The mystery of the Loch Ness monster has been… solved!

It is one of the greatest mysteries of the deep, and its legend has outfoxed score of investigators over the generations.

Stories, pictures and rumors about a monster living below the surface of Scotland’s deepest loch go back for decades.

But it is now hoped this grainy image of a long ‘serpent-like creature’ may finally unlock the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster.

Image produced when his vessel was in the Loch’s Urquhart Bay showed a long moving object that had followed the boat for more than two minutes.

The consistent marks on Mr Atkinson’s sonar create a horizontal mass, which is not an indicator of length.

But excited Loch Ness monster experts have ruled out the ‘sighting’ being any other fish, seal or wood debris and believe it is proof of an unknown creature in the Loch.

The picture taken on Mr Atkinson’s mobile phone of his sonar screen, has won him first prize in the Best Nessie Sighting of The Year Award run by bookmakers William Hill.

Mr Atkinson, 43, from Fort Augustus in the Scottish Highlands, said: ‘I was dropping customers at Urquhart Castle and then got my boat out of the way of the other tour companies.

‘I moved out into the water and looked at the sonar and saw this image had appeared.

‘The device takes a reading of the depth and what is below the boat every quarter of a second and gradually builds up a picture, so it covered a time of about five minutes.

‘The object got bigger and bigger and I thought “bloody hell” and took a picture with my mobile phone.

‘There is nothing that big in the Loch. I was in shock as it looked like a big serpent, it’s amazing. You can’t fake a sonar image. I have never seen anything returned like this on the fish finder.

‘It is a bizarre shape to me. I have shown it to other experienced skippers and none of us know what it was.

‘I have seen a lot of pictures in 21 years of being here but this is the most clearest image yet. Undoubtedly, there is something in the loch.’

‘It’s also totally unexplained and can’t possibly be fish because in water 75ft down you just wouldn’t find them.

‘It’s very exciting and the best evidence we have had in donkey’s years. There is usually a mundane explanation yet no one has come up with one for this.

‘It’s images like this that will keep me going with my hunt for the next 20 years.’

But other marine experts claim the mystery object may well have been algae in the water.

Dr Simon Boxall, from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, said: ‘The picture is built up slowly as the boat moves.

‘So it’s not a snap shot and thus the image is not an image of a single object unless it is very still.

‘The image shows a bloom of algae and zooplankton that would exist on what would be a thermocline.

‘Zooplankton live off this algae and reflect sound signals from echo sounders and fish finders very well.

‘They will appear as a linear “blob” on the screen, just like this.

‘This is a monster made of millions of tiny animals and plants and represents the bulk of life in the Loch.’

Lawrence Conway
Daily Mail 

The Loch Ness Monster, the gigantic mythical river worm, was spotted in the Iceland!

The Loch Ness Monster was filmed winding its way through the Jokulsa river in the Fljotsdal valley last week and quickly posted online by Icelandic broadcaster RUV.

It has since become a viral sensation with many viewers heralding it as proof at last of a legend spanning seven centuries, that of the Lagarfljot river worm.

And authorities have confirmed the sightings – it IS the Loch Ness Monster!

LAKE OKANAGA, BC -  There was  a major  sighting of Canada’s version of the Loch Ness Monster in British Columbia!

Hundreds of visitors to British Colombia’s Lake Okanagan saw the elusive sea monster, known to locals as Ogopogo.  One man took a 30-second video (below) showing two long ripples in the water in a  deserted area of the lake.

“It was not going with the waves,” Richard Huls, who captured the scene on camera during a visit to a local winery. “It was not a wave, obviously, just a darker color. The size and the fact that they were not parallel with the waves made me think it had to be something else.”

Ogopogo is the Canadian version of Scotland’s famous Loch Ness monster. The first recorded sighting of the alleged creature in Loch Ness was nearly 1,500 years ago when a giant beast is said to have leaped out of a lake near Inverness, Scotland, to eat a local farmer. Since then, the legend has taken on a life of its own through first-person accounts of those who claim to have seen it and in public imagination.

Here’s the original Loch Ness monster:

As with Loch Ness, the Ogopogo phenomenon dates back hundreds of years and is believed to have its origins in native Canadian Indian folklore with a creature called N’ha-a-itk. The locals would not cross the area of the lake where they thought the monster resided without an offering to feed the monster if attacked.

