Flying saucers, aliens, traveling to other worlds. Mysterious stories about strange and mysterious things not only entertain the audience, but also bring good income to publishers and film producers.
One of the most famous “modern legends” is the story of Nessie - a mysterious creature who supposedly lives in the mysterious depths of the small but deepwater Scottish lake Loch Ness.
10. Oral legends
For the first time mention of a mysterious creature could still see the Roman legionnaires. The ancient Celts in rock paintings captured the entire fauna - but the Romans, among other crafts, met images of an unprecedented creature. It looked like a seal, but had a disproportionately long neck.
Describing the deeds of the Irish saint Columbus (not to be confused with the Spaniard Columbus!), A Scottish abbot mentioned the feat of the saint’s victory over the “water animal” in the Ness River.
9. The first documented observations
In 1971, in England, the remains of a certain sea monster were found and carefully described, according to the structure of the apparent inhabitant of the deep sea. The neck of the skeleton was monstrously long.
Later on during the 18th and 19th centuries, observations of "giant salamanders" and "underwater predators of gigantic proportions" were repeatedly described. These are already quite clear written documents drawn up by the witnesses themselves.
8. XX century begins
The telegraph has firmly entered into business life, the phone is becoming a household item, newspapers are fiercely competing for the attention of the reader. And numerous "eyewitness observations" rained down. 1932 - resting on the shore of Lake Ness (Loch Ness) observed a “scary crocodile with a very small head”.
1933 is especially rich in messages. The newspaper published an extensive interview with a couple relaxing on the lake, watching from the boat "a huge creature with two humps." In the summer, a businessman and his wife watch a “disgusting scarecrow with a long neck” creep along the road. In the fall, Hugh Gray takes a photograph, which is considered the first objective fixation of a mysterious creature.
7. Regular observations
Such messages became more and more. People began to specially come to the lake to rest, hoping to see the mystery of nature with their own eyes. A certain E. Mount showed enterprise, cut down a coastal shrub and set up 15 campsites, which he rented for a moderate fee as “observation posts”. After that, literally in a month almost two dozen “witness accounts of the monster” accumulated.
The war interrupted leisure entertainment. However, in 1943 an official report appeared. Flying over the lake, the pilot of a military aircraft "clearly observed a huge living creature in the water."
6.117 evidence
In 1957, a resident of the coast published the book "This is more than a legend." Constance White united 117 stories about the observations of a mysterious creature under a common cover. The book includes both ancient legends and testimonies of the 20th century. Moreover, photographs accumulated by the time of publication were cited, of which there were surprisingly many.
In 1960, Tim Dinsdale intentionally made aerial photography. Experts agreed that the images recorded the movement of a huge living creature. The engineer approached the matter thoroughly, and in addition to photographing the mysterious object, he made many control shots of boats on the lake. By examination of his photographs of the mysterious creature were recognized authentic.
5. Photos
The first photographs appeared in the same, rich in observations, 1933. The most famous is the famous “snapshot of a doctor” by C. Wilson. In this photograph taken from the shore, a strange creature with a very long neck and two humps floating on the water is clearly visible.
In 1960, Tim Dinsdale intentionally made aerial photography. By examination of his photographs of the mysterious creature were recognized authentic.
4. New technologies
With the advent of widely available compact and high-quality video cameras, more and more images and recordings of observations began to appear. All the images clearly show the movement of a creature about ten meters long.
Air shots allow you to capture the angle of the diverging waves, and video recording allows you to record the movement time. They indicate a speed of about 10 km / h. Starting in 2018, Nessies are even found in satellite photos.
3. What is it?
There are different versions of the explanation of what is happening.
Firstly, paleontologists are inclined to believe that if observations really describe a certain living creature, then this may be a representative of the ancient fauna.
It is known that some species of living creatures have been successfully preserved since ancient times, almost without changing their lifestyle and appearance. Moreover, there is no reliable data on their real life expectancy.
For example, such ordinary creatures as sharks and cockroaches. Why not happen that, for example, plesiosaurs survived to our days?
Secondly, it can be sincere errors of observers. So, the Scottish paleontologist N. Clark carefully studied archival documents and compared some open data.
In an amazing way, the dates of the monster's observations and the schedules of the migration of traveling circus tent tops correlated. The scientist concluded that the observers could sincerely be mistaken, mistaking elephants bathing in the lake.
The third version claims that there is no monster at all, and for the traces of his swimming people took chains of bubbles of volcanic gases rising from the depths of the lake.
Finally, the assumption that all the hype around ancient legends was raised by local businessmen also looks quite reasonable. In attempts to revitalize tourism in charming, but cold places, they could go to falsifications and jokes.
2. "Photo of the doctor" - a fake
The last assumption is also supported by the fact that C. Wilson, the author of one of the most famous photographs of the riddle, officially admitted that in his old age, his photograph was a carefully prepared fake.
Wanting to have fun, in 1933 he and his friends made a floating model of a monster, photographed it in a lake and several times showed it to groups of vacationers from afar. The joke was not only funny, but also brought a very good income.
1. The main argument of the skeptics
The main argument, which quite convincingly indicates that the legend of the Loch Ness monster is just a fairy tale - there is simply nothing to feed on the creatures of the sizes described in the cold lake. Especially if there is a brood of such "animals".