Faked Nessie Photo from 1934

Recently, the press has been abuzz with the lack of sightings of Loch Ness monster.  There have been no sightings of the famous beastie in the last 18 months.  The Daily Mail asks “Is Nessie DEAD?”  The BBC notes: No Loch Ness Monster sightings for first time since 1925. Given the explosion of digital photography, it seems unlikely that if the monster was splashing about that someone would not have captured at least a cell phone photo. There is a cash prizes for the best sighting photo given by Nessie enthusiasts yearly, yet only three photographs were submitted of recently reported sightings. These turned out to be, respectively — a wave, a duck, and a photograph from Lake Champlain, Vermont.   This is the longest period without sighting since the modern Loch Ness monster craze began in 1933.

There does seem to be some confusion about dates.  Gary Campbell, who keeps track of Nessie sightings says that this is the longest period with no Loch Ness Monster sightings since 1925.  While there have been stories of a lake monster since the 6th century, most credit the first modern “Nessie” sighting to July 22, 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw “a most extraordinary form of animal’ cross the road in front of their car.”

In November of that year, Hugh Gray took a photograph of something in the water, which depending on interpretation could be a serpentine creature or “a dog swimming towards the camera (possibly carrying a stick).”  The most famous photograph of the “monster” was the “Surgeon’s Photo” taken in 1934, which was revealed to have been a fake in 1975. It remains the most popular photo of the “monster” nevertheless.  In 2012, a new photograph emerged that claimed to be the “best ever photo” of the monster.  In 2013, the tour boat operator, who took the photo, admitted that it was a hoax. He had taken a photo of a carbon fiber “Nessie” hump used in a 2011 National Geographic documentary, The Truth Behind the Loch Ness Monster.

There are two current theories for the lakes monster’s disappearance being raised in the press.  The first is that Kevin Carlyon, the High Priest of White Witches in the United Kingdom, claims that he has placed a spell on the Loch Ness Monster to protect it from “exploitation of fraudsters” who stain the creature’s existence and memory. As reported by the Guardian, he told reporters that he strongly believes Nessie is the ghost of a dinosaur and stated that he carried out an exorcism in order to allow the creature to rest in peace. However, he promised to lift the spell and “put Nessie back” this summer.

The second suggestion is that Nessie is vacationing in Australia. The Daily Mail reports that A photograph emerged in November which appears to show the Loch Ness Monster off Magnetic Island – located off the Queensland coastal city of Townsville.  The article notes that the image in the photo looks remarkably like the 1934 photo of the Loch Ness monster.  As noted above the 1934 photo was a fake.