An "exciting mystery" has taken hold in Scotland, where the first reported sighting of the fabled Loch Ness Monster in 2025 has now been logged. The Loch Ness Centre, located near Inverness and the fabled Loch Ness body of water, announced Wednesday that a man on the shores of Dores Beach "reported seeing a large, dark mass beneath the still waters of the loch," leading to frenetic chatter on whether Nessie had reared her dinosaur-like head again, per USA Today.
The Jan. 29 sighting, "described as part of the body of Nessie submerged beneath the water, has left us intrigued by the possibility of a new glimpse of the legendary creature," the center says in a release, noting that the waters that day were exceedingly calm. "I just thought it was brilliant because it really shows ... the wave," said Aimee Todd, marketing manager for the center, of the image. "And it looks like there is like some kind of dark mass under the water pushing up that wave." Todd adds that her team has contacted experts to make sure the murky mass isn't a some kind of bird, seal, or other object.
No definitive evidence of the Loch Ness Monster has ever been produced, and the existence of the creature has largely been deemed a myth, despite more than 1,100 sightings (some of which have been debunked as hoaxes) since it was first supposedly spotted in the sixth century. "This recent sighting has been particularly captivating," Nagina Ishaq, the center's manager, tells Vice, and the news outlet itself calls the pic "pretty convincing." Others who've seen the cellphone photo aren't so sure. "Give me a break," one skeptic eye-rolled in the center's comments section. Another speculated the photo was an AI-driven creation, while yet another commenter called others "desperate" for believing the photo showed the monster. (More Loch Ness Monster stories.)
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