Rory Nugent

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Rory Nugent (born 1952) is an American explorer and writer. He was based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts [1] from 1988 to 2004. [2]

Contents

Biography

Nugent was born in New York. After he graduated from Williams College in 1975, he went to sea aboard freighters and canvas-fliers. He sailed solo across the Atlantic Ocean four times. His fifth crossing ended prematurely when the catamaran he was sailing capsized; he was rescued five days later. [3]

In 1992, Nugent became a foreign correspondent, first for Men's Journal and then as a staff member of Spin . He left journalism in 2002 to work on his third book.

Cryptozoology

In the mid-1980s, Nugent mounted solo expeditions in search of the pink-headed duck on the Brahmaputra River [4] and Mokele-mbembe in the Congo. [5] It is alleged that he may have seen both, but his sightings remain unconfirmed. He wrote a non-fiction book about each expedition. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Nugent's alleged Mokele-mbembe photographs from 1985 have been criticized as unreliable. One was described as a distant snapshot of a log floating in a lake. [10]

Bibliography

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that aims to prove the existence of entities from the folklore record, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, or the Mokele-mbembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by mainstream science: it is neither a branch of zoology nor folklore studies. It was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson.

Mokele-mbembe

In cryptozoology, the Mokele-mbembe, Lingala for "one who stops the flow of rivers", is a water-dwelling entity that supposedly lives in the Congo River Basin, sometimes described as a living creature, sometimes as a spirit. Those that heard or that allegedly saw the entity describe it as a large quadrupedal herbivore with a smooth skin, a long neck and a single tooth, sometimes said to be a horn.

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Henry Morton Stanley 19th-century Welsh journalist and explorer

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Pink-headed duck Species of bird

The pink-headed duck is a large diving duck that was once found in parts of the Gangetic plains of India, Bangladesh and in the riverine swamps of Myanmar but feared extinct since the 1950s. Numerous searches have failed to provide any proof of continued existence. It has been suggested that it may exist in the inaccessible swamp regions of northern Myanmar and some sight reports from that region have led to its status being declared as "Critically Endangered" rather than extinct. The genus placement has been disputed and while some have suggested that it is close to the red-crested pochard, others have placed it in a separate genus of its own. It is unique in the pink colouration of the head combined with a dark body. A prominent wing patch and the long slender neck are features shared with the common Indian spot-billed duck. The eggs have also been held as particularly peculiar in being nearly spherical.

<i>Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend</i> 1985 film

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<i>On the Track of Unknown Animals</i>

On the Track of Unknown Animals is a cryptozoological book by the Belgian-French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans that was first published in 1955 under the title Sur la Piste des Bêtes Ignorées. The English translation by Richard Garnett was published in 1958 with some updating by the author and with a foreword by Gerald Durrell. A revised and abridged edition was published in 1965, and a further edition in 1995. It is credited with introducing the term cryptozoology and established its author as the "Father of Cryptozoology."

Carl Hagenbeck

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<i>Congo Journey</i>

Congo Journey (1996) is an autobiographical novel by British author Redmond O'Hanlon, following his trip across Congo-Brazzaville, taking a friend to Lake Tele in search of Mokèlé-mbèmbé, a legendary Congo dinosaur. The novel was republished in 1997 for United States readers as No Mercy: A Journey to the Heart of the Congo.

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References

  1. Cary, Alice (1993-07-18). "In Search of the Elusive". Boston Herald. p. 7 (magazine).
  2. Mundow, Anna (2009-02-22). "Attuned to the voices of New Bedford". Boston Globe.
  3. Podolsky, J.D. (1993-09-06). "Paths of Rory". People.
  4. Upchurch, Michael (1991-06-09). "No Duck, But The Quest Was Worth The Trouble". Seattle Times.
  5. Wanner, Irene (1993-10-03). "Drums Along The Congo: On The Trail Of Mokele-Mbembe, The Last Living Dinosaur". Seattle Times.
  6. "The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck". Publishers Weekly.
  7. "BOOK REVIEW: Self-Styled Adventurer’s Colorful Quest for African ‘God-Beast’: DRUMS ALONG THE CONGO: On the Trail of Mokele-Mbembe, the Last Living Dinosaur". Los Angeles Times.
  8. Drums Along the Congo. Kirkus Reviews.
  9. "Drums Along the Congo". Publishers Weekly.
  10. Loxton, Daniel; Prothero, Donald (2013). Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids. Columbia University Press. p. 284. ISBN   978-0-231-15320-1