Steve Alten

by Science Behind The Loch

  Witness #2 is a male of Scotch-Irish descent. He resides in Central London and is a nearby neighbor and life-long boyhood friend to Witness #1. He recently graduated art school and just became employed in a well-placed London advertising firm. Witness #2 stated he is only a "social drinker." He felt that if he became personally identified in the news, that it could cost him his job at the advertising firm.

  While at the breakfast bar at the Glen Moriston Arms Hotel, both men stated that they observed or experienced a late night close encounter with what they thought was a large aquatic animal that pulled itself out of the water, then was subsequently startled into rapidly returning to the water by the headlamps of northbound automobile traffic from the adjacent A-82 highway. They provided their full story, access to their lodging, the location of their claimed encounter and accepted an obligation to personally escort this agent to that location in return for this agent paying off the bill for their lodging.

  Their story was as follows: They stated they were staying at a "Static Caravan" (trailer) park one-and-one-half miles south, southwest of Invermoriston, on the lake shore. This park was one of only two in the Loch Ness area. They stated they were "on holiday" from work, and had come to Loch Ness for a major "change of scenery" from central London and their jobs. Outside one of the local pub establishments in Invermoriston, on Saturday evening, they claimed, they met two girls who invited them to a party in upper Invermoriston after ten PM. Both witnesses then stated both girls promised to meet them outside that establishment and that they would drive them "up the glen" to the Christmas Party. Both girls stated they would be returning from an earlier party for their parents in Drumnadrochit.

  Both witnesses dressed for the party, then chose to leave their rented sedan behind at their trailer and walk the nearly two miles up the hill and into town. Both were very upset because the two girls never showed.

  Angry, stranded, sometime after 11 PM in the sub-freezing air temperature, they walked southbound, facing occasional oncoming traffic, towards their rental unit, alongside the lake side of the A-82. They stated that the road was fifteen to twenty feet above the water and the intervening distance was thickly wooded. At some point midway between the village main drag and their trailer park, to their left in the vegetation, they heard the sounds of something large "flopping down." Both stated that they overheard a large "squishing" sound, several "grunts" or "croaks," smelled an intense "fish market" type of smell, and observed a large shiny reflective mass in motion behind the intervening trees followed by a splash or a series of splashes. Both stated they were carrying a single mini-Mag "torch" (flashlight) with which they attempted to illuminate "the thing." Both stated it was as high above the ground as the wheel diameter of the largest International Harvester or Mack lorry (truck). At this same time northbound traffic on the A-82 illuminated the area with their bright headlamps.

  Neither witness claimed to have been attacked. Neither claimed to have touched what they assume was a large moving animal. Both claim to have illuminated a portion of its skin or body as it moved from behind and below the intervening trees and brush. Both described the animal as "massive."

  After the brief encounter they ran the rest of the way to their "Caravan." Both stated that though they showered, neither was able to sleep that night and both worried and "fretted" about having sleeping accommodations so close to the water's edge. They stated they felt a horrible sense of foreboding. They stated it was their belief that a "hideous water creature" could rise out of the loch and invade their "Caravan," which they complained was flimsy in both its construction and anchoring. During their telling and relaying this story, this agent observed the two London vacationers as appearing extremely fearful. They were debating on whether to cut their vacation two days short and leave that morning. It was this debate that this investigator overheard as they entered the establishment I was staying at.

  Following the initial interview, an intense period of negotiation followed regarding the mini DVD video recording of their story wherein this agent promised not to reveal their identities and to ask their faces, voices, and license plates be blurred and electronically edited prior to this agent sharing or distributing any of the interview sequence. This agent agreed that after all information and services were provided, the cost of their entire trip would be absorbed by this agent (actually, this agent's expense account from Tsunami Books, though that information was withheld from them).

  At around 12:30 PM on Sunday, 19 December 2004, this agent drove with both witnesses to the stretch of the A-82 Highway on the lake shore side, facing southbound, in an attempt to locate from the road the section of woods where the claimed encounter took place.

  Seven feet above the water, fourteen feet from the highway, on an abandoned section of access road two hundred yards south of the rotting Invermoriston cargo pier, what could only be described as a massive animal trail was located. It was in the pattern of a winding, ear-shape, approximately fifty plus feet in length. It was mostly frozen, in an area of runoff, but looked like a giant, smashed down "snail trail." The north end of the "track" could not be approached due to the excessively muddy and unstable soil and footing. The grass and weeds at that end were clearly smashed and ground down by a massive weight and then frozen flat by the below- zero air. The south-most end returned to the water in what could only be described as a muddy slide back into the Loch. The down slide area was grooved in the center of the "track."

  Direct access from the A-82 road to the "track" was blocked by heavy thorny brambles, silver birch and oak. More oak, grass, ferns, and brambles framed the access road on the side leading down to the water. Rotted wet leaf material, algae, mud, and what appeared to be an unknown organic substance comprised the track. The track was over three feet wide in several places and 18 inches in other areas. Ice was observed solidified over major sections of the "track" and slide zone. A very feint odor, somewhat reminiscent of fish, permeated the area.

