Loch Ness Monster is a mysterious sea creature in Scottish folklore believed to inhibit the deep and dark depths of Loch Ness, Scotland. Affectionately known as Nessie, the monster is rumored to be a large, long-necked creature, and has one or more humps protruding from the water.
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands of Scotland. The Loch is around a four-hour drive from Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The Loch is northwest of Edinburgh and southwest of Inverness. It contains more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined due to its great depths.
Loch Ness is best known for alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster. It is one of the most talked-about mysteries in the world. Every year visitors flock to Scotland to sight Loch Ness Monster. However, researchers have not been successful to find conclusive proof of the Loch Ness Monster is for real or the mythical creature is a fragment of their imagination.
The legend of the Loch Ness Monster began to grow in 1933 after a Scottish newspaper published the story of a couple who sighted an enormous creature while traveling on the road adjacent to Lake Ness. The couple supposedly sighted the monster as it crossed in front of their car before vanishing into the lake. The couple described the creature as a dragon or prehistoric monster.
In 1933, Daily Mail commissioned Marmaduke Wetherell, a British filmmaker and a big-game hunter to track the sea monster. Along the lake’s shores, he claimed to have seen footmarks that he believed were of a powerful soft-footed animal measuring about 20 feet long. However, The Natural History Museum, upon analyzing footmarks, found Wetherell’s claims to be a hoax.
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In 1934, Robert Kenneth Wilson, a Gynaecologist in London reportedly photographed the first photo of the Loch Ness Monster’s head and neck. The iconic photograph was popularly known as the “surgeon’s photograph” as Willson refused to have his name associated with it. The Daily Mail published the photograph on 21st April 1934, triggering an international frenzy. Some even speculated the creature to be a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that went extinct around 65 million years ago.
The Loch Ness drew numerous monster hunters in search of the mystery creature but none of them was successful in their quest. Many people have also alleged to have witnessed Loch Ness Monster sightings. In addition, numerous photographs purportedly showing the monster appeared at different times but all of them were found to be fake.
In 2018, a DNA survey of Loch Ness was conducted by the researchers to study the organisms living in the waters. However, the study could not, conclusively, find any signs of a large animal were found. The study also revealed the presence of numerous eels that left open the possibility that a monster is nothing else but some oversized eel.
The real-life fascination for the mysterious Loch Ness Monster traversed from real to reel life as well. Numerous films and series have been based on the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Notably, in 1996, the Loch Ness movie was released which was directed by John Henderson and starred Ted Danson and Joely Richardson.
Based on Loch Ness legend, Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster film was released in 2004. The film was instrumental in popularizing the Loch Ness Monster cartoon character amongst kids and teenagers.
Loch Ness Monster, like The Yeti, remains one of the most enigmatic creatures ever that is being pursued by human imagination without any success so far.
Despite the lack of any conclusive evidence, the legend of Loss Ness Monster continues to live making it one of the most popular and lasting mysteries in the world.
