The largest group of hunters in 50 years looking to see the Loch Ness monster gathered in Scotland over the weekend.
Monster seekers journeyed to the picturesque Scottish Highlands armed with “sonars for mapping the lake bed, thermal-imaging drones for scanning the surface and hydrophones to hear strange sounds from the depths,” NBC News reported. Livestreams were set up for viewers to also pitch in attempting to sight the monster.
Unfortunately, the Loch Ness monster remains elusive. But that didn’t deter the organizers of the event.
“It’s about inspiration,” Alan McKenna, head of Loch Ness Exploration, an independent research group, told NBC News. “For very selfish reasons I don’t want the Loch Ness mystery or interest in Loch Ness itself to diminish in any way whatsoever at all.”
When was the Loch Ness monster sighted in modern history?
In 1933, the first modern-day sighting of Nessie occurred when Drumnadrochit Hotel manager Aldie Mackay witnessed a “water beast” in “the largest body of freshwater by volume in the United Kingdom,” The Associated Press reported.
Shortly after, it sparked a global phenomenon and fascination with spotting the monster, bringing in major tourism to the economy from curious visitors.
Paul Nixon, the general manager at Loch Ness Centre, said a hundred volunteers gathered to find answers. He said that sonar contacts, which show objects in the water, have left him with questions.
“The biggest one I’ve seen is an object the size of a transit van, which hasn’t been explained to me what that was,” Nixon told BBC. “It wasn’t there when we went back.”
What is cryptozoology?
The hunt for answers about animals that haven’t been proven to exist is defined as cryptozoology, according to National Geographic. The Loch Ness monster might be the most renowned example, but there are other stories about animals without confirmed sightings or research being spotted.
Those would include Bigfoot, who is rumored to stalk the forests of the Pacific Northwest; “Champ (in Lake Champlain, United States and Canada); Issi (in Lake Ikeda, Japan); and the Lagarfljot Worm (in Lagarfljot Lake, Iceland).”
Even without proving Nessie’s existence over the weekend, believers continue to wonder about the monster.
“I believe there is something in the loch,” Craig Gallifrey, a volunteer on the expedition, told AP. “I do think that there’s got to be something that’s fueling the speculation.”