  The entire area was videotaped personally, by this agent, in a single sequence using Sony camcorder digital DVD format tape with a Carl Zeiss lens following an on-site interview with the two men in the turnout to the access road. Both witnesses expressed extreme fear and were very uncomfortable. In addition to video, 35mm color print film images were taken using a Pentax camera with a 50 mm standard lens.

  Crushed shoreline where large animal came ashore.

  I then accompanied both witnesses to their trailer accommodations in the mobile and static caravan park under the pretext of gathering their private contact information. A subsequent visual examination of their quarters revealed no mud or dirt, no digging or garden tools, no heavy winter clothing, no outdoor clothing other than blue jeans pressed and clean, and no boots—only street shoes. All clothing appeared clean. The trailer smelled clean. No heavy or over-riding body odor was detected. Their rented sedan appeared clean and its interior appeared from a distance to be clean. There was no mud on the tires.

  Documented footage of my interviews as well as the massive slide tracks is available for viewing at http://loch-movie.tripod.com.

  Conclusions of December Investigation

  Prior to locating the frozen slide tracks, I had spoken with several locals who agreed with my theories about the water creature (Nessie) being a giant eel. One of these locals worked as a contract electrician on-call at the Foyers Power Station in the city of Foyers where the Foyers River feeds into Loch Ness. He resides in the village of Invermoriston. He has performed heavy maintenance on electrical and hydro-mechanical machinery at the Foyers Power Station since its completion in 1972. The local stated that if I ever wanted to see some really big Loch Ness eels, all I needed to do was check out the "slabs" of eel fouling the blades of the big turbines before the "screens" were installed. He further stated that the hydro-electric power station attracted eels of all sizes from all parts of the loch. He further stated that eels are attracted to electrical discharges and fields in and around the water and that "knots" of them were
found out of the water and deep within the facilities "under the mountain."

  The tracks that I measured and documented were of an eel-like creature that probably measured sixty feet and weighed upwards of eight tons. This was obviously no ordinary eel, but a mutation, or different sub-species of the Anguilla forms that migrate into Loch Ness from the Sargasso Sea each Spring..

  Upon returning to the States with this information I supplied a complete report to Tsunami Books and author Steve Alten. Steve decided the information warranted another edit on his novel, THE LOCH, which would cause a delay to booksellers and the media awaiting advanced reading copies, but decided it was worth the effort, even though it would delay the publicity needed to support said novel. This decision only validated my confidence in the author.

  Foyers Power Station

  March 2005: DNA Evidence

  Within weeks of returning to the United States with video footage and photos of the slide tracks, I immediately began documenting my research while contacting the circle of scientists I knew.

  Findings were posted to my website: http://loch-movie. tripod.com/.

  As promised, my eyewitnesses faces were blotted out.

  Sometime in mid-to-late March I received indirect communication via blogs from an American college undergrad student who was desperate to speak with me. Apparently this student, who I shall call Del, had recently returned from a vacation that included a side trip to Loch Ness. Unable to locate me, he resorted to posting messages on various blogs until I finally responded. We eventually communicated by e-mail (a feeling-out process on his part, no doubt) that led to a phone conversation with Del and his father, a partner in a major law firm. Both parties expressed a desire to hire my services to a) reacquire the purported tooth and b) serve as a communication liaison with the public. Del’s father does not want this turning into a "runaway bride" story where his son's face is smeared all over FOX News. It was only after seeing the evidence and sharing them with local experts that I agreed to take the case. As part of our "arrangement" I have signed a contract with the family that insures I will not expose Del or his roommate to the media, unless they first agree. (Amazingly, I was actually attacked verbally for refusing to give up my client's identity on one radio show where I was a guest for years. As such, I will never return as a guest on this host's program again.)

  Before signing said agreement I divulged my relationship with Tsunami Books and Steve Alten, both of whom I knew would be excited to learn about this amazing discovery and would want to "get involved." While Del was interested in meeting Alten, his father overruled this desire, stating that "getting involved with an author seeking publicity for a fictional thriller would take away from what their objective was—to reacquire the tooth." Over the next three months this objection waned, and Alten was permitted to use their footage on TV appearances, by permission acquired by this investigator as liaison.

  Half-eaten deer.

  Located on southeastern shoreline in an area known as a "kill zone."

  Here's the students' story, photos and video documented at:

  Witness/claimant Del (and his roommate) are both undergraduate students (seniors) attending a major University in the mid-western United States. In March (2005) the students decided to travel on Spring Break to the U.K (their first trips to Europe). The itinerary was to fly into London and depart in Inverness so as to spend their last two days exploring Loch Ness. The boat rental season hadn't started yet so they hired a local Scot (identified only as "Calum") who took both young men on a private boat tour.

