Loch Ness Sighting, Summer 1987

[catherineross]

Dear All,

I've joined this forum to share (and hopefully receive explanatory feedback) on a sighting myself and my then husband had of something in Loch Ness in the late summer of 1987. At the time, we were both baffled and perplexed by what we saw, and acknowledged that it was something neither of us could identify rationally. Of course, we were familiar with the legendary 'monster', but the creature we viewed didn't really conform to what I've ever expected 'Nessie' to look like - it certainly did not look like a plesiosaur with a long, thin neck. Anyway, we were holidaying in Inverness and took a trip to the Loch purely for its beautiful, highland views. We were walking long a road which runs alongside the Loch in the vicinity of Dores, where we stopped at a little layby which overlooked the Loch (there was no beach, just a steep incline to the water). It was, if I recall correctly, about four o'clock in the afternoon (although it might have been earlier) and the weather was fine and dry. We were watching the water and looking across the Loch for about ten minutes when we spotted what I took to be a horse swimming off to the right. My first response was panic/worry that a horse would be out in deep water (I thought about 100ft out, although I'm awful with distances). We observed for a while, trying to work out what we were seeing, which is as follows:

A big horse's or camel's head on a thick neck sticking up out of the water with a rounded hump a little behind. The colouring looked black or very, very dark and, like a horse, there was some fuzzy, mane-like stuff sticking up and running down its back. It was moving forward, from the right of our vision to the left, fairly rapidly. We couldn't distinguish facial features or the like. After a minute or so, the head curved downwards into the water (as though diving) and a black, tube-like body followed it, as though the neck just kept going. A few seconds later a fluke-like appendage emerged and then quickly sank down, in a way that reminded me of a whale's tail going under. There was a far amount of spray and disturbed water. Whatever it was did not look like a dinosaur or plesiosaur, and was rather slimy and unpleasant looking.

If anything, these pictures look closest to what we saw:

http://nzetc.victori..._05Rail061a.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot...zcab6o1_500.jpg

http://www.hicker-fi...e-sunset_15.jpg

As you can imagine, this experience was all very confusing, and we mentioned it to the people we were staying with in Inverness, who seemed interested but didn't take it too seriously. They thought perhaps we'd seen a deer. We never reported the sighting to anyone official (heck, we'd have had no idea how to do so) and it's just been a fairly interesting anecdote we've told family and friends whenever a programme about Loch Ness popped up on TV. We had a camera with us at the time, but, stupidly in retrospect, the moment we noticed the creature and stared (both trying to work out what we were seeing) and the moment it went under the water, all happened so quickly that it didn't cross our minds that it was something possibly connected with the mystery and worth photographing. Has anyone else ever had a similar sighting? Is there a natural explanation for this horsey creature? Any thoughts or opinions are warmly welcomed.

Edited September 12, 2012 by catherineross

[Rafterman]

I'd be interested in what feedback you've gotten from other over the years - other paranormal forums for example.

Or am I to understand that this is the first time you've posted about your 25-year-old experience.

[catherineross]

I'd be interested in what feedback you've gotten from other over the years - other paranormal forums for example.

Or am I to understand that this is the first time you've posted about your 25-year-old experience.

Hi there,

To be honest, I've never posted on internet forums about it before; I'm not really a forum user and only came across this site yesterday, so thought I would 'share with the world'. Since doing a spot of googling on the subject yesterday and today, I've come across other websites which might be worth emailing, though. I've also talked with plenty of friends and family, and even looked up various fishy denizens of the deep who might fit the bill, but nothing ever really explained it. Everyone we spoke with at the time was sure we'd seen a swimming deer, but even at the time I recall being convinced that wasn't what it had been. Another problem is scale - I'm not good at judging that kind of thing at the best of times, but when there was nothing else in the water, the thing could have been anything from 5ft to 10ft to 30ft - I couldn't hazard a guess. The thing I thought looked like a fluke could have been a flipper or anything - it definitely appeared at the back part of the submerging animal for a few seconds, though. I should be frank, it was an experience which at the time was perplexing and interesting, but we didn't 'do' anything about it, and I've never really thought about it that much (the trip being replete with other very natural fond memories!). It's only after reading about other people's experiences I started to think 'hey. I saw something strange back then - but it wasn't anything like what other folk have seen!'. Perhaps we did spot a monster back then, and there's a plethora of completely different looking beasties out there!

