Everyone has a particular belief about Nessie, she has been a source
of mystery and speculation for years, she is what those who study
cryptozoology (the scientific study of animals) call a cryptid, (it is
the belief in the existence of animals that has yet to be proven).
Cryptozoologists are committed to their work, their quest is to prove
the existence of cryptids, they painstakingly gather information about
the creature they are studying. Usually their journey begins through
information they receive from sightings by people living in the area of
the suspected cryptid. The cryptozoologist begin their journey of
gathering information by first talking to the people who live in the
area the cryptid was first sighted.
Photographs (if any) are looked at, tales are documented and those
that appear to be authentic are filed, it is like gathering pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle to get a clear picture of what has been seen. What they
are really looking for is verifiable evidence of their mythical monster.
Their ultimate aim being publishable evidence that the source of their
interest actually does exist. Hence the unquenchable interest in the
Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, the gigantic shark Megalodon, the African
dinosaur Mokele-mbembe. The giant squid Kraken, the monster lizard from
Australia, and the giant vulture from North America the thunderbird.
For some cyptozoologist theirs is a lifetime quest. There is another
cryptid that hails from Scottish fables, The Kelpie a shape shifting
monster of the river, this creature disguised itself as a horse,
benignly sidling up to travellers in the area offering them a ride on
its back, only to then drown them in the river. The Loch Ness Monster
has remained the most beloved and famous of all the mythical creatures
and here is always someone who has a colourful theory on Nessie.
Anything on top of the loch is easy to see, yet it is difficult to
see under the surface because of the dark brown water that blocks the
sunlight from lighting the loch to a depth of no more than four meters. A
huge expense of the loch does not receive any daylight.
The Loch Ness Monster is believed to exist in a large Loch located in
the Scottish Highlands, near the city of Inverness, it is connected to a
chain of rivers and Lochs that ultimately connect to the Atlantic
Ocean. There is still seismic activity in the Loch Ness area with some
earthquakes occurring each century.
Anything on top of the loch is easy to see, yet it is difficult to
see under the surface because of the dark brown water that blocks the
sunlight from lighting the loch to a depth of no more than four meters. A
huge expense of the loch does not receive any daylight. For a reclusive
monster, this is the perfect hiding place, making it very difficult for
curious and dedicated monster hunters to find their prey. The Loch is
approximately 10,000 years old, dating back from the last Ice Age, the
depth of the Loch is more than 700ft, it measures 1.6 km in width and is
38 km in length. With the location of the Loch being in an area that is
cold, misty and eerie, it is not difficult to imagine a monster moving
silently in the depths.
There have been carvings made of a cryptid, dating back 15,000 years,
these were created by the ancient residents of Scotland, these carvings
look like an aquatic creature. There have been tales about the monster
living in the Loch for centuries.
The popularity of Nessie hasn’t lessened over the years, no matter what the skeptics of the world say, the ardent believers
still pour over photographs, and read anything and everything
available. You can’t think of Scotland without thinking of the Loch Ness
Monster, and you can’t think of the Loch Ness Monster without thinking
of Scotland, they are intrinsically linked. Irrespective of sightings by
many reputable and credible witnesses, there has been no concrete
evidence to confirm the belief that deep in the Loch there lives a
monster. This has done nothing to deter the believers, and they will
continue to seek out that which they believe is evading them.
From a purely scientific vantage point, scientists agree that if
there is a large water monster resembling a long lost dinosaur, it would
be necessary for there to be a colony breeding these creatures, a safe
haven for them to remain hidden and an adequate food supply. They also
believe that if it was necessary for the creature to surface for air,
there would have been more frequent sightings.
This monster believed to be living in the depths of Loch Ness, on
many occasions tantalizes those who see it with a fleeting glimpse,
before diving again into the Loch. Unlike other giant creatures, there
have been no horror stories about Nessie only scary ones, making her one
of the most speculated about ever. The lake itself doesn’t receive much
light as the sunlight only penetrates several feet below the water
line, beyond this it is very dark, making it difficult for those who are
exploring to see very far in front of them. There is the tale of a
Saint who courageously saved a swimmer from the jaws of a hungry
monster, this was said to have occurred in 565 AD and is one of the
earliest references to the Loch Ness Monster.
It is said that a huge underwater cave located deep in the Loch could
be the lair of Nessie, and that there may be other discoveries along
these lines. Evidence to prove the existence of this most famous
mythological creature, has been religiously gathered and scrutinized
over the years.
Great Britain first became aware of Nessie in the early twentieth
century, in 1933 a man and his wife were driving past the Loch and
caught sight of a large creature on the surface of the water, its body
was described as similar to that of a whale. After some movement causing
the water to churn it plunged back into the depths of the Loch and
disappeared, leaving enormous amounts of foam frothing on the surface.
A man by the name of Alex Campbell claimed to have seen the monster
in the loch on several occasions. He described it as being about thirty
feet long with a huge hump, it had a long tapering neck, about six feet
long, and a small head resembling a serpent.
