...CALCULATING THE TRUE HEIGHT OF THE SOMERTON MAN...
Those familiar with the Somerton Man case will know that his body was measured on the day it was discovered and it was found that he had a height of 5 feet 11 inches.
In this post, the same technique used to calculate Charlie’s height has been applied to the body of the Somerton Man to verify his height based on the photograph you can see above. The photograph shown is from the 1949 inquest, I have added the information on the photograph for those who would like the detail.
HEIGHT CALCULATIONS
(based on the Researchgate document)
In the image to the right above, I have added a ruler set to measure the height of the man's head. In this scaled-down image, you can see that the ruler indicates the man's head measures 7 cm from top to chin. By multiplying the head height by 8, we arrive at the scaled-down full height of the man 70 X 8 = 560mm
The man's head should measure 1/8th of his full height thus to arrive at the man's actual full height we divide the 5 feet 11 inches (1803.4 mm) known height by 8 giving us a head height of 225.45 mm. which by default gives us our full height of 1803.4 mm (5 feet 11 inches)
To calculate the scale for this image we simply divide the actual full height by the scaled-down photograph height as follows:
1803.4 divided by 560 = 3.22 our scale for this image is therefore 1:3.22
This exercise had two purposes, firstly to verify the height of the Somerton Man and secondly, to prove the validity of the Researchgate technique. Both objectives have been met.
UPDATE: April 10th 2024
In the image below you can see that according to the data, SM had an ear height of 73.02 mm. In the latest post dated 10th April, Carl's ear height is shown as being 82.34 mm in height mm in height, more than 9 mm larger than that of the Somerton Man.
Background
The previous post covered the technique with which we could accurately calculate the height of Carl ‘Charlie Webb. This exercise aimed to prove or disprove the claim made by Professor Abbot that the man named ‘Charlie’ in the 'family group of 4' photograph was the ‘Somerton Man’. The technique relied upon the known height of Roy Webb, Charlie’s brother, obtained from his military service records clearly showed, both written and in a photograph taken at the time that Roy had a height of 5 feet 8 inches. Subsequently, and based on Roy’s height we calculated Charlie’s height which was also put at 5 feet 8 inches +/- 1 inch. That result disproved Professor Abbot’s claim regarding Charlie as the Somerton Man’s height is known to have been 5 feet 11 inches, approximately 3 inches taller than the man Charlie shown in the family group photograph.
Hiya, the pic is a lot darker than the others on the web, why is that? Also the technique you showed is pretty convincing. I get the point about proving it to be rekiable and consistent. Stirs the pot up a bit! What happens now? Charlie isn't the Somerton Man, then who is?
ReplyDeleteYou probably don't remember me but it goes back to Rhyl days
Hey Deggs! I remember, hitch hiking to Shawbury for a flight experience day, that and lots more. I hope all is well. Drop me a line in a comment and I won't publish it, be good to catch up.
ReplyDeleteOn the SM front, thanks for your comments. The darker image is a copy of the actual image submitted by the police to the inquest. The lighter ones you see on the web are mostly ex media versions, many are photoshopped. You're right that the pot will be stirred, and it needs it badly. The whole discussion has deteriorated badly and fallen into disrepute, a good dose of reality and truth can only improve matters. There's more to come yet.
Cheers my friend, look forward to hearing from you.
Is that a bloodstain on the back of the collar?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly looks like it. It is mentioned amongst the pathologists notes. It could have got there when they dressed the body for the photos or even before if the slab hadn't been washed down.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Carl Webb is dead and buried, so to speak
ReplyDeleteAn observation. The discussions or conversations around the Somerton Man case and Carl Webb for that matter, are really at a low ebb amongst other blogs and forums. It seems to me that Professor Abbot’s ‘Third wave’ or third attempt has a lot to answer for in that regard. Speaking personally, my aim has been purely to search for and find the truth whatever that might be. I have been lucky in that regard having found numerous new and significant pieces of the puzzle and have been able to substantiate the claims made here. The most recent being the matter of Carl Webb’s height being 3 inches below that of the Somerton Man as verified by the Researchgate document and subsequent testing. The inescapable conclusion from this effort is that Carl Webb cannot be the Somerton Man.
ReplyDeleteTo answer a voiciferous critic whose comments will not be published here, I do not consider myself smarter than anyone else in this space, I am sure there are others way smarter than me and I have had the privilege of working alongside them on some aspects of the case. I have simply worked hard and researched deeply and the harder I worked the luckier I got.
My time here is almost over, still a few things to finalise and few more items to share. Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support and input.
