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Robot finds ‘monster’ in Loch Ness – but it’s a movie prop

Associated Press
The shadowy shape of what some people say is the Loch Ness monster in Scotland is shown in this undated file photo. An underwater robot exploring Loch Ness discovered a dark, monster-shaped mass in its depths, but instead of Nessie, it was a movie prop left over from a 1970 film.
The shadowy shape of what some people say is the Loch Ness monster in Scotland is shown in this undated file photo. An underwater robot exploring Loch Ness discovered a dark, monster-shaped mass in its depths, but instead of Nessie, it was a movie prop left over from a 1970 film. Associated Press file
LONDON

An underwater robot exploring Loch Ness has discovered a dark, monster-shaped mass in its depths.

Disappointingly, tourism officials say the 30-foot, object is not the fabled Loch Ness Monster, but a prop left over from a 1970 film.

Billy Wilder’s “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” puts the great detective on the trail of the monster – which turns out to be a disguised submarine. A model of the submarine-monster sank during production to the bottom of the 750 foot-deep lake.

Tourism body Visit Scotland is backing a survey of the Highlands lake by a marine robot to study its depths and see if there is any sign of the fabled monster, which helps attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to the region.

Visit Scotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said that whatever the survey finds, “there will always be a sense of mystery and the unknown around what really lies beneath Loch Ness.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Robot finds ‘monster’ in Loch Ness – but it’s a movie prop."

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