What is Loch Ness silent about, or does the Loch Ness monster exist? Loch Ness Monster - interesting facts and hypotheses about Nessie

History of the lake

Scotland is famous for having one of the most mysterious places on the ground. We are, of course, talking about Loch Ness. It is in it, if you believe numerous gossip and rumors, that a giant monster lives. The lake was formed approximately 300 million years ago. Due to the displacement of mountain ranges, arose large sizes a depression that filled with water over time. Today it is the largest freshwater body of water in the UK.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness

Description of the lake

Loch Ness

First mention of the Loch Ness monster

Celtic legends about the monster

If we go back to the very depths of Celtic legends, this creature was first noticed by the Roman conquerors. The first mention of the Loch Ness monster dates back to the 5th century AD, where one of the chronicles mentions the water beast of the Ness River. Then all mentions of Nessie disappeared until 1880, when, in completely normal weather, a sailing ship with people sank to the bottom. The northern Scots immediately remembered the monster, and began to generate all sorts of rumors and legends.

The avalanche of rumors reached the point that one of the major newspapers even published a story about a married couple who encountered the monster face to face. On the wave of popularity, a road was built here; many curious people came here to see for themselves the existence of the beast. The once quiet surroundings became a bustling place, and the shores of the lake were always filled with photographers and onlookers. A certain enterprising citizen even set up a number of observation posts along the perimeter of the lake. And lo and behold, within a month the Loch Ness monster was spotted as many as 15 times.

The excitement grew so much that the issue of capturing the creature was on the agenda of the Scottish government. This idea was then rejected by scientists who argued that there was in fact not a single piece of evidence for Nessie's existence.

Among subsequent references to the Loch Ness monster is the testimony of the English military pilot Farrel, who, flying over the island in 1943, saw something similar to Nessie. But during the war years this was quickly forgotten. In 1951, the monster caught the eye of a local forester and his friend, and a year later, a local resident walking on the shore with her son. In 1957, a book was even published that collected all the stories of eyewitnesses who saw Nessie. The title of the book spoke for itself: “This is more than a legend.”

But despite such a large number of eyewitnesses who saw the monster, only a few proofs of its real existence were provided. Among the first pieces of evidence is a photograph of a doctor named Kenneth Wilson, known as the "Surgeon's Photograph." During a detailed analysis, it was determined that this photo was a fake. Later the authors themselves admitted this.

Another famous photograph was taken by aeronaut Tim Dinsdale

Lake research

Subsequent studies, including sound scanning of the lake and many other experiments, only further confused the researchers, revealing many inexplicable facts, but clear evidence of the existence of the Loch Ness monster in the lake was never found. The most recent evidence is a satellite image Google Earth, on which a strange spot is imprinted, in the distance reminiscent of the Loch Ness monster. The main argument of skeptics is a study that has proven that the flora of Loch Ness is very poor, and there simply would not be enough resources here even for one such huge animal.

Basic theories of the origin of the Loch Ness monster

The version of a scientist from Italy - Luigi Picardi, is based on a geological fault at the bottom of the lake, the aforementioned Great Glen. Due to tectonic activity, huge waves often rise here, as well as bubbles from under the water. This activity could have influenced the lifting of large objects from the bottom of the lake, which were carried to the surface, and also caused strange sounds. All this taken together was taken for the Loch Ness monster.

You can also call the version about the dramatization of this story by the owners of local hotels, who made a dummy of the monster to attract tourists. It’s no secret that this place became popular only after all this hype with Nessie; tens of thousands of tourists poured here, bringing considerable income to the local residents. Be that as it may, sometimes it is very useful to believe in miracles. And even despite numerous scientific evidence, some of us will still believe in the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

The uniqueness of Loch Ness

Lake Loch Ness, even if we put aside for a while all the myths and legends about the monster, photos and stories of people who saw a living dinosaur, which, of course, deserve attention and which should definitely be discussed below, is unique in itself. The thing is that most lakes are reservoirs that were formed during a certain period and over time turn into swamps, with the exceptions of Loch Ness and Lake Baikal.

Loch Ness is not a “closed” lake, which is the type of lake most of the world is. This body of water, the surface of which shimmers like a diamond in the sun, located almost 40 kilometers from the Scottish town of Inverness, is constantly replenished with the waters of the Moriston River. In addition, the lake gives rise to the Ness River, so for more than 300 million years the reservoir, surrounded on all sides by mountains and picturesque forests, remains in its original form.

By and large, the lake is part of a canal called the Caledonian canal, which connects two sea ​​coasts Scotland. It is this feature of the lake that allows numerous researchers to put forward the version that the legendary Loch Ness monster has the ability to migrate and is not constantly located in a huge body of water. There are even versions that not one, but several prehistoric animals swim to Loch Ness at once to reproduce in it. However, all opinions should be discussed in more detail, because some of them really deserve attention and are accepted by modern experts as undeniable.

