June 10, 1934 Loch Ness Monster photo surfaces
Relatively few people know that shortly after the July 22, 1993 George Spicer photograph, the infamous Loch Ness Monster photo that spawned modern-day interest in the legendary creature, another intriguing photo was taken of Nessie which generated quite a buzz when it appeared on the front page of the Glasgow newspaper. The original photo, and the identity of the photographer, has been lost to history. In fact, not even a full scan of the newspaper’s picture was readily available. That changed this week when a scan of the newspaper’s front-page photo appeared online.
The photograph was taken on June 10, 1934, in an area of Loch Ness near Fort Augustus. Its existence has been known for many years. A sketch of the picture appeared previously in the 1974 book, In Search of Lake Monsters, and a cropped version of the photo had appeared in various newspapers at the time. This week, however, we finally have a full scan of the Glasgow newspaper, including the article that accompanied the photo. True to form, the photo shows the familiar double-hump shape so often characterized as Nessie.
Below is the original text of the article as it appeared in 1934.
Holiday Party Photographs The Monster
Black Shining Object Like An Upturned Boat Seen at Fort Augustus
A Moray holiday party believe that they saw the Loch Ness Monster at Fort Augustus.
“We were always doubtful about the truth of any Monster existing in Loch Ness,” one of them told me, “But now I have no doubt that there is some living thing in the loch which scientists have yet been unable to explain.
I happened to gaze across the loch, and I was amazed to see an object slowly come to the surface. It made very little motion.
I cried, “Look, it’s the Monster,” Immediately I grabbed my small camera and took a snap, which shows beyond all doubt that something does exist in the loch.
I had just finished when the Monster swam for a few yards and gracefully disappeared. It made no splashing, and although we waited it did not reappear.”
Living Creature
Another told me there was no doubt about the matter. The Monster appeared like black shing object of an upturned boat.
“From my judgment,” he said, “I think it would be between fifteen and eighteen feet in length. I saw it from about 200 yards and can testify that it really is a living creature.
“There are two distinct humps, and from my position, I believe it would be about two feet out of the water.
“At that part of the loch is in the neighborhood of 600 feet in depth. If it was a trunk of a tree it would be continually seen, but it disappears.
“Whatever it is I cannot say but I may state that a trunk of a tree cannot swim and the Monster can.”
Similar sighting made five days earlier
It is interesting to note that five days prior to the day the photo was taken, a relatively unknown (and rarely reported) Nessie sighting occurred. On June 5, 1934, at around 6:30 AM, a young woman was looking out the window of a home in which she worked as a maid when she saw on the shore “one of the biggest animals she had seen in her life”. The creature was only about 200 yards away and she was able to provide a detailed, accurate description. According to the woman, the creature had a giraffe-like neck, small head, skin like an elephant, and two very short fore legs or flippers. She watched the creature for about 20 minutes before it slid into the water and disappeared. The location of the woman’s sighting? Fort Augustus – where the picture above was snapped five days later.