Researchers participating in the biggest operation of the last decades attempted to put an end to the mystery of the infamous Loch Ness monster. It ended without success.
For two days more than 2,000 people participated by all means in the search, but in the end “Nessie” was not found, although as the explorers say, some sounds were heard that they could not register. The operation was broadcast minute by minute over the internet.
The mystery of Loch Ness in Scotland remains unsolved. The biggest search in half a century did not bring the results that fans of the Loch Ness monster legend so desperately wanted.
“We had heard some incredible sounds on Friday, something extraordinary. I still don’t know what it was,” said a member of the research team.
With drones and specially equipped boats, over 2,000 people rushed to Drumnadrohit, Scotland to witness the great discovery. “Nessie”, however, was not found and the mysterious sounds were not repeated so as to be recorded.
This weekend’s research has been organized by the Loch Ness Center in Drumnadrochit and a volunteer research group called Loch Ness Exploration.
Loch Ness Center general manager Paul Nixon insisted it was more than a PR stunt. “One hundred volunteers are on the shores of Loch Ness today, all in an effort to find some answers about what the Loch Ness Monster is,” he said.
“Some of the more recent sightings I’ve seen are sonar contacts – showing objects in the water at depth. The largest I have seen is an object the size of a delivery truck, which I have not been told what it was. It wasn’t there when we got back,” he said.
The two-day searches were streamed online for anyone who couldn’t make it to Scotland. However, the goal of the residents and fans of the myth is to keep it alive for future generations.
The largest survey of Loch Ness since 1972
The surface water survey has been described as the biggest of its kind since the Loch Ness Research Bureau (LNIB) surveyed the area for traces of the mythical Nessie in 1972.
This involved drones using infrared heat cameras taking aerial photographs, as it is believed that observing the heat from above could be crucial to spotting any strange anomalies.
A hydrophone was also used to detect acoustic signals underwater, listening for any Nessie-like voices, as well as other technological tools that could prove useful in the investigation.
The modern legend
The mystery of Loch Ness has been around since the 6th century, when a monk first spoke of a monster in the lake, but it’s been 90 years since the modern legend of Nessie began.
In April 1933, hotel manager Aldie Mackay reported seeing a whale-like creature in the lake. The Inverness Courier newspaper reported the sighting on May 2, 1933 and then editor Evan Barron suggested the creature be described as a “monster”. Since then the mystery of Nessie has inspired books, TV shows and movies, as well as a major tourism industry.
After the May 2 newspaper report, public interest steadily grew, especially after another couple claimed they too had seen the animal on land. Amateur researchers kept a near-constant vigil for decades, and in the 1960s several British universities launched sonar missions into the lake. Nothing conclusive was found, but on each mission the sonar operators spotted some sort of large, moving underwater object.
In 1975, another expedition combined sonar and underwater photography in Loch Ness. A photo emerged that, after enhancement, appeared to show what vaguely resembled the giant fin of an aquatic animal. Further sonar missions in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in more ambiguous readings.
Revelations in 1994 that the famous 1934 photo was a complete hoax slightly dampened tourist and researcher enthusiasm for the legendary Loch Ness Beast.
The fact is that the “conspiracies” that have been written around Nessie, as the Scots affectionately call the monster, are many. A lot Funding has been given to find out the truth, as even the British government, during the time of Margaret Thatcher, had approved funds to investigate the matter in depth.
In 2003, BBC funded a survey of the lake using 600 sonar beams and satellite tracking. The survey had sufficient resolution to detect a small buoy. No trace of an animal of any size was found and, despite their stated hopes, the scientists involved admitted that this proved the Loch Ness monster to be a myth.
A 2022 research published on nypost.com reports that researchers from the Universities of Bath and Portsmouth in Britain published on the scientific website Cretaceous Research a new study, concerning plesiosaur fossils found in parts of the Sahara in Morocco.
As the scientists report, plesiosaurs were creatures that lived in seawater and not in fresh water, such as the Loch Ness ecosystem in Scotland. However, fossils in the Sahara have shown that this area was a freshwater lake in ancient times, so plesiosaurs could logically live in all marine ecosystems.
Thus, experts believe that in fact Nessie may have existed in Loch Ness, but only in ancient times and not since the time when man appeared.
