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The Loch Ness Story
Myth Mystery
- GenresCryptozoologyNonfiction
156 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 12, 2025
Great read ,written by a well known respected TV presenter, although I am a believer it still gave me food for thought
May 25, 2024
A NOW-FALSIFIED PREDICTION THAT “NESSIE” WOULD BE IDENTIFIED
Author Nicholas Witchell (born 1953) is a British journalist who is the royal correspondent for BBC News.
He wrote in the Preface to the 1975 paperback edition of this 1974 book, “the world is about to witness… the discovery and probable identification of a semi-mythical creature known throughout the world as the ‘Monster’ of Scotland’s Loch Ness… a set of detailed colour photographs of the head and body of the ‘Monster’ has been taken by a highly respected American scientific team. They have set the zoological world… ablaze with excitement… the saga of the Loch Ness ‘Monster’ is about the end with the addition of a remarkable new (or possibly very ancient) species to the world’s animal kingdom. It is my hope that this unique and complete history of the Loch Ness phenomenon may provide an insight into the intriguing manner in which a periodically amused but basically indifferent twentieth-century society, and a frenzied evasive scientific community, has reacted to a mystery which they have unable… to categorize.”
In the first chapter, he states, “the facts of the mystery, as related in full for the first time in this book…. tell of the existence … of a species of unknown animal which may be the only living survivor from the age of dinosaurs… The real importance of the Loch Ness story… does not rest simply with the scientific significance of the creatures… One of the most fascinating aspects of this investigation is the way that twentieth-century science and society have reacted to an extraordinary phenomenon…” (Pg. 7-8)
He acknowledges, “If a herd of animals does exist in Loch Ness, one would expect visitors of past centuries… to have noticed and reported the fact. Before trying to explain this apparent paradox I shall describe, in chronological order, some of the pre-twentieth century reports of Loch Ness animals that have come to light.” (Pg. 13)
He recounts, “In 1964, a correspondent in New Zealand claimed to have come across a book published in 1769 describing how two Leviathan creatures were sighted on several occasions… Attempts to trace the book from which the passage was taken have been unsuccessful, and so we are unfortunately left with unsubstantiated historical evidence of events which we can only say may have taken place. Another claim which is similarly unsubstantiated so far has been made by an American writer… [who] claims, he came across a long feature article on the Loch Ness animals in a copy of the newspaper dated some time in the 1980s.” (Pg. 16-17)
He reports, “on the spring afternoon of 14 April 1933 … Mrs. John Mackay… suddenly cried out to her husband: ‘Look, John, what’s that---out there?’ … in the centre of the Loch, the tranquility had been replaced by a surging mass of water… Mr. and Mrs. Mackay were the owners of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, which fact will no doubt provoke many wry grins among a good many skeptics. However, they never sought publicity for their story and nothing more would have bene heard of it if it had not come to the attention of Alex Campbell, then … the local correspondent for the Inverness Courier. He knew [the Mackays] personally, and therefore had no hesitation in writin the story up…” (Pg. 28-29)
Of one report of footprints which were later discovered to have, “in fact, been made by the stuffed foot of a hippopotamus which was part of an umbrella stand owned by a Loch Ness resident… Although this was not the only hoax perpetrated at the time (others involved barrels in the loch and built makeshift models), it was the one which received the greatest publicity and had the most detrimental effect on the animals’ reputation.” (Pg. 41)
He notes, “‘Nessie’ was blamed for gibing Inverness a name for bad drinking habits… ‘The town has a ad reputation for strong drink, not through any fault of ours, but through the Loch Ness monster, because any time it is alleged to have been seen people attribute it to strong drink!’” (Pg. 50)
He explains, “The year [1958] … produced two still photographs. One of them was taken by Mr. H.L. Cockrell… On his final night-operation he encountered something moving in the water which may have been one of the animals---or, as Mr. Cockrell says, it may have been just a stick… A week after Cockrell’s story and picture appeared in the … paper [it] published another photograph which had been sent in by an interested reader… His photograph … shows a long dark object of considerable size… Disbelief is what [he] also found after he had developed the photographs and shown them to friends. ‘So great was the skepticism and leg-pulling by friends to whom I showed the picture that in a spirit of exasperation I threw the second negative away and nearly got rid of the first as well.’” (Pg. 87-88)
Later, he summarizes, “In all, the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau accepted two hundred eye-witness accounts between 1963 and 1972, after a most rigorous pruning of all those which seemed at all doubtful.” (Pg. 124)
He suggests, “It is possible that… when Loch Ness was linked to the sea, a group of these animals swam into its sheltered waters and settled there. Eventually they found their return route to the sea blocked as the land rose and Loch ness became an enclosed lake. Slowly the water lost its saline content, and the animals adapted to their new freshwater existence (a change which has been accomplished successfully by many other species; there are sharks in freshwater lakes in parts of Africa which were once connected to the sea.” (Pg. 140)
He concludes, “The world still holds many mysteries awaiting solution by those with inquiring minds and a sense of adventure… These animals are one of the greatest wonders of the world. Let us, in the name of reason and decency, make absolutely certain that they continue to enjoy what lagend has it they were once granted… the everlasting freedom of the Loch.” (Pg. 156)
Of course, nothing was found in 1975, or later---or to this day, in fact. But this book is in interesting summary of the matter up to 1975.
