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NESSIE
WHAT IS NESSIE?
Most of the Nessie witnesses describe something with two humps, a tail, and a snakelike head. A V-shaped wash was also often mentioned, and such details as a "gaping red mouth" and horns or antennae on the top of the creature's head were sometimes noted. Nessie's movements have been studied, and the films and photos analyzed to determine what Nessie might be, if she exists.
There are numerous theories as to Nessie's identity, including a snake-like primitive whale known as a zeuglodon, a type of long-necked aquatic seal, giant eels, walruses, floating mats of plants, giant molluscs, otters, a "paraphysical" entity, mirages, and diving birds, but many lake monster researchers seem to favor the plesiosaur theory. Most scientists believe that these marine reptiles have been extinct for 60-70 million years, but others think it possible that after the last Ice Age the Loch may have been connected to the sea, and some of these dinosaurs may have been stranded. Others, like David Hall, feel that lake monsters could not possibly be plesiosaurs since plesiosaurs were cold-blooded reptiles that would have preferred warm oceanic currents to cold Scottish Lochs.
And we cannot afford to ignore the fact that sometimes Nessie is a hoax. Only one thing is certain about Nessie: that there are as many theories about her identity as there are theorists.
NESSIE
THE SEARCHERS
Many have devoted time, money and resources in the search for the Loch Ness Monster. Some, like the late Tim Dinsdale, made it their life's ambition to solve the Nessie enigma and prove her existence to the world. Nessie hunters over the years have included teams from the now-defunct Loch Ness Investigation Bureau with their Lochside vigils, Robert Love's early sonar expeditions, Dan Taylor's Viperfish mini-submarine searches, and the high tech 1987 "Operation Deepscan," which reported several unidentified moving objects during a systematic sonar sweep of the entire Loch.
One of the best-publicized and most fruitful expeditions was that of the Academy of Applied Sciences of Boston, Massachusetts in 1976. Sponsored by the New York Times, expedition leader Dr. Robert Rines took an underwater photograph of the Loch Ness monster on June 20, 1975. The photograph shows what may be the 20 foot long body of the creature. A photograph purporting to show the creature's head was identified in 1987 during Operation Deepscan as a stump. A third photograph, said to show a flipper, was computer-enhanced before it was released to the public, engendering considerable controversy among scientists and monster buffs. Like so many other such photographs, however, it remains inconclusive and open to personal interpretation. In 1978, on the strength of these photographs and others, Sir Peter Scott took it upon himself to give Nessie a scientific name, Nessiteras rhombopteryx, meaning "Ness wonder with a diamond shaped fin."
On June 29, 1993, a four-week $150,000 project was launched that aimed to determine once and for all if Nessie exists. A partnership between Project Urquhart and the Discovery cable channel, the object of the scientists on the team is to study the biology of the loch and, if a monster is part of that biology, so be it! The results of the project have not been made public at the time that this is being written, and Nessie aficionados everywhere will be keeping their fingers crossed.
NESSIE
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CINEMATIC EVIDENCE
Nessie made a big splash in 1934 when another photograph of her was taken, this time by Colonel Robert Wilson, a London doctor. Labeled the "surgeon's picture" by the British press, Wilson's photo was rather clear and appeared to show a head and neck of a plesiosaur-like creature sticking out of the water. This photograph is often used to illustrate articles on the Loch Ness monster, and is probably the most often-published image of the monster. This photograph was recently exposed as a hoax using a small model.
The quality of the photographic evidence for the existence of the Loch Ness monster has varied considerably. While some remain mysterious, others, like those of noted hoaxers Frank Searle and Tony "Doc" Shiels, are either believed to be or known to be fraudulent, and yet they are continually reprinted as genuine photos of Nessie, and will probably never go away despite the serious critical material published concerning repeated hoaxes by their creators.
The motion picture and video evidence for the Loch Ness monster consists of over 25 sequences taken from 1933 to the present. Like the photographs, the motion pictures are inconclusive but at least one has been judged genuine by impartial experts: the famous footage taken by veteran Nessie hunter Tim Dinsdale. Dinsdale, an aeronautical engineer, saw the monster and shot a 16mm sequence of it that was submitted to the photoanalysis experts at the British Royal Air Force's Joint Aerial Reconnnaissance Intelligence Centre. They concluded that the part of the thing that was above the water on Dinsdale's film was approximately 12-16 feet wide and 5 feet high, could not have been a boat, and was an "animate object."
An entire book could be devoted to the Nessie photos, films and videos. So far, the only photographs that look at all "convincing" have turned out to be hoaxes. None of the films, including the most-highly regarded sequences, is conclusive or clearly shows a monster of any sort.
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