Is Nessie a Legend or Real?Do you like lakes? What about swimming in the lake? BE CAREFUL! After this article, you might have a phobia of swimming in lakes…
Loch Ness is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. Loch Ness, which is quite deep and wide is the widest Scottish lake after Loch Lomond and the second deepest after Loch Morar. There is also an island called Cherry Island in it. The Highlands is one of the most beautiful historical regions of Scotland. You can see the castles and the lakes by joining specially prepared tours for tourists. The Highlands, which contain many high-altitude mountains, charming villages and large and small lakes, is a place worth visiting with its nature and beauty. But what I want to talk about today is not the natural beauty of the Highlands or Loch Ness Lake, the thing that made the lake famous, Nessie…
Besides its brown waters and beautiful landscapes, the thing that made the lake so famous is the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Scientific proof of the existence of this lake monster, also known as Nessie, which was a nickname given by the locals, has not been found despite many searches, but the number of people who believe in the existence of the creature is too large to be underestimated.
To date, the creature has not been captured despite many photographs, thousands of eyewitnesses and hundreds of scientists working on it. But those who believe in the monster claim that during the searches, the monster hides in caves deep in the lake and cannot be seen because of the muddy waters. So, what do science and the public say about Nessie?
Before moving on to Nessie, I can’t help but point out that lake monsters are not just unique to Loch Ness. There is also another creature called Morag, which is thought to be living in the Loch Morar Lake located in the Highlands of Scotland. There are many cases of lake monsters such as Mokele-mbembe in the Congo River Basin, Kussie in Lake Kussharo in Japan, Tahoe Tessie in Lake Tahoe, the largest mountain lake in North America, located in Nevada and California, Lukwata in Lake Victoria in Uganda, Storsjöodjuret in Lake Storsjön in Sweden, Selijordsormen in Lake Seljordsvatnet in Norway. Of course, the Van Lake monster from Turkey is included in the list too. The Lake Van monster dates to prehistory times like Nessie. In a copy of the Saadet newspaper published in Istanbul on April 29, 1889, No. 1323, there is an article saying that the monster grabbed a person who wanted to perform ablution in Lake Van and dragged him into the lake. When the number of people who claimed to have seen the creature increased, the incident was reflected in the press, and after that, a scientific research team was sent by the officials to examine the lake. The name of the creature grew so famous that a statue was made for it in Van. Just like Mothman…
Of course, there are people who think the creature was made up for tourist attraction. But Nessie is not quite like them. Because we can say that this is the only lake creature that attracted the attention of scientists. And this is the reason why it is known more than all the legends I have counted. Of course, there are those who believe that Nessie, along with others, is just a mythical creature. However, according to scientists, this creature is far beyond just being a legend. It might even be real!
A HISTORY OF 1500 YEARS
Those who say that they have seen Nessie, which is thought to be a prehistoric creature, say that it is a reptilian creature with a long neck. This depiction had led to theories that said this creature could be “Plesiosaurus”, a sea creature that went extinct 66 million years ago.
The history of the Loch Ness Monster dates to 6. century. Because the first findings about Nessie date back to those years. An Irish missionary, Saint Columba, who was responsible for spreading Christianity in Scotland, had mentioned a monster in his notes in the years of AD 565. Columba was forced to return while he was on his way to visit the king because of a monster said to live in Loch Ness Lake. In addition, Columba also mentioned in his notes that he witnessed the monster eating a person.
MODERN ERA
The first case in the Modern Era took place in 1933. On May 2, 1933, a local newspaper named Inverness Courier mentioned Loch Ness Monster and a couple who claimed to see the monster. After the news was published in the newspaper, another couple claimed to see the monster on land.
WHAT DOES SCIENCE SAY?
Along with the listening devices placed under the water, scuba searches and hundreds of sonar scans, dozens of scientific studies have been conducted about the monster since 1934. And the biggest search effort was Operation Deepscan. About two dozen ships scanned the lake and its surroundings with marine radar for 3 days. Although 60 per cent of the lake was scanned, it has not been possible to map the shallow places near the shore. On the first day of the search, several large objects were found under the water. But later, in the studies carried out, nothing was found in the same places. The public already believes that Nessie lives in shallow places of the lake, at the caves deep down below and in water channels, and therefore cannot be found during searches.
About the research, Professor Neil Gemmell from the University of Otago said “More than a thousand people say they have seen a monster. Perhaps there is an unusual thing there”
Some scientists suggest that the monster could be a giant eel, but Henry H. Bauer, a professor of chemistry and science research at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, said “Everything points to creatures that spend most of their time in the deepest parts of the Loch, but none of the evidence supports the idea that these can be monster-sized eels.” and said that he doesn’t accept these allegations. According to him, Nessie could be an undiscovered turtle that was trapped in the lake when the waters receded at the end of the Ice Age.
So, could Nessie be a Plesiosaur? According to a recent joint study published by the University of Bath and the University of Portsmouth in the UK and Université Hassan 2 in Morocco, fossils of plesiosaurs were found in the Moroccan part of the Sahara Desert. Plesiosaur fossils have so far been found in many parts of the world, such as the UK, Africa, Australia, North America and China. So, Plesiosaurs really existed. Could Nessie have been a Plesiosaur that managed to survive for 66 million years? Although this is close to impossible for science, according to the depiction of those who saw it, Nessie looked completely like a Plesiosaur. So, according to the public, Nessie is an aquatic dinosaur that has been continuing its lineage since the era of dinosaurs and hiding itself from people. The latest allegations are quite surprising.
According to the Daily Express website, citing the YouTube channel All Time Conspiracies as a source, the monster was indeed found, but hidden by the government. In fact, according to the channel’s claim, the Loch Ness Monster has been the cause of a major dispute between the two museums They emphasize that the Natural History Museum in England wanted the remains of the monster, but the Royal Scottish Museum wanted the remains to stay in Scotland. There have even been secret negotiations for this situation. In short, All Time Conspiracies suggest that all of this were hidden from the public.
Like every mysterious incident, although there are thousands of eyewitnesses, we will not be one hundred per cent sure of Nessie’s existence. For some reason, the saying by Werner Heisenberg about the existence of the creator came to my mind.
Maybe all we knew about the lake was just a glass of water. The people who investigated the incident were convinced that Nessie was not there at the first sip. But if we can see the end of the glass, maybe Nessie is waiting for us in the depths of the lake…
Nessie will always be in our memories. Especially when we try to swim in a lake. So don’t forget to be careful when you swim in a lake. Because you can’t know what hides in the depths of it.
Click for more information!