The low ebb people are mounting an attack GC. One has you in a casket already :)
ReplyDeleteIn life we find a sprinkling of obnoxious, deceitful and devious people. They assume their roles and practice their arts including treachery, disloyalty and abuse. It is who and what they are. Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations mentions them and he saw them as fulfilling a role. Generally they cannot help who they are and how they act. Some are obviously beyond help whilst others make an effort to change. So before condemning them, spare a thought for them and how, in fleeting moments of reflection, they must feel. Imagine knowing that this all you are going to be, all you will be known for and ultimately all you will be remembered for if indeed you are remembered at all. It really is sad.
ReplyDeleteThe discovery that Carl Webb’s height is 5 feet 8 inches makes it impossible for him to be the Somerton Man whose Haight recorded by the Police at the time was 5 feet 11 inches. There are as you might expect, implications from this find. Perhaps the most significant being just where did Professor Abbot’s rootless hair sample that was claimed to be from the plaster bust that was made of the Somerton Man,, come from? If it was from the bust, how did it get there? Is it possible that the hair was contained in the plaster mix as it was practice to use human hair in mixes to add strength? Could it be from the body of whom the bust was made? The latter being true then that was not the Somerton Man’s and in that case what happened to his body? Will it be Carl’s remains that are exhumed or the Somerton Man’s? It seems increasingly likely that, as pointed out in the header of this blog, that were indeed two bodies. The impending release of the coroners findings will hopefully provide the answers,
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a line in a song by Cab Calloway.
ReplyDeleteThe jim, jam, jump is the solid jive
Makes you nine foot tall when you're four foot five,
Classic tap and amazing , frenetic energetic jazz. Good way to start the day.
ReplyDeleteA clarification. This post clearly demonstrates the accuracy of the 1:8 rule. This rule states that a person’s head is an eighth the height of that person’s full height.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the Somerton Man, we know from Police information that the man found on Somerton beach and on whom an autopsy was carried out by Dr Dwyer, known as the Somerton Man was 5 feet 11 inches tall. In millimeters that equals 1803.4 mm.
Because we have that height information we can now calculate whether it was true by virtue of the fact that we have a Police photograph of the profile of the man.
Here are the calculations:
You will see from the post that the height of the man’s head is 70 mm. Using the rule of 8, we multiply the height of his head, 70mm, by 8. That gives us 560mm which equals the photographic full height of the man.
Now we need to establish the physical full height of the man we do this by dividing the known physical full height of 1803.4 mm by the photographic height of 560mm which gives us a scale. The result of that calculation is a scale factor of 3,22 expressed as 1:3,22.
The final leg of the calculation now becomes the photographic head height of 70mm multiplied by 3,22 which equals 225.4 mm and that gives us the physical height of his head which is 225.4 mm. To get his full height we multiply the physical head height of 225.4 mm by 8 which gives us 1803.2 mm.
That proves the accuracy of this rule of 8 to within .2 mm.
The man photographed in the image above was 5 feet 11 inches tall within a tolerance of .2mm. This is an undeniable fact.
Using exactly the same process we have proven that Carl Webb was 5 feet 8 inches tall and therefore he cannot be the Somerton Man who, we have proven, was 5 feet 11 inches tall.
Very True, 3 inches difference in height is a true discrepancy, I also saw the pictures of Carl with his family, he has Zero resemblance to the Somerton man, pretty much everything you have pointed out! The did a quick swap of bodies.I read that they would bury multiple people in the same grave, which raises the question if one of the body,whether it’s Carl or SM could be buried in one of plots? I also wonder why Carl was chosen out of the other bodies that were in the morgue? And if he had any identification on him when they to him there, Just speculating!
ReplyDeleteHi, yes it is interesting, so many possible scenarios and its difficult to nail them down. In that regard I don't envy the Major Crime Squad people in Adelaide, not one bit. I guess we will know soon enough.
DeleteOne of the challenges that exist is the source of the height measurement for the Somerton Man. It has certainly always been accepted that he was 5 feet 11 inches tall and a well built man. But when it gets down to it, who was it that measured him and where did that take place? Looking through the documents, the first mention of his height being 5 feet 11 inches is in a newspaper clipping dated December 1st 1948 but no name of an officer is attached to that.That would suggest an afternoon edition. In the inquest document, page 27 I think, Detective Sergeant Leane quotes the man’s height at 5 feet 11 inches but again no mention of who measured him and when/where. There’s one more mention of the height and that’s in Clelands notes where he typed out the word height and and alongside it he typed ‘Need to check’.
ReplyDeleteAll of the work I have done here on the issue of Carl Webb has related to his height which I believe I have right at 5 feet 8 inches. But whilst we may all think that the Somerton Man is 5 feet 11 inches, there is no documented evidence to substantiate it. This may mean that I end up with egg on my face but what matters most is the truth and I am committed to that.
So now we sit and we wait while the SAPOL team complete their work.
Yes, there is actually a couple of apps that measure the subjects heights using their picture, i think like you said it measures the person by using their head for reference.
ReplyDelete