The Loch Ness Monster (Scottish Gaelic: Uilebheist Loch Nis), also called Nessie, is a mythical creature from Scottish stories that is said to live in Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, with a long neck and one or more humps sticking out of the water. Interest in the creature has changed since it became famous worldwide in 1933. Evidence for its existence comes from stories and accounts, including some photos and sonar results that people disagree about.
Scientists explain sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as hoaxes, wishful thinking, and mistakes in identifying ordinary objects. The field of cryptozoology, which studies hidden or unknown animals, has focused heavily on this creature.
Origin of the name
In August 1933, the Courier newspaper published a report about George Spicer's claimed sighting. Public interest increased greatly, and many letters were sent describing different sightings. The letters mentioned a "monster fish," "sea serpent," or "dragon." Eventually, the creature was given the name "Loch Ness monster." Since the 1940s, the creature has been known by the nickname Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag).
Sightings
The earliest written record of a monster near Loch Ness comes from a book called The Life of St. Columba, written by Adomnán in the 7th century CE. Adomnán wrote about events that happened about 100 years earlier. He described how Saint Columba, an Irish monk, was staying in the land of the Picts with his companions. One day, they saw local people burying a man by the River Ness. The people explained that the man had been swimming in the river when a "water beast" attacked him. The creature hurt him and pulled him underwater, even though others tried to rescue him by boat. Saint Columba sent one of his followers, Luigne moccu Min, to swim across the river. The beast approached him, but Saint Columba made the sign of the cross and told him, "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once." The creature stopped as if pulled back by ropes and fled. Saint Columba’s men and the Picts were grateful, believing this was a miracle.
Some people who believe in the monster say this story, which happened near the River Ness rather than Loch Ness itself, shows that the creature might have been seen as early as the 6th century. Others are skeptical and argue that stories about water beasts were common in religious writings from that time. They think Adomnán’s tale might not be connected to the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster but became linked later because of where it happened and because believers wanted to support their claims. Ronald Binns says this is the most important early sighting, but he believes other claims before 1933 are not reliable. Christopher Cairney studied Adomnán’s story and found that it is separate from the modern myth of the Loch Ness Monster. He also discovered that earlier Celtic stories about "water beasts" existed. He concluded that Saint Columba’s story might have been influenced by older Irish myths about creatures like the Caoránach and the Oilliphéist.
In October 1871 or 1872, D. Mackenzie of Balnain reported seeing an object that looked like a log or an overturned boat. It moved slowly at first but then disappeared quickly. This account was not published until 1934, when Mackenzie wrote to Rupert Gould after interest in the monster grew.
In 1888, Alexander Macdonald of Abriachan saw a large, short-legged animal surface from the loch and move close to the shore. He told the water bailiff, Alex Campbell, that the creature looked like a salamander.
The first widely known article about the monster was published on 2 May 1933 in The Inverness Courier. Alex Campbell, a water bailiff and part-time journalist, wrote about a sighting by Aldie Mackay. She and her husband saw a large creature with a whale-like body in the loch on 15 April 1933. Campbell used the word "monster" for the first time in his article, though some say the editor, Evan Barron, coined the term.
In 2017, The Inverness Courier published parts of Campbell’s original article, which was titled "Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness." It described the creature as rolling and plunging in the water, creating waves as big as those from a passing ship. The witnesses said the creature was not ordinary and seemed to be something unusual.
A 2013 article said Aldie Mackay had yelled, "Stop! The Beast!" when she saw the creature. In the late 1980s, a naturalist interviewed her, and she admitted that people had long told stories about a "beast" in the loch before her sighting. Campbell’s 1933 article also mentioned that Loch Ness had been believed to be home to a monster for generations.
Modern interest in the monster began on 22 July 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw a large creature cross the road near Loch Ness. They described it as having a body about 4 feet high and 25 feet long, with a long, wavy neck. It had no visible limbs and left a trail of broken plants. Spicer compared it to a prehistoric animal or a dragon. He said the creature had something in its mouth and a large body, but he could not see its tail or feet. Later research suggested Spicer’s story was fictional, possibly inspired by a scene from the movie King Kong, which was popular in London at the time.
On 4 August 1933, The Inverness Courier published a report about Spicer’s sighting. This event increased public interest and led to the name "Loch Ness Monster" becoming widely used.
Some people say the number of sightings increased after a road was built near Loch Ness in early 1933, bringing more people to the area. However, Ronald Binns argued that the loch was not isolated before this because of the Caledonian Canal. In the 1930s, the existing road was improved.
On 12 November 1933, Hugh Gray took a photograph near Foyers that was claimed to show the monster. The image was blurry, and some say it shows a dog’s head. Gray had taken his dog for a walk that day, and it is thought the dog might have been in the picture. Others believe the image shows an otter or a swan. The original photo was lost, but in 1963, Maurice Burton found two copies of the negative. When projected, they showed an otter on the water.
