Loch Ness Monster Just Gas Says Italian Geologist[Original headline: What A Gas! It's Nessie]
The Loch Ness monster is nothing more than gas bubbles created by underwater earthquakes, according to a geological expert.
'Roaring sound'
Reported sightings of the famous beast, often said to have been accompanied by a strange noise, could be due to the fact that the loch lies along an active fault line, claims Italian geologist Dr Luigi Piccardi.
In a speech at a scientific meeting in Edinburgh, Dr Piccardi said tremors would cause the ground to shake, produce a "roaring" sound and emit bubbles of gas which would churn up calm water on the surface, creating the impression of a creature.
Dr Piccardi, from the Italian National Research Council's Centre for the Study of Geology in Florence, said the most seismically active end of the loch is at the north where many people have claimed to have experienced Nessie.
'Humps'
"In these reports people don't usually describe seeing the beast itself. More often they talk of seeing a lot of commotion on the water, and hearing loud noises, and they assume it to be caused by the monster. But it could be due to a small shock and gas emission."
It was at the north end of the loch that a sighting of a monster, by St Columba in 565 AD, was first reported.
Dr Piccardi said sightings of "humps" in the water could be due to "anomalous waves" produced by gas bubbling to the loch surface.
This could explain two reported sightings of the monster in 1933, when the area was probably "under shock" he said.
• Story originally published by •
Sky News, see also The Times, London / England - June 27 2001
