May 2 - First Modern Sighting of the Loch Ness Monster

This Day in History: 2 May 2020

 

2 May 1933

 

87 years ago, today, the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster was sparked when a sighting was published in a local newspaper, Inverness Courier. This publication entailed of an account from April, when a local couple claimed to have seen an "enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface". The story became a media phenomenon, as London newspapers even sent correspondents to Scotland, and a circus offered a 20,000-sterling reward for the capture of the beast. After this sighting, interest in the legend gradually increased, especially after another couple claimed to have seen the animal on land.

 

For decades, amateur investigators kept a close eye on the Loch Ness, and in the 1960s, many British universities launched sonar expeditions to the lake. Nothing was conclusively found, but in each expedition, the sonar operators did detect some type of large, moving underwater object. In 1975, another sonar expedition was carried out, using underwater photography as well, which resulted in a photo with a vague appearance of a giant flipper. Even further sonar expeditions were initiated in the 1980s and 1990s, with more inconclusive readings. Since most agree that the famous 1934 image of the monster was a hoax, tourist enthusiasm for discovering Nessie has been dampened.

 

Want to find out more about the history of the legend of the Loch Ness Monster? Click here for more information, or here for a recent news report.