Loch Ness Monster Sightings Surveyed

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Is there a prehistoric monster lurking in the depths of Scotland's Loch Ness? It is a question that's been asked for centuries and debated as sightings span from 565 A.D. through 2009.

According to the Legend of Nessie website, the first sighting stretches back to 565 A.D. An Irish priest touring the Highlands met a group of locals burying a friend who had swum out into the lock to retrieve a boat and was "savaged by a great beast."

He sent out one of his followers, and as he did the beast rose up and went to attack the man. When the priest held up his cross and said not to touch the man, the beast supposedly returned to the depths.

There were other sightings through the centuries. In 1933 a couple was driving near the loch when the wife saw a beast in the middle causing a disturbance. She told a local game keeper who was also a reporter for the Inverness Courier newspaper. The story was printed on May 2, 1933, and the modern day legend was born.

The Christian Science Monitor reported that a former Scottish police chief believed the monster existed and wrote to the government in fear that someone would try to harpoon it.

Loren Coleman, the co-author of "The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep," told the story about the police chief.

He said the Scottish authorities took steps as early as 1999 to keep someone from trying to harpoon the monster. A man who claimed to have seen it 30 years before wanted to get a DNA sample of the beast. His exploration permits were revoked when authorities learned of his plan.

Coleman said he interviewed 38 people who claimed to see the monster.

Sightings have dropped off in recent years. According to the UK Telegraph, there was only one sighting in 2009 that was considered credible .

Gary Campbell, president of the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, didn't seem too concerned when talking to the Telegraph.

"Perhaps the answers are to be found underwater instead of on the Loch's surface," he said. "Maybe Nessie is just keeping her head down."

A BBC team used 600 sonar beams and satellite navigation to search for the monster in 2003. The team was hoping that its instruments would pick up on air in the monster's lungs.

No such luck.

"We got some good clear data of the loch, steep sided, flat bottomed -- nothing unusual, I'm afraid," said team member Hugh MacKay. "There was an anticipation that we would come up with a large sonar anomaly that could have been a monster -- but it wasn't to be."