Loch Ness Monster, nickname Nessie, is one of the most famous mysteries in the world.
The Surgeon’s Photo
The first recorded sighting of this monster at the Scotland’s freshwater lake date back to 565AD… but the Nessie-fever probably started in 1934 when the famous ‘Surgeon’s Photo’ was published and shocked the world. (The photo was however discovered to be a hoax in the 1993, more details at the end of the article)
Since then, numerous sightings have been reported; some with pictures or videos but none of the images captured has shown a clear evidence of the existence of Nessie. Some of the images are hoax, while some could only show that there are some objects on the surface of the water.
Critics believe that lots of the genuine and unclear images are actually showing objects like flock of water-birds, wood logs, boats and natural phenomena. Still, there are large group of believers that are certain about the existence of the Loch Ness Monster.
So, what is the Loch Ness Monster?
However after the Surgeon’s Photo was published in 1934, amazingly lots of the claims began to assemble a plesiosaur, an ‘extinct’ dinosaur believed to be what was caught in the black and white photo.
The discovery of a coelacanth (a pre-historic creature) off the east coast of South Africa in 1938 further convinced Nessie’s believer that a plesiosaur or similar species could exist at Loch Ness.
Surgeon’s Photo - the hoax
In November 1993, Christian Spurling confessed on his deathbed, that he had made the monster with his own hands. He told the story to 2 Loch Ness researchers, David Martin and Alastair Boyd.
The hoax was set up by Spurling’s stepfather, Marmaduke Wetherell (a film-maker, actor, and self-proclaimed ‘big-game hunter’) as revenge upon the Daily Mail newspaper. In 1993 the paper hired Wetherell to find the Loch Ness Monster, and he found some strange tracks near the water. What he thought was a breakthrough discovery was later found by the Museum of Natural History as pranks resembling a baby hippopotamus, and Wetherell was ridiculed by the press and friends.
Soon after the incident, Spurling was approached by Wetherell to build a model, which he did.
Wetherell’s son, Ian was believed to be the person who took the photo. They knew that would need some respectable person to send in the photo so that it could be more convincing… and they found famous London surgeon (hence the name Surgeon’s Photo), Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson to claim the capture of the photo and sold it to the Daily Mail.
The group probably was unprepared for the publicity the photo generated and apparently decided not to admit the hoax… and the ‘legend’ remained undiscovered until more than 60 years later.