Police in the Inverness-shire Constabulary certainly believed in the Loch Ness Monster, according to a letter that was penned some 70 years ago. A letter recently rediscovered revealed that Nessie was considered a natural creature that was up to the local police to protect from poachers, although they essentially felt their hands were tied when it came to actually monitoring the creature’s safety.
The letter, written by chief constable of Inverness-shire demonstrated that those in charge of law enforcement and protection not only believed in the monster, but were sure that the Secretary of State at the Scottish Office felt the same. “That there is some strange creature in Loch Ness,” the letter stated, “seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful.” The letter then detailed an account by a couple named Marion Stirling and Peter Kent wherein they set out to capture the creature and prove its existence once and for all, even if it meant killing the creature in the process. To Stirling and Kent, the most important thing to do was not to preserve the creature, but to use it as a means of acquiring fame and fortune. They even declared they had a special weapon with which to capture it.
The letter went on, “Mr. Peter Kent visited Fort Augustus on Friday, August 12, and was seen there by my officer stationed at Fort Augustus, to whom he stated that he was having a special harpoon gun made and that he was to return with some 20 experienced men on August 22 for the purpose of hunting the monster down.” The letter stated that Mr. Kent had been informed that the creature was desired to be kept safe from harm, but did not know if the warning had any effect on the determined couple.
The House of Commons even held a hearing five years earlier which proposed something similar. The hearing concluded that if there was a possibility of such a creature existing, then it should be the duty of The House, in the interest of science to implement an investigation which would allow evidence to be gathered of the creature. Officers trained in the operation of camera equipment would be stationed around The Loch in areas where sightings were frequent, and report back any sightings armed with photographic evidence. If this stage would yield results, then the investigators would move on to phase two. In phase two, a trap would be set for the creature which would allow it to slip in, but not allow it to leave. After this point it would be proven, studied, and released back into the wild. The move was made just as much to keep monster hunters from the Loch’s shores as it was to prove the monsters existence itself. As the creature was never discovered, it is needless to say the monster hunters left the Loch empty handed along with the investigators. To this day no conclusive proof that the creature exists has ever been gathered.