Richard Fitter (1913-2005) Cofounder of the LNI
Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 4:54 am
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Fitter was one of the founders, in 1961, of "The Bureau for Investigating the Loch Ness Phenomena Ltd," more informally known by the media as the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNI). Fitter's co-founders were British Parliament member Sir David James, More Than A Legend author Constance Whyte, and naturalist Sir Peter Scott (the founder of the World Wildlife Fund).
The LNI became the leading focal point of the cryptozoological examinations at Loch Ness. Roy Mackal, after 1966, was LNI's scientific advisor, and after 1967, Dick Raynor was a frequent expedition member. The bureau privately funded in the early years, manned by volunteers, stationed cameras at strategic locations around the loch, served as a clearing-house for sightings, and assisted groups and individuals studying Loch Ness. Mackal's involved American scientific interests and got financial support of the Adventurers' Club of Chicago, and Field Enterprises, publishers of World Book Encyclopedia.
In July, 1987, a formal scientific symposium on The Loch Ness Monster was hosted by the Society for the History of Natural History and the International Society of Cryptozoology (ISC) and held at the Royal Museum of Scotland. Richard Fitter contributed a paper, as did Roy Mackal, Henry Bauer, Paul LeBlond, Adrian Shine, Robert Rines and Tim Dinsdale.
In 1988, Fitter reviewed The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence by Steuart Campbell, in Volume 8 of the ISC's journal, Cryptozoology.
Richard Fitter may have not been in the media limelight as much as other names more familiar, such as Sir David James and Sir Peter Scott, but his contributions to the investigation of cryptids at Loch Ness will never be forgotten.
The Times of London obituary was published on September 11, 2005, and detailed Fitter's well-established credentials as a mainstream naturalist.