According to geologists, Loch Ness appeared back in the days ice age, as a result of the displacement rocks: its length is currently about 37 kilometers and its width is more than one and a half. Scottish pond, along with its medieval castles is one of the most visited places in Scotland: according to statistics, more than half a million people from all over the world come to the lake every year.

Most of them are attracted by “Nessie”, which is how the lake monster is affectionately called, but there are also those who do not believe in legends and visit the lake with only one purpose - to enjoy magnificent landscapes and virgin nature. By the way, it is these tourists who do not try to see the manifestations of the dinosaur’s activity on the mirror of the lake, who often become witnesses to its appearance.

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Subtitles

Legend

Shooting Dinsdale

The progress of the boat, filmed by Dinsdale himself for comparison, numerous computer studies, additional verification by Kodak specialists, and the initial JARIC conclusion itself provide convincing evidence that there could be no question of a trace left by the boat.

Professor Henry Bauer, Virginia Polytechnic, USA.

Sound scanning

Disappointed with the effectiveness of visual research, those wishing to find confirmation of the urban legend turned to alternative search methods, in particular, sound scanning. The first session of this kind was carried out in the mid-50s, and since then work in this area has continued continuously. Thus, the researchers learned a lot about Loch Ness, in particular, they calculated the total amount of biomass in the lake - a key factor that is directly related to the possibility of a large creature existing here.

In addition, sound research revealed the existence of a seiche effect in the lake, which can cause optical illusion and which Inspector Campbell initially attributed to eyewitness observations. We are talking about the sudden appearance of powerful short-term flows of water, provoked by sudden changes in atmospheric pressure. Such currents can carry large objects with them, which, moving against the wind, can create the illusion of moving forward “of their own free will.” It is this phenomenon that experts explain the silhouette in McNab’s photograph.

Gordon Holmes film

Satellite image

In the summer of 2009, a resident of the UK said that while viewing satellite photos on the Google Earth website, he saw the creature he was looking for. The photograph of the service actually shows something that vaguely resembles a large sea animal with two pairs of flippers and a tail.

Latest Research and Myth Debunking

A group of specialists from the UK, using a robot called Munin, conducted, according to the researchers themselves, the most detailed study of Loch Ness to date (April 2016). Scientists representing the “Loch Ness Project” under the leadership of Adrian Shine decided to check the information provided by a certain fisherman at the beginning of 2016 that there was a huge crevice at the bottom of the lake. According to the fisherman, it could well accommodate the legendary monster. According to the researchers, the robot, using sonar methods, was able to obtain very detailed information about this section of the lake at a depth of up to 1500 meters. Wherein maximum depth the lake reaches “only” 230 meters (this is one of deepest lakes Scotland). However, experts decided to check the periodically voiced assumption that it is actually deeper due to not yet open crevices or underwater tunnels, Sky News reports.

No anomalies were found during the study, which means there is no crevice in which the monster could be hiding. According to the researchers, this suggests that Loch Ness monster, apparently, does not exist after all. But the robot, moving along the bottom of the lake, came across a fake monster created in 1969 for the filming of the film “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.” During filming, the model drowned in the lake - due to the fact that director Billy Wilder demanded that two humps be cut off from her, which worsened her buoyancy.

The last photo of the Loch Ness monster

Amateur photographer Ian Bremner, 58, photographed what may be one of the most convincing sightings of the Loch Ness monster to date (September 2016). Bremner was driving along mountainous area in search of a deer, but instead witnessed a startling sight: he saw Nessie floating in the calm waters of Loch Ness. Ian spends most your weekend in the vicinity of the lake, photographing stunning natural beauty. But when he returned to his home, he noticed a creature in the picture, which he believes could be that elusive monster. The photo shows a swimming two-meter-long creature with a silvery wriggling body - its head flashed in the distance, and about a meter away from it a tail was visible, with which the animal rushing away splashed the water. The creature was spotted as it surfaced for air. The photo taken by Ian shows a long snake-like creature that fully corresponds to the generally accepted description of Nessie that appeared back in 1933. The photograph he took closely resembles some of the clearest and most famous images of this creature. In 2016, “encounters” with the monster have already been reported five times - including evidence provided by Ian. This is the highest number of sightings since 2002. Some of Ian's friends believe that his photo actually shows three seals playing in the water. Over the years, there have been 1,081 recorded sightings of the Loch Ness monster hiding in the water.

