The Loch Ness Monster
After a new road opened along the loch, drivers began reporting something huge moving through the water.
What was reported
Stories of a creature in Loch Ness go back centuries, but modern interest began in 1933. A new road along the north shore gave drivers a clear view of the water, and a local newspaper reported a sighting of a large animal.
The most famous photo, the 1934 'surgeon's photograph' of a long neck, was revealed in 1994 to be a hoax made with a toy submarine.
Explanations offered
A 2018 survey sampled DNA from the loch's water and found no reptile DNA but a great deal of eel DNA, which led some to suggest very large eels. Sightings are also put down to waves, boat wakes, logs and swimming deer. New reports still come in every year.
- When
- Modern sightings since 1933
- Where
- Highland, Scotland
- Witnesses
- Thousands of reports
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.