Spanning hundreds of years, the legend of the Loch Ness Monster captures the attention of the world
The Scottish Highlands, outside of the small town of Inverness, houses the legend of the famous Loch Ness Monster. The debate continues about whether a creature is swimming in the lake or if it is all made up. Many people would like to believe that a mysterious creature such as the Loch Ness Monster does exist, while others see it only as a myth.
The first incident that began the legend of the Loch Ness Monster occurred in 565 AD when a swimmer got attacked in Loch Ness Lake. A book about St. Columbia- a traveler – recalled a giant creature who bit a man and was about to attack another. And seeing this, St. Columbia stepped forward and told the monster to leave and not hurt anyone again. The monster retreated, and there were no more notable sightings until the 1900s.
The next significant sighting was in 1933 after a road got built along the lake shore. A couple driving in their vehicle claimed to see a large creature in the waters. With the news of a potential sighting, people became excited. A local newspaper hired a man named Marmaduke Wetherell to investigate further. He searched the shores for any sign of the monster and eventually found large footprints he claimed belonged to the Loch Ness.
However, these claims were disproven when the National History Museum took a closer look. They determined that the tracks were fake and that a hippopotamus leg made them.
A year later, this creature’s lore drew more and more people to the lake. In 1934 a famous picture was taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson that showed the upper half of what looked like a sea creature in the lake. This photo had some people believing it could be a descendent of a plesiosaur- a sea creature that lived during the time of the dinosaurs.
To everyone’s dismay, the image Robert Wilson took was fake. The monster was just plastic attached to a submarine toy in the water.
Through the years, the attraction of the possibility of such a creature continued to entice people. As technology advanced, people began to take their search under the surface using sonar equipment. Unfortunately, these searches failed to bring back any information confirming that the Loch Ness Monster lived under the cold dark lake.
In 2018, a commissioned research tested the DNA of the water animals in the lake. The tests did not find anything that would identify the Loch Ness Monster’s presence. However, they found something interesting in the test; that many eels lived in the lake. So, some think that it could be possible that the sightings and stories mistook the giant eels for the monster.
Much evidence proving the existence of the Loch Ness Monster has been disproven. However, it still brings floods of people to the Highlands in Scotland. There remains a possibility of some truth found wrapped up in the myth. Perhaps a creature like the Loch Ness Monster once inhabited the waters. However, it is improbable that it would still be alive today. While no real monster exists in the lake, the myths continue to breathe life into the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.
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