Loch Ness Monster - The Loch Ness Monster (a.k.a. "Nessie") is one of many sea serpents or water monsters that have been spotted by sailors and sightseers as they traveled the oceans, seas and lakes of the world.

The Loch Ness Monster is a dark slithering 30-40 foot long form that allegedly inhabits a lake in Loch Ness, Scotland. This prehistoric serpent (possibly a plesiosaur or Archaeoceti whale) has found its way into the popular culture, especially on television (Discovery, History, PBS channels) which has spent many hours of films documenting the alleged reality of the monster or inserting the tale of the Loch Ness Monster into comedy or drama script plotlines.

For example, episode No. 231 "Samantha and the Loch Ness Monster" (9-29-71) of the sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72 Samantha the witch (Elizabeth Montgomery) meets up with the legendary Loch Ness Monster, who was actually a warlock named Bruce turned into a monster by Samantha's look-alike cousin, Serena because he was getting on her nerves.

On episode #224 "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" on THE SIMPSONS (05/02/1999), evil industrialist Mr. Burns travels to Scotland to capture the famed Lock Ness Monster in an attempt to make himself more popular with the public. Along for the trip are Professor John Frink and Willy, the Scots groundskeeper from Springfield Elementary School who supposedly grew up in Loch Ness area (Willy was conceived, born and raised on a pool table in his family home by the lake. In the end, Burns' plan for popularity eventually fails and the Loch Ness Monster gets a job at a Springfield casino.

On the episode "Terror of the Zygons" during the 13th season of the British syndicated sci-fi series DOCTOR WHO/BBC/1963-89 aliens called Zygons sent a scouting ship to Earth as a prelude to invasion around A.D. 1576. Their spacecraft crash-landed into the watery depths of a lake later to be called Loch Ness. Stranded, the Zygons attempted to repair their damaged starship.

To scare away any intruders while they rebuilt their ship at the bottom of the lake, the Zygons unleashed the Skarasen, a huge creature (part animal and part machine). When the Zygons learned their home world had been destroyed, they tried to take over earth, but their plans were thwarted, thanks to Doctor Who who destroyed the Zygon presence on earth. However, their aquatic monster, the Skarasen (an "armored cyborg of devastating power") still continued to roam the lake as the Loch Ness Monster.

Other programs to feature the Loch Ness Monster and Sea Serpents included:

• WHAT'S NEW SCOOBY DOO? (episode #63 "Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" June 22, 2004 & Episode #9 "She Sees Sea Monster at the Sea Shore" November 22, 2002)

• SIGHTINGS/FOX/SCI/1991-97 (Episode #11 June 12 1992 "Legendary Monsters: Canada's version of Loch Ness monster")

• The comedy fantasy series UNCLE JACK/BBC/1990-93 about two children who followed the adventures of their archeologist relative Uncle Jack. Season two episodes were entitled UNCLE JACK & THE LOCH NESS MONSTER. The series was written by Jim Eldridge.

Films about the legendary Loch Ness Monster included such title as:

• Incident at Loch Ness (2004)

• Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)

• America's Loch Ness Monster (2003)

• The Search for the Loch Ness Monster (2003)

• Beneath Loch Ness (2001)

• The Cameron Files: The Secret of Loch Ness (2001)

• Return to Loch Ness (1998)

• Loch Ness (1996)

• The Loch Ness Horror (1981)

• Legend of Loch Ness (1976)

• The Loch Ness Monster: Proof at Last! (1936)

TRIVIA NOTE: On April 19, 1934 at around 7:30 AM, Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson, a British gynecologist took a photograph alleged to be the Loch Ness monster. Named the "Surgeon's Photo," the image for years convinced many people to believe that the photo was actually proof of the monster's existence.

However, in 1994, the public learned the real story behind the photo which turned out to be a child's toy submarine fitted with the head of a sea serpent.

The hoax was uncovered by researchers David Martin and Alistair Boyd of the Loch Ness and Morar Project. Also in on the hoax were Christian Spurling, the stepson of Marmaduke Wetherell, his stepfather and Maurice Chambers.

Despite debunking the image, there are still those who believe that "Nessie" is real and can been seen from time to time slithering along the lake's surface waters. The Lock Ness Monster phenomena began in 1868 with the first reported eye witness sightings of a "huge fish" on the lake.

The first modern sighting occurred on May 2, 1933 when the newspaper Inverness Courier reported a story of a local couple who had seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface." A reward of £20,000 was offered for capture of the strange creature.
 

1906 photograph of a sea monster found along the beach at Ballard, Washington. It's been declared a hoax. The object being held was more likely a long tree log modified to look like a slithering sea serpent. It has now been recorded as a hoax.