Edited September 12, 2012 by catherineross

[catherineross]

I should also add, that nothing I've come across (and I've spent - or wasted - some time today looking this up) in terms of reported sightings of the Loch Ness monster seem to match or come close to whatever we saw. Similarly, nothing on any TV shows I've seen over the years ever sounded like it. It was nothing like a plesiosaur, or sturgeon, or whale, or dinosaur, or otter and there was no graceful swan-neck or flippers. In fact, a 'swimming deer' probably comes closer than all those things, without being right. For all intents and purposes, what we both saw and said at the time (and what I still remember) looked like nothing so much as a slimy horse, way out of its depth and with fishy bits. I should also add that what compelled me to 'write it up' for the first time on the 'net was a discussion I had with some friends about a trip to Scotland. The memory re-awoken, I did a bit of googling, found this site and thought 'what the heck' - at worst I'll look like a crackpot; at best, there might actually be some sort of explanation.

[Night Walker]

I've joined this forum to share (and hopefully receive explanatory feedback) on a sighting myself and my then husband had of something in Loch Ness in the late summer of 1987...

I'd be interested in what feedback you've gotten from other over the years - other paranormal forums for example.

Or am I to understand that this is the first time you've posted about your 25-year-old experience.

To be honest, I've never posted on internet forums about it before; I'm not really a forum user and only came across this site yesterday, so thought I would 'share with the world'...

Welcome to the Forum, catherinecross...

You have spoken about the incident to family and friends and looked up potential denizens of the deep but have you ever documented your experience elsewhere - like written it down in a diary or something?

There ARE natural explanations - particularly those involving the fallibility of our perceptions and memories. 25 years IS a long time and your most accurate recollections would be those documented as close to event as possible...

Perception example: The "Essex Lion" - On August 26 this year, 4 people (not anonymous - all named and photographed) watched what they thought to be a lion with binoculars from across a field for 30 minutes. When they phoned the police, they were asked to get confirmation from so they knocked on another caravan and two independent people (again not anonymous – named and photographed) agreed that it looked like a large cat “two sheep” in length (7-8ft). It sparked a major search involving helicopters with heat-seeking equipment while armed police officers and zoo staff with tranquilliser guns searched the area. It was a domestic house cat.

Personal memory example: my wife and I had a light-in-the-sky UFO experience together about a decade ago - didn't document it at the time and now our recollections of the event are significantly different and, of course, we both rib each other that the other's memory is faulty...

Is amicable contact with your ex-husband possible? If so, would he be interested in sharing his recollection of the event?

[catherineross]

Welcome to the Forum, catherinecross...

You have spoken about the incident to family and friends and looked up potential denizens of the deep but have you ever documented your experience elsewhere - like written it down in a diary or something?

There ARE natural explanations - particularly those involving the fallibility of our perceptions and memories. 25 years IS a long time and your most accurate recollections would be those documented as close to event as possible...

Perception example: The "Essex Lion" - On August 26 this year, 4 people (not anonymous - all named and photographed) watched what they thought to be a lion with binoculars from across a field for 30 minutes. When they phoned the police, they were asked to get confirmation from so they knocked on another caravan and two independent people (again not anonymous – named and photographed) agreed that it looked like a large cat “two sheep” in length (7-8ft). It sparked a major search involving helicopters with heat-seeking equipment while armed police officers and zoo staff with tranquilliser guns searched the area. It was a domestic house cat.

Personal memory example: my wife and I had a light-in-the-sky UFO experience together about a decade ago - didn't document it at the time and now our recollections of the event are significantly different and, of course, we both rib each other that the other's memory is faulty...

Is amicable contact with your ex-husband possible? If so, would he be interested in sharing his recollection of the event?

