INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Loch Ness Monster Actually Just Large Catfish, Researcher Claims

By Courtney Miller
Published on: 05:07 PST, Jul 18, 2015

The legendary Loch Ness monster, “Nessie,” may only be a large catfish, according to one man. 52-year-old Steve Feltham, an avid researcher of the subject, says that after nearly three decades of searching for the elusive creature, he has now concluded that there probably isn’t an actual Loch Ness monster, according to Fox News.

Spanning seven decades, the legend of the Loch Ness monster has been an intriguing mystery to people all over the world, and has even earned Feltham a Guiness world record for his longtime search.

“I have to be honest. I just don’t think that Nessie is a prehistoric monster. What a lot of people have reported seeing would fit in with the description of the catfish with its long curved back,” Feltham recently told the Times of London.

The Nessie enthusiast says that the catfish he believes to be the “Loch Ness monster” is probably a Wels catfish, known for its large size and life span; the Wels can grow to almost 900 pounds, up to 13 feet long, and live for several decades, reports Reuters.

According to Nova, the modern myth began in 1933 when a couple passing the Loch Ness shore reported to the Inverness Courier that they had witnessed “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface” of the water. The newspaper used the term “monster” to describe the creature the pair claimed to have seen and from there the legend took the world by storm.

Before the 1933 sighting, however, the first recorded account of a monster in the deep waters of Loch Ness can be attributed to Saint Columba who was in Scotland in A.D. 565 to convert the Scots to Christianity.

Columba wrote in his biography that while journeying to visit a Pictish king, he spotted a creature aiming to attack a swimmer in the lake. Columba reported that he ordered the monster to “go back with all speed” in the name of God. According to his account, the man was spared as the monster then retreated.

No matter Feltham’s theory, however, the legend of the Loch Ness monster is likely to go on forever, as people all over the world have long been obsessed with the saga and will probably continue their own personal searches to prove Feltham wrong.

[Image via Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Share this article: Loch Ness Monster Actually Just Large Catfish, Researcher Claims
catfish Loch Ness Monster
More from Inquisitr