Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

Descriptions of sightings of the Loch Ness Monster vary. Sometimes described as a long neck and head, or as a series of humps, and other times as looking more like an upturned boat, one thing is certain - those who have been lucky enough to witness a Loch Ness Monster sighting remain utterly convinced of its existence

 

Early Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

The first recorded Loch Ness Monster sighting was by St Columba in 565 AD. Originally an Irish monk, St Columba had travelled to Scotland to preach Christianity when he was called upon to save swimmers in the River Ness from a terrible creature. He commanded the beast to return whence it had come and for many, many years no more was seen or heard of it. In fact St Columba is reputed to have seen the monster a second time, this time in the shape of a water "kelpie", although not much is reported about the second sighting.

 

 

Modern Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

The first of many modern sightings of the Loch Ness Monster dates from 1871 when a shape resembling an upturned boat was seen in the loch and appeared to move away with gathering speed. In the next decades there were few recorded Loch Ness Monster sightings, although periodically local people reported witnessing strange sights on and near the loch.

 

In the 1930s the road round Loch Ness was extensively upgraded, so much so that it became known as the 'new' road on maps, and this brought about a massive rise in the number of Loch Ness Monster sightings reported. Before this most of the talk of the monster had been among local folk, but the new road improved access for both sightseers and travellers, particularly from the northern side, and news of strange sights and possible sightings of the Loch Ness Monster spread further and faster.

 

There have been so many sightings of the Loch Ness Monster that it would not be practical to list them all here. Below is a selection which includes some remarkable accounts and illustrates the wide variety of people who have reported Loch Ness Monster sightings. Sceptics would do well to bear in mind that it is not only whisky-loving Highlanders who claim to have had sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, but respectable members of society including monks, doctors, policemen, scientists, peers of the realm, farmers, army personnel and, of course, tourists.

 

 

Types of Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

Loch Ness Monster sightings can be grouped into particular types. Some people have seen a single hump, some several humps, others a head and neck, and there have been many sightings of the Loch Ness Monster on land as well as in the water.

 

In 1933 a Mrs Mackay spoke of having seen an enormous fish in Loch Ness and unknowingly triggered a huge surge of interest in 'Nessie' which is as strong today as ever. Alex Campbell, a water bailiff and part-time journalist from Fort Augustus, heard about Mrs Mackay's sighting of the Loch Ness Monster and immediately penned an article for the Inverness Courier entitled "Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness". In this article, one of many reporting sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, Campbell mentioned the word "monster" for the first time, possibly for dramatic effect, as Mrs Mackay had spoken only of a "whale-like fish". It is interesting to note that the dictionary definition of "whale" may be given as "monstrous" so perhaps that is where Mr Campbell got his inspiration from.

 

In a short time the story reached the national media and a number of London journalists at once headed for the Highlands to check out the facts and hear more about these sightings of a monster in Loch Ness. They may have been disappointed when locals referred to what they called a water "kelpie" rather than a monster but as luck would have it, there was another Loch Ness Monster sighting very soon and all of a sudden sightings of the Monster of Loch Ness exploded.

 

This significant Loch Ness Monster sighting was in July 1933 by Mr and Mrs Spicer. It was the first Loch Ness Monster sighting on land and took place as they were travelling by car between Dores and Inverfarigaig on the southern shore of the loch. They reported seeing "a most extraordinary form of animal" cross the road ahead of them and disappear into the bushes some 20 yards from the water.

 

 

International Interest in Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

After this, Loch Ness Monster sightings flooded in and interest in Loch Ness grew internationally. Speculators offered rewards and circus owner Bertram Mills offered £20,000 for capture of the live animal. In 1933 the big-game hunter, Marmaduke Wetherell, was involved in a prank involving a hippopotamus footprint and this led to some future sightings of the Loch Ness Monster being taken less seriously than they might have been although they were certainly more frequent.

 

The 1930s and 1960s saw surges of interest and an increase in sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, and the early 1970s were an also active time for monster hunters. In 1971 Dr Robert Rines, president of the American Academy of Applied Science, became involved in the mystery when he and his wife, in a party with Mr and Mrs Cary, witnessed a six foot hump about ¾ of a mile away from where they stood. They examined the hump through a telescope from the Cary's cottage just above Urquhart Castle. Mrs Rines had in fact had a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster previously. Her taxi driver pointed it out to her but she was in a hurry and said she would have plenty of opportunities to see it another time. In 1972 Mrs Rines dowsed for the best position for Dr Rines' underwater cameras and they were well rewarded by the success of his subsequent flipper pictures. These pictures of a Loch Ness Monster sighting were taken in August 1972 and show, albeit a little blurred, the distinct shape of a flipper and part of the tail of a large, rough-skinned creature. This remains an important Loch Ness Monster sighting.

 

Famous Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

One of the most famous Loch Ness Monster sightings also took place in 1972 when Father Gregory, a monk at Fort Augustus Abbey, saw a head and neck rising six feet out of the water while he was walking in the abbey gardens with the organist from Westminster Cathedral. The word of such a sober and respectable citizen was indeed to be taken seriously.

 

Many Loch Ness Monster sightings have been of multiple, rather than just single, humps. There were various reports of Loch Ness Monster sightings during the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s but perhaps the most noteworthy was in 1958 when 27 bus passengers spotted two distinct humps in the water, the larger measuring roughly 25 feet in length.

 

In 1934 Alex Campbell, the man whose newspaper article was responsible for the sudden frenzy of monster hunting in the 1930s, himself spotted a six foot neck and 30 foot hump rising out of the water. This was one of 16 Loch Ness Monster sightings by Mr Campbell. A similar vision was reported by the Royal Navy during World war II when a member of the Royal Observance Corps who was on duty to report incoming enemy bombers, saw a head and neck rise above the water 250 yards away.

 

One of the longest sightings of the Loch Ness Monster was surely in 1963 when a lucky party spotted three large humps and a neck rising from the water. They had time to run down to the loch side, launch a boat and follow the monster for about a mile. This must certainly be a record sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

 

 

Land-Based Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

There have been several land-based, as opposed to water-based, Loch Ness Monster sightings, mostly later discredited but nonetheless interesting. The earliest land-based sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was in 1933 by Mr and Mrs Spicer, as described above, and a year later, on a moonlit night in 1934, a motorcyclist nearly collided with a creature on the road near Abriachan. The creature had a small head and a long neck and left ripples where it entered the water. Unlike many of the water-based sightings of the Loch Ness Monster none of the sightings on land have been scientifically verified but neither have any been reported on 1st April.

 

 

Recent Loch Ness Monster Sightings

 

Loch Ness Monster sightings have continued regularly through the years with particular peaks in the 1960s and 70s, and although there has been a decline in frequency in recent years, there was a new surge of media interest in May 2007 when Gordon Holmes, a lab technician, took a video of what he described as a "jet black thing, about 45 feet long, moving fairly fast in the water". The video of the Loch Ness Monster sighting was broadcast by BBC Scotland and on STV's North Tonight programme but questions have been raised about its credibility and sceptics have pointed out that there is nothing else in the footage which could give a sense of scale to whatever the 'thing' is.

 

And more recently, in 2009, while browsing Google Earth, security guard Jason Cooke, spotted an image of large unknown object with four legs in the loch. This is the first such sighting of the Loch Ness Monster, perhaps the first of many. Loch Ness researchers have plans to investigate ...

 

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