Hi there, Nightwalker,

Thanks for your post! I'm afraid I've never recorded the experience in writing - I've never been particularly interested in monsters, myths or legends, so the experience, whilst really interesting, wasn't something I ever acted on. I very much take your point about the fallibility of human perception - and yes, I read about the 'lion' case in the last few weeks, it was most amusing! What spurs me is that I vividly recollect both the experience and what, exactly, we talked about and told others at the time, which was 'horse' and 'black, tube body' and 'whale fluke'. I guess the memory of telling people that remains vivid because the various parts seemed so incongruous, and certainly didn't conjure (to us) 'the Loch Ness Monster'. The human mind is a weird and wonderful thing: I can recall what I believe is the image of the thing as I saw it, and also recall the details of what we related to people (and have stuck to over the years), but it's entirely possible that some confabulation has taken place without my even knowing. I could ask my ex-husband (amicable is about the perfect word ), but in all honesty, I'd worry my contacting him over something like this may seem a little odd. It was a really interesting event, and I'd love an explanation, but we neither of us at the time thought 'it's the Loch Ness Monster!'; more, we thought. 'how the HELL is a horse swimming out in the deep?!'.

[Macroramphosis]

If you look at this Google page here, do you see anything resembling what you saw ?

[Abramelin]

Hello, Catherine.

Your description made me think of this guy:

Cadborosaurus: http://www.qsl.net/w5www/caddy.html

Edited September 13, 2012 by Abramelin

[Night Walker]

Hi there, Nightwalker,

Thanks for your post! I'm afraid I've never recorded the experience in writing - I've never been particularly interested in monsters, myths or legends, so the experience, whilst really interesting, wasn't something I ever acted on. I very much take your point about the fallibility of human perception - and yes, I read about the 'lion' case in the last few weeks, it was most amusing! What spurs me is that I vividly recollect both the experience and what, exactly, we talked about and told others at the time, which was 'horse' and 'black, tube body' and 'whale fluke'. I guess the memory of telling people that remains vivid because the various parts seemed so incongruous, and certainly didn't conjure (to us) 'the Loch Ness Monster'. The human mind is a weird and wonderful thing: I can recall what I believe is the image of the thing as I saw it, and also recall the details of what we related to people (and have stuck to over the years), but it's entirely possible that some confabulation has taken place without my even knowing. I could ask my ex-husband (amicable is about the perfect word ), but in all honesty, I'd worry my contacting him over something like this may seem a little odd. It was a really interesting event, and I'd love an explanation, but we neither of us at the time thought 'it's the Loch Ness Monster!'; more, we thought. 'how the HELL is a horse swimming out in the deep?!'.

Focus on the "interesting" side of this experience rather than the "odd" and there should be few dramas about getting him to send his account via email or something. Besides, there is nothing wrong with an ex- thinking you are somewhat unhinged (it could come in handy later). Just be sure not to pre-empt his recall with your version of events, if that is possible. Differences in testimony may reveal something important.

Are you able to draw what you saw and then scan and post it here? Same for your ex- (no harm in asking if things are amicable)?

There is a strong tradition of horse-headed sea and lake monsters across Europe. For historical/folkloric context I recommend Michel Meurger's (1988) Lake Monster Traditions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

[Urisk]

If you look at this Google page here, do you see anything resembling what you saw ?

Haha funnily enough when "slimy horse" was mentioned that was the first thing to run through my mind!

In reference to another 'Ness thread here, I did wonder about a seal, possibly a grey seal- big buggers with weird looking faces. Only problem is I do not believe seals tend to swim forwards out of the water. What they do tend to do however, and do it rather well, is bob up and down while watching you with great interest!

[catherineross]

Hello, all! Many thank for the wonderful responses - I'm very intrigued! This cadborosaurus got me excited, particularly these two images:

However, I'm disappointed to see that this isn't a living creature but a relic dinosaur of sorts (not unlike a plesiosaur). I was hoping it might have been a natural explanation. One thing though, I don't recall seeing any kind of flippers apart from the fluke-like hind part as the thing disappeared. Nevertheless, the similarity between this thing and what I remember is remarkable; much closer than anything I've ever seen represented as 'Nessie'. Is there any history of these things in Loch Ness? From where did they originate?

On another note, I've spoken to my ex (on the subject of the Scottish trip my friends are taking) and raised the subject. From what he recalls (without my prompting), he saw a horsey head on an big eel with a fish-tail. The fish-tail is, I suppose, as similar as one can get to my memory of the whale's tail. The eel part I've never thought about, as I'm not in any way familiar with eels. Perhaps others can let us know if there are big eels with anatomy like the thing I've described (a horse shaped head and fish or whale tail).

