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“Loch Ness monster Spotted Again!” declared the Sept. 25, 2021 edition of the New York Post. Drone footage appearing to show a huge, long-necked animal beneath Loch Ness — a 22-square-mile (56-square-kilometer) lake in northern Scotland — had been recently uploaded to the internet, as reported by the Post.
Alas, the video turned out to be a hoax. Someone had clearly edited the footage and its “monster” bears a striking resemblance to one mass-produced plesiosaur toy.
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Plesiosaurs, for the record, were seagoing reptiles that coexisted with dinosaurs between about 201 and 66 million years ago. Many species had long necks, small heads and needle-shaped teeth.
The first modern “sighting” of a giant monster in Loch Ness dates back to August 1933. Many subsequent accounts describe an animal that sounds a bit plesiosaur-esque.
Perhaps what people are really seeing is some type of misidentified native fish. Or maybe Scotland’s geology is playing tricks on us.
Loch Ness is bordered by a natural fault line that sometimes produces tremors. Those can send bubbles and waves dancing across the water’s surface. Viewed from a distance, such disturbances might possibly be mistaken for the thrashings of a giant lake beast.
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