I just read that a new investigation into the so-called “Loch Ness Monster” will be kicked off during the weekend of Aug. 26-27.
When I recently wrote about three of the persistent mysteries of our time — Bigfoot, aliens/UFOs and the Kennedy assassination — the Loch Ness monster didn’t quite make the cut. But interest in the “creature” seems to never go away; hence, another “scientific” investigation as to whether or not it actually exists.
By now, most everyone has seen the “photo” of the beast — from a distance and very grainy — as with the familiar photo of Bigfoot allegedly hoofing it across an opening in the forest.
(Why are these photos always so lacking in detail? Maybe it’s because they’re fake?)
Anyway, the upcoming investigation later this month apparently aims to put all of humankind’s best technology into play to finally locate and photograph the legendary creature once and for all.
But the monster -- lovingly nicknamed “Nessie” by the locals in nearby Inverness, Scotland -- has been the stuff of fantasy and nightmares for hundreds of years.
The earliest account is from the Sixth Century, which tells of a face-to-monster encounter in which a monk escaped being killed by the beast by calling upon God to make it go away and leave him alone.
Thus, the legend was born...
Since then, there have been many, many tales — unsubstantiated of course — that relate sightings of the monster in the relatively unimpressive lake. Oh, the lake does have its impressive qualities: It’s a fairly big lake at 23 miles long, and it’s one of the deepest freshwater bodies in the world coming in at 755 feet at its deepest point.
In modern times, the Loch Ness monster had its biggest splash in the 1930s. In 1934, the now-famous photo of Nessie was taken and published, causing an international frenzy of interest.
Supposed additional sightings followed in the 1930s and subsequent decades — again with no backing photos — until the original photo was proven to be a hoax in 1994.
But that hasn’t stopped True Believers from continuing to push the story, even setting up a local Loch Ness Centre for an ongoing investigation into the creature’s existence. Famed movie director Werner Herzog even made a film about it in 2004 called Incident at Loch Ness.
But never once — not once — has any irrefutable evidence come to light. Not a clear picture, or a washed up body of a dead animal, no tracks near the lake — nothing.
But belief in the monster persists, i.e., the approaching Aug. 26-27 “investigation.”
Humans are such suckers for these kinds of fables. Why? I think it’s because many of us want to believe in things that appeal to our hunger for something that might exist outside the often-harsh realm of day-to-day reality.
Of course, the folks in nearby Inverness are enjoying it all. It’s like anyplace that has some kind of local attraction to pull in the tourists. Check it out on the Internet: There are several day cruises on the lake offered to tourists who just might spot the monster (only $25.69 per person).
All I can say is: Let them have their fun -- and a story to tell the grandkids when they get back home about how they almost saw Nessie.
I actually do believe there are plesiosaurs like Nessie in that lake. I read that lake has such a huge density, that much of the world's population could fit within it, and many caverns, etc. Many believe Nessie has gills and rarely needs to surface for air. When you think about how many reptilian/dinosaur like creatures still live in water (alligator, leatherback turtles, etc) I don't think it's so farfetched to believe another ancient one could be thriving in a huge lake we can't explore so well. There's so many Unbelievable creatures in the ocean deep we are just discovering or are yet to discover.
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