The Surgeon's Photographs

Any one that is familiar with the subject of the Loch Ness Monster will know about the "Surgeon's Photograph" taken in April 1934 by Kenneth Wilson. In fact, the image this blog uses is an artist's impression of what may have been seen that day.

Or so it would seem to be Nessie but since the publication of "Nessie: The Surgeon's Photograph Exposed" in the 1990s by David Martin and Alastair Boyd everyone seems to have accepted it is a hoax and moved on.

As good a piece of investigative journalism as it is, some questions still nag in my mind and we will visit these as this blog progresses. But today I wish to focus on the second less well known picture associated with this event. The picture is reproduced below.



Now in the expose book this photograph is mentioned in a little detail. The story is that Wilson took four exposures to Ogston's the Chemist in Inverness for development. Two plates showed something and the others did not. The Daily Mail was offered both but bought only the first for publication. The second plate was not collected by Wilson and Mr. Morrison the chemist allegedly destroyed it but kept a print in his wallet for 20 years until it was published by Constance Whyte in her "More Than a Legend" book in 1957. It also seems that even the print is now lost from Whyte's collection and we do not even know what the original uncropped image looks like and any speculation about what is in that uncropped image remain only speculation which can be interpreted either way according to one's bias so I will say nothing further on that.

There are two things that need to be answered in my opinion. The first is the fact that Wilson took the undeveloped plates at all to be developed by a chemist who was not in on the alleged plot (the book makes no allegation on this point). Logic would dictate that to make sure the whole elaborate plot was successfully recorded on the negative, the development process also had to be done covertly so as to make sure the image was just right. It does not make sense to trust the final stage of the hoax to a third party who cannot be trusted. This leaves a question mark on the alleged modus operandi of the hoaxers. Furthermore, we are told that Wetherell destroyed the model after taking the pictures with no recourse to taking them again if the plates did not turn out well by their untrusted third party chemist!

Secondly, and more importantly, is the way the book treats the second photograph. It is summarily dismissed as having nothing to do with the first photograph, looks nothing like the first "creature" and the wave formation looks different and so on.

But one senses that the book struggles a bit here and an imaginary lawyer defending the Surgeon's Photo would have a field day with this. After all, the natural question to ask is "What did Christian Spurling say about the second photo?". Readers may recall that Christian Spurling was the main character in the expose book who confessed that the whole thing was a hoax he took part in with his step-father Marmaduke Wetherell.

Okay, so Alastair Boyd and David Martin would have asked him about the second photograph. It is unthinkable that they would not have asked him about it in their five hour visit. They knew the second photograph was part of the story and it is a certainty they asked about it. What does the book say that Spurling said about the second photograph? The answer is not a word. If Spurling had said it was a fake too then the authors would certainly have mentioned it in their dismissal of it.

They do not and I put it to you, readers, that the reason Spurling is not quoted as saying it was a fake was because he knew nothing about it. But he was involved in the plot - how could he not have known about it if he was the one who made the fake model? After all, it was one of the four negatives submitted by Wilson for development. How did it come to appear on the plates when the toy submarine with a fake head and neck on top clearly could only produce the first more famous picture? Did the plotters produce a second fake monster in the act of submerging? That is the main question. If Spurling's story is correct, there should be no second photograph so we have a slight conundrum here.

Until we can get to the bottom of the story of the second photograph, I will accept Alastair Boyd has got it right ... but I still have this nagging feeling!

We'll visit this famous story again in later blogs.

More on Foyers

By the modern wonder of Google Earth we can zoom into that monster hunting spot on my last post. If you have Google Earth the coordinates of the pier are:

Latitude: 57°15'31.28"N
Longitude: 4°29'17.27"W



I have annotated the picture with a few items. The lines A, B and C effectively show the limits of the line of sight I would have had from that vantage point. Line B is limited by the head land to the left and extends about 1.5 miles. Line A goes along the southern shoreline but ultimately stops at the distance to the horizon which is marked by line C about 2.5 miles from my vantage point. In practise nothing much will be conclusively recordable at such distances.

All in all, I would say I had theoretical coverage of about 12% but less in practise if any meaningful evidence was to be recorded.

Monster Hunting at Foyers Pier

I was up at Loch Ness recently so a good chance to record some educational footage and describe the sights and sounds of Loch Ness as well as discuss Nessie and Nessie hunting. The building I cannot name is actually the Hydro Electric Power Station which generates 300Mw of energy for the locals.

"I have lived at Loch Ness all my life and seen nothing!"

So what about these folks who have spent decades by the loch and never have seen a sign of Nessie? Is this a proof of Nessie's non-existence?

Not at all.

Firstly, all the major places of habitation around Loch Ness such as Fort Augustus, Drumnadrochit, Foyers and Dores are not built on the shore line. In fact they can be quite a distance from the shoreline as in the case of Drumnadrochit. So you could spend your entire life in your town and never actually see the loch!

Secondly, it is surprising how much of the loch is not visible from the main roads surrounding Loch Ness. In the case of the south side of the loch, hardly any of the loch is visible and the north side is not great either. In fact, I would say that as you drive around on the A82 and B roads, not even 10% of the roads present a decent view of the loch.

So in the case of our local residents driving off to their jobs in the morning and coming back at a speed of 50mph or more, any view of the loch will be short lived and of low quality as they have to keep one or both eyes on the road ahead.

So perhaps the typical inhabitant spends only minutes per day looking at Loch Ness. Over thirty years that would add up to 850 hours for about 5 minutes per day (allowing for being absent on holidays or being sick). And remember this consists of glances, focussed on other objects such as boats with no systematic scanning of the surface that serious Nessie hunters would employ.

In that light, I am not surprised the vast majority of Loch Ness natives have never seen anything!

Steve Feltham - Full Time Monster Hunter

I was up at Loch Ness recently and went to Dores to look up resident monster hunster Steve Feltham.

As the Guardian article displayed outside his mobile home says, he became a full time monster hunter in June 1991. But that day I wondered if the title "Full Time Monster Hunter" would reach its 20th anniversary?

As it turned out his home was locked up. I assumed he was at the nearby Dores Inn having lunch but on further enquiry the staff said he was only at his home a few days a week. He had found a girlfriend and spent a lot of time at her place!

Well, if you are not at base every day then can you be a full time monster hunter? If this lady becomes the future Mrs Feltham would she want to take up residence at his former mobile home? I may not be an expert on women but I am pretty sure such a place would not appeal.

Are Steve's days as a full time or even part time monster hunter numbered? Don't get me wrong, 19 years of monster hunting is an achievement of human endeavour and perhaps it is fitting that as the Guardian article said that full time monster hunting made him leave his girlfriend, so a girlfriend made him leave full time monster hunting.

Good luck Steve in whatever you do!

Welcome to the Loch Ness Blog

Hello,

I have followed Nessie since I was a bright eyed and bushy tailed youngster many moons ago. My views on what Nessie may be have changed but my overall belief that something big and unusual lurks beneath the waters of Loch Ness has not changed.

In this day when anything beyond so called science and fallible human reason is under increasing derision, this blog defends the thesis that the Loch Ness Monster is more than just misconceptions.

Of course we will also follow the personalities and places that have helped shape the Nessie story.