I was stunned when I spotted ‘Loch Ness monster’ – a huge neck appeared out of nowhere
A DAD-OF-THREE claims he spotted the mysterious 'Loch Ness Monster' after seeing something strange in the water.
John Payne, from Newport, Wales was admiring the view from his hotel, when he saw what looked like a "huge neck" bobbing along the water surface.
The 55-year-old was staying at the Foyers Roost guest house, by Loch Ness, on April 9 when he claimed to capture the 'creature' on camera.
The retail worker knew immediately the object he saw was too large to be a bird, and remembered there were no dolphins or porpoises in the loch - leading him to the inevitable conclusion he was staring at the ancient monster.
He managed to capture the mysterious object on camera during its two minute appearance - and the images shocked hotel staff.
John said: "It must have been something very large because we were about a mile away from the loch and I could see it clearly.
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"You wouldn't have been able to see a bird or anything from that far away - it had to be something large.
"It was like a huge neck.
"It wasn't like it was tied to anything, like a buoy, because it kept moving further away."
The next day John tried to find the 'monster' again, but it seemed 'Nessie' only offered a one-time show.
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"I showed some people at the hotel and they were all really shocked", John added.
"I went down to the loch later that day but I couldn't see anything.
"I looked at other Nessie pictures and these do look similar to it."
This comes just days after the first officially accepted sighting of the Loch Ness Monster this year was logged by a 13-year-old girl.
Francesca McGarvey from Castlehead, Paisley, was travelling with her mum and dad on April 5 when she saw something in the loch at just before 12pm.
The girl claimed she saw a dark shape emerge from the water, moving north toward Urquhart Castle, an area known for sightings.
Gary Campbell, keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, said: ";She said there were humps seen, possibly like back of a whale and about the length of two saloon cars - about 20 feet in total.
"It stayed above surface whilst moving for about 30 seconds. She took a picture and alerted her parents, who tried to find place to stop but couldn’t pull in safely but her dad also briefly saw it.
"They confirmed that there was no sign of boat activity in the area. She also made a drawing of what she saw.
"It just shows Nessie is still there. She had not popped her head up since October 11.
"But ironically it is also just before the 90th anniversary of being called 'a monster'."
This comes as other people claim to have spotted the elusive creature - of which there is no evidence to prove its existence.
One 'Nessie hunter', Eoin O’Faodhagain, was monitoring a webcam of Loch Ness when he spotted a dark presence he estimated to be up to 30 feet long.
The 58-year-old noticed two humps surfacing not far away and they were not conjoined - leading Eoin to the conclusion there may be more than one monster in the water.
In 2021, a YouTuber claimed to capture drone footage of the 'creature' underwater.
Richard Mavor, 54, was filming for his channel Richard Outdoors when eagle-eyed viewers spotted ‘Nessie’.
Many people who watched Richard’s video pointed out that an unusual shape at the water’s edge looked a lot like the Loch Ness Monster.
There have now been over 1,000 reported sightings, but 'Nessie' was first "spotted" back in 565 – a biography of Irish monk Saint Columba mentions a giant "water beast" dragging a man to his death in Scotland's River Ness.
The "surgeon’s photograph" is probably the best-known image of the creature.
But in 1975 the famous shot was exposed as a hoax, made using a toy submarine with a carved monster’s head.
It has been claimed that sightings of Nessie are caused by misidentifying inanimate objects – tree trunks, logs and optical effects caused by wind conditions have all been suggested.
One scientific theory put forward to support the traditional idea of the monster's huge size and appearance is that it is a plesiosaur – a type of giant long-necked reptile that went extinct over 60 million years ago.
NESSIE SIGHTINGS
The official register has now logged 1155 sightings of the Loch Ness Monster - here are some recent ones.
April 5, 2023 - Francesca McGarvey
A 13-year-old girl from Castlehead, Paisley, claimed she spotted 'Nessie' after noticing two large humps in the loch while travelling towards Fort Augustus.
April 9, 2023 - John Payne
The 55-year-old man said he saw the Loch Ness Monster while staying at Foyers Roost guest house after seeing a "huge neck" in the water.
May 2017 - Ian Bremner and Hayley Johnson
Photographer Ian captured a photo from the banks of the loch which showed a long eel-like object splashing in the water.
Hayley was a tourist who claimed to see a strange and dark shape in the loch’s Urquhart Bay water at dusk.
July 2019 - Mike Bell
The boat skipper claimed he had captured a sonar image of the 25ft-long monster.
2020 - Ronald Mackenzie
The "most compelling" images were captured on sonar off Invermoriston by skipper Ronald Mackenzie aboard his Spirit of Loch Ness tourist boat.
The object was estimated to be 32 feet long, hovering 62 feet above the bottom and over 500 feet down.
Leading sonar expert Craig Wallace stated the sonar images were "very curious" "large, clear and distinct contacts, all strangely near to the loch bed" and "100 percent genuine".
January 2021 - Eoin O’Faodhagain
The 'Nessie hunter' claimed to spot the monster three times in 11 days.
To read our full list of 'Nessie sightings', click here.
Have you seen Nessie? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.
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