The existence of Scotland’s legendary Loch Ness monster has been the subject of heated debate for almost a century.
Affectionately known as Nessie, this large sea creature is said to inhabit the freshwater lake south of Inverness and is a species still unknown to science.
Now, a leading scientist claims to have finally put the nail in its coffin.
Tim Coulson, professor of zoology at the University of Oxford, says it is a “biological impossibility” that the Loch Ness monster exists.
The fact that no skeletal remains of Nessie have been found in the region and that no one has caught such a creature in their fishing nets shows that the animal is not current, he says.
And as for the alleged photographs of the beast taken by both locals and tourists, there is a simple explanation, according to the expert.
“In the case of the Loch Ness monster, they are seeing bits of floating debris or a bird like a cormorant with a longer neck perching on the water,” he told MailOnline.
“It may seem inconceivable, but I’m always amazed at how bad people can be at judging size, especially when they’re expecting to see a specific animal.”
Surgeon’s Photograph: For 60 years, this famous photograph of a long-necked creature helped keep the legend of the Loch Ness Monster afloat.
This legendary sea creature is said to inhabit the freshwater lake southwest of Inverness.
Like Bigfoot and the Yeti, the Loch Ness monster is a cryptid, a creature whose existence is disputed or unproven, with little or no scientific evidence.
The first report of a monster in Loch Ness is from 565 AD, but ‘Nessie’ became an international phenomenon in 1934 following the publication of Surgeon’s {Photograph}, which purported to show the beast (although doubts persist about the authenticity of the snapshot).
Nearly a century later, many visitors have taken blurry photographs of what they believe to be the beast in the 23-mile lake, but none offer convincing evidence.
“The absence of skeletal remains and credible photographs are strong and reliable indicators that Nessie, Bigfoot and the Yeti do not exist,” says the academic in an article published in The European.
“I apologize to all the cryptozoologists for putting this big, final nail in the cryptid coffins, but it’s time to find another hobby.”
Some supposed snapshots of the Loch Ness monster that exist suggest that the animal has a long neck and a small head, similar to a giant marine reptile called a plesiosaur.
Plesiosaurs first appeared about 215 million years ago, but became extinct with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit Earth.
However, Professor Coulson rules out any possibility of Nessie being a plesiosaur, because there are no plesiosaur fossils dating back to before 66 million years.
Tim Coulson, professor of zoology at the University of Oxford (pictured), says it is a “biological impossibility” that the Loch Ness monster exists.
Plesiosaurs first appeared about 215 million years ago, but became extinct with the dinosaurs 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit Earth (artist’s rendering of a plesiosaur)
Experts look at why people are so obsessed with finding the Loch Ness monster, hundreds of years after the beast was first referenced. This photo was taken at Loch Ness by Charlotte Robinson in August 2018.
What is surgeon photography?
In 1934, The Day by Day Mail published a photograph by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson of what appeared to be the Loch Ness Monster.
TO For 60 years, this famous photograph of a long-necked creature helped keep the legend of the Loch Ness Monster afloat.
It became known as the “Surgeon’s Photograph” since Lieutenant Wilson was a Harley Avenue gynecologist.
However, this photograph was actually of a modified toy submarine. It is now alleged that he was part of a plot to perpetuate the monster myth that began as a joke.
“It is biologically impossible for a single individual of a long-extinct species to live in Loch Ness, and if there were many hundreds we would surely have caught some in our fishing nets,” he said.
As for Bigfoot, the furry creature said to inhabit the forests of North America, Professor Coulson says the supposed witnesses are actually “seeing black bears.”
“Not long ago there was a paper showing that the spatial distribution of bigfoot sightings completely overlaps with the distribution of black bears,” he told MailOnline.
Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist and professor at Edinburgh Napier University, said the mystery of cryptids like Nessie, Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman is “self-perpetuating”.
“People want to see or find something rare or special – it’s human nature – and there is nothing more rare or special than the Loch Ness monster,” Dr Gilchrist previously told MailOnline.
‘The legend of the Loch Ness monster brings people to the lake and they want to see a monster.
“So they may see or pay attention to evidence that otherwise, in any other lake or place, they wouldn’t be too excited about.”
However, there is a “good possibility” that aliens exist, according to Professor Coulson, because the universe is “absolutely vast” and we have only explored a “very small fragment” of it, so it is possible that there is some other way. of life out there.
This statue of the Loch Ness Monster, on the shores of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands, is based on descriptions of alleged witnesses
Life has never been found beyond Earth and there is no evidence that extraterrestrial life has visited our planet. But this may be because extraterrestrial life is too afraid of “dangerous” and “violent” humans (artist’s impression)
“Unlike the forests where Bigfoot is supposed to live, or the mountain home of the Yeti, we have only explored a tiny corner of the places where aliens can be found,” Professor Coulson said.
«The problem we have right now is that we don’t know how to explore more of our universe quickly and easily.
“If that problem is faced by all intelligent species, we may never find aliens, even if they are found in vast expanses of the cosmos.”
According to estimates by Erik Zackrisson, an astrophysicist at Uppsala University in Sweden, there are 70 quintillion planets in the universe, that is, 7 followed by 20 zeros.
So the very fact that we exist here on Earth would make it incredibly inconceivable that anywhere else in the universe any form of conscious life also exists.
However, Dr. Gordon Gallup, a biopsychologist at the University at Albany, believes that aliens may be too afraid of “dangerous” humans to visit Earth.
WHAT IS the Loch Ness Monster?
Rumors have abounded over the decades about a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness, but little evidence has been found to support these claims.
One of the first sightings, which is believed to have fueled modern Nessie fever, occurred on May 2, 1933.
On this date, the Inverness Courier published a story about a local couple who claimed to have seen “a huge animal rolling and sinking on the surface.”
Another famous sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
Later, one of the participants, Chris Spurling, revealed that it was a hoax and, on his deathbed, revealed that the images were a montage.
Other sightings: James Gray’s photograph from 2001, when he and his friend Peter Levings were fishing in the lake, while the namesake Hugh Grey’s blurry photograph of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Day by day Specific in 1933.
Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London doctor, captured possibly the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Day by day Mail on April 21, 1934; However, it was later proven to be false.
The first sighting of the monster is said to have been made in 565 AD by the Irish missionary Saint Columba when he encountered a giant beast in the River Ness.
But no one has ever found a satisfactory explanation for the sightings, although in 2019, ‘Nessie expert’ Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years observing the lake, said he thought it was actually a giant catfish, native to nearby. the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.
An online log lists over 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Followers Membership and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.
So what could explain these mysterious sightings?
Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large crocodile-like shields placed over the creature’s spine, leading some to believe that an escaped amphibian may be the culprit.
Sturgeons, native fish, can also weigh several hundred pounds and have striated backs, making them almost reptile-like.
Some believe that Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur, like an elasmosaur, that somehow survived when all other dinosaurs were exterminated.
Others say the sightings are due to Scots pine trees dying and falling into the lake, before quickly flooding and sinking.
While submerged, the botanical chemicals begin to trap small air bubbles.
Over time, enough gather to propel the trunk upward as deep pressures begin to alter its shape, giving the appearance of an animal rising for air.
