USA TV focus on new Nessie mystery

By Donald Wilson
Published: 26 March, 2009

THE latest "monster" sighting on Loch Ness revealed by the Highland News is set to feature on one of the biggest breakfast shows on US television.

A TV crew from London visited the Loch Ness Exhibition at Drumnadrochit this week filming for Good Morning America, which is broadcast by the giant ABC network and attracts more than five million viewers.

Naturalist Adrian Shine, who designed the exhibition, has been interviewed by the programme makers.

They have also received copies of the Highland News with the latest story of a possible Nessie sighting by a couple who were spending a romantic weekend in the Highlands in January.

Such is the worldwide interest in the legend of the loch, our story about Ian Monckton and his fiancee Tracey Gordon from Solihull who unwitting captured a still photograph of something on the loch, has attracted more than 32,000 hits since it went on to our website, www.highland-news.co.uk.

Ian and Tracey were on their way back to a cottage in Invermoriston when they stopped at a layby at 11pm.

The couple heard a commotion in the water and scrambled down the bank towards the shore of the loch.

Ian's digital camera went off accidentally and it was only when he got back to their cottage that he found an image on it which they hoped might be Nessie.

Ian admitted both he and his girlfriend were very much Nessie sceptics when they came north to celebrate Tracey's 30th birthday.

But he said getting the photograph was the highlight of their trip and would make them want to come back.

"Having had this experience, I would say we now have a very open mind on the matter," he said.

Nick Watt, a London-based presenter with ABC, said the programme they are making for Good Morning America is entitled "In Search of the Truth".

"Loch Ness is one of a series of three programmes," he said. "We are also looking at the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle and vampires.

"What we are trying to do is catalogue overwhelming human testimony – like this story in the Highland News – and balance that against rational scientific evidence.

"What appeals to Americans about the mystery of Loch Ness is the beautiful setting and the fact no one can prove or disprove the legend one way or the other. They love the story and I'm sure every single American has heard of Nessie.

"No one has been able to prove it's nonsense and stories like this in the Highland News fuel this enduring mystery."

Ian's photograph was sent to Adrian to get his expert opinion and, like much of the photographic evidence that has gone before, it doesn't solve the mystery of the loch.

"Unfortunately, I can see nothing I can interpret in the picture," Adrian admitted. "I went down to the lochside and to the lay-by where this couple had parked.

"But there are an awful lot of trees and I was not able to find exactly where the picture was taken. There's nothing really on the picture to speculate what it might be.

"But this story underlines my contention that anything you see on the loch and do not understand may well be interpreted as what we would expect to be in the loch.

"The interest in the story on your website just shows the worldwide appeal of the Nessie story.

"This couple admitted they didn't see anything when they were at the loch. It was only afterwards they saw this image on the camera. But it has given them something to remember their visit by."

d.wilson@highland-news.co.uk

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5362/USA_TV_focus_on_new_Nessie_mystery.html