Loch Ness Monster

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The Loch Ness Monster is an animal - most probably a Plesiosaur - which is believed to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness. The Loch Ness Monster is one of the best-known animals studied by cryptozoology. Popular belief and interest in the animal have waxed and waned over the years since evidence for the animal came to the world's attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is compelling, including photographic material and sonar readings. Local people, and later many around the world, have affectionately referred to the animal by the diminutive Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: "Niseag") since the 1950s.

Contents

[edit] Origins

The term "monster" was reportedly[1] coined on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist, in a report in the Inverness Courier. On 4 August 1933, the Courier published as a full news item the claim of a London man named George Spicer that, a few weeks earlier, while motoring around the Loch, he and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", trundling across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth. The following month, another letter came from a veterinary student reporting a similar encounter while on a night drive. These stories soon reached the national press, and afterward the international, which talked of a 'monster fish', 'sea serpent' or 'dragon',[2] eventually settling on 'Loch Ness Monster'.[3] On 6 December 1933 the first photograph (taken by Hugh Gray) was published,[4] and the creature received official recognition from the Secretary of State for Scotland, ordering the police to prevent any attacks on it.[5] Other letters began appearing in the Courier with claims of land or water sightings, either on the writer's part or on the parts of family, acquaintances or stories they remembered being told.

In 1934, interest was further sparked by "The Surgeon's Photograph". In the same year R. T. Gould published a book, the first of many which describe the author's personal investigation and collected record of additional reports pre-dating the summer of 1933. Subsequent investigations by other individuals over the ensuing decades added additional material which was eventually included in a continuum of sightings dating from the 6th century A.D. to the present, which presented a strong case for the existence of a large family of animals living in Loch Ness.

[edit] History of reported sightings

From 1933 onward, a picture has emerged from investigations of reports of large animals in the loch having existed for centuries, but in recent times have declined from over ten per year in the 1990s to three in 2006.[6] It is clear that a lengthy history of monster sightings in the loch provides ample evidence of the animal's existence in and of itself.

[edit] Saint Columba (565)

The earliest known report can be found in the Life of St. Columba by Adamnan, written sometime during the 7th century. It describes how in 565 Columba saved the life of a Pict, who was being attacked by the monster. Adamnan describes the event as follows:

"...(He) raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, "Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed." Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast. Then the brethren seeing that the monster had gone back, and that their comrade Lugne returned to them in the boat safe and sound, were struck with admiration, and gave glory to God in the blessed man. And even the barbarous heathens, who were present, were forced by the greatness of this miracle, which they had seen, to magnify the God of the Christians".[7]

[edit] 1871

A sighting in October 1871 by a "D. Mackenzie", described seeing something that moved slowly before moving off at a faster speed, has been repeated in several places,[8][9][10].

[edit] 1933

Although sightings of the creature on land around the loch date back to the sixth century,[11] modern interest in the monster was sparked by a 22 July 1933 sighting, when George Spicer and his wife saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about 4 feet high and 25 feet, and long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the ten- to twelve-feet width of the road; the neck had a number of undulations in it. They saw no limbs because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal's lower portion. It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake.[12]

In August 1933 a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the northeastern shore, at about 1 am on a moonlit night. Grant saw a small head attached to a long neck; the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. Grant dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples.[13]

In another 1933 sighting, a young maidservant named Margaret Munro observed the creature for about 20 minutes. It was about 6:30 am on 5 June, when she spotted it on shore from about 200 yards. She described it as having elephant-like skin, a long neck, a small head and two short forelegs or flippers. The sighting ended when the creature reentered the water.

Sporadic land sightings continued until 1963, when a film of the creature was made from a distance of several miles.

[edit] WWII

In May 1943, CB Farrel of the Royal Observer Corps was distracted from his duties by a Nessie sighting. He was about 250 yards away from a large-eyed, 'finned' creature, which had a twenty- to thirty-foot (6–9 m) long body, and a neck that protruded about 4-5 feet (1.2-1.5 m) out of the water.[13]

[edit] 1950s

In December 1954 a strange sonar contact was made by the fishing boat Rival III. The vessel's crew observed sonar readings of a large object keeping pace with the boat at a depth of 480 feet. It was detected traveling for half a mile (800 m) in this manner, before contact was lost, but then found again later.[13]

[edit] Photographs and films

[edit] The 'Surgeon's Photo' (1934)

One of the most iconic images of Nessie is known as the 'Surgeon's Photograph', which is good evidence of the monster. Its importance lies in the fact that it is the only photographic evidence of a “head and neck” – all the others are humps or disturbances.[14]

Taken by Mr Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934.[15] The ripples on the photo fit the size and circular pattern of those caused by a large animal.

