The sightings |The Unexplained Truth

The first documented sighting of the Loch Ness monster was said to have taken place in A.D. 565, when St. Columba saw a "water-beast" in the River Ness.

Other sightings include Loch Ness farmer Hugh Gray's photograph. Gray had reportedly been out walking, a simple box camera in hand, when he spotted an "object of considerable dimensions, rising two or three feet above the water, dark gray in color with smooth and glistening skin." Gray managed to take five snapshots of the apparition, but was later discouraged that four of the photos had not developed properly. However, the fifth picture depicted an unusual shape in the water. Still, many believed that Gray's image did little to prove the existence of a lake creature, that it was too vague. One observer from the British Museum of Natural History declared, "My opinion is that Gray's picture shows a rotting tree trunk and nothing more."

In April 1934, Dr. Robert Wilson produced another photograph, this one showing Nessie's head above the water in Loch Ness. Perhaps the most famous image of Nessie to date, yet it is completely fabricated. It wasn't until 1992 that scientists discovered the photograph had been "doctored." Apparently, a hunter named "Marmaduke Wetherell" and his step-son built a model of the famous loch beast using a 14" toy submarine with a long-neck attachment. After placing the contraption in the water, they photographed it and handed the film over to Dr. Wilson. Dubbed the "Surgeon's Photograph," the image created quite a stir when it appeared in The Daily Mail newspaper in April 1934; no one thought to question it's authenticity as it had been submitted by a respected doctor.

In 1955, a bank manager by the name of Mr. McNabb took a photograph of an obvious ripple in Loch Ness near Urquhart Castle. The picture is thought to be one of the clearest of Nessie (or what has been purported to be Nessie). The image depicts something moving along in the water, close to the shores of the castle ruins. Various experts (and believers), seem to think Nessie lives under or around Urquhart Castle; many of the photographs taken of her were snapped in the vicinity of the castle.

(Taken from: deborahotoole.tripod.com/nessie/)