Alexander LaFountain is a Demonologist based out of Texas. He was a member of Ghost Watchers Paranormal Investigations when he lived in Georgia and became a member of the Afterlife Research Team when he relocated to east Texas. He spent the last several years studying demonology and handling demonic based cases. He is also working towards becoming a Catholic Priest in the Independent Catholic Community.
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In this article we are going to take a look at the famous Loch Ness Monster! There have been many sightings of this creature over the years, most of them in the modern times. There have been many photos, videos, and audio samples turned in, with people claiming to have found proof of this creatures existence. Most were found to have other explanations behind them, some were hoaxes designed to attract fame and fortune, and the rest were inconclusive. The Loch Ness has also had many theories created to try and explain what is in there. There are theories that talk about the Loch Ness Monster being a dinosaur that survived the extinction, being a magickal beast that can travel between dimensions, being a misidentified animal, and being an undiscovered species of animal that had survived, unnoticed for centuries.
Regardless of your personal feelings towards this beast, the fact remains that this cryptid has enraptured the minds of not only the Scottish, but the rest of the world also. So it certainly warrants further exploration and study. We will start with the earliest known sighting of the Loch Ness Monster, called Nessie by many. The earliest known sighting of Nessie comes from the 6th century tale of Saint Columba. Saint Columba visited the Scottish Picts while doing missionary work and encountered a man burying another man near the loch. He inquired as to what had taken place, where he was given the account of the deceased man being killed by a large water beast. Saint Columba had one of his followers then swim across the Loch as bait for the water beast. Sure enough, the water beast arose to kill the man and Saint Columba repelled it with his faith in the Christian God. There is a lot of debate regarding whether or not this account actually talks about Nessie or refers to a different animal all together (some believe its simply a tale designed by the Church to awe the Pagan masses in Scotland) however many people point to this tale as a foundation for their belief that Nessie has always inhabited the Loch.
The modern interest in the Loch Ness Monster started with the account given by George Spicer and his wife, in 1933. They claim they were driving when a large beast, which they described as having a physical appearance that lined up with the majority of modern descriptions (except they could not see any limbs, they believed a dip in the road kept them from seeing its limbs) regarding Nessie. Also in 1933a man named Arthur Grant, a vetrinary student, claimed to have hit Nessie while driving his motorcycle. He claimed that the creature he hit, looked like a seal mixed with a plesiosaur. Lastly in 1933 construction workers claimed to have spoted the creature multiple times as they were working on a road near the Loch.
In 1938 a police chief in Scotland, wrote an official letter stating his beliefs regarding Nessie being real and talking about a group of hunters determined to bring Nessie in, dead or alive. 1954 sonar contact was made with a strange object or creature, by the fishing boat, Rival the third. According to the statements of the crew, this strange object kept pace with their fishing boat for almost half a mile. They claim the sonar pinged on some thing that was roughly 480 feet below the water.
The earliest known photograph to be captured was by a man named Hugh Gray in 1933. He claimed he saw Nessie rise up from the lake so he snapped a few pictures. Only one picture turned out and in it, is a rather blurry image of what appears to be an animal in the water. The most famous picture and indeed the most controversial, is the Surgeon’s Photograph that was taken in 1934 by a man named Robert Wilson. Wilson, a respected doctor in his field of medicine, claimed to have spotted Nessie. He then reacted by snapping a few pictures. One turned out to show what looks like a large animal, with a horse like head and long neck swimming slightly above the water’s surface. The photo is black and white, very blurry but one of the most clear photographs ever captured of Nessie.
Many attempts have been made to capture evidence of Nessie from Sir Edward Mountain’s 1934 attempts to BBC’s widely watched special in 2003. Monsterquest even attempted to find the Loch Ness Monster as the subject of one its episodes. So far no concrete evidence has been found of Nessi’s existance. Though the hunt still continues!
Loch Ness Monster (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_ness_monster
Legend of Nessie: Official Website: http://www.nessie.co.uk/