Pros against

The main argument of skeptics remains the indisputable fact that the amount of biomass in the lake is not enough to support the life of a creature of the size attributed to the Loch Ness monster. Despite its enormous size and abundance of water (brought here by seven rivers), Loch Ness has sparse flora and fauna. In the course of research carried out by the Loch Ness Project, dozens of species of living creatures were identified. However, sound scanning showed that the lake contains only 20 tons of biomass, which is enough to support the life of one living creature weighing no more than 2 tons. Calculations based on the study of fossil remains of a plesiosaur show that a 15-meter lizard would weigh 25 tons. Adrian Shine believes that one should look not for one creature, but for “a colony that would number from 15 to 30 individuals.” In this case, all of them, in order to feed themselves, should be no more than 1.5 meters in length; practically this means that the lake is not able to feed a colony of creatures larger than lake salmon (salmon).

In addition to the above fact, there are a number of indirect arguments that also work against the version of the reality of “Nessie”. For example:

However, supporters of the reality of “Nessie” are not convinced by the arguments. Thus, Professor Bauer writes:

Dinsdale's filming convincingly proves that the lake - at least in the 60s - was indeed inhabited by a giant living creature. Moreover, I am convinced that it exists here - or existed - in the singular. Something else remains unclear. Everything indicates that this creature requires oxygen to maintain life. But it hardly appears on the surface. If we summarize the testimony of eyewitnesses who described a massive body with a hump, fins and a long neck, then the appearance of a modern plesiosaur emerges. But the creatures that live in Loch Ness do not come to the surface and spend part of their lives at the bottom. This suggests that we are already dealing with a descendant of a plesiosaur, which over time developed the ability to remain without air for a very long time.

Supporters of the reality of "Nessie" refer to ancient legends, according to which at the bottom of the lake there is a network of caves and tunnels that allow the monster to swim out to sea and return back. However, studies of the bottom and shores indicate that the existence of such tunnels here is unlikely.

Conscious hoax

One alternative explanation for this phenomenon is that the owners of hotels and other establishments located near the lake used ancient legend about a monster in order to attract tourists. Therefore, local newspapers published “eyewitness accounts” and photographs supposedly confirming their claims, and even made dummies of Nessie. Wilson's hoax accomplice, Christopher Sparling, was the stepson of Montague Wethorle and testified that people from the newspaper's editorial office pressured Wethorle to produce conclusive evidence. Noteworthy is the proximity of the activation of the theme of “the monster from Loch Ness” (1933) and the film adaptation of “The Lost World” by Arthur Conan Doyle (1925), which popularized cryptozoology, thereby creating fertile ground for the emergence of an urban legend about the existence of a relict lizard in Scotland. It should be noted that the "first eyewitness" - Mr. John Mackay - was the owner of a hotel in Inverness, and in the film " lost World“There is a scene of a plesiosaur sailing past a steamship and a small mise-en-scène at the very end of the picture, where a brontosaurus, having fallen from the Tower Bridge it broke into the Thames, floats on the surface of the river, raising its head high on a thin neck and arching its back exactly as captured in the “photo.” surgeon."

This version does not explain the early mentions of the creature, but these mentions themselves, like most medieval legends, are not accurate and have not been confirmed by anything. It can be noted that the biographies of a number of medieval Christian saints contain references to fantastic monsters expelled or pacified by them (for example, Saint Attracta, Saint Clement of Metz and others); It is possible that the story of the pacification of the monster on Loch Ness was remembered a posteriori, when the urban legend about “Nessie” had already taken shape.

Quite a long time has passed since the last article in the series was published unsolved mysteries 20th century, the editors of our site decided to continue this series. And next up is the Mystery of the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie).

If we go back to the very depths of Celtic legends, this creature was first noticed by the Roman conquerors. The first mention of the Loch Ness monster dates back to the 5th century AD, where one of the chronicles mentions the water beast of the Ness River. Then all mentions of Nessie disappeared until 1880, when, in completely normal weather, a sailing ship with people sank to the bottom. The northern Scots immediately remembered the monster, and began to produce all sorts of rumors and legends

The avalanche of rumors reached the point that one of the major newspapers even published a story about a married couple who encountered the monster face to face. On the wave of popularity, a road was built here; many curious people came here to see for themselves the existence of the beast. The once quiet surroundings became a bustling place, and the shores of the lake were always filled with photographers and onlookers. A certain enterprising citizen even set up a number of observation posts along the perimeter of the lake. And lo and behold - within a month the Loch Ness monster was spotted as many as 15 times

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All essays and books mentioning Nessie - an unusual creature, a threat to the entire population of Scotland. According to legend, the monster lives in Loch Ness and regularly scares local residents with its terrible appearance. Eyewitnesses stated that they saw a huge monster with a long neck sticking its small head out of the water. Despite its size, the monster is distinguished by its relative good nature: during its entire existence, it has not strangled, drowned or harmed anyone.
The Loch Ness monster was described by eyewitnesses as a snake stretched through the body of a turtle.
Judging by the description, this monster belongs to a species of plesiosaurs, marine reptiles that lived approximately 160 million years ago. The length of their neck was about 2 meters - the same length as their body and tail combined. Why they needed such a long neck has long been a mystery, but Leslie Noe of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, UK, suggests: "Plesiosaurs used their long necks to reach the bottom and get food," Noe said on International meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Ottawa, Canada. He examined the remains of a plesiosaur called Muraenosaurus and, by studying the articulation of the neck bones, concluded that the neck was flexible and could move easily. The small skulls of plesiosaurs did not allow them to cope with prey in a hard shell.

