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In 1972 Robert H Rines, from the Academy of Applied Science in Boston, teamed up with the Loch Ness Investigations Bureau in an underwater survey using sonar and an underwater camera. On the 8th of August the camera captured an image of a paddle like object, which looked like a giant flipper from some unknown animal. The monster was given the name of Nessiteras Rhombopteryx, which, some people have pointed out, fits the words monster hoax within it quite easily. The sonar work also suggested that a large object was moving within the water.
In 1975 another deep water photo was taken, showing what is thought to be the head of a creature with two protrusions like horns coming from its head. The pictures were subsequently computer enhanced and it is difficult to say that they show anything animate.
1978 saw a joint project between the New York Times and the Academy of Applied Science. The loch was scanned thoroughly with sonar equipment but nothing significant was found.
In 1987 the Loch was the scene of a project named Operation Deepscan. More than 20 boats took part in surveying the loch with sonar equipment, and some ambiguous results were forthcoming. But again nothing definite was produced from the survey.
In more recent years there have been a number of sonar contacts with an object in the loch, and the sightings continue to the present day. There is not room in this brief history to include all sightings, but the web site linked at the bottom of this page is well worth visiting for those who wish to research further.
Some Theories
The most popular theory is that there is a small population of Plesiosaurs, (fish eating dinosaurs thought to have died out in the wave of extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period.) which have somehow managed to survive in the isolated loch when it became separated from the sea millions of years ago. That animals thought extinct can survive is proved by the re-discovery of the Coelacanth off the shores of Africa.
But only a dead or live specimen of a plesiosaur will be able to justify this theory. It has been suggested that even a surviving population of stranded plesiosaurs would have become extinct due to inbreeding in such a small-enclosed environment as the loch. And then there is the question of the Ice Ages, when the loch would have under a mass of ice.
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To counter this people have suggested an underwater cavern linking the Loch with the sea, and there is some evidence to suggest the existence of such caverns.
The creature may be a more mundane out of place animal such as a giant catfish or a sturgeon, some researchers have suggested a type of long necked seal, and even a giant eel. Other suggestions include a giant sea slug, a whale or a Manatee, although the latter two would have to surface much more than sightings suggest.
Some researchers think that the phenomenon has more to do with other paranormal sightings, and the theory that certain locations can have an effect upon human consciousness. The most recent theorising has linked the phenomena with earthlights and fault lines, and the effect of geophysical locations on the human mind. It is interesting to note that the Great Glen is one gigantic fault line, and the other three lochs along it are also reputed to house monsters.
There is always thought to have been something uncanny about the loch, and it has been suggested that the area is a 'window area' for strange phenomena, with its precident in folklore and legend. There is no doubt that many of the sightings seem to be something other than a physical creature, more akin to a phantom. What this suggests is anyone's guess and to explain a mystery with a mystery is a little too vague.
The more sceptical viewpoint is that all of the sightings, photographs and other evidence are the result of misidentification of natural objects; hoaxing and publicity generation; and modern folklore and rumour. Many of the photos have been examined by experts, and have been denounced as fakes, speedboats, dogs or deer in the water, and other more mundane objects such as floating tree trunks. That many fakes have been perpetrated is not in question, even the surgeon's photo, which was put forward as one of the best images of the creature has recently been exposed as a hoax.
The sighting at Loch Ness will no doubt continue and without any hard evidence the subject will continue to be debated by experts and laymen alike. Perhaps the real answer lies somewhere buried in the many facets of human nature.
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Loch Ness Monster