like it....claim to be of popular cryptids, and yet are ALWAYS distorted in some way shape or form. If it isn't a bush(that could have easily been moved) that is conveniently in the way....or a pic taken from a distance that makes the subject in the pic almost unrecognizable.....or just an out-right hoax(photoshop etc.).....it's just frustrating. I am not at all saying that the pic is NOT of the cat in question(if that indeed is the pic that XSAS was refering to), but couldn't that bush in front of the head of the cat in the picture have easily been moved if they were that close to a creature like that? It just seems to convenient.

Looks like a Tiger...

if thats the pic and it has not been altered in any way, it looks to be the real deal.

are there regular tigers in Tasmania?

No, but it does...

If you read the article that goes with the picture it tells you that it is a test picture to see if the tourists picture could have been faked. It goes into detail of how this picture was faked.




The Tasmanian tiger is also known as the Tasmanian wolf (apart from the stripes it looks very wolf like). More correctly it is called a thylacine. It is a marsupial and a pouch has like the kangeroo.

The last known thylacine was known as Ben. He died in a zoo in Hobart in 1936.

[attachmentid=25005]

i know what it is, I was just asking about real tigers. and so that must not be the picture the tourists took, I would like to see the original.

Thylacines are not cats. They are known as Tasmanian Tigers because of their stripes, which are similar to a tiger's (though the thylacine, if I remember correctly, has a pale yellow-orange coat rather than bright orange). In actuality the animal is a marsupial, related to neither cat nor dog, but bearing some resemblance to a dog. It can easily be recognized by its narrow snout and enormous gape. That, and the fact that there aren't any more of them.

-Pilgrim

I thought they were grey and black. SIlly me...I've been thinking of the black and white movies of the beast.

My thanks for the clarification.

im such a strong beliver that there atill alive but i fear that this one is a fake look at its colors it looks to much like it was artificialy colored idk i hope im wrong but as of now i belive this photo is a fake i mean how hard is it to get a pictuare in focus with todays technology its harder to ghet one out of focus if u ask me

I find it strange that people seem to believe this creature still exists, despite all the facts to the contrary.

If the creature was to survive, Tasmania is the only spot, definitly not on the mainland and if it had survived, the indigenous natives would know. They say it is dead, it is dead. However, the Tasmanian Aborigine is also extinct, made that way in the same despicable fashion as the Thylacine. The locals say it is rare to see a Tasmanian Devil, to see a Thylacine would certainly be a very lucky incident for a tourist.

I am a firm believer that the Thylacine could still exist. The picture may be a fake, but it doesn't change the fact that alot of Tassie is made up of bushy terrain, and since the Tassie tiger evolved to bled in with it's surroundings it's more than likely a couple at least are still roaming around.
I've always found good old Van Diemans land to be a place of sadness- such a lonely, isolated place, filled with death and negative energy- for those who aren't familiar with the place Tasmania was a penal colony where alot of the worst convicts spent their days being worked damn hard. A handful escaped, against the odds, and there are accounts of cannibalism in the escapees. The local aboriginals fell victims to genocide, and the good old white man wiped them all out. Then, on April 28, 1996, a man called Martin Bryant went on a rampage and killed 35 people at Port Arthur. It's our country's worst ever mass murder.
Off subject, but interesting information. I guess I'd like to think the Thylacine survived, kind of beat the odds and continues to elude us all...
But that said, that pic looks pretty fake. The colour is off, it's far too bright orange, but i suppose it could look brighter in contrast to the green.. but still, it looks a bit too dodge for my liking....

I think the Thylacine still exists on Tasmania, and if that pic is real, it looks pretty good but that doesn't mean a ton these days, I would rejoice inside.

Another believer. Why do you believe? It is certainly a warm and fuzzy idea, but there is no evidence to support that. I am interested to know what the belief motivation is in case I have missed a major breaking story or some other mainstream event has missed my attention.