On 5 January 1934, Arthur Grant, a motorcyclist, claimed to have seen the creature near Abriachan. He described it as having a small head and a long neck. The creature looked at him and crossed the road back to the loch. Grant, a veterinary student, said it looked like a mix of different animals.
Searches
After reading Rupert Gould's The Loch Ness Monster and Others, Edward Mountain funded a search. Twenty men with binoculars and cameras positioned themselves around the loch from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for five weeks, starting on July 13, 1934. Although 21 photographs were taken, none was considered clear proof. Supervisor James Fraser stayed by the loch, filming on September 15, 1934; the film is now lost. Scientists and experts in natural history later said the film showed a seal, possibly a grey seal.
The Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB) was a UK-based group formed in 1962 by Norman Collins, R. S. R. Fitter, politician David James, Peter Scott, and Constance Whyte. Its goal was to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or explain reports of it. In 1967, it received $20,000 from World Book Encyclopedia to fund a two-year program of daytime watches from May to October. The main equipment was 35 mm movie cameras on mobile units with 20-inch lenses, and one with a 36-inch lens at Achnahannet, near the middle of the loch. Mobile units covered about 80% of the loch surface. The group later shortened its name to the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB) and ended in 1972. The LNIB charged members an annual fee to cover costs. Its main activity was encouraging self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from high points with film cameras and telescopic lenses. From 1965 to 1972, it had a caravan camp and viewing platform at Achnahannet and sent observers to other locations along the loch. According to the bureau's 1969 report, it had 1,030 members, 588 of whom were from the UK.
D. Gordon Tucker, head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, volunteered as a sonar expert at Loch Ness in 1968. His work was part of a larger effort led by the LNPIB from 1967 to 1968, which brought together volunteers and professionals from different fields. Tucker chose Loch Ness to test a prototype sonar device that could detect objects up to 800 meters (2,600 feet) away. The device was placed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and aimed at the opposite shore, creating an acoustic "net" that could detect moving objects. During a two-week trial in August, multiple targets were found. One was likely a group of fish, but others moved in ways not typical of fish, at speeds up to 10 knots.
In 1972, a group of researchers from the Academy of Applied Science, led by Robert H. Rines, searched for the monster using sonar to examine the loch's depths for unusual activity. Rines took steps to avoid murky water by avoiding floating wood and peat. A submersible camera with a floodlight was used to record images below the surface. If Rines detected something on the sonar, he turned on the light and took pictures.
On August 8, Rines' Raytheon DE-725C sonar unit, operating at 200 kHz and placed 11 meters (36 feet) underwater, detected a moving target (or targets) estimated to be 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) long. Experts from Raytheon, Simrad (now Kongsberg Maritime), Hydroacoustics, Marty Klein of MIT, Klein Associates (a side-scan sonar company), and Ira Dyer of MIT's Ocean Engineering Department analyzed the data. A Raytheon specialist suggested the data showed a 3-meter (10-foot) protuberance from one of the echoes. According to author Roy Mackal, the shape could be a "highly flexible, laterally flattened tail" or a misinterpretation of two animals swimming together.
At the same time, the floodlit camera captured two underwater photographs. Both showed what appeared to be a rhomboid flipper, but skeptics said the images might show the loch's bottom, air bubbles, a rock, or a fish fin. The flipper was shown in different positions, suggesting movement. The first photo is more famous than the second, and both were enhanced and retouched from the original negatives. Team member Charles Wyckoff said the photos were retouched to add the flipper; the original images showed a less-clear object. It is unclear how the originals were altered. During a meeting with Tony Harmsworth and Adrian Shine at the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, Rines admitted the flipper photo may have been retouched by a magazine editor.
British naturalist Sir Peter Scott announced in 1975 that the creature's scientific name would be Nessiteras rhombopteryx (Greek for "Ness inhabitant with diamond-shaped fin"). Scott wanted the name to add the creature to the British register of protected wildlife. Scottish politician Nicholas Fairbairn said the name was an anagram for "monster hoax by Sir Peter S." Rines countered that the letters could also spell "Yes, both pix are monsters – R."
Another sonar contact was made, this time with two objects estimated to be about 9 meters (30 feet) long. A strobe camera photographed two large objects surrounded by bubbles. Some said the objects looked like plesiosaur-like animals, suggesting several large animals live in Loch Ness. This photo has rarely been published.
A second search was conducted by Rines in 1975. Some of the photographs, despite their unclear quality and lack of sonar readings, seemed to show unknown animals in different positions and lighting. One photo appeared to show the head, neck, and upper body of a plesiosaur-like animal, but skeptics said the object might be a log because of the lump on its "chest," sediment in the full photo, and its log-like texture. Another photo seemed to show a horned "gargoyle head," similar to some monster sightings, but skeptics said a tree stump filmed in 1987 during Operation Deepscan looked similar.
In 2001, Rines' Academy of Applied Science videotaped a V-shaped wake moving through still water on a calm day. The academy also videotaped an object on the loch's floor that looked like a carcass and found marine clamshells and a fungus-like organism not normally found in freshwater lochs, suggesting a possible connection to the sea.
