The biggest hunt for the Loch Ness Monster yet ends just as you’d expect

UFOs, UAPS, and space invaders; artificial intelligence, mutating mosquitos, and worldwide conspiracies — 2023 could go down as the wackiest year in human history. Oh, and the Loch Ness Monster might be real. Like, REALLY real. Are you surprised?

With a recent expedition that quickly became the largest search for Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster in the last 50 years, scientific researchers from around the world got together this past weekend to try and finally track down the legendary Scottish creature known aptly as “Nessie.”

Utilizing drones with thermal scanners, boats, infrared cameras, and underwater hydrophones — the folks involved in this monster hunt certainly weren’t messing around, and the results are finally in… They found it.

Just kidding. Although project leader Alan McKenna and his colleagues mentioned hearing “strange noises” in an interview with DW News, along with a slew of tips and videos, no conclusive evidence was found to support the existence of one of the world’s most sought-after mythical beasts. Yet.

Due to the massive influx of information from the search, those involved think it will be quite a while before we get any information, and all we Loch Ness lovers can do now is cross our tin-foiled fingers. Until then, let’s take a look at the history of the Loch Ness Monster outright and how this aquatic legend was born in the first place.

Origins of the Loch Ness Monster

Loch Ness is a large freshwater lake located in the Scottish Highlands and serves as the United Kingdom’s largest lake (by volume) on record. The term “loch” is the Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Scots word for lake or sea inlet and continues to be an iconic part of the culture’s ongoing vernacular.

Stories of a monster inhabiting the body of water can be traced back as far as 565 AD, and since then, there have been nearly 1,100 recorded sightings of the monster itself. Officially, with some conservative estimates predicting that many more go unreported each year.

A local legend until 1934, Nessie gained worldwide acclaim when a London physician snapped a photo of the supposed creature while enjoying time near the water. The image, which has come to be known as the “The Surgeon’s Photo,” has since been debunked — but has continued to serve as an emblem for the mythos surrounding the hypothetical creature.

There’s no hiding it. We all want to believe. Finding out that some sort of ancient underwater dinosaur has been hiding in Loch Ness for centuries wouldn’t just be a mind-melter. It would redefine our collective conceptions of nature altogether. Cool, right?

Still, we’re going to need a lot more than strange noises to confirm the existence of something as divisive as the Loch Ness monster. Just because the search has ended without evidence doesn’t mean there isn’t any out there. Happy hunting!