Although Tasmania has sadness in it's history, it has a beautiful environment. Many places that have been settled have horror stories, Tasmania may seem to have more because it is a small place and it's population in conjunction with it's relatively brief history. A real treat to visit for rainforest nature lovers.
They sport a heck of a Casino too
Can't be that dangerous - Chopper's farm is there - he will keep the baddies out!!

While I would very much like to believe in the continued existance of the thylacine, it appears to be a very remote possibility. Wild dogs drove the creature to extinction in the span of only a few centuries on the mainland. Thylacine is a solitary hunter, and cannot compete with more efficient predators. Tragic as it is, I do believe that thylacine was a doomed animal. Its extinction was more or less an inevitability.

-Pilgrim

I'm more of a believer in this sorta thing because of the sightings of them that have been happening ever since they supposedly went extinct in the 30s. People used to see them out in the bush then and there are a lot of Tasmanian farmers who still have stories about the tigers coming into their fields at night and trying to take out a few sheep now. Certainly it's made more believable because of the fact that these actually did exist at some point in history, and it wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things. I have no idea if the pic is real or not, but I think that is kind of outside the point. Personally I beleive in the Tasmanian Tiger because it did undoubtedly exist, and it would be somewhat difficult to kill off an entire species, after all, even now we would only be a few generations down the road from the extinction point, as long as a few were left, they could be there now, but that does not necessarily mean they will thrive once again because of want for a large enough gene pool to prevent disease. Also, Tasmania is a pretty big place...theoretically

I believe that Thylacines exist because unlike a natural extinction, the human influence in the case of the Tassie Tiger is flawed- there's room for error.
All it woud take would be a handful of survivors to keep breeding (and i only mean a handful as any more and we'd have hard evidence) and they could keep the species alive for a little longer. I'm not saying that they're running rampant, and i think alot of the so called "proff" in photo's and like is most likely, a crock, but logically, there is the possibility.
I think the existence of the Thylacine is far more credible than the idea of alot of the other cryptids thought to exist- Bigfoot, Nessie.... The Tassie tiger is a tangible creature, it became extinct in modern times, mostly due to man and his Big Fat Ego and the need to control and tame the environment he conquers. We don't need a huge leap of faith to conclude that it could exist. Humans are fallible, we don't know everything and i believe that nature can and does prevail in the end.
The last confirmed sighting of a Thylacine was only 1932- and even in the 1960's Eric Guiler's expedition found recent footprints. And throughout the 80's and 90's credible witnesses have reported sightings. Not just inbred touirists, but Parks and Wildlife Officers, people who are familiar with both the area and the wildlife.
And when in doubt, take for example the Coelacanth- it was thought to be extinct for 65 million years and is still out there....

Those photos look lagit to me.

Thanks for that Interesting point of view. Living here changes your perspective. We still see a geat deal of 'naitive' dog in Oz. The Dingo has bred with many domesticated breeds of dog, which is contributing to the destruction of the environment. This, the cat, the cane toad, feels like we are a dumping ground sometimes, you would think that one ecological disaster would have been enough. Anyhoo
These new cross-bred dingo species comes in all shapes and sizes. I have personally trapped quite a few in my time, and some could, under certain conditions, be easily mistaken. Some are so big, I am sure one or two Yowie claims may be them A Dingo-Alsatian cross is a formidable predator, and when I saw them, stuck in a trap, with a rifle under my arm, at distance, behind a tree - they still scare the life out of you.

Man has made many species extinct, no challenge at all to wipe a species of the face of the earth.
Not only the Dodo made the extinction list with some help from thier fellow man.
There are 23 birds, 4 frogs, and 27 mammal species known to have become extinct since European settlement of Austalia. So far man has managed to name about 1.5 million species. It is possible that with current activities man may be responsible for the biggest mass extinction for 65 million years when almost 50% of species became extinct.

And in all honesty, Tassie is fairly small. Not a big place at all.

In Summary - The development of extinction

1650 In the seventeenth century 7 species became extinct

Mammals

Aurochs (1627)

Birds

1750 In the eighteenth century 11 species became extinct

Mammals

Stellars Sea Cow (1768)

Bluebuck (1799)

Birds

Dodo (1755)

Giant Moa (1773)

Elephant Bird (17th century)

1850 In the nineteenth century 27 species became extinct

Mammals

Cape Lion (1885)

Tarpan (25.12.1879)

Quagga (1883)

Birds

Great Auk (1844)

1900-1919 : 23 species became extinct

Birds

Passenger Pigeon (1914)

Carolina Parakeet (1914)

1920-1939 : 27 species became extinct

Mammals

Barbary Lion (1920)

Tasmanian Wolf

Birds

1940-1960 : 14 species became extinct

1960-1974 : 3 species became extinct

Honestly, from someone that lives here and knows a fair few indigenous people, and has seen quite a chunk of this magnificent country, it really is highly unlikely they still exist. Unfortunate and sad, but that is the reality of the situation at present.

I don't feel this is a fair comparison. The coelacanth is found only in very deep, cold waters. Humans can't live in that environment. Furthermore, dead and fossil coelacanths lie on the bottom of the ocean where we can't find them. Thylacine lives in dense forest, and while it is remote, it is less so by an order of magnitude. On top of that, their remains lie on solid ground where they are (theoreticaly) accessable. Then there is the fact that people are actively looking for the thylacine, whereas no one was looking for the coelacanth. Thus, I don't feel a comparison between the two is in order as the circumstances were quite different.

-Pilgrim

Wow, I didn't expect such a quick response, thank you kindly

Sure, a remote possibility exists, however, it would have to be in Southern Tassie to remain hidden. I doubt they would survive in the middle of the mainland due to the extremely harsh conditions and level of settlement where water can be found, and the coasts are well populated. They would be spotted by now. As I mentioned previously, if they existed on the Mainland, the naitives would know.



Agreed, it certainly has good credibility due to it''s recent extinction. Still, not on the mainland. It is possible it exists, but highly unlikely. I think faith is the only reason we keep seeing it.
Nature can attampt to prevail, but when we bash something, we bash it good. Be nice of the Dodo suddenly started existing again.



Have not read about the footprints, will look that one up. I am sure credible witnesses have seen something similar to a Thylacine, but once again, inter-bred Dingo's are far more likely. I place more trust in the naitives than the wildlife officers, not that they do not do a stirling job.

Ahh, the crypto's creedo - the Celocanth Now that was a lucky find! STill, that was around 70 years ago. We have better imaging equipment, we have travelled far more of the earth and know a great deal more about it now. Although, we did find a little blonde lobster a short while back.
Now, if we can find a 6 inch lobster in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, I reckon we could find a Tassie Tiger. Finding little critters like that in such a remote location would suggest we have pretty much seen it all.

See how easy it is to be taken in

May I draw your attention to Waspie Dwarf's Excellent post on the previous page (#12)

I agree that they couled not have survied on the mainland.
The introduction of the dingo was definitely thier downfall there.

But I really do think that when you take into accoiunt the fact that in Tassie they have ample habitat to roam in, and were once the top predator (until man and his thunderstick..) they have a pretty good chance of survival, if only for a few more generations. If there ae only a handful, there gene pool would be too small to ensure a strong recovery.

I think Tasmania is one of those rare places in the world that is still quite reminiscent of the old days- More than 20% of it is listed as a World Heritage Area it is primarily made up of scrub and rainforest, and alot of the terrain isn't very human-friendly. It is the deep sea of the land, alot of room for species to hide and remain unseen.

I agree the coelacanth was the score of the century... and as for my fast replies... I guess i just have far too much time on my hands

See how much more you would learn if you read the words instead of just looking at the pretty pictures.

Under the photo it says:



So it is clearly not the photo taken by Klaus Emmerichs and Birgit Jansen.

The article goes on to say:

Yes, had the Dingo not existed in Australia to begin with, they may have been in great enough numbers to survive our settlements.
There have been reports of Tassie Devils being found in Victoria, if that is Genuine, it increases the possibility of a Thylacine on the Mainland though.
A large number of sightings have taken place in Byron Bay and the surrounding hillsides, but if you know the locals from that area and what their major farming crops are, you will know why they are seeing Tassie Tigers. Probably the odd pink elephant and flying pig too.



