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1723, Faroe Islands, Denmark, men:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

Picked up in a chapter about merfolk of a Fortean book and called a close encounter of the third kind in two ufology catalogues, an episode by the Faroe Islands, Denmark, in 1723, had actually nothing to do with UFOs.

Members of a Royal Danish Commission investigating supposed sightings of merfolk creatures in the area watched a "merman" who approached their vessel. It sank into the waters, surfaced shortly afterwards, stared intently at them with his deep-set eyes. A few minutes of this scrutiny apparently frightened the people and the ship retreated while the merman puffed out his cheeks, emitted a deep roar and dove out of sight.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. jc1:] JEROME CLARK:

Jerome Clark writes on the ancient controversy about the existence or inexistence of merfolk.

He recalls that in 1723, a Danish Royal Commission was set out to provide the answer.

If merfolk were found not to exist, those who should continue to propagate such stories would be in trouble with the Law.

Commission members themselves spotted a merman near the Faroe Islands. When their ship approached, the merman sank into the waters, but surfaced shortly afterwards and stared at them intently with its deep-set eyes. After a few minutes of staring, the people were so unsettled that the ship retreated.

As it was doing so, the merman puffed its cheeks, emitted a deep roar, and dove out of sight.

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in the Faroe Islands, Denmark, in 1723, at an unknown time, members of a Royal Danish Commission investigating supposed sightings of "mermaid" like creatures in the area watched such a figure approached their vessel. It sank into the waters but surfaced shortly afterwards to stare intently at them with its deep-set eyes. A few minutes of this scrutiny proved so unsettling that the ship affected a retreat. As it was doing so, the merman puffed out his cheeks and emitted a "deep roar" before diving out of sight.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Jerome Clark, Unexplained!

[Ref. wb1:] WILLIAM BOND:

William Bond indicates in his study of the evolution of the ideas about Mermaids, that in 1723, a Danish Royal commission was given the job of investigating a number of local sightings of mermaids. It was decided that if the commission found that mermaids did not exist, it would be against the law even to mention them, due to religious and moral issues related to the notion of women going naked.

The commission at first they decided that mermaids do not exist, then backtracked when they claimed to have seen a "merman". William Bond suggests that the hidden message here was that the commission thought mermen were acceptable because they were male but mermaids were not because they were female. The commission was probably sending the message that diving was shocking for women who were supposed to be physically weak, modest and submissive, and not naked, athletic and assertive women confidently diving for marine food.

William Bond indicates the signs that mermen and mermaids were a puritan metaphor for divers of the remote villages on the coast, sometimes living on the edge of starvation, who would attempt to live on important food resource like shellfish and edible seaweed; he notes however that at those times when diving suits were unknown, not many men could have endured the cold of the Baltic sea without damages affecting in particulars to their testicles or even penis.

[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The web site indicates that in 1723 in the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Members of a Royal Danish Commission investigating supposed sightings of "mermaid"-like creatures in the area watched such a figure approached their vessel, sank into the waters, surface shortly afterwards to stare intently at them with its deep-set eyes. "A few minutes of this scrutiny proved so unsettling that the ship affected a retreat. As it was doing so, the merman puffed out his cheeks and emitted a 'deep roar' before diving out of sight."

The source indication is an hyperlink to a non-existing web page.

The website indicates that the Hynek rating for this is "CE3: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Entity reports)."

Points to consider:

Poor late J. Allen Hynek, astronomer and pioneer in ufology, might certainly have raised an eyebrow by learning that a "merfolk" story became a "close encounters of the third kind" according to his classification. He would probably never have thought so since he defined it as applying to sightings that remained without ordinary explanations in spite of serious examination on the one hand - there isn't any in this case - and applied to sightings entities when there is at least some bond with a UFO sighting, which is absolutely not the case here. Jerome Clark too probably never expected that his entry about "merfolk" could become a "CE3" case.

To the quite interesting explanations by William Bond on the socio-psychological context of the time as of the matter of sirens, mermen or mermaid, I want to add a possible explanation of what the Members of the Danish Royal Commission reported. I do think that sometimes, where there is smoke there might eventually be some fire.

It happens that the sparse description irresistibly makes think not of a "man of the sea", nor to some space creature or UFOnaut, but to some cetacean, which could be a Cuvier Porpoise or Beluga for example, or some phocae, the family of the seals. The fact that it "puffed out his cheeks" and emitted a "deep roar" strongly suggest that.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Probable sea mammal. Not a CE3 case.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [jc1] * "Unexplained!", book by Jerome Clark, Visible Ink publishers, USA, page 245, 1993.
• [ar1] * "1956 Humanoid Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2001, at www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1956.shtml
• [wb1] * "The Secret World Of Mermaids", E-book by William Bond, Lulu Publishing, January 2007.
• [wb1] * "The Censored Her-Story of the Sea-People", by William Bond, 2007, at mermaid-williambond.blogspot.com
• [ud1] * "1723 - Faroe Islands, Denmark", web page on the UFOdna website, circa 2007, at www.ufodna.com/uf19/uf4/194631.htm

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This page was last updated on January 23, 2008.