On Saturday, lab technician Gordon Holmes, 55, from Shipley, Yorkshire claims to have taken video of the mythological sea creature, the Loch Ness Monster. He says it moved about 6 miles per hour and kept a fairly straight course as he filmed. While most proof of the legendary monster is usually rebuked by skeptics, Holmes’ footage is more legitimate because he panned back to record the background in the shot. It also allows one to calculate how big it was and how fast it was traveling. They have since determined that the creature on the tape is about 45 feet long and can move fairly fast. Because of its quality, even the BBC Scotland aired the video on its news program.

The legend of the Loch Ness monster is an ancient myth in Scotland. The Loch Ness itself makes the myth more possible because of its depth of 750 feet, making it the largest and deepest inland expanse of water in Britain, even more so than the North Sea.

Believers have speculated that Nessie, as it is called, is either an unknown species of animal, a sturgeon, long believed to have disappeared from Scotland’s waters, or it may be the last surviving dinosaur.

Over 4,000 sightings have been recorded since the 1930’s when a vacationing surgeon took a picture of a creature in the water. However, the story dates back even further to the 6^th century. The Irish St Columba is said to have ordered one of his monks to swim across the loch and fetch a boat. While en route, the monster appeared and rushed toward the monk. Columba cried for the monster to leave the man alone, and the creature obeyed. In 1933, the surgeon who claims to have taken the first picture of Nessie shows a long neck arched over a thick body, giving the monster worldwide fame.

Another photo was taken in 1951 by a forestry worker living beside the loch. He claims to have seen three humps in the water appear in a line, and he went to fetch his camera. After one photo, however, the shutter jammed, but the photo was still made famous.

In 1961, the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau was formed, which included two submarines with sonar experts. The bureau discovered an underwater cavern off Castle Urguhart where the water is 950 feet deep. With this new evidence, circus owner Bertram Mills offered a reward to the person who captured the monster for him, but this was never achieved. In 1975, four firemen from Hemel Hempstead built a 309 foot long paper-mache monster to attract the Loch Ness Monster with a mall walrus’ mating call. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work. However, with more legitimate proof coming in and decades of peaked interest, the world may be one step closer to actually seeing the mythological monster who may or may not roam the Loch Ness.

For related articles and history of Nessie, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276793,00.html and http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/Nessie.htm.

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