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Explanations
Many ideas have been proposed to explain the sightings of the creature. Ronald Binns, a former member of the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau, believes there is no single explanation for the monster. He wrote two books, The Loch Ness Mystery Solved (1983) and The Loch Ness Mystery Reloaded (2017). In these books, he explains that the human eye can sometimes see things it expects to see. Possible explanations for sightings include mistakes in identifying animals, objects, or natural effects; stories from Scottish folklore; hoaxes; or the presence of large animals not commonly known. A reviewer said Binns’ books are the most thorough and skeptical works on the topic. Binns does not call the sightings a hoax but describes them as a "myth" and a "sociological phenomenon." He notes that the search for the monster continues to interest a small group of people who value eyewitness accounts more than other evidence.
An early idea was that a large European eel could explain the sightings. Eels live in Loch Ness, and a very large one might explain some reports. However, Dinsdale argued against this because eels move side to side like snakes, which does not match some sightings. In 1856, a "sea-serpent" seen in a freshwater lake in the Outer Hebrides was thought to be an oversized eel, a creature also believed to live in Highland lakes.
From 2018 to 2019, scientists from New Zealand collected DNA samples from Loch Ness to study its organisms. Their findings confirmed that European eels still live in the loch. No DNA evidence was found for large animals like catfish, Greenland sharks, or plesiosaurs. Many scientists now think giant eels may explain many sightings.
In 1979, biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson suggested that the famous "surgeon’s photograph" might show the head, trunk, and nostrils of an elephant seen elsewhere, falsely claimed to be from Loch Ness. In 2006, Neil Clark, a paleontologist and artist, proposed that traveling circuses might have allowed elephants to swim in the loch. He supported this idea with a painting example.
Zoologist Jeremy Wade, who appeared on the TV show River Monsters in 2013, concluded that the creature might be a Greenland shark. These sharks can grow up to 20 feet (6.1 meters) long and live in the North Atlantic near Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and possibly Scotland. They are dark in color with small dorsal fins. Biologist Bruce Wright noted that Greenland sharks could survive in fresh water and that Loch Ness has plenty of fish for them to eat.
In July 2015, Steve Feltham, after a recorded vigil at Loch Ness, suggested the monster could be a large Wels catfish (Silurus glanis), which may have been released in the late 19th century.
It is hard to judge the size of an object in water using a telescope or binoculars without a reference point. Loch Ness has resident otters, and photos of otters and deer swimming in the loch, cited by Ronald Binns, might have been misinterpreted. Binns also noted that birds could be mistaken for a "head and neck" sighting.
Wakes have been reported in calm conditions with no boats nearby. Bartender David Munro described a wake he thought was caused by a creature zigzagging, diving, and reappearing. He said 26 others saw it from a nearby car park. Some sightings describe a V-shaped wake like a boat’s, while others do not match a boat’s shape.
In 1933, the Daily Mirror published a photo of a tree trunk found on Loch Ness, suggesting it might have been mistaken for the monster.
In 1982, Maurice Burton proposed that sightings of Nessie might be caused by fermenting Scots pine logs rising to the surface. A decaying log could trap gas inside, eventually breaking free and moving through the water. Burton noted that the shape of logs with branch stumps resembles descriptions of the monster.
Loch Ness is long and straight, so it can experience unusual ripples called seiches. A seiche is a large wave caused by water moving back to its natural level after being pushed to one side of the lake. The seiche in Loch Ness takes 31.5 minutes to complete. Earthquakes in Scotland are too weak to cause seiches, but large earthquakes far away, like the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, could create large waves. However, no monster sightings were reported during the 1755 earthquake.
Wind can make the water look choppy and dark from the shore. In 1979, W. H. Lehn showed that atmospheric refraction can distort the shape and size of objects. He later published a photo of a mirage on Lake Winnipeg that looked like a head and neck.
Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi suggested that ancient legends, like the one in The Life of Saint Columba, might describe geological events. He noted that the creature’s "loud roaring" could be an earthquake. The Loch Ness is near the Great Glen Fault, and some sightings describe large disturbances on the water, which could be gas released through the fault.
In 1980, Swedish naturalist Bengt Sjögren wrote that modern beliefs in lake monsters, like the Loch Ness Monster, are linked to kelpie legends. Kelpies were once described as horse-like creatures meant to scare children from the loch. Over time, these stories evolved to resemble descriptions of plesiosaurs.
The kelpie legend appeared in an 1879 Scottish newspaper and inspired Tim Dinsdale’s Project Water Horse. Studies of Highland folklore before 1933 showed that Loch Ness was the most commonly mentioned loch in kelpie, water horse, and water bull stories.
Several hoaxes have been attempted, some of which succeeded. Others were quickly exposed. For example, in August 1933, Italian journalist Francesco Gasparini wrote the first news article about the Loch Ness Monster. In 1959, he claimed to have seen a "strange fish" and invented eyewitness stories, later calling it a "monster" to make the story more interesting.