Page 33 - 200710 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - October 2007

The Legend of Nessie Dead 33 The Legend of Nessie Dead 33 Nessie fans fear their Nessie fans fear their monster has sunk monster has sunk forever forever MARC HORNE MARC HORNE SHE has played a highly lucrative game of Highland hide-and-seek for decades, but fears are rising that Scotland's most elusive resident may be no more. The publication of shadowy photographs in the 1930s apparently showing a dinosaur-like creature at large in Loch Ness sparked a media frenzy that lasted for the rest of the century. However, sightings of Nessie have plummeted in recent years, giving rise to fears that the long-necked Caledonian leviathan is either dead or ailing. There have been only two reported sightings so far this year and there were only three in 2006. A decade ago the numbers were The Loch Ness Monster: Facts and Theories The Loch Ness Monster: Facts and Theories consistently in the high teens. From WYRDOLOGY "It has become a potential crisis," From WYRDOLOGY admitted Mikko Takala, a founder member of the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club. The Loch Ness Monster - affectionately known as "Nessie" - is probably the most famous Even the American scientist Dr Robert cryptid in the world. Unlike many of the other strange creatures on these pages Nessie is tied to a single Rines, who captured the famous 'flipper' image geographic location, albeit a large one. As such it has spawned a massive tourist industry. Reliable of Nessie in 1974, believes the monster is information on the Loch Ness monster is hard to come by, however we can at least say that in 1975 unlikely to have survived. Nessie received an shiny new, official sounding scientific name: Nessiteras rhombopteryx. "There is very little vegetation left in the loch for creatures to eat," he said. Loch Ness Facts "Everything is going against these Loch Ness is one of a group of interconnected lochs that are found in the area of Scotland things still being there." known as the Great Glen ("Glen Mor"). The other lochs in the group are Loch Lochy and Loch Oich. Steve Feltham, 44, who has spent 16 Loch Ness is huge - the largest fresh water body in Britain. It is over twenty two miles in length and years watching the loch from a converted over a mile and a half at its widest. Total surface area is approximately 21 square miles. Loch Ness is mobile library on its southern shore, believes also deep and goes down almost 800 feet. It has been estimated that the loch is large enough to hold there were once as many as 30 mysterious the entire population of the world ten times over. That's more than enough space for a whole family of creatures in the loch, but that they are gradually monsters! dying off because of old age. "In the heyday of the sightings, back in Nessie Sightings the Sixties and Seventies, there were probably Sightings of the Loch Ness monster have been reported for centuries. The earliest on record is 20 or 30 of these animals, but I believe that from 565 when St Columba saved the life of a local who was being attacked by a monster in the river Ness (though some spoilsports insist it was actualy a wild boar).The modern Nessie era began in 1933 we're now down to the last half dozen," he said. when a local paper - the Inverness Courier - reported a sighting by a local a couple, the Spicers. Whilst Nessie tourism brings in an estimated driving along the loch side between Dores and Inverfarigaig they spotted a large creature crossing the £6m a year for the economy of the Highlands. road in front of them. The creature disappeared into the bushes in the direction of the Loch. But without the publicity created by sightings, This report was taken up by the national press in London and the Nessie ball began to roll. the tourist industry faces an uncertain future. The next year, 1934, the most famous photograph of Nessie was allegedly taken by surgeon R. In the era of digital cameras, camera- K. Wilson. This, the "surgeon's photo" has been the focus of intense debate since it was first taken. Over phones and webcams, it is perhaps surprising the years several people have "confessed" to being involved in faking the surgeon's photo. that there have not been more reported sightings Sightings continue to be reported and every few years an expedition obtains funding to "prove" the in recent years. truth once and for all. In 2003 a BBC expedition surveyed the entire Loch using sonar. They concluded Of the two reported sightings this year, that no monster exists. one was in March when an English It should be remembered that it is logically impossible to prove that something does not exist - holidaymaker saw what he thought was a head only that it has not been found. Nessie sightings continue to be reported every year, some and fin in the loch below Urquhart Castle, while backed by photographic evidence. Many of the reports come from tourists who have been enjoying the the other was in May, when a Yorkshireman justly famous Scottish hospitality. captured video footage of what looked like a jet- black shape moving slowly beneath the surface. What Is The Loch Ness Monster? Although initially viewed as promising, experts So, what is Nessie? Despite all of the research, Loch Ness monster hunters are still unable to now believe it was the result of a sustained draft agree on the nature of the beast. of wind blowing from the surrounding hills. [] The first point to make is that there is no single "Loch Ness monster" as such. It is infeasible that any creature, cryptid or otherwise, could have survived long enough to explain all the sightings over the centuries. There must be a family or small herd of creatures. That herd must be large enough to survive yet small enough to have escaped discovery, a balancing acts many skeptics consider impossible. Assuming that Nessie exists then the most common explanation is that the creature is a dinosaur that managed to survive extinction. The plesiosaur is the usual candidate. Another option that seems to have support locally is that the creature is not a dinosaur but some kind of giant eel. []