  After a few hours they came upon the remains of a dead deer located along a deserted stretch of shoreline, inaccessible by foot (southeastern shoreline), north of Fort Augustus. Upon motoring closer to shore the three men noticed the animal had literally been ripped in half, its hind quarters gone, its spine broken and severed. Despite the objections from Del, the other two men decided to take a closer look and landed the boat by a waterfall. The carcass itself (my observation from photos) resembled the front half of a small female elk (Wapiti) and the northern highlands red deer Cervus elaphus, classified as an elk-form of deer. I feel very sure that the carcass belongs to a Cervus elephus red deer hind (Doe). There were huge parallel gashes resembling teeth bite marks and a bizarre bony protrusion sticking out of tough connective tissue surrounding an exposed rib. Dell’s roommate felt sure this was a shed tooth from the deer's attacker and, using a screwdriver, they cracked open the ribcage and pried the object loose.

  (Note: the local, Calum, refused to touch the animal and also refused to use the video-camcorder, so there is no footage of the two students removing the tooth).

  Shots of the "tooth.

  Note barbs and extensive root system.

  The object was removed and washed off before filming resumed. All three witnesses agreed the object appeared to be a tooth—about 3 and Vi to 4 inches long, barbed along its distal surface and very sharp! (Dell’s roommate reported he sliced his thumb on one of the barbs).

  Del claims to be the biggest skeptic you'll ever meet, but both students swore to me (by phone conversation) that this tooth was real, and whatever ate that deer had to have been huge. The Scottish local told them (accurately) that there are no bears in the Scottish Highlands. Excited, wanting to share their discovery, they signaled over a passing boat to join them. This would be a big mistake.

  The single prop boat landed and a man, described by Del to be in his late forties, cleanly shaven, wearing a wool hat, approached. After examining both the tooth and deer carcass, the man's demeanor changed (grew serious) and he informed the tourists and local that he was, in fact, the water bailiff (a park ranger). After flash credentials that included a photo identification, he then confiscated the tooth and the video tape that was in Dell’s Sony cam-corder, claiming they could recover everything the next morning from the Highland Authorities/ police (The Northern Constabulary) as long as the students cooperated. The alleged water bailiff then left.

  An argument ensued among the students and local, the latter visibly upset (captured on tape) that the boys had turned over all of their evidence without a fight. Fortunately Del had just changed to a new tape (prior to digging out the tooth from the ribcage) and the water bailiff didn't find the earlier footage hidden in Dell’s backpack. In other words, the tape the water bailiff confiscated only had footage of the tooth being washed off and displayed on the carcass.

  The students showed up at the designated police address in Inverness the next day to get the tooth back. The officers on duty thought the two Americans were nuts. One officer intimated in conversation that if they didn't leave he would take their passports.

  Del and his roommate overnighted me a videotape copy of the footage and several dozen photos taken from rolls of 35 mm single lens reflex emulsion film. The images of the tooth were shockingly similar to the barbed teeth of a conger eel that had bitten me in a Japanese reflection garden a decade earlier. In my opinion the relic in question, if a true biological relic (not a fake), is a recognizable, barbed, TOOTH configuration—though monstrously oversized!

  I immediately took the footage to several zoologists and a marine biologist. All three not only confirmed my opinion that the object was indeed a tooth, but the bite pattern of holes in the deer carcass as well.

  Upon posting the students' photo and footage, I have heard the usual negativity, much of which surrounded a "theory" that the tooth was in fact a claw or broken deer antler. I can categorically eliminate the notion that the purported relic is a Cervid/Capreolinid deer antler or any animal's ("crab's") claw. It is not a "young spike." It is not a bony deciduous antler. It in no way resembles the texture of broken, casted or otherwise shed antler tissue. It is an object foreign to the bodies of any antlered ruminant herbivore from the old world deer families Cervidae and Moschidae, nor from any North American Odocoileinae species. I've hunted deer with my father through-out my childhood. I know them well. And Del's roommate is also a hunter (raised in Minnesota). H
e is 100% certain that this was a tooth, and far from a claw or antler tip. The counter- claims regarding the photo images of the deer and tooth are of no surprise to me. When it comes to the Loch Ness Monster, everyone seems to have an opinion. As such, I desperately want that tooth back because, if the tooth is a real animal's shed relic, the DNA in it might prove my theory. I've consulted with museum curators and university zoologists in Arizona and they have stated to me that if this tooth is a hoax, then it was not carved from wood, casted in metal, molded from plastic, nor is it any of the urethane materials used in Hollywood special effects. They feel that whatever this purported object is, it is most likely a biological substance. Scrimshaw artists from Laguna Beach, California have stated to me that the tooth in the photographs is not carved from ivory or is it the texture of ivory substitutes that scrimshaw artists use.

  The overwhelming opinion is that it would be impossible for these two students to fake such an incident because a) where would they find a dead deer b) how would they fashion such a perfect replica of a tooth c) the tooth coloring is not ivory white, but a pattern that matches a tooth found in an eel's mandibular structure.

  We are now searching for the individual who claimed "color of authority" and confiscated the claimed relic. He could be a male Caucasian affiliated with the Northern Constabulary, a "Water Bailiff," or a game warden. We have every reason to assume he is an experienced boater and fisherman with full knowledge of every inch of the Loch Ness shoreline. He could be a local with a fake badge.