Ogopogo is most commonly described as a 40- to 50-foot-long sea serpent. There have reportedly been thousands of sightings of the monster through the years, including a marathon swimmer in 2000 who claimed he saw two large creatures in Ogopogo’s likeness swimming with him at times. The lake has been searched and no concrete evidence of the monster has turned up. Still, the legend of the lake monster lives on.

Here’s another shot a tourist took over the weekend:

Here’s the video that was taken:

LIVERPOOL, U.K -  The Mersey Monster has reappeared!

The “monster” was snapped off Seacombe Ferry at 9am yesterday by photographer Mark Harrison.

Paul Renolds, from the Blue Planet Aquarium, who studied the photos, said: “It is virtually impossible to actually identify, but this is the time of year when large numbers of basking sharks, the second largest shark species in the world after whale sharks, head towards waters off the Isle of Man.”

He added: “If it is not a basking shark, it could be a smaller species of whale or a dolphin because there are around 23 different species in UK waters.”

LAKE WINDERMERE, UK – Britain now has its own Loch Ness Monster!

There’s a Loch Ness monster in England.  They’re calling it English Nessie!

Two kayakers, Tom Pickles and Sarah Mustard, who’d taken their watercraft out on the foggy waters of Lake Windermere, only to encounter what appeared to be “an enormous snake” swimming by.

“It was petrifying and we paddled back to the shore straight away. At first I thought it was a dog and then saw it was much bigger and moving really quickly at about 10 mph,” said the 24-year-old Pickles. “Each hump was moving in a rippling motion and it was swimming fast. Its skin was like a seal’s but its shape was completely abnormal—it’s not like any animal I’ve ever seen before.”

But what did Pickles and Mustard expect? Didn’t they know that Lake Windermere is reputedly the home of the British version of the Loch Ness monster? In the past five years, sojourners on the lake have reported ten sightings of a Nessielie serpent.

But the kayaking couple rallied from their shock and snapped the clearest photo of the Windermere “monster” since the sightings began. A journalism professor and his wife inaugurated the recent spate of Nessie-esque encounters on the lake back in 2006 reporting they had seen a “giant eel” somewhere between 15-20 feet long.

Ever since then, researchers have set out upon the lake with sonar equipment , in pursuit of “Bow-Nessie,” as the creature’s British compatriots like to call it. But so far, their efforts haven’t borne fruit.

Of course, people in Scotland have reported sightings of the Loch Ness Monster since 1933, and even with dramatic advance sonar and video technology, Loch Ness research teams have likewise been unable to turn up any credible scientific evidence of its existence. Even its most noted hunter, Robert Rines, recently gave up his quest to find the beast after trying for nearly 40 years. “Unfortunately, I’m running out of age,” the 85 year-old Rines said last year  when he announced he was calling it quits.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Winfield, a lake ecologist at the University of Lancaster, told The Sun he thinks the mysterious appartition people are seeing in Lake Windermere is merely a really big catfish.  But all of this speculation overlooks the central mystery in the latest sighting: Why on earth would a couple go kayaking on an English lake in the middle of February?

Chicago, IL — Last night a brave South Side fireman took on the Chicago River Monster, who had been dormant for the last fifty-seven years.

The 200-ton reptile that first terrorized Chicago residents back in 1953 emerged again last night. The monster would have done millions of dollars of damage and may have cost a number of lives, if it weren’t for a brave firefighter who stood up to the monster on his own with a fire gun.   Alvin Johnson, who had just joined the CFD a year ago rushed in to lend a hand.  The battalion captain had advised all of his men to stay back and they were going to call in the National Guard, but Alvin couldn’t be stopped.

With no regard for his personal safety, Johnson ran to a water pump, got the controls and started unleashed a torrent of water on the monster.  “I didn’t think about it.  If I did, I would have run away, too.  My adrenaline was pumping and I just got to the controls and let that ugly monster have it,” Firefighter Johnson said.  Some baby boomers that were familiar with the Chicago River Monster thought Johnson was incredibly brave, others thought he was incredibly stupid.  “He could have got torn to pieces.  That boy had no sense,” said Sheila Bourelly.  “I ran home, locked the doors and prayed. That is one nasty monster.”

