Loch Ness monster ‘found’ on satellite map image

Two amateur Nessie hunters made the “discovery” on images from different satellites looking down at the Earth.

Images of the location, just south of Dores, were visible on some iPads and iPhones with the map app, according to Peter Thain from Northumberland and Andy Dixon of County Durham.

Mr Dixon said: “It was purely by accident that I came across the image. I was trawling through satellite transmissions of different parts of the country and I thought I would try Loch Ness.

“I could see something big under the water and I saved it to my phone. My first thought was that it was the monster, and I contacted Gary Campbell of the Official Loch Ness Monster Club.

“I was a believer in Nessie before this but I had never been there. Now I am so excited, I can’t wait to get up north and pay a visit – with a camera of course.

He added: “Unfortunately, I have not seen anything since, but I will keep looking.”

Mr Campbell, an enthusiastic Nessie hunter, said: “We first received Peter’s information at the back end of last year but took some time to try to work out what it was.

“Initially it was difficult, because it doesn’t appear on all online satellite images – only some of them on Apple products.

“Whatever it is, it’s just below the surface and heading south, so unless there have been secret submarine trials going on in the loch, the size of the object would make it likely to be Nessie.”

There were no confirmed sightings of the monster last year, the first time since 1925.

In October, cruise boat operator George Edwards admitted that one of the best Nessie images in recent years had been a hoax to attract more visitors.

Though he said he believes there is a real Nessie, the 62-year-old added: “Anyone who comes on my boat, I will tell them what I did and why I did it. The reason I did it was to put Loch Ness firmly back on the map again.”