Edinburgh. Scottish scientists have denied the existence of the Loch Ness monster. According to the Yoread portal, a satellite navigation system and 600 sonars helped them in this.
It has been suggested that the Loch Ness monster may have been a marine reptile that went extinct along with the dinosaurs. Researchers did not exclude the possibility that the animal could survive in the harsh waters of Loch Ness, despite the fact that such creatures usually prefer a subtropical climate.
They explored the entire Loch Ness lake in Scotland, where, according to legend, the prehistoric monster Nessie lives, attracting hundreds of tourists from all over the world to these places every year. As a result of the study, no traces of the lake monster were found.
In most cases, tourists confuse the Loch Ness monster with logs sticking out of the water, accumulations of algae and other objects that figuratively resemble the silhouette of the monster.
According to legend, the first to tell the world about a mysterious creature in a distant Scottish lake were Roman legionnaires who, with sword in hand, mastered the Celtic expanses at the dawn of the Christian era.
Locals immortalized in stone all representatives of the Scottish fauna - from deer to mice. The only one stone sculpture, which the Romans could not identify, was a strange image of a long-necked seal of gigantic proportions.
In the spring of 1933, the Inverness Courier newspaper first published detailed story the Mackay couple, who encountered Nessie firsthand. In the same year north shore lakes paved the way and cut down trees and bushes for better review Britain's largest freshwater body of water.
In August of the same year, three eyewitnesses noticed a disturbance on the usually quiet Loch Ness. Then, first floating to the surface, then going under the water again, several humps began to appear, arranged in a row. They moved in waves, like a caterpillar.
Gradually, based on these descriptions, the image of a certain prehistoric creature living in the depths of a reservoir began to emerge in the public imagination. A year later, this image was brought to life thanks to the so-called “Surgeon photo”.
Its author, London physician R. Kenneth Wilson, claimed that he photographed the monster by accident while traveling in the area, bird watching.
In 1994 it was determined that it was a fake, manufactured by Wilson and three accomplices. Two of Wilson's accomplices voluntarily confessed to their crime, and the first confession (in 1975) remained unnoticed by the public, since faith in the honesty of Dr. Wilson, who seemingly had no motive to deceive, was unshakable.

The famous Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, lives at the bottom of the Scottish Loch Ness lake. That's exactly what one says. Scientists around the world have been trying to prove or disprove the existence of Nessie for several years now. And sensation hunters sincerely hope to meet one of the most mysterious creatures on the planet.

Fact or fiction?

to his appearance Nessie resembles a giant seal with a long neck and the head of a lizard. People who lived near mysterious lake, kept their secret for many years, which was eventually revealed by Roman legionnaires. The strangers noticed the stone figure of a strange animal that they had never seen before. Mentions of an unusual creature living in the lake can be found in numerous sources dating back to different centuries.

Nessie, the legendary Loch Ness monster, has allegedly been caught on camera numerous times. However, even photographs did not provide scientists with evidence of the existence of a giant seal. Some researchers believe that the long-necked creature depicted in the photographs is actually a visual effect of a seiche. Falsification in order to profitably sell the image is also possible.

Loch Ness is relatively shallow, only 230 m. A huge animal, as Nessie is supposed to be, would not be able to hide and feel comfortable in this body of water. It has been suggested that at the bottom of the lake there is a deep crevice in which Nessie is hiding. However, with the help of detailed research in 2016, it was possible to establish that there are no caves at the bottom of the reservoir. No large animals were discovered that would necessarily be noticed by modern instruments.

Eyewitness accounts

In the late 1950s, a book by K. White was published with eyewitness accounts who claimed to have personally seen the monster. The author herself lived on the shore of the lake for many years and did not notice anything unusual. But even after the book was published, there were people who met Nessie:

Amateur researcher Gordon Holmes tried to make a film about the Loch Ness monster in 2007. He managed to record movement in the lake unknown object. But this recording did not convince the experts.

No one knows if Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, really exists. The human imagination is capable of creating things that live for centuries. The Scots are unlikely to be interested in finding evidence or refutation of the monster's existence. For them, Nessie is a reliable way to attract tourists who love ancient legends and tales. There really is a monster at the bottom of the lake. The prop monster was created for the film in the late 1960s. The artificial Nessie drowned during filming.