Weekly World News spoke with fifteen witnesses who say that the water from the fire hose only agitated the monster more, and the monster smashed a pier and a bridge. But Johnson persisted.  “I wasn’t gonna let that ugly thing get the best of me.  No, sir.”   Johnson kept at it and after forty minutes the monster went back into the water.  Local authorities think the monster may be in Lake Michigan now, but they can’t say for sure.

The Chicago River Monster was first sighted back in 1953 when Dolores and Fred Williams were on a stroll following their thirtieth wedding anniversary. They saw the monster rear it’ head out of the water.  They tried to run, but the monster grabbed them and tossed them at a nearby building.  At least they died together.

Firefighter Johnson will be honored at a ceremony next month and will receive the “Fireslayer of the Year” award.  He also received a call from President Obama who is thankful for him protecting his hometown city.

Many local residents are still on edge.  The Chicago River Monster has been dormant for a long time, but once he’s awakened, there’s no telling what he will do.  At least Chicago residents will be comforted to know that Firefighter Johnson is ready to take on the monster again.

GLASGOW – A Google Earth user has found what he believes to be satellite images of the Loch Ness Monster!

Jason Cooke, a security guard in Nottingham, UK, said he found the image while looking around on Google Earth. He is convinced that the strange shape he sees in the water is the famous Loch Ness Monster.

It is believed to be about 65 feet long, with a number of “tentacles” trailing behind. While there is no official way to investigate the image as it is unknown when it was taken, Adrian Shine, one of the researchers at the Loch Ness Project, said, “This is really intriguing. It needs further study.”

Nessie experts had been worrying that climate change had killed off the monster and its possible family, as there have been no sightings in over a year. Gary Campbell, of the monster’s official fan club, said, “I’m concerned. There have been none of the normal sightings that verify that Nessie and her family are still alive and well.”

Google has yet to release an official statement on the image, as they did for when a user thought they found the lost city of Atlantis.

PARIS – A small town in eastern France is on high alert after multiple sightings of an elusive creature.

Xertigny is a village in the Vosges region, and home to about 3,000 people. Although relatively small, it is now making headlines after multiple residents reported seeing a large crocodile at a local pond. Crocodiles are only found in France in zoos and parks.

Authorities left a dead chicken on the bank in order to lure it out, but so far the beast has not taken the bait. A special sonar device was used to try and the creature in the murky water, but the results were inconclusive. Residents are so concerned that draining the whole pool is now being considered.

“We have been around the pond several times and you can’t really say if anything is there,” said Bruno Aime, vice president of a local anglers’ association.

“I think it’s carp but it could also be a caiman [crocodile] of about 1.50 metres. The equipment doesn’t let you see the difference between a pike of a metre long and a caiman of 1.50 metres,” he told France Info radio.

The beast has not been caught in film yet. Weekly World News will continue to follow the story and provide updates as they become available.

BLUE MOUNTAINS, OR – After a spate of high-profile Twitter accounts were hacked, the world’s most famous cryptid became the next victim.

Weekly World News was able to screen-capture the fake update before it was deleted, which announced, “nessie is gay”.

A representative from Cryptids & Humanoids Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement on Bigfoot’s behalf this morning: “Bigfoot is embarrassed and infuriated at this identity theft. He wants to formally apologize to the Loch Ness Monster for any emotional distress this has caused, and reiterate that he has no opinion on the Monster’s sexuality.

“Bigfoot’s twitter followers know he would never write such a sophomoric attempt at humor. He asks that twitter find and prosecute this hacker to the fullest extent of the law.”

For Bigfoot’s usual twitter habits, read his last five updates:

ugh, avoiding stalkerazzi, never stop taking photos of me  9:47PM Jan 3rd, 2008 from web

ditched skunk ape cousin’s xmas dinner, total hillbilly!  7:03PM Dec 25th, 2008 from web

is it time for gossip girl yet?  5:38PM Dec 22nd, 2008 from web

burned myself trying to make a fire   10:02PM Dec 19th, 2008 from web

thinking about getting a cat, or a badger  11:17AM Dec 16th, 2008 from web