Author Nicholas Witchell (born 1953) is a British journalist who is the royal correspondent for BBC News.
He wrote in the Preface to the 1975 paperback edition of this 1974 book, “the world is about to witness… the discovery and probable identification of a semi-mythical creature known throughout the world as the ‘Monster’ of Scotland’s Loch Ness… a set of detailed colour photographs of the head and body of the ‘Monster’ has been taken by a highly respected American scientific team. They have set the zoological world… ablaze with excitement… the saga of the Loch Ness ‘Monster’ is about the end with the addition of a remarkable new (or possibly very ancient) species to the world’s animal kingdom. It is my hope that this unique and complete history of the Loch Ness phenomenon may provide an insight into the intriguing manner in which a periodically amused but basically indifferent twentieth-century society, and a frenzied evasive scientific community, has reacted to a mystery which they have unable… to categorize.”
In the first chapter, he states, “the facts of the mystery, as related in full for the first time in this book…. tell of the existence … of a species of unknown animal which may be the only living survivor from the age of dinosaurs… The real importance of the Loch Ness story… does not rest simply with the scientific significance of the creatures… One of the most fascinating aspects of this investigation is the way that twentieth-century science and society have reacted to an extraordinary phenomenon…” (Pg. 7-8)
He acknowledges, “If a herd of animals does exist in Loch Ness, one would expect visitors of past centuries… to have noticed and reported the fact. Before trying to explain this apparent paradox I shall describe, in chronological order, some of the pre-twentieth century reports of Loch Ness animals that have come to light.” (Pg. 13)
He recounts, “In 1964, a correspondent in New Zealand claimed to have come across a book published in 1769 describing how two Leviathan creatures were sighted on several occasions… Attempts to trace the book from which the passage was taken have been unsuccessful, and so we are unfortunately left with unsubstantiated historical evidence of events which we can only say may have taken place. Another claim which is similarly unsubstantiated so far has been made by an American writer… [who] claims, he came across a long feature article on the Loch Ness animals in a copy of the newspaper dated some time in the 1980s.” (Pg. 16-17)
He reports, “on the spring afternoon of 14 April 1933 … Mrs. John Mackay… suddenly cried out to her husband: ‘Look, John, what’s that---out there?’ … in the centre of the Loch, the tranquility had been replaced by a surging mass of water… Mr. and Mrs. Mackay were the owners of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, which fact will no doubt provoke many wry grins among a good many skeptics. However, they never sought publicity for their story and nothing more would have bene heard of it if it had not come to the attention of Alex Campbell, then … the local correspondent for the Inverness Courier. He knew [the Mackays] personally, and therefore had no hesitation in writin the story up…” (Pg. 28-29)
Of one report of footprints which were later discovered to have, “in fact, been made by the stuffed foot of a hippopotamus which was part of an umbrella stand owned by a Loch Ness resident… Although this was not the only hoax perpetrated at the time (others involved barrels in the loch and built makeshift models), it was the one which received the greatest publicity and had the most detrimental effect on the animals’ reputation.” (Pg. 41)
He notes, “‘Nessie’ was blamed for gibing Inverness a name for bad drinking habits… ‘The town has a ad reputation for strong drink, not through any fault of ours, but through the Loch Ness monster, because any time it is alleged to have been seen people attribute it to strong drink!’” (Pg. 50)
He explains, “The year [1958] … produced two still photographs. One of them was taken by Mr. H.L. Cockrell… On his final night-operation he encountered something moving in the water which may have been one of the animals---or, as Mr. Cockrell says, it may have been just a stick… A week after Cockrell’s story and picture appeared in the … paper [it] published another photograph which had been sent in by an interested reader… His photograph … shows a long dark object of considerable size… Disbelief is what [he] also found after he had developed the photographs and shown them to friends. ‘So great was the skepticism and leg-pulling by friends to whom I showed the picture that in a spirit of exasperation I threw the second negative away and nearly got rid of the first as well.’” (Pg. 87-88)
Later, he summarizes, “In all, the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau accepted two hundred eye-witness accounts between 1963 and 1972, after a most rigorous pruning of all those which seemed at all doubtful.” (Pg. 124)
He suggests, “It is possible that… when Loch Ness was linked to the sea, a group of these animals swam into its sheltered waters and settled there. Eventually they found their return route to the sea blocked as the land rose and Loch ness became an enclosed lake. Slowly the water lost its saline content, and the animals adapted to their new freshwater existence (a change which has been accomplished successfully by many other species; there are sharks in freshwater lakes in parts of Africa which were once connected to the sea.” (Pg. 140)
He concludes, “The world still holds many mysteries awaiting solution by those with inquiring minds and a sense of adventure… These animals are one of the greatest wonders of the world. Let us, in the name of reason and decency, make absolutely certain that they continue to enjoy what lagend has it they were once granted… the everlasting freedom of the Loch.” (Pg. 156)
Of course, nothing was found in 1975, or later---or to this day, in fact. But this book is in interesting summary of the matter up to 1975.
