Loch Ness Monster: Nessie of Scotland

 

        There have been claims of many sightings of a mysterious and unique water monster living in Scotland for about 1,500 (We all know this legend. You can see where I’m going with this). The modern account of the Loch Ness monster was actually reported by a couple on May 2, 1933. The newspaper Inverness Courier had the recount of said couple who actually claimed to have seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface." Clearly, having a big water monster jumping up out of the water like some trained dolphin at Sea World sparked some need for media attention. It was a major phenomenon that resulted in the mention of rewards for anyone brave enough and skilled enough to catch such a beast.

Loch Ness, located in the Scottish Highlands, has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain; the body of water reaches a depth of nearly 800 feet and a length of about 23 miles. Scholars of the Loch Ness Monster find a dozen references to "Nessie" in Scottish history, dating back to around A.D. 500, when local Picts carved a strange aquatic creature into standing stones near Loch Ness. The earliest written reference to a monster in Loch Ness is a 7th-century biography of Saint Columba, the Irish missionary who introduced Christianity to Scotland. In 565, according to the biographer, Columba was on his way to visit the king of the northern Picts near Inverness when he stopped at Loch Ness to confront a beast that had been killing people in the lake. Seeing a large beast about to attack another man, Columba intervened, invoking the name of God and commanding the creature to "go back with all speed." The monster retreated and never killed another man.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/loch-ness-monster-sighted

 

                Of course, the Loch Ness Monster is simply a myth…. Isn’t it? There is no hard evidence of the creature. There are sonar stats, photos, recounts from eye witnesses for hundreds of years, even ancient drawings people had made of a water creature near Loch Ness in Scotland long before there was any media attention given to the subject. Of course, there are many misidentifications and false identifications. Many have written photos and sightings of “Nessie” off as; trees, birds, eels, elephants, seals, “optical effects” caused by something as simple as wind and fog, or seismic gas. There was a belief that, after one witness recounted seeing the Loch Ness Monster and hearing a “loud roar” that it could have been an earthquake due to the time frame that the witness reported it. Gas could have risen during the earthquake as the surface of the water shook and trembled. I must say, these explanations are all pretty plausible. They’re definitely more rational and “realistic”, aren’t they? I mean, there is reasonable doubt, that’s all we need. Well, wouldn’t it also be possible that the creature exists?

 

            Let’s consider the facts. This creature, whatever the creature may be, has been sighted and documented for over 1,500 years. There are archaic drawings of the creature near Loch Ness, countless people who have, over the years, giving detailed recollections of what they had seen. There are photos, though they are pretty cruddy quality and can be a bit fake looking, I’ll admit that. We have proof that dinosaurs existed; on land, in the sky, in the water. We study the theory of evolution in school to show that we had all descended from a common creature. There are many areas of the world and depths of water that humans are no able to venture to yet. With all of these different circumstances and conditions.. why is it so unbelievable that this creature could exist? If we can have the skeletons of water bound creatures in museums, why can we not have live creatures in Loch Ness?