Loch Ness Monster camera deployed in 1970 is pulled from water after 55 years — with eerie photos revealed
These secrets have been Loch-ed away for over half a century.
An underwater camera deployed in 1970 in an attempt to capture images of the Loch Ness Monster was accidentally recovered — and it boasts some incredible photos.
'It is remarkable that the housing has kept the camera dry for the past 55 years,' Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness Project, which has been hunting for Nessie since the 1970s, told the BBC after identifying the aquatic recorder.
The gadget was one of six cameras sent down into the Loch in 1970 by Chicago biologist Roy Mackal of the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau, Popular Mechanics reported.
He had hoped to get definitive footage of the legendary cryptid, which has spawned thousands of so-called sightings — including a 'particularly captivating' one last month of a 'slithery mass' in the lake.
The camera then lay forgotten for over a half-century until it was encountered by an autonomous marine submersible known as Boaty McBoatface, which was operated by the UK's National Oceanography Centre.
While scouring the depths, McBoatface inadvertently snagged the mooring of the monster cam — nearly 600 feet down.
Shine said he was impressed by the 'ingenious camera trap,' which was equipped with a built-in flash cube so four pictures could be snapped when the bait line was taken, perhaps by the so-called monster.
He was also amazed that such a complex camera had managed to stay dry in its casing for all those years so far down and — most importantly — yield viable film when opened.
To monster lovers' chagrin, the cam didn't capture any pics of Nessie, but the photos that were developed provided a fascinating visual map of the murky depths of Loch Ness.
The film and the camera were subsequently handed over to the Loch Ness Centre, in Drumnadrochit, close to where it was recovered.
Unfortunately, the existence of Nessie remains as murky as the waters in which it allegedly resides.
Even die-hard monster hunter Adrian Shine remains unconvinced; he recently dismissed iconic photos of the beast as boat wakes or birds.
'Of course, there are long-necked creatures on Loch Ness — we call them swans,' the Scot scoffed.
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