14th September 2009A museum has a deal with a top bookmaker to display the Loch Ness monster - if the beast is ever caught.
The Natural History Museum has thrashed out an agreement with bookmaker William Hill which would see the monster go on public display.
For more than 20 years, William Hill has been paying the museum a retainer to showcase Nessie's remains in return for verifying her existence.
Documents released by the museum, based in South-West London, show a deal between the two parties was struck in 1987.
And since then, the museum has received an annual payment of £1,000 a year from William Hill, totaling £22,000.
Under the terms of the deal, the bookmaker has guaranteed to pay for experts to provide 'positive identification' of Nessie in the unlikely event that she is discovered and captured. The agreement also covers the Yeti.
William Hill offers odds of 500/1 on the existence of the Loch Ness monster being proved within a year.
The odds on the Yeti - a mythological hairy, white creature celebrated since the 19th century and also known as the 'Abominable Snowman' - being discovered are 200/1.
A clause in the deal, revealed in previously unpublished documents from the museum's archive, stipulates that it could exhibit the creatures or the parts of them that were used to prove their existence.
A letter from Graham Sharpe, William Hill's media manager, to the museum's press office sets out the terms of the arrangement.
Dr Ian Bishop, from the museum's zoological department, replied: ‘We will make every effort to provide a positive identification of tangible adequate specimens.
'A small retainer of, say, £1,000 per annum would seem a reasonable sum for the use of our name to compensate for the resulting increase in inquiries from the public.
'Could we agree that the museum be granted the option to exhibit any significant finds that come into your possession?’
A spokeswoman for the museum was unable to confirm the arrangement, but Mr Sharpe said that his company continued to pay the retainer, which will have netted the institution at least £22,000 so far.
Mr Sharpe said: ‘We have maintained our relationship with the Natural History Museum and are delighted to do so.
'As we rely on the Met Office to rule on white Christmases, we are dependent on the museum to tell us whether any carcass that may emerge from the loch is a haddock, or a previously unknown creature from the deep.’
The documents also reveal that in 1961, a group of monster hunters wrote to say that they intended to capture the ‘remarkable beast’ and present it to the museum so it could be preserved for posterity.
The museum's secretary wrote back suggesting that they might want to give it to the Royal Scottish Museum - now the National Museum of Scotland - instead.
A previous letter sent to museum staff in 1959 warned against taking part in monster hunts in case it 'damaged the institution's reputation'.
The letter read: ‘The trustees wish it to be known that they do not approve of the spending of official time or leave on the so-called Loch Ness phenomenon.
‘If, as a result of the activities of members of staff, the museum is involved in undesirable publicity, they will be gravely displeased.'
The newly uncovered files also detail how the museum's most senior official appealed to government scientists in a bid to solve the mystery.
Dr Terence Morrison-Scott, the museum's director, wrote to the National Physical Laboratory in 1961 asking it to investigate whether monster sightings could be explained by the 'formation of large bubbles of marsh gas'.
A spokeswoman for the museum claimed: 'I have spoken to some senior figures in the museum and they know nothing about a deal with William Hill.'
The Loch Ness Monster is a creature most commonly speculated to be from a line of long-surviving Plesiosaurs - a type of carnivorous aquatic reptile.
The monster is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.
It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, although its description varies from one account to the next.
Popular interest and belief in the animal has fluctuated since it was brought to the world's attention in 1933.
Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much disputed photographic material and sonar readings.
The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as a mix of hoaxes and wishful thinking.
Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology - the study of animals which are considered to be legendary, or otherwise non-existent by mainstream biology.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1213292/Natural-History-Museum-takes-punt-discovery-Loch-Ness-monster-extraordinary-money-deal-bookmaker.html#ixzz0R5oKABOj
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