The Loch Ness Monster (or Nessie, to her close and personal friends) is an ancient Scottish myth that divides opinion around the nation.
Is she or isn’t she? The myth will have you believe that the loch is home to the water-dwelling creature that has eluded peoples’ gaze for centuries. Which, let’s be honest, if true would be pretty impressive.
But I guess we’ll never know because there has never been definitive proof of good ol’ Nessie as she’s never reared her head long enough for us to get a glimpse.
At least, until today, because a woman claims to have seen the Loch Ness Monster swimming around the loch on live footage streamed by the water.
Caroline Barnett, 42, was watching the Loch Ness Webcam on Wednesday morning when she spotted something moving in the water.
The business consultant expressed her surprise and said the shock appearance was the perfect ‘Christmas present’ as she had never seen Nessie before.
As reported by the Daily Record, the 42-year-old, from Farmborough, near Bath, said:
It popped up and down – and kept doing it. It kept splashing about. It was quite a size – the size of a boat but it was hard to tell because it was the other side of the loch.
I have been to Loch Ness a few years ago but never saw Nessie then. I didn’t know if I believed in her but this is certainly some Christmas present and quite a surprise. I took quite a few videos but my phone died. I don’t know what it is – it really is unexplained.
And before you think this is just another person spotting a fish in the distance and seeing what they want to see, experts have apparently accepted the images.
Gary Campbell, recorder of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, said:
Initially she thought it was a boat or similar but the object appeared animate and then disappeared into the water before reappearing. It was dark in colour and nearer the east shore of the loch.
Caroline’s sighting isn’t the first one this year; in June, footage emerged from a tourist’s phone which appeared to show the creature, starting up the debate once more.
You can take a look at the footage below:
The person who filmed the unequivocal evidence said:
[I] went to the beach [at] Loch Ness for a day out as the weather was lovely so I thought I’d make the most of it. I lay back sunbathing with a friend on the beach, having lots of laughs. Then as the day went on, we looked at the water and saw something unusual. It looked about 20-feet long and kept going up and down, so I turned [on] my camera video.
We couldn’t believe what we were seeing! It came right round as you can see in the video and then passed to the right of us in the water where I could no longer see it. It was actually amazing whatever it was, it was big! This was in June so the beach was quiet at the time and no boats were out. I just really couldn’t believe my eyes.
Sunbathing? In Scotland? Surely not?!
Well, there you have it folks. You have to see it to believe it, I guess, ’cause I’m not sure I’m convinced.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).