Tour skipper Ronald believes that he captured the legendary Lock Ness Monster on sonar equipment during a recent cruise, according to an interview and image provided to the Daily Record. Other Loch Ness hunters now believe that the picture has provided the “most compelling” evidence yet that the mysterious creature really exists.
The image, showing a red and dark blue extended figure with some white inclusions, was taken by the “real state-of-the-art sonar on the new boat,” said Mackenzie, who is the director of Cruise Loch Ness.
“It doesn’t lie. It captures what’s there,” he claimed.
According to the enthusiast, the sighting took place while he was on tour with 12 passengers, “halfway point off Invermoriston,” where the water reaches 189 metres in depth.
“It was right in the middle of the loch at about 170m (558ft) down. It was big – at least 10m (33ft). The contact lasted 10 seconds while we passed over. I’ve been on the loch since I was 16 years old and I have never seen anything like it,” the man revealed.
Mackenzie still could not say with absolute certainty that the colourful sonar image captured the long-necked monster and not something more earthly.
“I believe there’s something in the loch that nobody knows what it is, be it a big eel or a sturgeon or a big fish of some sort – or even Nessie,” he claimed.
Some experts quoted by the outlet later described the image as “100 percent genuine”, however they also said that it could simply depict “a sturgeon or a small shoal of fish.”
Loch Ness expert Steve Feltham praised the finding as “extremely exciting”.
“I have known Ronald Mackenzie for 30 years. He’s a Highland lad who does not seek publicity and shies away from the fanciful Nessie theories,” Feltham commented on the pic. “He’s not somebody who would cry wolf – or Nessie – but within seven minutes of getting the sonar contact he messaged me.”
Just this year, the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register has recorded eight possible sightings of the mysterious creature, still short of the record number of 18 sightings recorded last year.