Sightings of the Loch Ness monster

The first written account of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, was made by the Viking Adamnan in 565AD. He described how St. Columba heard about the monster killing a man, and then rowed to the center of the loch to order the beast to stop such attacks in the future. Ever since that time, legend has it, Nessie has never repeated its misdemeanor.

But Nessie is still there – according to a number of people who saw her.

Nessie sightings

In 1933 alone, there were 5 sightings of Nessie. In June 1963, Nessie was even filmed, but at such a distance that not much of it can be seen on the film.

In September 1995 Lorna Taylor saw Nessie’s head, neck and body rising from the loch, but was seconds too late with her camera to get a good picture.

The last sightings of Nessie were on 14th September 1999, February 2002 and in May 2007.

The most famous picture of Nessie was taken by Dr Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934. In 2001, the doctor’s friend who was with him that famous day claimed the picture to be a hoax. However, Dr Wilson stuck to his story until his death in 2001.

Nessie, the Loch Ness monster

How big is Nessie?

From the many reports, it is guesstimated that Nessie’s body is about 16 ft (5 metres) long. With head and tail, she would be about 3 times the size of a Nile crocodile.

Nessie is protected by the 1912 Protection of Animals Acts of Scotland. With good reason. Nessie has quite an economical impact: she is worth $40 million annually to Scottish tourism industry.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is the largest of three lochs located in the Great Glen of the Scottish Highlands. The loch is 37 km (23 miles) long and 1,6 km (1 mile) in width, and averaging 182 m (600 ft) in depth.

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Video : Scotland TV reports sighting of Nessie, May 2007