A mother has been left ‘baffled’ by a mysterious grey object on the surface of Loch Ness, she spotted during a walk- which has become the 13th Nessie sighting of this year.
Mother-of-two Louise Power, 38 and her mother Jennifer Macrae, 60, said they spotted the lake monster during a stroll along the Great Glen Way above Temple Pier at Drumnadrochit – where Mrs Power, 38, has lived all her life next to Loch Ness.
Gary Campbell, the keeper of the Official Loch Ness Sightings Register confirmed it was the 13th sighting of this year.
Mrs Power said that during their walk on November 15 they caught sight of ‘something strange’ in the water below – less than half-a-mile away – and she decided to film it on her phone.
Mrs Power, a local high school clerical assistant said: ‘Mum saw it first and said ‘look!’ and I just said ‘be quiet’.
‘I expected to see a seal or something but we spent 20 minutes watching this thing moving slowly along the middle of the loch.
‘There was a wake after it and during that time it did not disappear – it just kept moving slowly.
‘Then it turned towards Dores with a big wave and just went under the water and disappeared.
‘I just couldn’t believe it. It was quite big and whitish grey. I couldn’t put an exact size on it – other than it was big.
It has been accepted as the 13th sighting of Nessie this year
‘We have both lived here all our lives and we have never seen anything like that before.
‘I did believe that there was something unexplained in the loch – now I know there is!
‘When it turned away from us the waters were really disturbed and we watched it for another five minutes before it went under.
‘At the end of our sighting it did not look as long as it did at the beginning – you could not make out its exact shape.
Louise Power, 38, noticed ‘something strange’ in the water during a walk and decided to film it
‘I run and walk along that road regularly and I have never seen anything unusual before in all those years. I’ve been trying to rationalise it in my head since but I’m baffled.’
Mr Campbell, who has accepted it as a sighting in record said: ‘This is the 13th accepted sighting this year which in a year of lockdown is incredible’
‘Normally there would have been half-a-million visitors to the loch, but the sightings have held up with so many less people about. The mystery is as strong as ever.
‘It just shows that what ever the situation Nessie has not gone away and is finishing the end of the year with another unexplained appearance. It all adds to the mystery and is in many ways it is a vintage year for sightings.
There were 18 ‘confirmed,’ sightings of the Loch Ness monster last year, but the most iconic image relating to the legend is Robert Wilson’s, above, taken in 1934
‘This latest one is another unexplained phenomenon at Loch Ness. We will never have firm evidence without a carcass – which none of us want.’
Surprisingly Mrs Power’s nearby neighbour Ross MacAulay,35, had a similar encounter on July 8.
Last month another possible Nessie sighting was added to Mr Campbell’s long list.
On November 24, Karen Scott, 54, spotted a strange presence ‘the size of a very large seal’ swimming in the Scottish loch while visiting from Aberdeen with her partner.
A new photo of a mysterious creature ‘the size of a very large seal’ in Loch Ness has been declared a fresh Nessie sighting
Earlier this year a sonar detected a mystery 30ft long shape 500ft below the surface of Loch Ness
The ‘solid and pretty big’ sonar contact was picked up by a boat owned by Cruise Loch Ness.
The ‘solid and pretty big’ sonar contact (circled in red) was picked up by a boat owned by Cruise Loch Ness
Director Ronald Mackenzie, 48, said: ‘I believe that there is something big living deep down in the Loch, who knows what it can be but I would love to think it’s Nessie.
‘It is something which is feeding on eels or trout. It is quite unusual.’
A convincing new sonar image has been unearthed which adds to the ‘most compelling evidence’ that the Loch Ness Monster does exist.
It was captured by retired skipper Rod Michie, 77, in 2015, who worked on Loch Ness for over 30 years.
This convincing new sonar image has been unearthed which adds to the ‘most compelling evidence’ that the Loch Ness Monster does exist
He said: ‘I used to see surprising things visually or by sonar, but every time there was a logical explanation.
‘But this contact was different. It really is unexplained. I passed over this point many times later but never saw anything again.’