CRYPTODIMENSIONS NEWS :.

DINO DOC CLAIMS NESSIE WAS AN ELEPHANT

(Original headline: NESSIE THE ELEPHANT )

SCOTLAND'S top dinosaur expert has stunned the science world by claiming the Loch Ness Monster is an ELEPHANT.

Palaeontologist Dr Neil Clark thinks the Nessie myth is "a magnificent piece of marketing" thought up by a 1930s circus boss.

Dr Clark says unexplained photos of Nessie could be of the trunk, head and back of a swimming elephant.

He claims the phenomenon may have been started by circus impresario Bertram Mills in 1933 after he saw one of his elephants bathing in Loch Ness.

Mills, who died in 1938, offered £20,000 to anyone who could capture the Loch Ness Monster for his circus, sparking international interest.

Clark - who spent two years investigating the unexplained sightings - said: "Nessie as we know it today is largely a product of the 20th century.

"Most Nessie sightings occurred after 1933, when the A82 trunk road was completed along the west of Loch Ness. All we have are eye-witness accounts, fuzzy photographs, distant video footage and proven hoaxes.

"Most can be explained by floating logs or waves but there are a number of unexplained sightings of a creature - elephant grey, with a long neck and humped back - particularly from 1933.

"My research suggests these were elephants belonging to circuses. Circus fairs visiting Inverness stopped on the banks of Loch Ness to allow their animals to rest.

"When their elephants were allowed to swim in the loch, only the trunk and two humps could be seen: the first hump being the top of the head and the second being the back of the animal.

"The resulting impression would be of an animal with a long neck and two humps - perhaps more if there were more than one elephant in the water. It is not surprising Bertram Mills offered a £20,000 reward to anyone who could capture the monster for his circus.

"He already had the Loch Ness Monster in his circus.

"Bertram Mills' Loch Ness Monster scheme was a magificent piece of marketing. I don't know if Mills intended to create a world-famous phenomenon but he must have died laughing."

Adrian Shine, project leader for Loch Ness 2000, based at Drumnadrochit, has spent 30 years investigating the loch.

He said: "It is an interesting theory. If an elephant was seen swimming, it would certainly give rise to the image people have of the Loch Ness monster.

"The greatest concentration of sightings did happen in 1933 and 1934, when Bertram Mills' reward was on offer.

"However, swimming elephants do not explain subsequent sightings."

Dr Clark added: "I don't think my discoveries will have any effect on those who believe Nessie is a real monster."

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