Another Nessie fan emailed me recently asking if I had any of Alan Wilkins photographs which were taken in July 1975. I recalled that at the time, as a teenager, I had seen one such picture on the front page of the Sunday Express, cut it out to keep, but today I had no clue where it had gone. So the hunt began ending with me finding a scan of it in my files and some other items.
Regarding Alan himself, he was one of the understated monster researchers during those heady days in the 1970s. He was in fact the man who helped coin the term "Nessiteras Rhombopteryx" back in 1975 using his knowledge of Latin as a classics teacher in the south of Scotland. A letter written from Sir Peter Scott to Alan in November 1975 shows the conversation that was ongoing before the famous unveiling of the Rines/AAS underwater photographs a month later (my thanks to Howard Pate for this image).
The main reference to Alan Wilkins' experience on the day he took the above photo is laid out in an article in the Field magazine published on the 27th November 1975 entitled "The Monster: Four Vital Sightings". This recounts what was an unexpected day for Alan on the 18th July 1975, when he had not one but four sightings in the space of 15 hours. This began at 7:20am, one and a half miles south of Invermoriston, where he saw a long dark line appear on the surface which was followed by a black shape which submerged in a swirl of water. However, this was observed at about a distance of two miles through 10x50 binoculars (Alan's sketch below).
Later at 10:20am, Wilkins reported seeing what looked like an inflatable boat moving in the haze off Fasagh, two and a quarter miles away. He took some photographs and a few seconds of cine film. Sketches based on the photos are shown below. On seeing the photos, Alan classed it as a two humped object changing into a one humped object.
Three minutes later at 10:15am, an object appeared in the same area, which his wife through the binoculars, first described as a man in a boat, but which then submerged, re-appeared and progressed across the loch. A sketch of that is shown below.
By the time Alan had refocused the binoculars, he observed a line of three humps as sketched below. A man from the next caravan in the camping site also confirmed seeing three humps with his own binoculars as did a couple called Roger Selwyn and Sylvia Williams. Wilkins surmised the distance between the single hump and the other two suggested two animals.
These objects progressed for another fifteen minutes until at a range of 3450-3800 yards away. A further burst of cine film was taken and this particular sighting lasted 28 minutes. A second article was published in the next Field magazine on the 4th December detailing the other two sightings. At 9:25pm, Alan saw a black patch in an area of boiling water and two triangular humps surfacing and then submerging. This was also seen by two of the previous witnesses and is sketched below.
The final sighting occurred at 10:25pm when a series of three humps was again seen and proceeding out of Invermoriston Bay about one mile away under the light of the moon. Wilkins watched this via his binoculars mounted on a tripod. The humps progressed before turning at a right angle to travel away from them. He estimated them as being about four feet high and as one animal as they moved in unison. His sketch is shown below and I think this was when he took the photograph at the top of this article.
At this point he observed some interesting transitions as the humps changed from three to two, back to three, to two, to one and so on. Another previous witness, Sylvia Williams, also observed these, calling out the same changes as Alan in unison. Thus concluded the sightings which were then investigated by members of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau, including a certain Dick Raynor who tape recorded eyewitness testimonies. Tim Dinsdale and others accepted the genuineness of the reports.
Not surprisingly, considering the previously stated large distances and evening hours, most of the photos and cine film were rendered inconclusive, except for one or two images. A set of some images, plus some taken by co-witness, Roger Selwyn, were sent to the Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena, USA for image enhancement - in the similar alleged manner as the 1972 "Flipper" picture. These would then be passed onto JARIC for further analysis.
What the outcome of those processes were is not known, but the LNIB accepted the genuineness of the sightings. And with that, Alan Wilkins seems to disappear from the Loch Ness scene. I see no reference to any further activities by him in Rip Hepple's newsletter. The Rines underwater pictures would soon swamp any attention his own pictures may have received and it seems he eventually moved onto other things. What did he eventually make of his sightings as time progressed? After all, at up to two miles away, one would normally hold such accounts lightly, if he had not employed binoculars and taken some images.
And what did he think the creature was back then and what does he think now? I imagine, if he is still with us, he would be aged around ninety years old. With all this in mind, I have attempted on several occasions by letter and phone to contact Alan without success. I believe he still lives in the Dumfries and Galloway area and has spent recent years in the subject of Greek and Roman history, publishing works such as on Roman military
equipment. I even found a more recent photo of the man himself.
So, Alan, if you read this, get in touch with me. I would love to speak to you.
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The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com
