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The Loch Ness Monster
May 2, 2003 marked the 70th anniversary of what is considered the
world's formal introduction to the Loch Ness Monster. On May 2, 1933, an
Inverness newspaper ran an article called "A Strange Spectacle on Loch
Ness" that described how Mrs. Mackay encountered the creature on the
Scottish lake ("Loch" is Scottish for "lake"). This was not the first
sighting of the Loch Ness creature, but it was in that year that it was
dubbed a monster and the report was widely circulated.
Over the last 70 years, "Nessie" has become probably the most
well-known "real" monster in the world. Since 1933, Nessie's fame has endured
and grown in part because of continual if sporadic sightings, scientific
expeditions to find it, and in large part because of marketing: the
Loch Ness Monster has become a money-making icon and tourist attraction
for the towns surrounding the deep, cold lake.
Although Nessie is not taken seriously by skeptics and many mainstream
scientists, there is some evidence that a large, unknown creature
really does live in Loch Ness.
There have been numerous sightings by reliable witnesses, photographs
(both above and below the water's surface), film and video footage, and
interesting sonar readings. Unfortunately, none of the evidence has
been conclusive, and the definitive proof of Nessie's existence has been
frustratingly elusive.
Environment:
Location: Loch Ness is located in Northern Scotland, running southwest
to northeast.
Size: It is 23 miles long and about 1 mile wide; it is 786 feet at its
deepest point; it is the deepest and one of the largest bodies of fresh
water in Britain.
Occupants: The loch is home to Atlantic salmon, charr, eels, minnows,
large pike, sticklebacks, sturgeon, trout and various other fish. Seals
and otters also live in Loch Ness, but are rarely seen.
Description of the Monster:
Shape: long neck; horse-like head; humped back (one or two humps).
Color: dark or elephant gray.
Weight: estimated 2,500 pounds.
Length: 15 to 40 feet.
Famous Sightings:
The Loch Ness Monster may have been sighted as early as the 6th
century, but Nessie as we know it today is largely a product of the 20th
century.
April, 1933 - Mrs. Aldie Mackay reports seeing a whale-like creature in
the loch near Aldourie Castle (where Nessie has been sighted on other
occasions). The account was written up for the Inverness Courier by
water bailiff Alex Campbell and the excitement about a monster in the loch
was born.
July 22, 1933 - Mr. and Mrs. Spicer saw Nessie on land! While passing
the loch on their way to London from Northern Scotland, the couple saw
the large creature crossing the road in front of them. Mr. Spicer told
the newspaper that it looked like a large prehistoric creature and was
carrying a small lamb or some other animal in its mouth. He described it
as being about 25 feet long with a long neck. He believed it
disappeared into the loch.
November, 1933 - The first photo of the alleged monster was taken by
Hugh Gray.
1934 - Brother Richard Horan saw the neck and head protruding from the
water at only 30 yards away. He said it reached about 3-1/2 feet above
the surface, and the creature was looking at him.
1963 - Mr. Hugh Ayton claimed to have seen the creature from shore. He
and three friends jumped into a motor boat and followed it for about a
mile. He said he could never forget its large oval-shaped eye looking
at him from its horse-like head.
1972 - A monk at the Fort Augustus Abbey, Father Gregory Brusey, was
walking with an organist when they both saw the neck and head of the
creature protruding about 6 feet above the loch's surface. They said it
moved through the water, turned on its side and submerged.
Hoaxes:
As with any phenomenon of this type, there have been numerous hoaxes
associated with the creature:
December, 1933 - Marmaduke Wetherell finds footprints on the shores of
the loch. It turns out he made them himself with a hippopotamus foot
ashtray.
April 19, 1934 - Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson claims to photograph Nessie
while on a hunting trip. It circulated for years as being authentic and
became one of the most famous photos of Nessie. It was later revealed
that this so-called "surgeon's photo" was made using children's toys.
Theories:
What is it that people are seeing in the loch?
Skeptics say sightings are actually of groups of large fish, seals,
otters or ducks.
It's also been shown that waves on the surface of the lake can look
like the oft-seen humped back of Nessie.
The favorite theory of believers and many witnesses is that Nessie is a
dinosaur known as a plesiosaur - a large aquatic creature with
flippers and a long neck that is thought to have gone extinct 90 million years
ago. Somehow, it is thought, plesiosaurs survived in Loch Ness (and
perhaps some other lakes around the world). There must be enough of them
in the loch to constitute a breeding population.
On Art Bell's erstwhile radio show, he once asked remote viewer Ed
Dames to remote view what the Loch Ness Monster is. Dames' conclusion: it
is the ghost of an aquatic dinosaur.
