There is history in northern Scotland that pre-dates William Wallace by more than 600 years. It has survived brutal attacks from the English and is more timeless than any ghost story that has been told about the historic isle.
About 23 miles (37 km) southwest of Inverness, there is rumored to be a 40-50 foot-long creature with elephant-like skin, a giraffe-like neck, two short fore legs and three humps harbored in the depths of Loch Ness.
There have been hundreds of reported sightings of such a creature from as early as the 6th Century A.D., but little is known about the actual creature. Though there have been land sightings, it prefers to stay hidden-out of sight of humans-but once in awhile, it surfaces long enough for some to catch a glimpse of what is said to resemble pleiosaur-like creature.
In the spring of 1958, the proprietor of the Foyer's Hotel, which is situated in an elevated position overlooking Loch Ness, Hugh Rowand, and his wife were seated in their garden looking at the loch when a stationary fin-shaped object in the water near Sand Point caught his eye. A few seconds elapsed and the object seemed to spring to life as it shot across the loch. Rowand estimated that it was at a rate of about 30 miles per hour (20-25 knots).
This was enough to make a believer out of Rowand. Surely he had heard stories of the creature, but this wasn't enough to prove anything.
A member of the Northern Naturalists Organizations Peter O'Connor from Gateshead, Durham recalled seeing a similar creature, also from the garden of Foyer's Hotel, with a number of other people in May of 1960. At first he said he thought it was a rowboat, but with a second glance, he could see a brown colored object which was slowly sinking back into the loch.
Three days later, O'Connor went for a walk along the shore beside Foyer's Bay and the monster glided into view. He walked into the water up to his waist to get a closer view. He described the creature's features as "small and sheep-like with a very small neck." Its skin appeared to be smooth, he reported.
While there have been significantly less reports of this in recent history (the last decade), those that have been reported within the last year seem to have found that the creature sustains the same characteristics as those from centuries earlier.
In March of 2007, Sidney Wilson, an English tourist from Nottingham, took a cruise down the loch to view the sights. As he approached Urquhart Castle, two powerboats appeared to be leaving a large wash in their wake. Sidney took two quick photographs of the boats and on the second one, there appeared to be something in the water. After enlarging the image, Wilson could see what appeared to be a head and a fin.
While all reports were strikingly similar, my own account of the monster is quite different.
Nine months ago, I had an encounter at Loch Ness. On several occasions, I did see what looked to be something disturbing the water, which, had I not been skeptical, could have mistakenly to resembled the elephant-like skin and giraffe-like neck of such a creature. I am fairly confident, however, that they were merely ripples in the water. But I did not see a head peering out of the loch, despite the murkiness of its waters.
As the cruise ended, I was overcome with disappointment. "Another childhood delusion," I thought. I wanted to believe that there was a chance that the ripples in the water actually was some pre-historic monster, but I suppose my imagination got the better of me.
I knew that there has never been a reported contact made with "Nessie," and that every reported sighting has been from a far off location, and the photographs, which are proof to someare typically gray and leave a lot to be desired.
Even the most famous photograph of the creature, taken in 1934 by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a British gynecologist, was proven to be a fake. This leaves me with little hope that there could be anything but a few conspirators waiting on the shores of Loch Ness.
Despite this, there still seems to be some sense of truth to be found about the mythical monster.
George Edwards, a skipper of Loch Ness Royal Scot cruiseline told me that Loch Ness alone has more fresh water than all lakes in England and Wales combined. It is the largest body of water, by volume, in the UK, and the second largest by surface area, next to Loch Lomond. At an estimated 812 feet (248 meters) at its deepest point-about 200 feet deeper than the tower of London is high.
This certainly gives the loch a sense of mystery and peculiarity. Not only that, but Scotland skies do not reflect well on the loch, and its depth makes the water look exceedingly black. This makes the area feel desolate and untouched. If there were some sort of monster in Scotland, this would be a perfect place for it.
There have been a number of privately funded investigations of Loch Ness, most have been unsuccessful.
Project Urquhart, named for the castle, which stands on the shore of the loch, was organized by "Nessie" enthusiast, and BBC news correspondent Nicholas Witchell to get scientists interested in studying it. Despite rumors that there were caves and tunnels in the loch, which might be stowing the monster, no evidence of this was found. However, sonar did pick up some large contacts in the loch that they could not explain. They tracked four sonar contacts in midwater that were far too large to be any known fish.
Operation Deepscan, the largest and most intense search for proof of the Loch Ness Monster, was a sonar exploration of Loch Ness, which would sweep the unfathomable depths of the loch from shore to shore. In October of 1987, 24 boats left the dock with equipment, which could target objects as small as one foot.
On the first day of the exploration, three strong sonar contacts were recorded to be from 725 feet (78 meters) to 590 feet (180 meters) made just off Whitefield, opposite Urquhart Bay. The object entered the sonar at 570 feet (174 meters) and was tracked for 140 secondsone boat tried to move forward to engage the target, but was unsuccessful.
The operation cost was estimated to be about 1 million and, as reported by Adrian Shine, leader of the Loch Ness project, all contacts were unlike any which could be expected from the loch's known inhabitants. They were all in deep midwater. All were reported to be much larger than a shark and of considerable strength.
While neither of these accounts are solid proof that such as sea serpent exists, I can certainly understand the fascination with the loch.
There is something in all of us that would have us hope that there may still be something out there. Personally, I would like to believe that there is something hiding in the depths of Loch Ness. And if ever there were such a creature, Loch Ness would be a perfect hideout. Its serene atmosphere makes it conducive to such a myth, and makes it believable. It is difficult to let go of these illusions, which have been ingrained in us since childhood. There is something in all of us that makes us inclined to believe that there is something magical in existence, perhaps for some people, this is the Loch Ness Monster.