Loch Ness Monster Explained

Chapter 13b - THE MONSTER - American Sonar Investigations

When Dr Rines brought his Academy of Applied Science to join the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau in the search at Loch Ness, there was great hope that the introduction of American technology would usher in a new era of Loch Ness research. Rines brought a new optimism to the search, a new enthusiasm to the search and a new attitude to the search.

When his wife, the late Carol Rines arrived for her first stay at Tychat above Urquhart Bay the taxi driver stopped as they turned up the Tychat road and, according to Carol, pointed out that the Loch Ness Monster was making its way across the bay. Carol, impatient to get to the house said to the driver, "Oh, we'll be seeing it regularly so don't stop now, I want to get unpacked."

So started the unbelievable saga of the Rines' years which I am about to relate to you.

Another of their sightings was in the company of the Cary's from Strone, above Urquhart Castle. According to Dr Rines, he, his wife Carol, plus Heather and Winifred Cary watched a back, "like that of an elephant" crossing Urquhart Bay.

Interestingly even Mrs Cary, who regularly saw the monster herself, later said that that particular sighting could have been "anything". These amazing Americans, however, had sighting after sighting with their eyes, their sonars and their underwater cameras, but it now seems most unlikely that any of these "close encounters" had anything to do with Nessie, as will become clear in the material I will be analysing here.

The journey, however, is half the fun so let us have a look at the evidence of the Academy's expeditions in the round and then expose the whole can of worms one at a time.

The Academy's strap-line is, "Fueling* the Spark of Genius" and it describes its membership in the following sentence: "The membership of the Academy consists primarily of entrepreneurs, inventors, industrial and intellectual property lawyers, businesspersons, educators and others concerned with innovation and furthering the service of technology and applied science. Individuals become members of the Academy through nomination by current members."

They also used to say that they were encouraging a multi-disciplined approach to resolving problems. Loch Ness was one area they thought their varied approach might benefit.

There is no denying that they comprise a seriously talented group of individuals, some of whom will be mentioned within these pages.

How serious they were in applying their science to Loch Ness, and how much it was just a tax deductible adventure will in the end analysis be something the reader may have to determine for him/herself.

In 1972 the expedition was a joint expedition with the Loch Ness Bureau. The plan was to place underwater elapse-time cameras connected to strobe flash equipment in areas likely to be frequented by any large unknown animals in the loch. Urquhart Bay was a likely location and, in fact, something which is rather worrying to those of us who don't want to mix our mysteries, Winifred Cary had actually dowsed the spot chosen as being a likely Nessie location.

The cameras would also be monitored by a sonar machine, mounted horizontally and stationary with a view to complementing any photographic results. It might also provide the required data to enable the development of later sonar-triggered cameras.

The results of the 1972 expedition cannot be described as anything other than spectacular. The sonar machine had apparently detected large animals approaching the cameras (below ) and photographs were obtained which, after enhancement seemed to clearly show the flipper (top of page) of a large unidentified animal.