April 10, 2012

The Nessie Files

Following my post of just a few days ago on the British Government and Alien Big Cats (ABCs), I was asked if official files on other British cryptids exist. Well, the answer is: Yes, they do! I would stress we’re not talking about definitive X-Files filled with tales of deep conspiracy, but we are talking about official interest in certain aspects of Cryptozoology. A perfect example is the “Nessie File.”

Some may conclude that, against all the odds, plesiosaurs dwell within the extensive waters of Scotland’s Loch Ness. Others might conclude that the accounts are nothing more than an ingenious way to increase Scotland’s economy. And then there is the “giant eel” theory. But of one thing we can be sure: for the British Government, Nessie has been a favorite issue for years.

In the late 1970s, previously-withheld documents made available to the general public in 2005 reveal, the then-Conservative Government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seriously considered a request to use dolphins in a search for the Loch Ness Monster. If the existence of the creature – or, more correctly, creatures – could be proved, the official world thought, it would have a very positive bearing upon Scotland’s tourist industry. Amid complaints from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, however, the plan was never put into action. But still the “Nessie File” remained open.

Then, in the mid-1980s, the government secretly tried to determine if the Loch Ness Monster was at risk from hunters and poachers. At one point, government officials were thinking of drafting new legislation to protect the monster. Eventually, FOIA-declassified documents show, the government concluded that: “The legislative framework to protect the monster is available; provided she (or he) is identified by scientists whose reputation will carry weight with the British Museum.”

Of course, so far no such identification has been made. Unless someone in the government knows something we don’t…

Filed under Conspiracies, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Lair of the Beasts, Lake Monsters, Loch Ness Monster