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Rumors of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded for decades, but little evidence has been found to support these claims.
One of the first sightings, believed to have fueled modern Nessie fever, occurred on May 2, 1933.
On this date the Inverness Courier published a story about a local couple claiming to have seen “a huge animal rolling and diving to the surface”.
Another famous sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the contestants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the footage was staged.
In December 1933, the Daily Mail commissioned Marmaduke Wetherell, a big game hunter, to track down the sea serpent. Wetherell discovered large footprints along the shore, which he believed belonged to “a very powerful soft-footed animal about 20 feet long”.
Other sightings include James Gray’s photo from 2001 when he and his friend Peter Levings were fishing on the loch, while Hugh Gray’s namesake blurry photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.
The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in the year 565 by the Irish missionary Saint Columba when he encountered a giant beast in the River Ness.
But no one has found a satisfactory explanation for the sightings, although in 2019 ‘Nessie expert’ Steve Feltham, who spent 24 years observing the lake, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels catfish, native to nearby waters. the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.
An online log lists more than 1,000 Nessie sightings in all, created by Mr. Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.
So what could explain these mysterious sightings?
Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting on the creature’s spine, leading some to believe that an escaped amphibian may be to blame.
Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have rough backs, making them appear almost reptilian.
Some believe that Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur, like an elasmosaur, that somehow survived when all other dinosaurs were wiped out.
Others say the sightings are due to Scots pines dying and falling into the loch, before quickly flooding and sinking.
While submerged, the botanical chemicals begin to trap tiny air bubbles.
Eventually enough of these gather to propel the trunk upward as deep pressures begin to alter its shape, giving the appearance of an airborne animal.