[edit] The Taylor film (1938)

In 1938, G.E. Taylor, a South African tourist, filmed something in the loch for three minutes on 16 mm colour film, which is now in the possession of Dr. Maurice Burton. Burton has shown his convincing photographs to many Loch Ness investigators (such as Peter Costello or the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau). A single frame was published in his book The Elusive Monster; before he retired. Dr. Roy P. Mackal, a biologist and cryptozoologist, declared the frame to be "positive evidence".[16]

[edit] The Dinsdale film (1960)

In 1960, aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale filmed a hump crossing the water in a powerful wake unlike that of a boat.[1] JARIC declared that the object was "probably animate".[17]

In 1993 Discovery Communications made a documentary called Loch Ness Discovered that featured a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A computer expert who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative which was not very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body, the rear flippers, and 1-2 additional humps of a plesiosaur-like body. He said that: "Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure".[18]

[edit] The Holmes video (2007)

On May 26 2007, Gordon Holmes, a 55-year-old lab technician, captured video of what he said was "this jet black thing, about 45 feet long, moving fairly fast in the water." Adrian Shine, a marine biologist at the Loch Ness 2000 centre in Drumnadrochit, has watched the video and plans to analyze it. Shine also described the footage as among "the best footage [he has] ever seen."[19] BBC Scotland broadcast the video on May 29 2007.[20] stv News' North Tonight aired the footage on May 28, 2007 and interviewed Holmes.

[edit] Explanations

Many explanations have been postulated over the years to explain the claims for the existence of a Loch Ness Monster.

[edit] Plesiosaur

In 1933 the suggestion was made that the monster "bears a striking resemblance to the supposedly-extinct plesiosaur",[21] a long-necked aquatic reptile that is thought to have become extinct during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. It remains the most popular and plausible explanation.

[edit] Long-necked seal

In 1934 the Sir Edward Mountain expedition analyzed film taken the same year and concluded that the monster was a species of seal, which was reported in a national newspaper as "Loch Ness Riddle Solved - Official."[22]

[edit] Eel

A giant eel was actually one of the first suggestions made.[23] Eels live in Loch Ness, and an unusually large eel would fit many sightings. This has been described as a conservative explanation.[24]

[edit] Elephant

In a 1979 article, California biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson claimed that the Surgeon's photograph was, in fact, the top of the head, extended trunk and flared nostrils of a swimming elephant.[25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Sun 27 November 1975
  2. ^ Daily Mirror, 11 August 1933
  3. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary gives 9 June 1933 as the first usage of the exact phrase Loch Ness monster
  4. ^ R. P. Mackal (1983)The Monsters of Loch Ness page 94
  5. ^ Daily Mirror 8 December 1933
  6. ^ Lister, David (2007-09-29). Has scepticism done for the Loch Ness Monster?. The Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  7. ^ The Birth of Nations: Scotland
  8. ^ The Loch Ness Monster
  9. ^ Le monstre du loch Ness
  10. ^ Nessie the Loch Ness Monster - CoverUps.com
  11. ^ Lochness.co.uk: Sightings on Land
  12. ^ Drawings and Opinions
  13. ^ a b c Searching for Nessie
  14. ^ R. P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness page 208
  15. ^ Daily Mail 21 April 1934
  16. ^ Janet and Colin Bord, 'Alien Animals' (Granada 1986) p18
  17. ^ Evidence Pages - Film and Video
  18. ^
  19. ^ Scientist Boasts New, Quality Footage of Loch Ness Monster
  20. ^ Fabled monster caught on video
  21. ^ R. J. Binns (1983) The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, page 22
  22. ^ Daily Mirror 5 October 1934
  23. ^ Daily Mirror 8 December 1933
  24. ^ R. P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness page 216, see also chapter 9 and appendix G
  25. ^ A Fresh Look At Nessie, New Scientist, v. 83, pp. 358-359

[edit] Books

  • Gould, R. T., The Loch Ness Monster and Others, London, Geoffrey Bles, 1934 and paperback, Lyle Stuart, 1976, ISBN 0806505559
  • Whyte, Constance, More Than a Legend: The Story of the Loch Ness Monster, London, Hamish Hamilton, 1957
  • Dinsdale, Tim, Loch Ness Monster, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, SBN 7100 1279 9
  • Burton, Maurice, The Elusive Monster: An Analysis of the Evidence from Loch Ness, London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961
  • Holiday, F. W., The Great Orm of Loch Ness, London, Faber & Faber, 1968, SBN 571 08473 7
  • Mackal, Roy P., The Monsters of Loch Ness, London, Futura, 1976, ISBN 0 8600 7381 5
  • Binns, Ronald, The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, Great Britain, Open Books, 1983, ISBN 0 7291 0139 8 and Star Books, 1984, ISBN 0-352-31487-7

[edit] External links


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