Fact or Fiction

[Happychick]

Hundreds of people through the years claim to have seen Nessie, the mysterious creature that inhabits the deep waters of Scotland’s Loch Ness. The Loch’s amazing depth (over 800ft.) is deeper than that of the North Sea. Only in the last few years has it been discovered that this lake contains a large population of arctic chard. Reports the monster go back to the missionary St. Columba in AD 565. Many of the eyewitnesses accounts, from a Benedictine priest to dedicated researchers, are chronicled in Tim Dimsdale’s book The Leviathans. These accounts commonly describe a long neck, humped body and an amazing ability to rapidly sink and hide in the murky depths or subterranean caves of this remote waterway.

Unfortunately, all of the famous pictures of Nessie are also highly disputed. The top right picture from Readers Digest's Strange Stories, Amazing Facts (1978, p. 424) taken by photographer Frank Searle is widely accused of being a hoax. The most famous picture of all, the Surgeon’s photo (middle right) taken in 1934, defined Nessie for 60 years years until a curious death bed confession seemed to discredit it. Below right are two blurry pictures taken utilizing sonar, which can penetrate the loch’s dark, peaty waters like no other camera can. These Academy of Applied Sciences photographs show what might be a creature’s head and neck (left side of picture) and a diamond-shaped flipper. Research continues and a new submarine search attempt has begun. If plesiosaurs really have survived, then they could be the basis for many of the "sea monster" stories that exist today.

Perhaps the best evidence for Nessie is sonar contacts. In 1987 Operation Deepscan, involving 24 motor launches traversed the whole length of Loch Ness providing a nearly complete sonar scan of the Loch. "All this effort was rewarded by three strong contacts. One of these - a sonar echo from a ‘large and moving’ object 200 feet (67 m) down - remains unexplained." (Picknett, Lynn, The Loch Ness Monster, 2001, p. 20.) As recently as April of 2002 a sonar image (right) has provided continued evidence of a huge animate object deep in the Loch. While no undisputed photographic evidence has been obtained, it has been said that many a person has been hanged on less evidence than we have of a monster existing in Loch Ness!

Fact or Fiction??.....What do you think??

[Lauraakafoxy]

Loch Ness is a place i would like to visit, Its possible there could be a creature there - anythings possible, but its strange there are not more sightings, some say its a hoax, a trick, some say its a dinosaur that made it - but that would make Ness a very old monster !!!

[jules]

would like to believe there is a monster but sorry guys i don,t

hope i don,t offend anyone

ju
x

[Lauraakafoxy]

No hun you havn't offended anyone - our forum is all about freedom of speech and discussion no-one will be treated any differant or upset anyone by expressing their opinion.

I honestly dont know what to believe on this subject - i am more inclined to say i dont believe but then im not sure? anythings possible but i think by now if there was something there more people would have seen it?

[Happychick]

Ive been to loch ness on numerous occasions, and i must say it is a awsome place. Its very large and very very deep....Castle Urquhart is built on a rocky promontory above Loch Ness.It was built principally as an observation post, and is now a haunt of would-be spotters of the famous Loch Ness Monster as it commands a view almost from Inverness to Fort Augustus.

When i was a kid..(not that long ago...lol)....i spent many hours with my dad looking for nessie....but to no avail...aww....lol
But as the years have passed i have watched documentary's about nessie and now i do not believe such a creature could survive in the loch. They did tests on the stuff in the water to see if a creature could survive food wise, and the conclusion was not a chance......but others would disagree..(like maximus..lol)....its nice to think something could survive....maybe nessie will prove all the experts wrong...

[Gandalf]

I have also spent many long and happy hours driving and walking around the loch and like Hippychick says it is an amazing place, I don't think you can really see what an awesome area it is from TV or Photos.

I personally think it would be possible for a large creature to exist in the loch and seem to remember reading somewhere years back that the monster was seen heading out to sea from Inverness therfore sparking the idea that maybe it went to sea to breed ( much like salmon return to their rivers to spawn, and eels head to the sargasso sea to breed)
Also there were reports of another "monster" in Loch Long (which is the next one down to Loch Ness and although not as big, it is another awe inspiring site to drive along )so again the rumour mill went into action as you can guess.
A lot of the sightings can be put down to natural occurencies ie if the wind is blowing the waters of the Loch get very choppy hence the humps, also, when the lock gates are opened for traffic to pass through, this creates a swell which runs down the Loch again, theres the humps, there is also a natural underwater "tide" again causing the swells in Urqhart Bay, added to this, people want to see something, Voila, theres "humps" so there has to be a neck.

I think there is something in the waters of the Loch although I don't believe for one moment it is a dinosaur, but in reality, the people of Scotland don't want it proven either way as this must be one of the biggest tourist attractions in the worl and if they did really want to know, there are oceanographic institutes out there (ie Woods Hole who discovered the Titanic) that have the capabilities to put vessels top & bottom of the Loch and catch every possible inch on Sonar or Hi -res video imagary but they have never been called in. Also, I'm pretty sure the Navy has the technology to put a small submarine in to the Loch which again would be able using sonar and hydrophones to record clearly anything underwater, again it has not been done. So all I can say is Nessie, you just keep on in there, give 'em all an occasional glimpse and long may you reign as Queen of the Loch.

[Happychick]

I can remember vaguely about the some sort of creature coming from the sea (as somewhere it is connected)....which is a possibility....but like i said previous i hope there is something in the loch....its abit like believing in santa claus or the tooth fairy....its a childhood belief i was brought up on....and to be honest, even now in my (cough cough)....years i still want to believe...... :resp1:

[maximus]

its quite obvious something exists in the loch. although it is obviously not a dinosaur. boffins believe that this creature resembles a pleasaur, but what they fail to mention is that these creatures existed over 150,000,000 years ago and no evidence supports them living after this period. they also failed to mention that the loch was only created 10,000 years ago after the last ice age. so a dinosaur no but a new specis of life yes. new specis of life are created around the world everyday new specis of fauna appear, undiscovered flowers appear in the rain forests so why not in the loch. can all those hundreds of eye witnessess be wrong.

[tinksy]

its a story that has fascinated the world over for many many years! i too like you happychick want to believe that its real but if im honest to myself i dont believe in good old nessie!
tinkerbell xxx

[Lauraakafoxy]

This is becoming a very interesting thread. I agree i want to believe in Nessie but i don't think i do - although Maximus brings up a very good point - new species are always being discovered - surely scientists dont know about every single living species in this world? Mugsey also has a very good theory/point - about going out to sea and about tourists flooding the place.
But then again - why wouldn't more people have seen her by now?
There are good arguements both ways.
And like some of you i would love to believe that there is something in the lock but i really don't know.

[maximus]

thats the point laura thousands of people have seen it

[maximus]

can we go monster hunting at loch ness i bet that castle urqhart is spooky we could moonlight and do both

[Happychick]

we could spend weeks there and still not see anything....urquart castle is an eerie place which adds atmosphere to the mystery surrounding nessie

[maximus]

is there a possiblilty that nessie may just be a discarded goldfish flushed down the loo into the loch which has come into contact with some highly toxic substances or pollution and has mutated 10,000 fold into a giant legendary sea creature... is nessie a goldfish?

[Happychick]

PMSL...... ......but i think you might have solved the mystery mark....... ....its simple when you think about it......why didnt anyone else realise that nessie was a goldfish all along....... .....lol....well done babes...... :par2: :par2: