FOREIGN tourists have bizarrely been trying to tempt the Loch Ness Monster out of hiding — with Haribo sweets.
Some were caught chucking chewy jelly treats into the water.
One German holidaymaker filmed herself offering sweets to the loch, while another bragged online that she had tossed a packet of Haribo Color-Rado gums into its murky depths.
The sweet ritual had baffled monster hunter Steve Feltham, who has been searching for Nessie for the past 18 years.
He admitted: “I’ve been wondering for a while why German tourists keep offering me Haribo sweets and laughing.”
This week he discovered it was all down to a Haribo TV ad, filmed in 2017 and screened in Germany.
The commercial shows a group of tourists tucking into a bowl of Haribo gums by the side of the 22-mile long loch in the Scottish Highlands.
A tour guide then throws his into the air before Nessie pops up and gobbles it behind his back.
The earliest sighting of the monster was recorded by Saint Columba in 565.
MOST READ IN UK NEWS
“Nessiemania” took hold in 1933 when George Spicer and his wife claimed an 25ft-long monster crossed the road in front of his car.
A year later, the world- famous “Surgeon’s photograph” appeared to show Nessie’s head and neck poking out the water — though it is now believed to be a hoax.
Nessie hunters have flocked to the waterside ever since.
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk