Mysterious Events in History The Loch Ness Monster Appears

About the mystery of the loch ness monster the creature that supposedly lives in a lake in Scotland, possible solutions to the mystery.

The Event: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD

When: 1933

Where: Loch Ness, Scotland

The Mystery: Loch Ness is a huge lake, 750' deep, twice the depth of the North Sea. It is 24 mi. long and varies in width from one to 3 mi. For 1,500 years, people have been seeing a monster in it. Long ago on St. Columbia's Day, legend has it, people saw a "very odd-looking beastie, something like a huge frog, only it isn't a frog."

In 1933, several people saw the monster. One was a patrolman in Inverness-shire, who described it as a series of humps above the water preceded by a long thin neck on which there was a small snakelike head. Its skin was gray-black. On May 22, John Mackay, who ran the hotel at Drunnadrochit, saw it, too. The water frothed as it vanished, he said.

Two months later to the day, a couple from London saw the monster cross the road. Its size astounded them--its body was 5' high and as wide as the road. It moved like a big snail in a picture of a plesiosaurus marine reptile, the man said the monster looked like it.

During the early 1930s, several photographs were taken of the monster. Sir Edward Mountain, who lived near the lake, arranged for people with binoculars to watch the lake for appearances of the monster. The vigil paid off. A few weeks later, he was even able to take a movie of it.

Since W. W. II, the monster has been taken very seriously. In October, 1954, the passengers on a bus driving by the lake were able to observe the monster for 10 minutes as it surfaced not more than 100 yards away.

In December, 1954, a fishing boat was crossing the lake when its echo-sounder began to chart something swimming at a depth of 540'. It was recorded as a creature with a small head on a long neck, 8 short legs, and a 15' tail. It measured about 50' in length. Experts who analyzed the chart said it was a living thing.

Four years later, the British Broadcasting Company, attempting to produce a program about the monster, recorded an object on the echo-sounder that moved 12' deeper, then disappeared at 60'. Two days after, 4 men riding by on a bus saw humps emerging in the same spot; there was a big wash as the humps submerged.

Since then, various scientific teams have investigated the monster. In 1973-1974, Japanese scientists using deep-water equipment began a major study.

Possible Solutions: There seems to be little doubt that there is something big living in Loch Ness. What manner of creature is another matter.

Lt. Comdr. T. R. Gould, an expert on sea serpents, felt the creature was a huge newt, perhaps a leftover from prehistoric times, which had been trapped in the lake. Others, including Dr. Maurice Burton, think that it is some kind of otherwise extinct reptile, possibly a plesiosaur.

It is possible, experts believe, that the monster divides its time between the lake and the ocean, going from one to the other through an underground water route. It might seek the lake at breeding season or to escape predators in the sea.

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