Nullarbor Nymph
Encyclopedia
The Nullarbor Nymph, referring to supposed sightings of a half naked woman living amongst kangaroo
s on the Nullarbor Plain
, was a hoax
perpetrated in Australia
between 1971 and 1972.
The first report on 26 December 1971 was by kangaroo shooters from Eucla
in Western Australia
, near the border with South Australia
. They claimed to have seen a blond
, white
woman amongst some kangaroos, and backed their story with grainy amateur film showing a woman wearing kangaroo skins and holding a kangaroo by the tail. After further sightings were claimed, the story was reported around the world, and journalists descended upon the town of Eucla which had a population of 8 people at the time.
The incident was eventually revealed as a hoax, initiated as a publicity stunt. The girl on film turned out to be a 17-year-old model named Janice Beeby.
Janice Beeby did appear in a photograph taken later, as evidence of the Nullarbor Nymph, but the woman in the original photograph used by the media to perpetuate the hoax, was Geneice Brooker, the partner of Laurie Scott; Laurie was a professional kangaroo shooter who was one of the first hoaxers.
A 1993 thesis by Dora Dallwitz analyses the Nullarbor Nymph Hoax as a fantasy, opening it to the scrutiny of several psychoanalytic models. The Nullarbor Nymph functioned then, and continues to function today on an archetypal level. Various meanings and implications of this idea are explored with reference to their value to both men and women. Notions of Australian national character are examined in the dissertation and it is suggested that the relationship of the Nullarbor Nymph to the land is an important issue. There is an investigation into the symbolic potential of the Nymph and proposals made about the way this potential might serve people today.
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s on the Nullarbor Plain
Nullarbor Plain
The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about...
, was a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
perpetrated in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
between 1971 and 1972.
The first report on 26 December 1971 was by kangaroo shooters from Eucla
Eucla, Western Australia
Eucla is the easternmost locality in Western Australia, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia along the Eyre Highway, approximately west of the South Australian border...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, near the border with South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. They claimed to have seen a blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
, white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
woman amongst some kangaroos, and backed their story with grainy amateur film showing a woman wearing kangaroo skins and holding a kangaroo by the tail. After further sightings were claimed, the story was reported around the world, and journalists descended upon the town of Eucla which had a population of 8 people at the time.
The incident was eventually revealed as a hoax, initiated as a publicity stunt. The girl on film turned out to be a 17-year-old model named Janice Beeby.
Janice Beeby did appear in a photograph taken later, as evidence of the Nullarbor Nymph, but the woman in the original photograph used by the media to perpetuate the hoax, was Geneice Brooker, the partner of Laurie Scott; Laurie was a professional kangaroo shooter who was one of the first hoaxers.
A 1993 thesis by Dora Dallwitz analyses the Nullarbor Nymph Hoax as a fantasy, opening it to the scrutiny of several psychoanalytic models. The Nullarbor Nymph functioned then, and continues to function today on an archetypal level. Various meanings and implications of this idea are explored with reference to their value to both men and women. Notions of Australian national character are examined in the dissertation and it is suggested that the relationship of the Nullarbor Nymph to the land is an important issue. There is an investigation into the symbolic potential of the Nymph and proposals made about the way this potential might serve people today.
External links
- The Nymph of Nullarbor, Time Magazine, Monday, Jan. 24, 1972
- Feral Children.com site
- Dora Dallwitz website