The very weirdest theories about the Loch Ness Monster

Ed Grabianowski -

What is the Loch Ness Monster? No one knows, but that hasn't stopped legions of armchair cryptozoologists from formulating one theory after another on the subject of the world's most famous lake creature.

Ok, it isn't entirely true that we don't know anything about what Nessie is – a lot of evidence indicates that the beast was born of the marriage between a compelling local legend and the imaginations of hoaxers and excitable eyewitnesses alike. The cold, murky waters of that massive lake must surely take on an ominous, mysterious quality during long Scottish nights – is it any surprise that the region generated the Greatest Fish Story Ever Told ?

Since the first publicized sighting in 1933, the adventurous and the curious have been trying to figure out what it is that people keep seeing in those turbid grey waters.

Theory One: Nessie is a Plesiosaur.

This theory might not seem weird because it's been around almost since the original sighting. There are even a few oddly plausible aspects of this theory. Plesiosaurs (specifically, long-necked elasmosaurs) may have been warm-blooded, which would allow one to live in the chilly loch waters. In the early 90s, a Discovery Channel expedition learned that the loch's fish population was much greater than previously known – enough to support a population of evolved plesiosaurs ? Maybe.

There are two huge problems with this theory, though. The biological problem is that elasmosaurs were not physically able to raise their heads and necks above the water in the swan-like fashion virtually every photo and eyewitness account indicates.

The geological problem is more severe: in between the supposed extinction of plesiosaurs and the formation of Loch Ness was a period of glaciation that left the entire region encased in ice several miles thick. And if you're about to propose some kind of Encino Man scenario, let me just stop you before you say it out loud. No, just stop.

Full story...

Posted via http://batavia08.posterous.com batavia08's posterous