Photographer reveals 'most compelling pictures yet' of 'Loch Ness Monster' - having kept them secret for five years after fearing public ridicule

A photographer has revealed 'compelling' photographs of what she suggests is the mythical Loch Ness Monster, after keeping them a secret for five years. 

Chie Kelly, 52, took the pictures of the creature from Scottish folklore half a decade ago but did not share them out of fear of public ridicule. 

The first 15 images were revealed last year and now The Cryptid Factor podcast has released and analysed all 71 frames. It hoped that the photographs taken by Ms Kelly, who works as a translator, would spark debate in investigators around the world.   

The images have been put into a video and appear to show something moving across the loch in the Highlands. 

Despite many images of the so-called monster - including a famous photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson - proven to be fakes, it has not stopped tourists flocking to the area each year in hope of seeing the mythical beast. 

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Chie Kelly (pictured), 52, took the pictures of the mysterious creature half a decade ago but did not share them out of fear of public ridicule

The first 15 images were revealed last year and now The Cryptid Factor podcast released and analysed all 71 frames

The images appear to show something moving across the loch in the Scottish Highlands

In the startling photos Mrs Kelly claims to have captured an unidentified large eel-like creature can be seen on the surface of the legendary water.

Mrs Kelly was taking photographs of the area at Dores when she and her businessman husband Scott, 69, saw a 'strange creature' move right to left over a distance of about 100 metres.

It then disappeared and never re-surfaced, they claim.

Mrs Kelly was so shocked by what she saw on August 13, 2018, that she feared public ridicule and did not share the images.

But she was inspired by the biggest search for Nessie in over 50 years last August, in which hundreds of volunteers took part.

It was then that she plucked up the courage to show her startling photographs to veteran Nessie hunter Steve Feltham, who has set a world record for the longest vigil of looking for the Loch Ness Monster - now over 30 years long from his Dores base. 

In the startling photos Mrs Kelly captured an unidentified large eel-like creature can be seen on the surface of the legendary water. Pictured: A general view of Loch Ness 

Today, he said: 'They are the most compelling surface images of the phenomenon. Putting all 71 frames out there will hopefully spark international debate and an analysis. That's the point of it.

'They still defy explanation. I don't think they are otters - those creatures are much smaller than what is in the images - or divers. It also appears there may be two objects. They certainly warrant further investigation.'

Mrs Kelly was on holiday with her family from Ascot in Berkshire at the time of the sighting. The family have since moved to near Fortose on the Black Isle.

'My husband was originally from the Inverness area and Dores beach is a very special place to me as it where he used to take me when we first met,' said Japanese-born Mrs Kelly previously.

'We had lunch in the Dores Inn and then started walking around. I was just taking pictures with my Cannon camera of Scott and our daughter Alisa, who was then five, when about 200 metres from the shore, moving right to left at a steady speed was this creature.

'It was spinning and rolling at times. We never saw a head or neck. After a couple of minutes it just disappeared and we never saw it again.'

In the startling photos Mrs Kelly captured an unidentified large eel-like creature can be seen on the surface of the legendary water

Translator Mrs Kelly was taking photographs of the area at Dores when she and her businessman husband Scott, 69, saw a strange creature move right to left over a distance of about 100 metres

She said at first she wondered if it was an otter or a pair of otters or a seal, but 'we never saw a head and it never came up again for air'. 

Mrs Kelly added that it making a 'strange movement on the surface' but there was no sound. Strange shapes could be seen below the surface of the water, which was was dark, she said.

'I could not accurately assess its length, but the two parts that were visible were less than two metres long together,' she said.

Mr Feltham said: 'They are exactly the type of pictures I have been wanting to take for three decades. It is rare to see something so clear on the surface.

'They are vindication for all the people who believe there is something unexplained in Loch Ness. They are remarkable. I have studied them and still do not know what it is.

Mrs Kelly was on holiday with her family from Ascot in Berkshire at the time of the sighting

The family have since moved to near Fortose on the Black Isle

Mrs Kelly said she has 'always believed there was something in Loch Ness'

'We are lucky the Kellys have decided to go public at last. I have met the Kellys twice and they are absolutely genuine. I persuaded them that these pictures were so important they should make them public. They warrant further investigation. It is not driftwood - it is a moving creature and totally unexplained.'

Hollywood star, Rhys Darby and his Cryptid Factor co-hosts director Leon Kirkbeck and Dan Schreiber - co-host of QI's No Such Thing As A Fish podcast - have put together video footage of the photos.

The Cryptid Factor hosts said: 'This video allows us to see how the monster moves, which is a game-changer. As soon as we saw the finished footage we knew we had to take it to the world'.

Dan Schreiber added: 'Whether you're a sceptic or a believer, this mysterious video will give you goosebumps and have you debating late into the night over what was captured by Chie in the loch that day. There will no doubt be those who will assume this is a video made using AI, or somehow been tampered with, but we at the Cryptid Factor can attest to them being entirely authentic.

'They have not been photoshopped or falsified in any way ... Hopefully this video will serve as a reminder that there are still mysteries still out there to be solved, and it will ignite the world of amateur sleuths into analysing this footage and helping us get to the bottom of what is in it.

'And, if you think you've cracked it, please send your theories our way on the Cryptid Factor'.

Pictured: A previous photo of the Loch Ness monster where one man claimed it was as big as a double-decker bus

It is now over 90 years since the Loch Ness Monster modern phenomenon began.

On April 14, 1933, hotel manageress Mrs Aldie Mackay reported seeing a 'whale-like fish' in the waters of Loch Ness.

According to Google, there are around 200,000 searches each month for the Loch Ness Monster, and around 120,000 for information and accommodation close to Loch Ness. The monster mystery is said to be worth £30m to the region.

Irish missionary St Columba is first said to have encountered a beast in the River Ness in 565AD.

The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register has now logged 1166 sightings - including webcam images - from records and other evidence stretching back through the centuries.

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What IS the Loch Ness Monster?

Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.

One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.  

On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.

Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.

It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.

Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.

Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake 

The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.

But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.

An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com. 

So what could explain these mysterious sightings? 

Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.

Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.

Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.

While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.

Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.