What is the Loch Ness Monster? Loch Ness is a body of water 37 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres wide which lies in northern Scotland. It is about 10,000 years old. Beneath the murky waters of Loch Ness is a secret that mankind has been trying to solve for over a century. 'Nessie', as it has come to be known, has created quite a stir as far back as 1879. It has been described as a monster, but researchers are still looking for evidence of how and when it first inhabited Loch Ness. To mankind's knowledge, Nessie has never caused any harm. Nessie has been seen on land as well as in Loch Ness. Sightings on land date back to 1879 and descriptions of this creature vary in size and colour, from three metres to up to 14 metres in length. It reported colour ranges from green to grey and grey/black. In 1888, the first recorded sighting of Nessie on the surface emerged. Again, descriptions vary in length and colour. In 1970, sonar was used at Loch Ness by Dr Richard Rines from the Academy of Applied Science in Mas sachusetts, the United States. He and his team of investigators used sonar to track movement beneath the lake. On August 8, 1972, sonar picked up several large objects that passed within six metres of the underwater camera that was 14 metres below the surface. The pictures have been analysed by various professionals and to date, nothing conclusive has been determined. Does the yeti really exist? The elusive shaggy man-beast known as the yeti has been pursued and sighted by countless Himalayan mountain climbers over the years. Aside from some giant footprints in the snow and a few blurry photographs, mountaineers have brought back no tangible evidence of the legendary creature. But now a prominent explorer claims that he can reveal the truth of the yeti's existence. Reinhold Messner is a legendary figure in the world of mountain climbing. He is also a long-time yeti enthusiast, claiming to have come face-to-face with the creature in the Tibetan wilderness in 1986. 'I came across this indefinable, big, stinking exotic animal,' he re called. 'I stood still and he walked off.' The animal, which had dark hair and walked upright on two legs, left footprints behind for Messner to study. He found that they were very similar to an alleged photo of a yeti footprint taken by mountaineer Eric Shipton during a 1951 Mount Everest expedition. The yeti became an obsession for Messner, who has returned to the Himalayas several times in search of the creature. He reported a second yeti sighting and took photos, but the photos will only be released with his forthcoming book. In Yeti, Legend and Reality, Messner reveals his startling conclusions about the yeti: the monster is not a giant gorilla or an unidentified humanoid primate, but a large bear. Graphic: SPBRAIGLO