They have been extinct for 70 years. They should by now (with an average expected life span of 5 - 7 years) have reached numbers again that easily verified, at the very least confirm their existance.
Tassie is not all that big. Although a rare treat for the locals to spot a Devil, they do get spotted and captured on film in the wild regularly.



Once again, the land is shrinking rapidly. It is well settled. 20% of a small island is just not that much.
The terrain is just rainforest, not that harsh at all, not like Kakadu, PNG or Africa. Cold would be the biggest worry in Tassie.
Up around North Queensland is some harsh country.



Be nice of we could find more, unfortunatley, my love for this subject has made me look into it far enough to realise that finding new species is probably wishful thinking. Still, curiosity will keep me reading every Bigfoot and Thylacine sighting for many years yet!
Time, Ahh I envy you

Tell me, how did they manage to get that close to a wild animal without it sensing, hearing or seeing them??? Did they use a zoom lens? One shot, that is all he was able to take? What did he have a polaroid camera?

LMAO @ your comments on Byron, Psyche101.

Hehe
Can't help it, it is true. Not as bad as Nimbin though, I wouldn't like to imagine what get seen up there! Just driving through Nimbin is an experience, and like no other I assure you.
I used to sit in the pub on the corner and joke about throwing bars of soap at the ferals that stagger by in Byron.
Still, one of the more beautiful places I have been. I love taking day trips and weekenders there when I can. Thank goodness for the eco-locals there preserving the paradise

I think although you can never be sure about the fact this animal is gone..It be a safe bet to say it's probley is not around anymore.

i belive there still alive because there are many reports of sightings from people living on tasmania. tasmania has very dense forests i saw on tv on animal planet am na wlaked 3 feet into the forest and u could no longer see him. there have been reports of killings of animals and the kills look similar to that of the tasmania tiger according to the sources. the biggest competetor for the tasmanian tiger was the dingo and they havent been to tasmania. i feel that itsj ust a matter of time until someone hits one or kills one. i belive there still out there and as someon who will be going into zoology its something that i have always hoped still exhists because imagin how much happyness it would bring the scientific community if it is evne if there all gone its still a good dream to hold onto. so as far as im concerned there still alive and if in my zoological profession i ever get thew chance i will go there and seach for the creature myself

that picture in the artice is a fake, i still want to see the one the tourists took, has anyone been able to locate it yet?

Me and my tiger mates got togther the other day, here is a photo of jake. He is usually camera shy but today he is in all his glory.
[attachmentid=25036][attachmentid=25042]
and here is jacko, a real ladies man he is.
[attachmentid=25038]
this Ralf he's a bit shy.
[attachmentid=25037]
oh I forgot to mention peggy, but we all think she has a bit of a fake personality.
[attachmentid=25039]
Any way that's the gang, so where the bloody hell are you?

Aahh... Nimbin... As a teeenager it was considered "The Promised Land"...lol... But my plan was always to run away to Coffs Harbour and sleep under the Big Banana...

But there would definitely not be any Thylacines left on the mainland. Their main problem up here would be the Dingo's, and a wild animal is a much more efficient killer than a man, even with a gun. While the Tassie bunch still may live on, albeit on a short term basis, the mainland thylacine has been extinct much longer, and therefore (in my opinion) any possible survivors would have long died out,

In regards to the photo (and i may be a little slow here...) have we established it's a fake or enhancement and if so has anyone come across the original?

PS Love the pics Harks

Spacey, I do not think anyone has seen the so called photos that these people claim to have taken. I hope there are a some tigers out there, as it would be a great rediscovery to find and hear about.

Nimbin eh are you a born again hippy Spacey? With the magic mushies and other substences I am not surprised if they see pink elephants around their parts.

WHAT THE HELL!!! DON't YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD NOT LUNCH WITH CHUPPA!!!!!