May 2, 2003 marked the 70th anniversary of what is considered the
world's formal introduction to the Loch Ness Monster. On May 2, 1933, an
Inverness newspaper ran an article called "A Strange Spectacle on Loch
Ness" that described how Mrs. Mackay encountered the creature on the
Scottish lake ("Loch" is Scottish for "lake"). This was not the first
sighting of the Loch Ness creature, but it was in that year that it was
dubbed a monster and the report was widely circulated.
Over the last 70 years, "Nessie" has become probably the most
well-known "real" monster in the world. Since 1933, Nessie's fame has endured
and grown in part because of continual if sporadic sightings, scientific
expeditions to find it, and in large part because of marketing: the
Loch Ness Monster has become a money-making icon and tourist attraction
for the towns surrounding the deep, cold lake.
Although Nessie is not taken seriously by skeptics and many mainstream
scientists, there is some evidence that a large, unknown creature
really does live in Loch Ness.
There have been numerous sightings by reliable witnesses, photographs
(both above and below the water's surface), film and video footage, and
interesting sonar readings. Unfortunately, none of the evidence has
been conclusive, and the definitive proof of Nessie's existence has been
frustratingly elusive.
Environment:
Location: Loch Ness is located in Northern Scotland, running southwest
to northeast.
Size: It is 23 miles long and about 1 mile wide; it is 786 feet at its
deepest point; it is the deepest and one of the largest bodies of fresh
water in Britain.
Occupants: The loch is home to Atlantic salmon, charr, eels, minnows,
large pike, sticklebacks, sturgeon, trout and various other fish. Seals
and otters also live in Loch Ness, but are rarely seen.
Description of the Monster:
Shape: long neck; horse-like head; humped back (one or two humps).
Color: dark or elephant gray.
Weight: estimated 2,500 pounds.
Length: 15 to 40 feet.
Famous Sightings:
The Loch Ness Monster may have been sighted as early as the 6th
century, but Nessie as we know it today is largely a product of the 20th
century.
April, 1933 - Mrs. Aldie Mackay reports seeing a whale-like creature in
the loch near Aldourie Castle (where Nessie has been sighted on other
occasions). The account was written up for the Inverness Courier by
water bailiff Alex Campbell and the excitement about a monster in the loch
was born.
July 22, 1933 - Mr. and Mrs. Spicer saw Nessie on land! While passing
the loch on their way to London from Northern Scotland, the couple saw
the large creature crossing the road in front of them. Mr. Spicer told
the newspaper that it looked like a large prehistoric creature and was
carrying a small lamb or some other animal in its mouth. He described it
as being about 25 feet long with a long neck. He believed it
disappeared into the loch.
November, 1933 - The first photo of the alleged monster was taken by
Hugh Gray.
1934 - Brother Richard Horan saw the neck and head protruding from the
water at only 30 yards away. He said it reached about 3-1/2 feet above
the surface, and the creature was looking at him.
1963 - Mr. Hugh Ayton claimed to have seen the creature from shore. He
and three friends jumped into a motor boat and followed it for about a
mile. He said he could never forget its large oval-shaped eye looking
at him from its horse-like head.
1972 - A monk at the Fort Augustus Abbey, Father Gregory Brusey, was
walking with an organist when they both saw the neck and head of the
creature protruding about 6 feet above the loch's surface. They said it
moved through the water, turned on its side and submerged.
Hoaxes:
As with any phenomenon of this type, there have been numerous hoaxes
associated with the creature:
December, 1933 - Marmaduke Wetherell finds footprints on the shores of
the loch. It turns out he made them himself with a hippopotamus foot
ashtray.
April 19, 1934 - Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson claims to photograph Nessie
while on a hunting trip. It circulated for years as being authentic and
became one of the most famous photos of Nessie. It was later revealed
that this so-called "surgeon's photo" was made using children's toys.
Theories:
What is it that people are seeing in the loch?
Skeptics say sightings are actually of groups of large fish, seals,
otters or ducks.
It's also been shown that waves on the surface of the lake can look
like the oft-seen humped back of Nessie.
The favorite theory of believers and many witnesses is that Nessie is a
dinosaur known as a plesiosaur - a large aquatic creature with
flippers and a long neck that is thought to have gone extinct 90 million years
ago. Somehow, it is thought, plesiosaurs survived in Loch Ness (and
perhaps some other lakes around the world). There must be enough of them
in the loch to constitute a breeding population.
On Art Bell's erstwhile radio show, he once asked remote viewer Ed
Dames to remote view what the Loch Ness Monster is. Dames' conclusion: it
is the ghost of an aquatic dinosaur.