[catherineross]

Focus on the "interesting" side of this experience rather than the "odd" and there should be few dramas about getting him to send his account via email or something. Besides, there is nothing wrong with an ex- thinking you are somewhat unhinged (it could come in handy later). Just be sure not to pre-empt his recall with your version of events, if that is possible. Differences in testimony may reveal something important.

Are you able to draw what you saw and then scan and post it here? Same for your ex- (no harm in asking if things are amicable)?

There is a strong tradition of horse-headed sea and lake monsters across Europe. For historical/folkloric context I recommend Michel Meurger's (1988) Lake Monster Traditions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Thank you for the book recommendation, Night Walker. I'll get around to that as soon as I can. I guess I could also try drawing what is quite vivid in my mind's eye, although you may have to do with a picture of the drawing taken on my mobile phone and uploaded.

[catherineross]

Another culled from google images - this looks somewhat like what I saw, though it is far bigger, scarier and more dramatic looking (and with more detail than I could discern):

I should point out that, just as I didn't see flippers, I also couldn't vouch for ears or horns or anything like that.

Edited September 13, 2012 by catherineross

[PlanB]

Thanks for sharing catherineross! A cadborosaurus isn't an actual known creature, but a name given to an alleged type of sea serpent spotted on the Pacific coast of North America. Your description does sound remarkably caddy-like.

Is it possible that what you saw was some kind of seal? Apparently they can look bizarre and confusing when someone actually gets to see them in person. There was another thread here not too long ago where someone was asking for help in indentifying a strange creature that showed up on a New York beach that ended up being some sort of seal. Perhaps it wasn't swimming, but was being carried by a current with it's head sticking above the water?

[Junior Chubb]

Hi catherineross,

Welcome to UM and thanks for posting.

Great story and it nice to see it has brought up a few references to Caddy, I have wondered in the past if a 'Caddy like' creature (even though there is no proof of Caddy) could be behind some of the Nessie sightings (two leaps of faith there).

There was some 'apparently' very good footage of Caddy filmed a few years ago, what was actually aired was a bit of a let down as usual, but I was under the impression the 'full length footage' was not shown and that the 'full length footage' contained a few of these creatures swimming along quite clearly. This was talked about long before the clip was aired on the Discovery Channel so it was a disappointment when we got to see it (but that is always the case in Cryptozoology).

Here are some links for you if you want to look into this further...

http://youtu.be/bO0Zohwp65A?t=1s (YouTube vid of what was shown on discovery channel)

http://youtu.be/M0sQZIEFI1I?t=1s (stabalized footage of above link)

http://www.cryptomun...nts/15-caddy-2/ (the hype before the showing)

http://www.unexplain...e (The UM thread on the footage)

Might be similar to what you saw, but not proof enough as is always the case with these things.

Does anyone know if the 'supposed' rest of the footage was ever made public, or did Discoverey Channel keep it hidden because it was even more of a let down than what was shown?

Edited September 13, 2012 by Junior Chubb

[Sakari]

[media=]

I can post many.....I am not familiar with the deer, or other wildlife there, but all around the world Deer, Elk, Moose, etc. swim in lakes ( horses also ).....

I believe you answered your own question with the description...Although confusion may have made illusions come in...

Oh, looked it up....Red Deer are there....Big fella's....

The Loch also has Seals for months at a time.....And Otters. Edited September 13, 2012 by Sakari

[Sakari]

[Junior Chubb]

I can post many.....I am not familiar with the deer, or other wildlife there, but all around the world Deer, Elk, Moose, etc. swim in lakes ( horses also ).....

I believe you answered your own question with the description...Although confusion may have made illusions come in...

Oh, looked it up....Red Deer are there....Big fella's....

The Loch also has Seals for months at a time.....And Otters.

Great clips Sakari, thanks for posting.

So this is what Cryptids look like in colour, with clear weather conditions, no shaking and a decent bit of camera work.

Edited September 14, 2012 by Junior Chubb

[PlanB]

Do deer typically fully submerge themselves in the middle of a swim? It also wouldn't account for the fluke-like appendage.

