THE Loch Ness monster appears to have become active once again with two apparent sightings in just five days.
A woman from Manchester claims to have spotted and photographed the creature on February 23.
Then a regular Nessie hunter from Ireland thought he had caught an image of the famed aquatic animal on the official webcam.
Lisa Brennan, 30, and her partner, Danny, 37, were driving near to Urquhart Castle when they made the first February sighting.
Lisa’s snap shows a L-shaped black object on the water which could be taken as the head and neck of Nessie.
She said the object disappeared shortly after she took the image.
Lisa said today: “We were driving around the loch and as we got to Urquhart Bay, just before the castle, I spotted a dark object around 3ft tall above the water surface.
“I shouted, ‘Oh my god I’ve just seen something.’ He slowed down the car, didn’t believe me but each to their own.
“By the time I had got the camera ready on my phone the object had lowered into the water so I only managed to get as much as I did on the photo as it then disappeared into the water.
“I made him turn around at the castle and go back to see if we saw anything else but unfortunately we didn’t.
It’s a great feeling you get when you have photographed something out of the ordinary in Loch Ness
Nessie hunter Eoin O’Faodhagain
“Danny didn’t see anything as he was driving, but said my reaction to what I saw was very convincing.”
Eoin O’Faodhagain, from Castlefin, Co Donegal, an avid Nessie hunter, used the webcam to capture a dark shadow at the south side of Loch Ness near the Clansman Hotel.
He said today: “It’s a great feeling you get when you have photographed something out of the ordinary in Loch Ness.
“Nessie is the dark shape on the surface of Loch Ness on the opposite side of the loch.
“I had been watching the webcam for about 20 mins on the afternoon of the 27th when I noticed a dark object appear briefly, seconds, then it was gone.
“I replayed the live cam and stopped it to take the photo, without zooming in. There was no other boat traffic on the loch at that time and the loch was calm.
“I knew immediately I had spotted Nessie, and not a boat. Boats do not disappear from screen there was no further appearance of an object in that area after 20 minutes of watching.”
The first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster for 2019 was reported by Jonas Detsch of Aberdeen who visited the loch while out hiking with his brother near the Clansman Hotel.
He claimed they saw a 50 metre long disturbance that was caused underwater by “something large” on January 24.
Fact or Fiction? Famous ‘sightings’ of Nessie
The Loch Ness monster – known affectionately as Nessie – is often described as being a large animal with a long neck and usually with a hump popping out of the water.
Although the first sighting is said to have occurred in 565AD it was only in 1933 that widespread public opinion was sparked.
While scientists dismiss claims that there is some sort of prehistoric monster swimming about in the Scottish Highlands others are convinced of its existence.
Either way though the story of Nessie is now firmly part of Scottish folklore.
Saint Columba
The first reported sighting of a monster is said to have been by the Irish monk St Columba in 565AD. Columba sent a man across the River Ness after stories of a “water beast” had circulated. It’s said that while the man was swimming he was approached by a beast but Columba made the sign of the cross and told the animal to “go no further”.
George Spicer
Modern day interest in the beast was largely sparked by a sighting in July 1933 by George Spicer and his wife when they claimed “a most extraordinary form of animal” crossed the road in front of their car.
Surgeon’s photograph
Perhaps the best-known picture of Nessie is the ‘Surgeon’s photograph’ which was published in April 1934, supposedly showing the animals head and long neck. According to the photographer Robert Kenneth Wilson, he managed to capture the image while he was looking at the lake. The image though was exposed as a huge hoax in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed.
Holmes video
Lab technician Gordon Holmes claimed he had managed to film the monster in 2007 which he described as “this jet black thing, about 14 metres (46 ft) long, moving fairly fast in the water.” Both BBC Scotland and STV aired the footage at the time which marine biologist Adrian Shine described as among “the best footage [he had] ever seen.”
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Nessie was reported to have been seen 15 times in 2018.
Research carried out last year revealed that the mythical creature is worth £41m a year to the Scottish economy.
Irish missionary St Columba is said to have been the first person to spot the beast in the River Ness in 565AD.
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