The Silly Season is a period of time when many stories in the news are unlikely to be true, or are minor or superficial. The silly season is traditionally during August and September when Parliament recesses for summer. Because of this, newspapers are often denied a steady stream of the usual political news. And so, with big gaps in their papers to fill, journalists would report on silly stories, such as tales about the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, giant marrows and student capers. An early story about a giant gooseberry led to the period being called the "Big Gooseberry Season" and over time this changed to the "silly season".