The legendary Loch Ness Monster may have grown tired of being pushed to the periphery of the paranormal as sightings of the infamous cryptid in 2015 reached their highest number in over a decade.
Gary Campbell of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register told the Daily Mail that "2015 has been a vintage year for Nessie sightings. We've had five bona fide reports from people who were at the loch, two of which have fantastic pictures as well."
While a mere five sightings may sound disappointing to the uninitiated, the reports represent a positive sign for loch watchers who have worried about the fate of their favorite sea beast.
"'I think that this proves that Nessie's not gone anywhere. We were a bit worried in 2013 when no-one saw her but it looks like she was just keeping her head down at the time," Campbell said.
Sightings this past year have included an American tourist who noticed Nessie lurking in the background of a vacation photo as well as a pair of couples who spotted unexplainable shapes emerge from the loch.
Lest one dismiss the registry of sightings as the work of wishful thinkers hoping that an aquatic dinosaur is residing in Loch Ness, Campbell belongs to the school of thought that Nessie is an eel or fish, which has become the prevalent hypothesis in years.
However, that's not to stop some folks from dreaming that Loch Ness could be the home of some remnant dinosaur species.
Until we know for sure, Loch Ness will continue to conjure mystery in the minds of those who ponder what may be 'out there.'
As Campbell mused, "It's 1450 years now since the first report of a monster in Loch Ness - it doesn't look like Nessie's going anywhere soon."
In response to this apparent uptick in Nessie sightings, Coast to Coast AM reached out to Loch Ness Monster researcher Roland Watson who said "it was good to see five reports on Nessie, but this has to be offset by the fact that we are still below the long term average of about 20."
As to why Nessie sightings have dropped so dramatically in recent years, Watson speculated "there are various reasons for that, people are more skeptical, people are less likely to come forward and it seems Nessie herself is a bit reluctant to surface these days. I blame increased boat traffic and perhaps there are fewer Nessies due to depleted fish stocks around Scottish seas."
Fortunately for Coast listeners, Nessie has never strayed too far from C2C as the creature has been a frequent topic of discussion on the program over the years.
Source: Daily Mail