READ THE BLOODY SIGN BEHIND YOU - DO NOT FEED THE CHUPPAS.

Bloody hell.

ROTFLMAO. Yes Coffs, that Banana fascinated me as a child too. Never thought of running away to sleep under it though.

Hope you are right, but there has been some extensive searches for them there. The story I like the best is the tracker they reckon possibly shot one in WA.

That photo is a fake. It is to show how a fake can be done. I do not think we have seen the tourists photo's yet. (Post top of this page - shhh)

Well mate I know who has too many coffees.
I did not know what the bloody hell you where talking about before?
So I looked Chuppa up on the internet and all I got was coffee or an Asia style Wiggles group. Thats rare you got 2 tounges on that!

Thanks, Psyche, for your detailed lisitng of extinct animals. There were afew on the list I'd never even heard of.

Try looking for chupacabra. "Chupa" is a slang term for it.

The chupacabra is a vampire-like creature widely reported in Puerto Rico and other parts of Latin America and the southern US. It is said to suck the blood from its prey, typically sheep or goats. As cryptids go, the chupa is rather dubious, and few serious researchers believe in it. It has made a huge splash in pop culture, however. I believe Psyche was joking when he warned you to watch out for it.

-Pilgrim

The Pilgrim has had exposure to my dry humour

Wow, I thought everyone in the forum was familiar swith Chuppa, thanks to Pilgrim, now they are
There ya go, have one back
Nah, just in a good mood, funnin'. Good pics though, no offense meant, funny. The bloody hell bit was another dry refrence to the International marketing campaign Oz has exported at the moment. I find it rather amusing that in the UK we had to drop the bloody hell bit.

Anybody else read that interesting story of the tracker that faked (or shot) a thylacine in 1981 - good read

Cryptozoology

No mate I did not take any offence I just could not work out what you wher talking about. I did think of the chupacabra first, but could not tie it into the post I wrote, but then again with the pics I put in I could have said I had taken photos of a real Tiger. Most people would have believed too as these two photos are so life like. For a while anyway.
[attachmentid=25071][attachmentid=25072]
It is easy for some people who see dingos at night or a shadow across their back think they are the elusive tiger for example in this picture the brown colour of the dingo is very similular to the tigers.
[attachmentid=25073]
P.S good link mate

Hey there, my favourite subject!

Well, my parents are from Coffs, and I took my Partner there for the first time ever over the easter break. She loved the big banana (although we also didn't sleep under it... the traffic noise would have kept us awake anyway). We did, however, have chocolate-coated frozen bananas. Onna stick.

I've been reviewing the possible evidence for Thylacine survival for some time now. I strongly recommend the excellent book 'out of the shadows' to anyone who is interested in Australian cryptids. Also, as part of a study for society, culture and the environment from Griffith Uni, I prepared a small flyer indicating possible reasons for the Thylacine's survival. I posted it here in its entireity so if you want to use your search function, you will find it.

The picture published is an obvious fake. Have a look at the picture, then have a look at this one: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/zoologymuseum/images/thylacine.jpg

You will see that it is simply a photoshopped representation of this photo. If you look closely you can see that they simply cut out most of the lower jaw as well.

I feel sorry the the poor old Dingo's. They're kinda cute....I wouldn't have a baby around them though. I may end up being played by Meryl Streep slipping back into a bad Aussie accent in the sequel to Evil Angels....

No born again Hippie, Harks, but as a young'un we all heard about the glory of Nimbin. Of course being curious teens we were all captivated by the idea of sitting around the wilderness eating special cookies. I think one chick actually ended up running away to Nimbin.. but I keep my head out of the clouds these days, I'm a grown up now (supposedly).

That Link was really interesting, Psyche101. Thanks. I was giggling at the faked sighting in 1981- if you're going to fake something like that, make sure you get it right! Hello!! Don't say you're alone if there are shadows of others in the shots... jeez, no brains some people.

I find the sighting in England a bit much! Perhaps he stowed away in someones suitcase? lol