Loch Ness Monster Real!

A senior police officer in the 1930s thought the Loch Ness monster existed.  QED:  It did.

Thus, apparently, is the logic behind a new book on the mythic creature which sees evidence of a decades-long conspiracy.

Loch-Ness-Monster-PhotoThe revelation that a former Scottish police chief believed in the Loch Ness monster and was concerned for its survival underscores how Scottish authorities have sought to protect the iconic beast, says Loren Coleman, a leading experts on mythic animals.

“The Scottish government has long been interested in protecting Nessie,” says Loren Coleman, who is co-author of The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. “This just reinforces this whole notion (that) the officials in Scotland take this creature very seriously.”

Newly publicized documents reveal that a former Scottish police chief believed that the existence of the Loch Ness monster was “beyond doubt” but its protection could not be ensured.  William Fraser, chief constable of Inverness-shire Constabulary in the 1930s, wrote a letter expressing fears that a London man might kill the beast with a large harpoon gun. “That there is some strange creature in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful,” Mr. Fraser wrote.

To be sure, most biologists believe Nessie to be a myth, and nothing more, pointing out that large animals typically leave large remains when they die. No “monster” carcass has ever been found.

But as recently as 1999, Scottish authorities took steps to ensure the safety of their tourist-attracting monster, Mr. Coleman told the Monitor in a telephone interview from Portland, Maine, where he runs the International Cryptozoology Museum.

In 1999, Coleman was set to go on a Nessie-search expedition in a homemade submarine with Dan Scott Taylor. Thirty years earlier, while diving deep in Loch Ness in a one-man submarine, Mr. Taylor had said he undoubtedly bumped into the monster. Now, he wanted to bring with him both a secondary observer — Coleman — and a harpoon so he could take a DNA sample of the beast.  When Scottish authorities caught wind of Taylor’s plan, they revoked his exploration permits and the submarine trip never materialized. Taylor died in 2005.

Well, there you have it.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Michael Reynolds says:

    I am tired of your relentless attacks on Scottish police officers.

  2. just me says:

    I watched a really interesting discovery channel documentary on cryptozoology and various monsters. It was fascinating although I wasn’t sold on the existence of sea monsters in various locals.

    Personally I agree with the biologists on this one that Nessie and others are myth, but it makes for great story telling.

  3. Drew says:

    Feeling relatively comfortable with the OTB commenters, I can reliably relate there is merit here.

    Me and my buddies were on one of those British Open golf tours………you know, visting all the famous sites.

    So we were playing the links…..a drink or two on the front nine, maybe more on the back. We had dinner, maybe a drink or two, oh, y’know, maybe more, and then we took a walk along the coast.

    And damn, we saw her!! There she was!

    At first we were scared…..but then the guy with the bottle passed it around…………

  4. anjin-san says:

    The Loch Ness monster is now in American because the socialist Obama has failed to seal our borders…

  5. markm says:

    Anybody remember “In Search Of”?. This is old news…heLLLLOOOOOOOOO.