After the 'most compelling pictures yet' of the Loch Ness monster, how the mythical beast has enthralled the world since the very first 'sighting' in 1933

On a sunny day in November 1933, Scottish man Hugh Gray took a picture that would spark a global obsession.

He later described what he saw in Loch Ness, near Inverness, as an 'object of considerable dimensions'.

His image showed what appeared to be some kind of creature amid churning water. 

From then on, sightings of the Loch Ness monster proliferated and, more than 90 years on, the interest has shown no sign of ebbing away.

This week, photographer Chie Kelly revealed what one Nessie expert described as the 'most compelling' images yet of the rumoured monster.

She took 71 images in 2018 but did not share them out of fear of public ridicule. The first 15 images were revealed last year and now all the frames have been turned into a video.

On a sunny day in November 1933, Scottish man Hugh Gray took a picture that would spark a global obsession. He later described what he saw in Loch Ness, near Inverness, as an 'object of considerable dimensions' 

In 1934, a picture taken by London physician Robert Kenneth Wilson captured the world's attention. It showed what appeared to be a beast rearing its head out of the water. It was later exposed as a hoax 

The Nessie mystery could date as far back as 565AD, when Irish missionary Saint Columba was recorded to have encountered a strange water monster in the River Ness, which feeds the famous loch.

According to his centuries-old biography, the water beast had slain one man and attacked another when it fled in terror after Saint Columba made the sign of the cross and ordered it back.

Gray's image came after another man, Loch Ness water bailiff and part-time journalist Alex Campbell, reported on the sighting of an 'enormous creature with the body of a whale rolling in the water in the loch' earlier in 1933. 

The article, titled Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness, was reported in the local press in May 193 and quickly became a media phenomenon.

London newspapers began to send correspondents to Scotland, with some offering a £20,000 reward for the capture of the beast.

Interest continued to skyrocket in August the same year, after George Splicer's alleged sighting was published in the Inverness Courier.

This week, photographer Chie Kelly revealed what one Nessie expert described as the 'most compelling' images yet of the rumoured monster 

The report spoke of Mr Spicer and his wife seeing 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car on July 22, describing it as a 'monster fish,' 'sea serpent,' and 'dragon'.

They described the creature as having a large body - 4 feet (1.2 m) high and 25 feet (8 m) long - and a long, wavy, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the width of the road (3–4 m).

Researchers at Columbia University found evidence in 2013 to prove that this story was fake and suggested the sighting was fictionalized and inspired by the popular King Kong film at the time.

However, sightings of the monster continued to increase, bringing vast numbers of tourists to the area and solidifying the Loch Ness Monster name.

And then came the famous photograph taken by Mr Grey. 

Skeptics have suggested the photograph depicts an otter or a swan, or even Mr Gray's dog fetching a stick.

The following year, a picture taken by London physician Robert Kenneth Wilson captured the world's attention.

It showed what appeared to be a beast rearing its head out of the water.

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

A model of a monster had been placed on a toy submarine.

In 1936, a sketch of the rumoured beast after it had supposedly come ashore near the village of Drumnadrochit in September 1936 convinced a 'staggered' expert.

It was seen both facing forwards and side-on, with its rolls of fat around its midriff standing out.

The drawing featured in a cache of previously confidential documents dubbed the 'Monster Files' that were publicised last year by the National Museums of Scotland.

The Nessie mystery could date as far back as 565AD, when Irish missionary Saint Columba was recorded to have encountered a strange water monster in the River Ness, which feeds the famous loch

In 1936, a sketch of the rumoured beast after it had supposedly come ashore near the village of Drumnadrochit in September 1936 convinced a 'staggered' expert 

Lachlan Stuart's photograph in 1951 photo showed three humps poking out of the surface of the loch

In 1969, government minister Lord Hughes of Hawkshill was mocked by his colleagues in the House of Lords for suggesting that the monster might be real.

He was responding to a comment by a fellow peer, who had branded the creature's existence a 'myth' that pulled in 'gullible tourists'.

Lord Hughes retorted: 'I do not know on what scientific ground my noble friend says that the monster is a myth.'

Then, in 1975, a person sent expert Ian HJ Lyster, of the Royal Scottish Museum, the 1936 drawing.

Expressing his shock, the natural historian said its appearance explained previous descriptions and photographs, including one famous image taken by Lachlan Stuart in 1951.

The photo showed three humps poking out of the surface of the loch.

The natural historian wrote of the sketch: 'I was quite staggered when I first saw the sketch.

'My first reaction was that such a creature would explain a lot of the apparently odd descriptions of the Loch Ness Monster and also such photographs as the three humps taken by Lachlan Stuart in 1951.

An early sighting of what was claimed to be the Loch Ness Monster 

A 1998 'sighting' of the Loch Ness monster

The image taken by Richard White in 1997. He won £500 in a bet with a bookmaker for this image, on a wager that he couldn't take a photo of an object in the Loch

A 1998 sighting. The image was taken by Geoff Mitcheson from Newcastle while he was on a cruise on the loch 

'The odd fleshy lobes hanging from the head have also been variously described by witnesses.'

Lyster believed that the monster's appearance meant it could be an older creature, with younger ones likely being thinner.

'I suspect that younger specimens may not have the floppy fins or the dewlaps and that it is the younger, more agile ones which are occasionally seen ashore,' he wrote.

Dewlaps refer to the flaps of loose skin seen in the sketch, which was reported to have been produced by local workman Alastair Dallas.

Lyster told the sender of the sketch to send him a 'specimen' but otherwise said he had to retreat behind a 'smokescreen of scientific caution'.

Another expert - botanist John Dennis - said the drawing looked like a 'Walt Disney caricature'.

However, he said the depiction and others like it were the 'most reliable' he had seen, and claimed that hoaxers would not go to 'all the trouble'.

In 1955, bank manager Peter MacNab photographed something large moving through the water of the loch near Urquhart Castle.

Steve Feltham sits outside his home - a former mobile library - on the banks of Loch Ness. He has set a world record for the longest Nessie vigil

But differences between the negative of the image and the print that was shown to the media cast doubt on its veracity.

In 1977, a photo was claimed to be the clearest ever of the beast emerged.

But the man who took it was a magician and psychic who claimed to have 'summoned' the monster from the depths of Loch Ness.

With sceptics noting the lack of ripples in the water, it was soon dismissed as a hoax.

In 2007, 55-year-old English lab technician Gordon Holmes claimed to have captured a video of Nessie.

'I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this jet black thing, about 45-feet long, moving fairly fast in the water,' he claimed.

But experts quickly said it was likely a seal or an otter.

During her trip to Loch Ness with her husband in 2018, Mrs Kelly saw a 'strange creature' move right to left over a distance of around 100 metres.

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

In 2020, startling images of a large creature inhabiting the depths of Loch Ness were captured on sonar off Invermoriston by skipper Ronald Mackenzie aboard his Spirit of Loch Ness tourist boat

Mrs Kelly was on holiday with her family from Ascot in Berkshire when she took her pictures in 2018

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 Nessie vigil.

He has spent more than 30 years living beside the Loch, keeping a near-constant watch. 

Mr Feltham said this week: '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.'

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'.

According to the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, a list compiled by monster hunter Gary Campbell, there have been 1,155 reported sightings of Nessie.

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.