Loch Ness Monster

I have always been interested in mystery creatures such as the Sasquatch, Chupacabra, and Nessie or more universally called the Loch Ness Monster. Although there has been no official capture of one of these creatures, I believe there has to something to the mass sightings by people and the circumstantial evidence that is out there. My focus here is the Loch Ness monster. The Loch Ness Monster is a mythical creature that is said to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness in Great Britain. In the following paragraphs I will discuss the mystery of Loch Ness and provide examples of some eye witness accounts. My exploration of this mystery is intended to at the very least open the reader's eyes to the possibility that the Loch Ness Monster does exist or at least it needs to be investigated further.

Location of the Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster or otherwise known as Nessie by the ancient Celts gets its name from its location in Scotland. It is located in the Great Glen in the Scottish highlands to be exact. The Great Glen in the Scottish highlands is a rift valley 60 miles long and contains three famous lochs, Lochy, Oich and Ness. The most famous of these lochs is Loch Ness because of the monster said to live in its deep waters. It is deeper than the North Sea and is very long and very, very narrow. The Scottish Highlands have long been home to mystery and belief in the supernatural. People of Scotland believe that the Loch Ness is home to Druid powers. The Celts of pre-Roman Britain also believed in a type of creature they called kelpies, water spirits that would appear to children in the forms of horses or bulls, enticing them into the water where they would drown them("Loch Ness Monster", 1998). Eyewitness accounts

The earliest known sighting by humans that I could find documented was that in the written word "Life of St. Columba" by Adamnan and was written sometime in the 7th century. The story goes that the main character Columba saved the life of a the life of a Pict, who was being supposedly attacked by the monster. Columba repelled the monster with a cross. For centuries there have been reported sightings of the beast. Some of these accounts have the Loch Ness Monster seen on land. How credible the sources are can never be known, especially when these sightings happened so long ago. However in more modern times technology has aided in spreading the eyewitness accounts and given those sightings some legitimacy.

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An early purported sighting in modern times occurred July 22, 1933 when Mr. and Mrs. Spicer of London drove across a new road alongside Loch Ness. Their car nearly struck a huge, black creature with a long neck. They reported a "prehistoric animal" shambled across the road, slithered through the undergrowth and splashed in the Loch(Chorvinsky, n.d.). Perhaps the most famous purported sighting was in1934 by Colonel Robert Wilson a British surgeon, said that he noticed something moving in the water and took a picture of it. He happened to be urinating at the time, according to one version of what he shared later. The picture he took shows a creature with a long neck rising out of the water of the loch. "The Surgeon's Photo" as its formally known was distributed all over the world. For many years this photo was considered to be the best evidence that "Nessie" was real. It must be noted however that the photo Robert Wilson took and his eyewitness account is now deemed as a hoax. Scientific Evidence

There have been many eyewitness accounts, film footage, and sonar contacts of something strange in the Loch. That does not prove in the existence of Nessie but according to many Crypto zoologists this evidence shows that Nessie could exist and should be investigated until its existence is one hundred percent disproven. There is even an official scientific name for the creature "Nessiteras Rhombopteryx."(Learning And Teaching In Scotland, n.d.). Some scientists believe that the Loch Ness monster could be a thought to be extinct marine reptile called a plesiosaur. This is plausible considering there have been many discoveries of thought to be extinct animals still very much alive. An example of a once thought to be extinct animal that is very much alive would be Coelacanth.

Coelacanth fish were believed to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period some 65-plus million years ago. However in 1938, one was discovered off the east coast of South Africa near the mouth of the Chalumna River("Lazarus species: 13 ’extinct’ animals found alive", 2010). What should also be noted is that Loch Ness is not the only location where there are sightings of marine creatures. In many of the same geographical and topographical areas there are reports. These are usually in lakes and river systems that are deep, cold, and flow to the sea. Not only that they were all once home to migratory fish.

Conclusion Loch Ness is home to something strange and mysterious. I believe that there probably is something living in the loch that has yet to be discovered. I do not know whether it's a new species or some thought to be extinct species of marine animal that still exists. I think based on the evidence and the many sightings it cannot be disproven. Yes, there are skeptics as with any mystery, however, with all the accounts and circumstantial evidence there should be more investigation of Loch Ness. Only time will tell but I truly believe with better technology and more time the world will solve the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. That will be a great day in history.

References

http://www.strangemag.com/nessie.home.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Loch_Ness_Monster?oldid=946274

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