Bigfoot. The Abominable Snowman. The jackalope. These commonly known but rarely seen cryptozoic creatures have become part of our culture. One, in particular, has become widely known in the western world from repeated and credible sightings: the Loch Ness monster of Scotland. Nicknamed Nessie by locals and supposedly spotted by thousands for more than hundreds of years, “she” has become a modern legend for most, a reality for many and a challenge for a determined few. The majority of professional scientists might agree that the evidence for the Loch Ness Monster is sketchy, unreliable and likely the product of either hoaxes and/or misidentified species or objects. However, there are those who have regarded it as a potential discovery worthy of being pursued. The mystery is far from being solved, but continued research could either silence or add to the debate of a prehistoric “monster’s” presence in the modern world.The earliest indication that a monster lingered in Scottish waters dates back at least 1,500 years to the Scottish tribes known as the Picts. These “painted people” left behind carvings of long-snouted, flippered beasts. Word of this aquatic creature did not surface, however, until early May of 1933 when a new road was completed through the remote ancestral highlands of the Picts. A young couple reported seeing a large, unwieldy animal rolling and heaving out of the water of Loch Ness.The term “Loch” refers to a lake or a sea inlet and originates from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language still spoken in the region. Loch Ness is one of several interconnected water bodies in Scotland, and spanning 21 square miles, is the second largest lake in the United Kingdom. Filling a glacially carved basin that plunges more than 800 feet, Loch Ness is one of the world’s deepest lakes. Although it is freshwater, Ness is known for having very poor water visibility as peat (decaying organic matter) inundates and darkens its depths. In addition to being deep and murky, Loch Ness has been described as being very cold and forbidding as it has taken the lives of several divers and boatmen who, according to the NOVA broadcast of “The Beast of the Loch Ness,” reportedly “sank without a trace in[to] the icy depths.”
View: Full Article | Source: The Rebel Yell