In 1934 Colonel Robert Wilson, submitted a photograph to the local
newspaper, in the photograph was a large creature with a long neck and
horns, looking very much like the fabled monster. Many years later this
photograph was said to be a hoax. There were actually two photographs
called the “Surgeon’s Photo,” and some claim one of them is the real
photograph of Nessie.
In 1960 someone began an expedition of Loch Ness, he had his black
and white camera at the ready, Tim Dinsdale was rewarded with a sighting
at the completion of his expedition. He was driving along a road next
to the Loch, in the car he had his movie camera, he kept glancing at the
Loch hoping to see something before he left.
He stopped his car and with his binoculars was able to define a large
object sitting high in the water, he began filming the creature as it
veered left and right across the water. As it neared the shore it
disappeared under the water it then reappeared and moved parallel to the
shore creating a distinct wake as it moved through the water. Because
of the splash and froth of water either side of its body Dinsdale
concluded that this wonderous sea monster had flippers, he managed to
film for four minutes. From this recorded sighting, and his utter belief
in his finding of the Loch Ness Monster, he later wrote a book.
Also in 1964 a young medical student was out one evening on his
motorbike riding next to the Loch, he claimed to have seen a monster
moving across the road the road in front of him, and disappearing into
the Loch. What he saw had a huge body with flippers, a long tapering
neck with a small head, crytozoologists agreed it resembled an aquatic
reptilian (plesiosaurus) that had been extinct for over 60 million
years.
In 1962 an organization called the LNPIB (the Loch Ness Phenomena
Investigation Bureau) was established, later renamed LNIB (the Loch Ness
Investigation Bureau, each year there was a search for the Loch Ness
Monster until they disbanded in the early 1970?s. When they conducted
their expeditions they used sophisticated equipment including
mini-submarines. These one-man submersibles were armed with harpoon
guns, to be used for tissue sampling only, disappointingly they never
did retrieve a sample to analyse. From this a larger sub was used
equipped with sonar, a large object was detected on one occasion
although the source of this was never discovered.
A member of Rine’s team was in a small boat on the Loch, he said that
the sonar detected a large creature under his boat, he was convinced
that there was a monster several feet below his small rowing boat.
Sometime later there was a joint sonar underwater photography
expedition, from this simultaneous sonar and photographic evidence of a
large object could be attained. From this some intriguing photographs
were taken, in the early hours of one morning, two large undefined
shapes momentarily appeared on the sonar and pictures were taken, they
became known as the “flipper” photos. This took place during the 1972
Robert Rines’s Loch Ness Monster expedition.
When these photographs were computer enhanced, a large flipper
belonging to a huge creature was discernible. When the second photograph
was analyzed another large flipper at a different angle was revealed,
this enabled Rines to deduce that sonar evidence confirmed there was a
monster existing in Loch Ness.
Three years after this magnificent discovery, during another Loch
Ness expedition, Rines managed to produce the close up image of Nessie’s
head, nothing like this had ever been seen, unfortunately this
particular image was actually a large tree stump on the bottom of the
loch “that was known as the “gargoyle head.
While sweeping the Loch with sonar equipment, a researcher for the
New York Aquarium, picked up the echo of an animate object, he gauged
the length to be more than twenty feet. He had no images to confirm what
he was sure inhabited the Loch.
Floating sonar units were placed over an area of the loch in 1983 by
experts Alan Kielar, and Rikki Razdan, these were placed on the surface
area where there had been the most sightings. Robert Rines with his
undying curiosity, returned to the loch in 2001 doing an extensive sonar
search of the loch, he disappointingly discovered nothing.
In the 21st century many scientists have reached the conclusion that
there are a number of creatures, that can from a distance resemble a
monster, such as fallen tree branches floating on the loch, especially
if photographed as the Sun sets. There have been suggestions of a huge
whale, or large otters frolicking in the loch that can appear as a
monster on film, also otters move in single file making them look like a
creature with humps. It is also thought that large seals are at times
found in the loch.
One of the most viable conclusions as to what Nessie actually is
suggests that plesiosaurs somehow escaped extinction and actually
managed to breed and feed, while safely hiding in underwater caves. The
plesior is a prehistoric creature and scientists do not believe there is
any possibility that any could have survived the extinction of the
species and thrived in the freezing waters of the loch.
The ultimate believers in the Loch Ness Monster will not be swayed in
their belief that Nessie exists, quite recently paleontologists
discovered fossils millions of years old in the waters of Australia. The
waters in ancient Australia were freezing and they believe that some of
the plesisaur species adapted to the arctic temperatures, and evolved
enough to enable them to survive in the icy waters of the loch.
Plesiosau skeletal fossils have been found by paleontologists allowing
them to piece together a picture of these fascinating creatures, and
gleen something of their history.
The final outcome is that scientists look for that which is not
possible and ultimately debunk the myth of Nessie. While the ardent
believers will only look at what is possible and their belief in the
Loch Ness Monster never wavers, they are always waiting for the day when
someone has an up close and personal encounter with the ultimate
monster Nessie.
If you believe in fairies, witches, gnomes, goblins, dragons and the
like, there is surely a place in your heart that allows you to believe
in the possibility of the Loch Ness Monster living happily in the depths
of one of the most famous lochs in the world.
Witcheslore.com © 2011