Cryptozoology and the Loch Ness Monster
Cryptozoology and the Loch Ness Monster
| The Monster of Loch Ness |
| By Aaron Justice |
| Perhaps the most famous monster of our time is the Loch Ness monster, or Nessie. Loch Ness itself is indeed a spectacle, the largest lake in Great Britain. It is 23 miles long, one mile wide, and almost 900 feet deep in places. It is indeed a beautiful place--green hills surround it on all sides. THE FIRST SIGHTINGS What may be the first sighting of the Loch Ness monster was in 565 AD by the missionary Saint Columba, who was visiting Scotland to spread the Gospel. He needed to cross the loch, so one of his followers swam out in the water to reach their boat, which wasn't tied properly and had floated out. Then a great beastie arose from the water and seemed that it was going to devour the man. Saint Columba ordered the rest of his followers to be quiet, and in the name of the Christ rebuked the monster. The monster drew back "as if pulled by ropes" and the man was left unharmed. LAND SIGHTINGS A peculiar aspect for a lake monster, the Loch Ness monster has sometimes been seen on land. Perhaps the first was by Mr. and Mrs. George Spicer in 1933. They were driving alongside the loch when Mrs. Spicer pointed out something crossing the road. It was a large-bodied creature with a long neck, and it slogged across the road in a seal-like fashion. At first they thought it was only about 6-feet long, but they later changed it to 30 feet when they remembered that it was wider than the road. Whatever the Loch Ness monster may be, it can come on shore, perhaps to migrate or to lay eggs. WATER SIGHTINGS It is estimated that about 11,000 people have seen the Loch Ness monster, but most may be too embarrassed or afraid of ridicule to report it. Perhaps the king of Nessie sightings is Alex Campbell, a water bailiff (game warden). He has seen the Loch Ness monster on 18 different occasions. He describes his best sighting, which was in 1934. "My best sighting was in May 1934 right off the Abbey boathouse. That morning I was standing at the mouth of the river Hawick looking for what we call a run of salmon. I heard the sound of two trawlers coming through the canal from the West. Suddenly there was this upsurge of water right in front of the canal entrance. I was stunned. I shut my eyes three times to make sure I wasn't imagining things-the head and the huge humped body were perfectly clear. I knew right away that the creature was scared because of its behavior. It was twisting its head frantically. It was the thud, thud of the engines that was the reason for its upset. Then it vanished out of sight when the trawler came within my line of vision. I estimated that the body alone was 30 feet long, the height of the head and neck above the water was 6 feet, and the skin was grey."Mr. Campbell had many more sightings, his last just before his retirement. For 15 minutes on October 8, 1936, Nessie showed herself to a group of tour buses and several cars. About 50 people in all saw the beast, a neck with two humps traveling behind it, many of which had telescopes and binoculars. Unfortunately no one had cameras, or cameras loaded with film. Then the creature sank as if it were a stone. The Loch Ness monster showed itself many times during the forties and fifties, but the sightings of the beast increased during the sixties and seventies. Unshakable in his faith, Father Gregory Brusey entertained no doubts about his sighting of the monster in 1971. For about 20 seconds at a distance of 300 yards he saw a long neck followed by a hump swimming idly by for about 20 seconds. The clergyman admitted that if his friend weren't with him that he would have run away. "It gave us a feeling of something from another world." THE PHOTOGRAPHS Every once in a while the opportunity arises in which a person not only has seen the Loch Ness monster, but also is lucky enough to have a camera. The first photograph was not taken by Robert K. Wilson, as many believe, but by a local named Hugh Gray as he was walking home from church. He saw a disturbance in the water and took four photographs, three of which did not come out, but the fourth shows an unusual shape in the water, on the left side of which may be a tail or a flipper. Mr. Gray interpreted it as a tail. |
WHAT IS NESSIE?
What is the great beastie that inhabits the loch? There are numerous theories on what it is, but each one has its problems. Undoubtedly the favorite is the plesiosaur. But there are other theories that are as equally plausible as the plesiosaur theory.
The Plesiosaur
Plesiosaur is actually a broad term for marine reptiles with long necks and flippers, but no one knows what type of plesiosaur the Loch Ness monster is. The elasmosaur, the biggest and longest of the plesiosaurs, is the best candidate.
The Eel
Another good theory is that the Loch Ness monster could be an eel. Eels fit the hump description much better than the plesiosaur, but one of its faults is that the monster often sticks its head up out of the water, a characteristic usually not attributed to an eel. Another is that no eel has been found that reaches the length of the Loch Ness monster. The largest eel, the conger eel, reaches only about 1/4 the needed size to fit Nessie's size.
Whatever the Loch Ness monster may be, scientists are still unconvinced of its existence. They never admit when they are wrong and try to prove theories wrong with other theories instead of solid facts. The plesiosaur may be the most unwanted creature in history because the discovery of one may hurt their methods of dating and maybe the theory of evolution itself. A monster in Loch Ness, a very romantic idea....
http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/nessie.php