Though, if I saw a deer swimming in a lake were a purported monster lived, I admit, I'd probably immediatly jump to monster sighting.

[Sakari]

Do deer typically fully submerge themselves in the middle of a swim? It also wouldn't account for the fluke-like appendage.

Though, if I saw a deer swimming in a lake were a purported monster lived, I admit, I'd probably immediatly jump to monster sighting.

That is my point I made.....Not many know deer do swim, often actually.....

So, someone is at the Loch, see's something in the distance that " looks like a horses head "....Swimming.

Now, their brain is trying to tell them what they are seeing, trying to make this image something they know.....Oh yes, the Loch Ness monster.

I have had this happen myself, see a strange wave, at first think " cool wave ", then look more and say hmmmm, that looks like something swimming, and almost convince myself of that.

Then reality sets in, and I see again it is a wave....Wake I should say. ( Pyramid Lake, numerous times )

[NatureBoff]

Dear All,

I've joined this forum to share (and hopefully receive explanatory feedback) on a sighting myself and my then husband had of something in Loch Ness in the late summer of 1987. At the time, we were both baffled and perplexed by what we saw, and acknowledged that it was something neither of us could identify rationally. Of course, we were familiar with the legendary 'monster', but the creature we viewed didn't really conform to what I've ever expected 'Nessie' to look like - it certainly did not look like a plesiosaur with a long, thin neck. Anyway, we were holidaying in Inverness and took a trip to the Loch purely for its beautiful, highland views. We were walking long a road which runs alongside the Loch in the vicinity of Dores, where we stopped at a little layby which overlooked the Loch (there was no beach, just a steep incline to the water). It was, if I recall correctly, about four o'clock in the afternoon (although it might have been earlier) and the weather was fine and dry. We were watching the water and looking across the Loch for about ten minutes when we spotted what I took to be a horse swimming off to the right. My first response was panic/worry that a horse would be out in deep water (I thought about 100ft out, although I'm awful with distances). We observed for a while, trying to work out what we were seeing, which is as follows:

A big horse's or camel's head on a thick neck sticking up out of the water with a rounded hump a little behind. The colouring looked black or very, very dark and, like a horse, there was some fuzzy, mane-like stuff sticking up and running down its back. It was moving forward, from the right of our vision to the left, fairly rapidly. We couldn't distinguish facial features or the like. After a minute or so, the head curved downwards into the water (as though diving) and a black, tube-like body followed it, as though the neck just kept going. A few seconds later a fluke-like appendage emerged and then quickly sank down, in a way that reminded me of a whale's tail going under. There was a far amount of spray and disturbed water. Whatever it was did not look like a dinosaur or plesiosaur, and was rather slimy and unpleasant looking.

If anything, these pictures look closest to what we saw:

http://nzetc.victori..._05Rail061a.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot...zcab6o1_500.jpg

http://www.hicker-fi...e-sunset_15.jpg

As you can imagine, this experience was all very confusing, and we mentioned it to the people we were staying with in Inverness, who seemed interested but didn't take it too seriously. They thought perhaps we'd seen a deer. We never reported the sighting to anyone official (heck, we'd have had no idea how to do so) and it's just been a fairly interesting anecdote we've told family and friends whenever a programme about Loch Ness popped up on TV. We had a camera with us at the time, but, stupidly in retrospect, the moment we noticed the creature and stared (both trying to work out what we were seeing) and the moment it went under the water, all happened so quickly that it didn't cross our minds that it was something possibly connected with the mystery and worth photographing. Has anyone else ever had a similar sighting? Is there a natural explanation for this horsey creature? Any thoughts or opinions are warmly welcomed.

An excellent account and thank you for posting! In my opinion you saw a giant flippered eel which migrate from South Africa to the UK and North Sea area.

[Mr.United_Nations]

An excellent account and thank you for posting! In my opinion you saw a giant flippered eel which migrate from South Africa to the UK and North Sea area.

oh dea...

[Urisk]

Hmmm, whit aboot this?

[Sakari]

deleted

Edited September 14, 2012 by Sakari

[Dynamo X]

Your sighting kind of reminds me of the Greta Finlay sighting of Nessie with her son in the 1950's. Here is a link - http://lochnessmystery.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/classic-sightings-greta-finlay.html