|
|
Cryptozoologist > Obituaries > Frank Searle
Nessie Seeker Frank Searle Dies
by Loren Coleman
 Depending on your point of view, one of the Loch Ness Monsters' greatest
searchers, promoters, or hoaxsters, Frank Searle, 83, passed away earlier this
spring, according to Nessie researcher Andrew Tullis, who along with me, had
actively been trying to relocate Searle for an interview, since the beginning of
the year. Searle apparently was quietly and strongly independent to his final
moments.
In June 1969, Frank Searle, an ex-soldier, showed up at Loch Ness to conduct his
own search for Nessie, and lived out of a tent with his cats at lochside near
Dores, for three years. He then moved to the field behind Boleskine House (the
former home of occultist Aleister Crowley, 1899-1913, and
purchased in 1970 by Crowley admirer, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page). Searle finally
established himself, for most of his remaining lochside years, at Lower Foyers,
in a trailer (or caravan in the UK). He reported minor sightings, and tirelessly
promoted the worth of straightforward observations of the loch, continuously.
In the early days, Searle seemed to be a typical monster-hunter, talking of the
search and speculating on what the Monster might be. He was mildly
cryptozoologically-educated, such as using the coelacanth to support the example
that prehistoric animals might be found alive today. But Searle would also state
incorrectly that since 1938, "many [coelacanths] have been caught or found in
the South Atlantic," instead of the reality that coelacanths were being captured
in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of southern Africa. Still, Searle was a
sincere and likable young man in the
early 1970s.
Perhaps frustrated in his looking for the ultimate proof, after scanning the
loch for a reportedly 20,000 hours, Frank Searle snapped his first alleged image
of Nessie on July 27, 1972, near Balachladoich Farm. The supposedly two-humped
monster shown was published to international acclaim in the
September 1, 1972, issue of London's Daily Mail. Searle became an instant
celebrity, and immediately sought out by fans, tourists, and the media, for the
"facts" on Nessie. He popularized the Loch Ness Monster pursuit, and was
generally wholeheartedly accepted by the monster-hunter community. Soon he
erected signs to his location that read "The Frank Searle Loch Ness
Investigation," at Lower Foyers, Scotland. Without an admission fee, Searle's
caravan exhibition existed solely on donations. Visitors were soon to discover,
however, that the exhibit was mostly of displays of newspaper clippings about
Searle and copies of Searle's photographs.
Despite the fact the July 1972 photograph appeared to only show a tree trunk,
Searle got many media people to come visit, and for a time was the Loch Ness
spokesperson most often seen on television. But then, with increasing
regularity, Searle produced more and more photographs of the
"Monster." It soon became clear his images were crude hoaxes. Searle was only
taken seriously for about a year, and then his celebrity status declined
rapidly.
Nevertheless, between October 21, 1972, and February 26, 1976, Searle took many
photographs of what he alleged were Loch Ness Monsters. He produced one book,
Nessie: Seven Years in Search of the Monster (1976). In February 1977, sincere
admirer, Belgian Lieve Peten joined Searle at Loch Ness as his "assistant
monster huntress," helping him greatly organize and publish his
materials. Peten left the Loch in 1979, but remained supportive of Searle
through 1983. It appears mainly due to Peten's efforts that from April 1977 to
December 1983, Searle was able to produce a regular quarterly newsletter.The
publication contained Searle authored passages, which were often
critical of Tim Dinsdale, Robert Rines, and the other well-known monster-hunters
in Loch Ness research. In 1985, Searle abruptly left Loch Ness. He seemed to
vanish from the face of earth, and he reportedly had gone treasure hunting, or
by other rumors, to have died.
Searle's move from fame to infamy began perhaps most in earnest with the attack
on Searle's pictures by Nicholas Witchell (The Loch Ness Story, 1975). Witchell
identified Searle as one of the fakers in the history of Nessie searchers. Roy
Mackal (The Monsters of Loch Ness, 1976) identified
the 1972 first Searle photo as a "log," and likewise found Searle's additional
photographs as having "no connection with large animals in the loch." Roland
Binns (The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, 1983) remarked that Searle's 1973 photos of
"Nessie" are "unmistakably parts of floating tree
trunks." Michael Newton (Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, 2005) speculated that
some of the Searle photographs were cut-and-paste creations of dinosaurs from
postcards. The favorable opinion of Searle as an "honest searcher" had shifted.
Henry Bauer (The Enigma of Loch Ness, 1986), under "Hoaxes and Frauds," is the
only author to critically review and publish nineteen of Searle's photographs.
Bauer calls them "fraudulent," and for the tourists seeking info on Nessie,
"misleading."
Frank Searle, born 1921, 83 or 84 years old, passed away, on March 26, 2005, in
his furnished sitting room/bedroom, his bedsit, Searle lived alone there in
Fleetwood, Lancashire, United Kingdom, perhaps with some cats, since 1986. He
suffered a stroke seven years earlier that left his right side
paralyzed. He required the aid of a prosthetic left foot. Despite being confined
to a wheelchair for his last years, Searle had refused the option of an assisted
care facility or a nursing home, and instead chose to look after himself. As
researcher Roland Watson notes: "That sounds very much
like Frank Searle to me."
Searle never married and leaves no known heir or relative. What he has left,
instead, is a confused commentary on his search.
We have to concur with both Paul Harrison and Henry Bauer on their concluding
observations in their separate books on Frank Searle.
Harrison wrote of the legacy of hoaxes, but then goes on to observe: "Searle did
make a contribution to Loch Ness investigation, though, because the publicity
his photographs and stories attracted drew the world's media to the Loch."
Bauer pondered Searle's lasting contribution: "One can only wonder how much harm
has been done to the quest by the likes of Frank Searle."
Frank Searle, a good monster-hunter, made a statement about the worth of on-site
investigations, but then, pushed the envelope a bit too far after he became a
misguided true-believer.
He will be remembered, favorably as a man, unfavorably as a phenomenon.
---
Loren Coleman, cryptozoologist, is the author and coauthor of many books
discussing the searchers and the searched. For more information on Loch Ness
Monsters, please refer to his book, co-authored with Patrick Huyghe,
The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of
the Deep (2003). |
|
|
|
|
|
