Aug 22, 564 CE: Loch Ness Monster Sighted
On August 22, 564, the first sighting of the cryptid that would become known as the Loch Ness Monster was reported by St. Columba.
Loch Ness Monster
The towns surrounding Loch Ness, around the urban area of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, have cashed in on their famous cryptid. The Loch Ness Monster, nicknamed Nessie, is responsible for nearly $42 million in goods and services every year, according to the BBC in 2012.
Photograph by StaraBlazkova, courtesy Wikimedia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Loch Ness Monster
On August 22, 564, some historians say Columba, a Christian leader, reported seeing the animal that would become known as the Loch Ness Monster in Loch Ness, Scotland. Columba was an Irish priest (later a saint) who was visiting Scotland, and reportedly compelled the monster to not attack one of Columba’s followers.
The Loch Ness Monster is probably the most famous target of cryptozoology, the study of animals whose existence has not been proven. Cryptozoology is not a science.
Cryptozoologists search for mythical creatures called cryptids. Thousands of cultures all over the world report cryptids. Besides the Loch Ness Monster, other lake cryptids include Champ (in Lake Champlain, United States and Canada); Issi (in Lake Ikeda, Japan); and the Lagarfljot Worm (in Lagarfljot Lake, Iceland). Other cryptids include chupacabras, blood-sucking creatures that threaten livestock throughout Latin America; bunyips, which lurk in Australia’s swamps; dingoneks, “jungle walruses” found in lakes and rivers in central Africa; and, of course, Bigfoot, who stalks old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.
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