A few years ago, reports of a mysterious monster made blood run cold, but today almost nothing is heard about the underwater monster.
It is believed that the monster was seen in pre-Christian times, when Roman legionnaires conquered new lands and got acquainted with the local culture, including the Celts. It turned out that the craftsmen of this fearless people carved all the animals that could be found in the territories of modern Western and Central Europe on the stones. The Romans were able to recognize all but one of the drawings. The creature looked like a huge seal with a long neck.
Now fans of the Loch Ness monster consider that image the first evidence of the existence of a prehistoric lizard. The monster is even present in the legends of the holy monk Columbus, who preached Christianity in Scotland. Legends say that Columba was able to drive the monster away from the student floating in the lake by the power of prayer. According to another version, Columbus turned a mysterious animal into a huge tree.
Mysterious lake
Loch Ness is the second largest freshwater lake in Scotland. It stretches over 36 square kilometers, its maximum depth is about 230 meters, while its water is very turbid due to the high content of peat. The whole world knows about this lake, thanks to the monster, which is trying to catch (or at least prove its existence) not only by locals, but also by visiting hunters.
The first documentary evidence appeared in the 18th century during the construction of a military road. According to the description, the blasting woke up two monsters, somewhat similar to giant salamanders.
Another wave of interest in the Loch Ness monster swept in 1880. Then, with a clear sky, calmness and generally the absence of any reason, the boat with people turned over and went to the bottom. The tragedy was blamed on a monster.
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The world famous Loch Ness. wikipedia
Long neck, but not a giraffe
Skeptics believe that in the early 30s of the last century, interest in the Loch Ness monster was artificially created to divert the attention of ordinary people from economic problems. And indeed, from 1932 to 34, a huge number of eyewitness accounts appeared in the newspapers who allegedly saw the monster. This is how the story of the McCains was published, who were walking along the shores of Loch Ness and noticed an unprecedented animal above the water surface. He had a huge body that hid under water, then appeared on its surface. The couple also looked at two black humps, with which the creature cut through the water.
This story created a real sensation, and whole crowds of hunters went to the lake to see something unusual. Interestingly, people who saw Nessie (this is how they began to call the monster in abbreviated form) described him in the same way: 40-45 feet long (about 12-13.5 meters); with a long neck tapering to the head; bumps on the back and neck; the monster then emerged, then again went under the water.
Moreover, the Spicers spouses saw the long-necked creature in the forest, on an old military road, during the construction of which they allegedly scared a lurking monster. The couple said that they watched as a huge beast with a monstrously long neck crawled from the forest to the shore, blocking the road for their car. They say that the terrible creature was seen in the forest, on land, as many as seven times.
These stuffed Loch Ness monsters were made for television filming. wikipedia
Snapshot for memory
On November 12, 1933, another sensation hunter, Hugh Gray, took the first photograph of the monster. The image was of terrible quality, but the S shape could be seen on it. Experts have confirmed that the picture is genuine. However, zoologists began to argue that the photo did not prove anything and that Hugh Gray could have captured the wreckage of the ship, the nose of a shark or even a whale.
No matter how scientists objected, correspondents with cameras lay around the lake, hoping to catch the monster in the lens. The newspapers periodically reported stories of a photographer chasing a monster to capture it, and describing a dark creature cutting across the lake. But there was no more photo evidence. However, after all the descriptions, scientists have suggested that the creature may be a plesiosaur that lived many millions of years ago.
Fans of the mysterious creature believe that he is an ancient plesiosaur lizard. wikipedia
With surgical precision
In 1934, London surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson traveled to the vicinity of Loch Ness. The fact is that he was fond of photography, watched birds and shot beautiful landscapes, which are still considered one of the most attractive and mysterious by the lake. Having already developed the pictures, Wilson noticed on one of them the head of a creature on a long neck. The surgeon claimed that the monster hit his lens by accident. Until the mid-90s, the photograph was considered genuine.
However, in 1994 the famous "surgeon's photograph" was declared a fake. It turns out that a respectable London doctor, together with his assistants, made a figurine that has excited people's imaginations for half a century.
For 50 years, the lake was subjected to sound scanning, aerial surveys, satellite imagery, and bottom photographs. The latest research was carried out in the spring of 2016. Shortly before this, a local fisherman told the public that at the bottom of Loch Ness there is a huge crevice extending 1.5 thousand meters deep. And that this is where the famous monster might be hiding.
Experts conducted a thorough study of the lake depths and found nothing unusual. The only thing that the robot, moving along the bottom of the lake, recorded a dummy Nessie, which was created for the film "The Private Lives of Sherlock Holmes" in 1969 and sank during filming. After that, for the first time, they started talking about the fact that the Loch Ness monster still does not exist.
Is it alive?
In April 2017, the "keeper" of the official list, which recorded all sightings of the Loch Ness monster, Gary Campbell announced that the monster could be considered lost, or simply dead. The reason for such a statement was the absence for eight months of reports that someone had seen the legendary creature.
But fans of the monster were not upset for long. Already in May, a certain Hayley Johnson reported that she had seen Nessie and even provided him with a photograph, albeit very blurry. And in mid-July, Scotsman Jimmy Wright walked with his dog in the vicinity of a mysterious lake and photographed a creature that somewhat resembles a prehistoric lizard, as well as a Loch Ness monster. He posted the picture on social networks.
And although, as before, the fact that it is the mysterious inhabitant of the lake is captured in the picture raises doubts, now we can say about a new wave of interest in the Loch Ness mystery.
Photo by Jimmy Wright on July 11, 2017. Skeptics think it's a tree stump. facebook.com/jimmy.wright
MARA FRYAZINA