Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have fallen in the last year, according to an annual survey which monitors levels of weirdness around the world.

The number of people claiming to have caught Nessie on film in 2001 fell by 1.2%, along with sightings of big cats in Scotland, as part of the survey, conducted by the Fortean Times.

The 2001 "Weirdness Index" measured a number of strange phenomena including mass deaths, strange behaviour and water monsters and reported an overall increase of 1%, officially making 2001 the weirdest year since the index began, ten years ago.

Fortean Times managing editor David Sutton said: "2001 was a mixed year for weirdness. While some traditional categories like UFO's and ghosts were rather quiet, human beings themselves ensured that the world continued to get weirder.

"From the monkey-man panic in India to the worldwide false alarms over anthrax, people proved that they were as irrational as ever."

There was also a noted 7% increase in deaths and suicides, cults, conspiracies and epidemics.

• Story originally published by:
Western Daily Press, Bristol / England | Andrew Black - Jan 12.02

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