Eyewitnesses Photographs
Sound evidence
Photographs
Besides eyewitnesses evidence, there are photographic evidences of the Loch ness monster which have been recorded practically since the camera was invented. But although photographs may seem to be convincing evidences, it is difficult to differentiate them fake from real. In fact, a scene seen with the naked eye gives far more information than one taken with a camera. Nowadays, the photographic process of photos is very easy to manipulate to obtain fakes.
One of the first photographs to be taken of the monster was snapped by an Aluminium Company worker from Britain, Mr. Hugh Gray, near Foyers. A writhing creature disturbing considerably the calm water of the Loch was seen in his photograph. He unfortunately did not see the monster’s entire body, which he estimated to be about 40 feet long, with a thick rounded back and a strong-looking tail.
The most famous photo of the Loch ness monster is the one taken by a London surgeon, Robert Kenneth Wilson. He snapped the monster as he was heading towards Inverness along the new road built in the early 1930’s. However, Dr. Wilson said that the photograph was a fake one on his deathbed.
Many private investigations had been carried out in the past, but many of them were not successful. However there was one expedition led by a certain Sir Edward Mountain in July 1934 that gave some kind of result. While making research and investigation, he obtained five still pictures of the Loch ness monster.
Underwater photography had been used for research not until 1970. These types of photographs can be very useful as it can show a complete profile view of the target, in theory. But in practice, things are not so easy as it may seem. As described in ‘Optical illusions’, the water of the Loch ness is quite muddy and limitations of normal underwater equipments reduce drastically the clarity and range of pictures taken. These underwater photographs usually show very little.
Despite
all the obstacles, two underwater photographs, taken by Dr. Robert Rines of the Academy of
Applied Science, Boston, Massachusetts, and USA were most interesting. Being enhanced by a computer, they show the
pictures of a fin-like object. Dr. Rines took
the photo with a time-lapse camera fitted with a strobe flash. But, even if biologically it was said otherwise,
the 'fins’ do not look alike that of any creature known to live in the lake.
Among other pictures taken by Dr. Robert Rines, one showed the ‘head of the monster’. However, many people argued that the object was much too symmetric to be the head of an animal with horns. We would never know the truth as many incidents could have happened under the waters of the Loch ness. For example, the camera could have touched the bottom by a fault of miscalculation or it may have come in contact with an inanimate object in midwater.