New Loch Ness Monster Sighting Has the Internet Abuzz

Didn’t think that 2020 could get any weirder? Well, it just did. Because to add one more thing to the list of “2020 you did what now?,” is the fact that the Loch Ness MonsterOpens in a new tab is currently trending on social media. Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

So just why is old Nessie back in the spotlight? Well, according to The Daily RecordOpens in a new tab, an English tourist by the name of Steve Challice thought he had just managed to take a photo of a big fish in the legendary Loch while on vacation in Scotland last year. He managed to take a pic of a very large critter that looked to be 8 feet long, possibly a catfish. But it was just big enough and rare enough for those waters for people to start claiming it was the Loch Ness Monster once the photo went public.

For the record, though, even the guy who took the photo doesn’t really think it’s more than a fish, telling reporters “My guess would be that what I captured was a catfish or something like that. As seals get in from the sea then I expect that’s what it is and that would explain why these sightings are so few and far between.” Anyway, Nessie was debunked by Scooby-Doo and the gangOpens in a new tab back in the ’70s. It should really be a closed case after that point.

Now, we should add that most descriptions in the past of Nessie describe it as a big snake or eelOpens in a new tab, or maybe a water based dinosaur. But what we saw in these photos is clearly just a big fish, and not even a monstrous one at that. But, folks will latch on to pretty much anything these days. And people really want the Loch Ness Monster to be a real thing. Even though if it was a real thing, it would be the most remarkable animal in history. As Nessie has been spotted for hundreds of yearsOpens in a new tab, that would make it the longest-lived animal on Earth. It’s one thing to swallow that there’s a secret giant monster in a lake, it’s another to say it’s practically immortal too.

Nevertheless, the supposed reappearance of Nessie has sparked a lot of great snark on social media.

So maybe all this silliness is worth it for just that reason alone.

Featured Image: Warner Brothers Animation