by, Jo Carol Hebert

Be a Detective!

A ‘mystery’ is something unknown or uncertain. That ‘something’ makes us curious when we cannot understand or explain it. We want to know the answer to things. That which is ‘unexplained’ leaves us with a sort of a piece of a puzzle missing from our brain. Here are facts and fantasies of the Loch Ness Monster mystery scene. You will consider the clues and come to your own conclusion of what you believe.

Cryptozoology 

“The study of animals that people think might exist, but can’t be proved to exist.” 

The Loch Ness is a ‘cryptid’ or ‘supposed’ animal that lives in ‘Loch Ness’, a lake in the Scottish highlands of the North. Other ‘cryptid’ creatures are the ‘Bigfoot’ or ‘Sasquatch’ of North American forests; or the ‘Yeti’ (Abominable Snowman) of the Himalayan Mountains of Asia.

Discovering the Clues . . .

#1. Legend says that the Loch Ness Monster, or “Nessie”, as the cryptid is fondly called, is a ‘plesiosaur’, an extinct meat-eating aquatic reptile that lived in the late ‘age of dinosaurs’.

#2. In 1934, a ‘photograph’ was taken of a dark creature with a long neck and humped back. The photographer, Dr. Wilson, of London, England, would not acknowledge his name when it was published in the Daily Mail Newspaper. So, people called the picture, ‘the surgeon’s photograph’. 

#3. The ‘mysterious’ photo caught the public’s fancy for decades, with ‘believers’ and ‘skeptics’ debating the reality of such a thing.

#4. People that ‘sighted’ it said: “it is like an elephant; others said: “a seal”; still, others said: “it’s very like a ‘whale’; some suggested – “resembles an eel”. “Just a piece of driftwood”, another offered.

#5. “Nessie” is said to be 50 feet long and weighs 2,000 pounds.

Hoax Theory Discovered

A ‘hoax’ is an ‘act intended to trick or deceive’.  A book released in 1994, entitled Nessie – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed, was authored by a man who confessed that the ‘surgeon’s photograph’ was a hoax. 

The book described that the image was a toy submarine with a head and neck made of plastic wood. He named the perpetrators, who denied it all and stated in their defense that, “plastic’’ did not exist when the photo was taken in 1934”. But, actually, the modeling material of ‘putty’ had been around since the 1920s.  

Loch Ness, Lake of a Monster’s ‘Lair’

Loch Ness of Scotland is the second largest ‘lake’ in Scotland, the land of many lakes. It is 23 miles long, 1 mile wide, and 800 feet deep.

Is the Loch Ness Monster legend, myth, folklore, or real. Could there be an ancient ‘left-over’ reptile ancestor lurking in the depths? Some people continue to look for evidence of ‘Nessie’.

What Do You Think?????

It’s no mystery to see a Dinosaur Picture on Smarty Pants Story Prompt. Write a real or imaginary story about this ‘lost dinosaur’ on the flyer. Submit it to us for Show Us Your Stuff Saturday’. You could see your story for real!