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Lair of the Beasts: The Nessie Files
Governments & Lake Monsters By Nick Redfern
April 10, 2010
Opening the X-Files on the Loch Ness Monster.
© Bob Trate
No less than 250 million years ago, movements in the Earth’s crust led to the creation of a huge rift across Scotland that, today, is known as the Great Glen. As the centuries passed, the deeper parts of the Glen filled with water, and it now exists in the form of three main lakes, or lochs, to give them their correct title: Loch Oich, Loch Lochy, and Loch Ness.
For more than a century-and-a-half, the three lochs have been connected by the sixty-mile-long Caledonian Canal, which provides passage for small marine vehicles from the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
By far the largest of the three lochs is Loch Ness. Twenty-three miles in length, almost a mile wide, and 755-feet deep, it contains more water than any other lake in the combined British Isles. Surrounded by trees, mountains, ancient castles, and famous for its deep and dark waters, it is very little wonder indeed that Loch Ness is viewed by many people as being both a magical and a sinister location.
And, as practically anyone and everyone who has ever marveled at the mysteries of our world will be only too well aware, the loch is the alleged home of Nessie – arguably the planet’s most famous long-necked lake-monster.
But precisely what the creatures of Loch Ness really may be is a matter of deep debate and controversy.
Some researchers conclude that a still-living colony of plesiosaurs – carnivorous reptiles that surfaced at the start of the Jurassic period - lurk within the deep waters of Loch Ness. Others believe that the creatures may be giant, monstrous eels. And, of course, there are some who conclude that the stories are nothing more than fabrications, and an ingenious ploy to help boost Scotland’s tourist-based economy. For certain branches of the British Government and military, however, the monsters of Loch Ness have secretly been a favourite topic of investigation for decades.
For example, in the late 1970s, official documents made available to the public in 2005 reveal, the then-Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had seriously considered a request to use dolphins in a search for the creatures. If the existence of the monsters could be proven, the official world thought, it would have a very positive bearing upon Scotland’s tourist industry. Amid complaints from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, however, the plan was never put into action. But still the “Nessie File” remained open.
Then, in the mid-1980s – now-declassified files demonstrate - the government secretly tried to determine if the Loch Ness Monsters were at risk from hunters and poachers. At one point, government officials were seriously considering drafting new legislation to protect the animals, despite the fact that no one could even be sure they existed.
Eventually, the documents show, the government concluded that: “The legislative framework to protect the monster is available; provided she (or he) is identified by scientists whose reputation will carry weight with the British Museum.”
Of course, so far no such identification has been made. Unless someone within the Government knows something we don’t. And perhaps they do. In 1965, additional files show, the British Royal Air Force’s Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre at RAF Brampton analyzed film-footage taken in 1960 that purported to show a Loch Ness Monster and concluded: “One can presumably rule out the idea that it is any sort of submarine vessel for various reasons which leaves the conclusion that it is probably an animate object.”
Perhaps, one day, we will learn more about the British Government’s real-life X-Files on the monsters of Loch Ness.
Nick Redfern is the author of many books on unsolved mysteries, including the forthcoming Monsters of Texas (co-written with Ken Gerhard), and Final Events.
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When I was a kid, I was facinated with the Loch ness monster. I read several books on the subject. As i've gotten older and seen how many pictures are forgeries, I seriiously doubt there is anything huge living in the lake. Lake monsters are fun for the imagination though.