Since the first reported sighting in April 1933, the Loch Ness Monster (or Nessie, as the elusive creature has become known) has become world famous and is the draw for many thousands of people to visit Scotland’s largest loch every year – a loch which is now one of the most famous in the country.
The cynics might observe that Nessie sightings tend to occur just before the tourist season, but the monster certainly isn’t short of believers. And true to form, Nessie is in the news again as the season starts – this time as newspapers report (April 26th 2010) the display of information in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square (Daily Telegraph April 26 2010).
Among the papers in the Open Secret exhibition, which runs at he Archive until 30 June 2010 and which aims to show how governments have suppressed information, is an official file on the loch Ness Monster. The file includes correspondence between a government minister and the Chief Constable in charge of the Loch Ness area in which the Chief Constable, William Fraser, makes clear his view that the monster – or something similar – may well exist.
Even more curiously, Fraser expresses the view that whatever was in the Loch should be protected if it couldn’t be caught alive– and to that end, the police issued warnings to a potential monster hunter. A full scientific investigation was also considered.
Nessie: Monster Hunts and Monster Hoaxes
Water-related monsters such as the water-horse, or kelpie, are a feature of Scottish folklore and are associated with many of Scotland’s lochs. Although the first ‘official’ sighting of Nessie didn’t take place until the 1930s, the earliest tales of a monster in the area go back to St Columba, who was reputed to have vanquished a monster which emerged from the water near Fort Augustus and threatened his followers (Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland).
Various photographs of the monster have been taken over the years, but even the most famous of these have either proved inconclusive or in many cases have been revealed as hoaxes – the two most notable examples being the famous ‘surgeon’s photo’ taken in 1934 and that taken by Sir Peter Scott in 1974 (the Unmuseum).
Since the 1930s there have been very many organised expeditions, undertaken with various degrees of seriousness, expertise and technology, which have set out to prove or disprove the existence of the Loch Ness monster (Loch Ness Information website). The first of these, in 1933, was sponsored by the Daily Mail and was not only the source of the infamous ‘surgeon’s photo’ but also of the equally notorious ‘monster footprint' – actually made by an elephant’s foot ashtray.
Later expeditions were less sensationalist and many had a serious scientific purpose, looking at the biological and other properties of the loch. Perhaps the most famous was that of 1972, led by the Academy of Applied Sciences (which produced the famous ‘flipper photo, argued by some to be part of a plesiosaur). Even the more recent and technologically advanced attempts, however, such as that of 2001 which undertook a sonar sweep of the entire loch, have failed to find convincing evidence that Nessie exists.
Although some people remain convinced that the monster exists, not one of the many photographs or lengths of video footage has convinced the experts. A number of alternatives have been put forward to explain so-called sightings. Animals such as deer or otters, marine creatures such as eels or fish, together with the many optical illusions or phenomena which occur on the loch may also provide an explanation (BBC).
At least the thousands of tourists who flock to the area annually, visiting the famous Nessie-spotting sites such as Urquhart Castle and taking an optimistic trip on the loch in the hope of seeing proof, bring a huge benefit to the local economy. And they’ll almost certainly continue to do so, even though the Loch Ness website’s monster sightings list (lochness.co.uk) shows nothing more recent than 2005.
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