2009, August 28: Loch Ness Monster Spotted on Google Earth?

On August 28, 2009, newspaper websites worldwide started circulating the astounding news that the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland had been photographed by satellites, and could be seen in Google Earth! The 'monster' had been found by Jason Cook, a security guard in Nodinghamshire, in Google Earth while he was browsing through satellite images of the Scottish Highlands.

A satellite photo of Loch Ness, showing... ? [Larger version here]

        The object looks a bit like a fish from above, with four fins and a long tail; researcher Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness Project felt the image deserved further study.

Further Study Shows...

        Less than a day after the news release, it was already being put forth that the 'monster' was likely the image of a boat and it's wake; this opinion, expressed in many of the newspaper articles that came after the initial release of the story, seems to have been taken from a posting by user Mattusmaximus at The Skeptical Teacher website. The boat in question was the Ness Express, a tourist boat known to do regular daily runs up and down the Loch, and which corresponded in size to the main body of the 'monster' in the picture, with fins and tail being just visible wakes from the boat's forward motion, all of which is easier to see in an extreme closeup of the object:

A closer view. [Larger version here]

Still Swimming

        As late as April 2014, when the 'monster' of Loch Ness was once again announced to have been photographed by satellites -- by Apple Maps this time -- the image of the Google Apps 'Nessie' was still available to be seen in the program, and on line at the co-ordinates Latitude 57°12’52.13″N, Longitude 4°34’14.16″W. ... and as long as it's still available, you should be able to get to it by Clicking Here.