The Loch Ness Monster - Tumblr Posts

Cryptid Aesthetics  [4/?]: The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster, affectionately referred to as Nessie since the 1940s, is an aquatic being which reputedly inhabits Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.  It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere.

The earliest report of a monster in the vicinity of Loch Ness appears in the “Life of St.Columba” by Adomnán, written in the sixth century AD.

Modern interest in the monster was sparked by a sighting on 22 July 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw “a most extraordinary form of animal” cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about 4 feet high and 25 feet long) and a long, wavy, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant’s trunk and as long as the width of the road. They saw no limbs.  It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards away, leaving a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake.

In December 1933, the first purported photograph of the monster taken by Hugh Gray was published; the Secretary of State for Scotland soon ordered police to prevent any attacks on the creature.  In 1934, interest was further piqued by another image known as "surgeon’s photograph" revealing the creature’s head and neck.  Further purported sightings of the creature as well as investigations via sonar and submarine have occurred over the years, and Nessie has become somewhat of a cultural icon in Scotland.

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