Aahhhh!!! Real Monsters?
Champy. Bigfoot. The Chupacabra. The Mothman. Ogopogo. The Yeti. The Jersey Devil. Man-Bear-Pig. What do all these creatures have in common? They are all mythical beasts, that despite no real proof of their existence, still have a following of people who believe that they do exist.
Take for example the Loch Ness Monster. For those of you unfamiliar with the Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster is described as a large pleasaurus like creature that is believed to inhabit the Loch Ness, a large lake in Scotland. The first believed sighting of Nessie took place over a thousand years ago during the 6th century, by a monk who happened to be preaching by the lake. Since then, there have been hundreds of sightings of Nessie, many of which have been disproved. Scientists have even scanned the lake looking for Nessie with no positive sightings. Yet Nessie fans continue to believe in Nessie. They theorize that since Loch Ness is the largest lake in the UK, it provides may places for Nessie to hide and not be detected.
Recently a new photographic proof of “Nessie” has been released. George Edwards, a Loch Ness tour guide, and a “Nessie Hunter” for the last 26 years, took the photo of Nessie last November, though it only was only recently released and gone viral. Edwards says he watched the creature for 5 to 10 minutes the day he took the photo. The photo shows the lake, with Urquhart Castle in the background, and a singular hump like shape coming out of the water. The shape is nondescript enough that it could be interpreted as anything, or nothing. The photo shows that “Nessie” is not your typical long-necked snake-like beast. Edwards say this is because “Nessie” is actually a manatee-like creature and a typical “Nessie”photo of a multi humped creature swimming through the water is actually multiple creatures.
So, is the photo proof of Nessie actually existing? Personally, I don’t think so. Besides being an unclear picture, if Edwards had watched the creature for 5-10 minutes, why is there only one photo? Loch Ness is a very large lake which has been completely surveyed. Yet if there was a sustainable population of large creatures, there would be more solid proof by now.
I do believe that fantastic creatures can go hidden for years. Take for example the okapi, once called the “ African Unicorn”. The okapi looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra. Despite its size and peculiar markings, the okapi was unknown to the western world until the 20th century. Other creatures, though not as big as the okapi, may live deep within Earth’s forests and oceans waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, with the destruction of the environment we are risking the chance of ever meeting these creatures.
Loch Ness Monster Via Shutterstock