History of the Loch Ness Monster

 

Commonly speculated to be a long-surviving plesiosaur (see Loch Ness Monster facts page for a picture), the history of the Loch Ness Monster presumably dates from some time between the start of the Jurassic Period (approximately 200 million years ago) to the end of the Cretaceous Period (approximately 65 million years ago). Loch Ness itself is only 10,000 years old, dating from the end of the last Ice Age, so where the monster lived before that remains unknown.

 

The first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster in history was in 565 AD. According to legend, St Columba was walking by Loch Ness when he came upon some men burying one of their friends. On hearing that the dead man had been attacked by a beast while swimming in the River Ness, St Columba sent one of his followers into the water to lure the beast forth. When the creature appeared the saint made the sign of the cross and ordered it to retreat. To this day, according to the history of Loch Ness and its monster, no-one has been harmed by anything living in the loch.

 

Local Loch Ness Monster history was commonplace through the centuries but remained just that, local history of the Monster of Loch Ness.

 

Modern interest in the Loch Ness Monster began in 1933 when a sighting of the monster was reported in the Inverness Courier and the first photograph of the creature appeared in that same year. This was taken by Mr Hugh Gray and although there was a certain degree of scepticism regarding the authenticity of his picture, no evidence was found that it had been tampered with in any way. The picture has since proved to be an key point in Loch Ness Monster history.

 

However, what was to become the most famous photograph in the history of the Loch Ness Monster was taken a year later in 1934 and shows a distinct head and neck. Later pictures have shown only humps or general disturbances in the water. The photographer was Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist, who refused to have his name associated with the picture. It became known as the 'Surgeon's photograph' and for sixty years reigned supreme as the definitive picture of the Loch Ness Monster until in 1994 a death-bed confession by an associate, Christian Spurling, then aged 93, revealed that the picture had been a hoax. It remains unknown how many hoaxes there may have been in Loch Ness Monster history.

 

Sonar contact has been another important milestone in the history of the Loch Ness Monster. In December 1954 the fishing boat 'Rival III' made sonar contact with a large object in the water. The object kept up with the speed of the boat at a depth of 480 ft for a distance of approximately half a mile, disappearing and reappearing. This was the first time such contact had been made with an unknown object in Loch Ness although there was no conclusive evidence as to exactly what had been found. Later sonar contacts also proved inconclusive, although in 1968 two investigations led by Professor Gordon Tucker of Birmingham University made positive contacts using shore-based, fixed sonar equipment.

 

Dr Robert Rines, president of the American Academy of Applied Science, and a major figure in Loch Ness Monster history, conducted further sonar trials in Loch Ness in the summer of 1972. On 8 August a crew comprising the American Academy of Applied Science and the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau was out on the loch in Urquhart Bay. Their Raytheon sonar tracked an object as it passed 20 feet from the underwater camera which was at 45 feet depth and set to flash every 15 seconds. The picture taken is somewhat indistinct due to poor visibility through the dark, peaty water but shows the off-side hind quarter, a flipper and part of the tail of a large animal with a rough, greenish-brown skin. The sonar chart was subsequently examined by independent experts who agreed there were large animals in Loch Ness, possibly 20-30 feet long and with "several segments, body sections or projections such as humps". This was indeed a detailed description in the history of Loch Ness Monster searches.

 

More than ten years later, in 1972, another scientific survey of Loch Ness took place. This was 'Operation Deepscan', led by Adrian Shine, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, leader of the Loch Ness Project and again a key figure in the Loch Ness Monster history. He planned a sonar sweep of every inch of the loch, the estimated cost of which was to be approximately £1 million. Twenty-four boats took part and succeeded in tracking an unknown object in the loch for 140 seconds. As this target could not be found again it was assumed to have moved away from its original position and therefore to be alive. Two other objects were also located, both found to be larger than sharks but smaller than whales.

 

At the end of the operation only 60% of the loch had been swept and while the media and onlookers may have felt cheated that a whole, dripping wet monster was not pulled from the loch, there has been no satisfactory explanation of what it was that the three sonar units located. All that is known is that whatever it was, was too large to have been anything actually known to be living in the loch.

 

Further evidence of a creature living in Loch Ness came in 1992 with the findings of 'Project Urquhart', led by former BBC news reporter and Loch Ness enthusiast, Nicholas Witchell. Sonar scans picked up a considerable number of fish shoals and then suddenly, on the evening of 28 July 1992, locked on to a particular target for approximately two minutes. The operator described it as a much stronger echo than from the fish they had previously been tracing. Once again, in the history of Loch Ness Monster hunting there was unfortunately no absolute proof of a monster.

 

The definitive, long sought-after, scientific proof that St Columba did not really banish Nessie from Loch Ness has not yet been found. Loch Ness Monster history continues and believers from around the world continue to watch the murky waters of the loch in the hope that one day firm and indisputable evidence will be found.

 

We welcome you to the Nessieland Castle Monster Centre on your visit to the Highlands of Scotland.

 

We BELIEVE in the monster.

 

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