April 22, 2018
I read this in preparation for a trip to Inverness that has, alas, been postponed. The book is dated now, of course, with the confession that the "surgeon's photo" on its cover was a deliberate prank and by the failure of the Rine underwater photos to convince scientists that creatures resembling plesiosaurs had indeed been filmed. Author Witchell was certain that Nessology would enter a new era once the world saw them. Despite these disappointments, this volume is still a good compendium of lore, folk and otherwise, about the world's most famous cryptid and contains the kind of trivia I admire -- for example, the Italian wartime propaganda claim that an Italian airstrike had killed the creature and the information that Nessteria had inspired Paris fashion in a season. The author is perhaps too eager to believe some of the stories but he also gives clear account of the numerous hoaxes and spoofs that have occurred over the years, making the book almost even-handed. I was happy to discover, with a little web probing, that the hunt actively continues today and that new evidence, always inconclusive, is still being compiled. When we finally make our trip, I hope to be so lucky!
August 30, 2023
This book is from 1973 when research on the Loch Ness monster was at its peak. Incredibly, the postscript entitled "The Solution", added to the book in this 1975 edition, confirms the existence of not just one but more large animals in Loch Ness!! The reference are underwater photographs, precisely taken in 1975, which, it was later demonstrated, are actually large trunks mistaken for animals, especially one, described as resembling the head of a gargoyle and mistaken for the head of a monster.
The book contains the accounts of hundreds of sightings and sonar analysis results showing large moving objects. The explanation being given now is that they were probably large eels or logs; the movements of the lake water attributed to the monster are probably linked to the fact that the lake is located on a large fault.
The book contains the accounts of hundreds of sightings and sonar analysis results showing large moving objects. The explanation being given now is that they were probably large eels or logs; the movements of the lake water attributed to the monster are probably linked to the fact that the lake is located on a large fault.
December 20, 2025
My first foray into the lore of Nessie. Interesting to hear all the personal stories, read the correspondence and testimonies. The author's bias is noticeably strong, but he does try to see both sides at times.
March 21, 2023
An interesting book and I definitely believe in the Loch Ness monster more than I did before reading this, but it was also far too dense and dry at parts. I struggled to get through it.
February 15, 2012
A non-fiction book written in '74 (my edition published with a postscript from '75), one has to go into it with the knowledge that certain aspects of it are going to be outdated. Such is also the case here. Witchell's writing is certainly not to blame for my finding this not the thrilling read it could have been, because he does present the subject in an engaging and interesting manner.
However, as anybody with even a fairly basic knowledge of all things Loch Ness Monster/cryptozoology will know, things (such as the infamous Surgeon's Photograph) have been outed as hoaxes or have otherwise been disproved in the course of more investigations.
The eye witness accounts (quite a lot are gone over here) however, are things that tend to stand for longer periods of time (though naturally there are exceptions).
That said, it helps to already have read from more contemporary sources before diving into this, so you don't find yourself uninentionally misled by information no longer 'valid'.
However, as anybody with even a fairly basic knowledge of all things Loch Ness Monster/cryptozoology will know, things (such as the infamous Surgeon's Photograph) have been outed as hoaxes or have otherwise been disproved in the course of more investigations.
The eye witness accounts (quite a lot are gone over here) however, are things that tend to stand for longer periods of time (though naturally there are exceptions).
That said, it helps to already have read from more contemporary sources before diving into this, so you don't find yourself uninentionally misled by information no longer 'valid'.
June 25, 2011
Interesting book with many facts about the famous monster/s. Whether one is a believer or not, there are a lot of things to think about in this book. It actually helped me a lot to imagine some important details for one of my future books: Lake Mystery. Thank you, Mr Witchell!
April 19, 2017
Picked up from Oxfam, Stratford-upon-Avon last week and could n't resist the chance to find out how the world and a now Royal Correspondent viewed the mystery of the deep. A compelling read with many of the sightings for 'herself' coming in April time, now is the time to be looking at the loch. He does a good job of arguing both sides and shares the frauds with the wins. A google after reading I saw more recent images and the key ones he concludes the 1975 book talking about but hadnt shared. Nessie continues to generate sightings and just two days ago there was press release from the area saying it's been 8 months since the last sighting, the longest dearth in many years. DO i believe the loch has a secret to share.....ask me in person.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews