LOCH NESS: THEY CREATED A MONSTER

About LOCH NESS: THEY CREATED A MONSTER

Join The Dunlop Community Cinema for this heart warming story.

"From London, from Japan, from the USA and across the world - they came to a remote, cold lake in the Highlands of Scotland.
WW2 veterans got together for one last adventure, excited scientists and hairy hippies - all competed in the frantic search for what they passionately believed could be - the Natural History Discovery of the Century – capturing evidence of the Loch Ness Monster ! “A zoological Mount Everest” as one young American Monster hunter described the challenge.
Rumours and sightings of a dinosaur like creature had persisted at the Loch for decades, and the 1970s saw a frenzy of Monster Hunting. No qualifications were required to join the hunt – just enthusiasm and wonder. Anyone could roll up on the banks of Loch Ness, bust out an old camera, and declare themselves part of the hunt for Nessie.
There was a well organised official expedition– the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau – which strategically placed vans and cameras around the Loch and watched it non-stop... year after year. But they came up with very little evidence.
There was the International Loch Ness Monster Search Party – which was led by the eccentric Japanese pop promoter Yoshio Kou – who happily declared that he wanted to capture Nessie and take her around the world ( though he also told excitable British media that he wanted to gift the monster to Princess Anne as a wedding present). Mr Kou laughed loudly, downed the local whisky and held a lot of press conferences. He failed to produce good evidence, but they appeared to have a good time.
And then there were the dedicated ‘loners’ – men like Frank Searle, a cockney ex-soldier who lived by the Loch for years and... captured some astonishing photographs of the creature. He courted the media, he sold his photographs to the newspapers, he invited young ‘Girl Fridays’ to come and live in his grotty caravan by the banks of the Loch (and many did, sometimes more than one - indeed The News of the World wrote salacious stories about the 3 in a caravan arrangements).
Over the years, the monster detecting methods changed – first it was all about sightings, then photos and eventually sonar and underwater cameras. Dr Robert Rines of the prestigious sounding Academy of Applied Science brought a team of ‘super-geniuses’ to the Loch every summer, and the captured some incredible clear images of a huge flipper - and possibly the face of Nessie. Even David Attenborough declared that images merited further investigation.
But the deeper they looked... the darker it got.
Monster egos, fakes and frustrations, rivalries and ridicule meant that Loch Ness quickly became home to a very different type of beast. As picture after picture were exposed as fakes – or at least dubious – the scene at Loch Ness became fraught. Lone wolf Frank Searle, in particular, became angry and volatile.
Then in the early 1980s, he attacked a rival group of Loch Ness researchers with a petrol bomb.. He sprayed ‘CON MAN’ on the hallowed walls of Urquhart Castle - accusing another monster hunter.
And then... without warning - Frank Searle vanished. His caravan was pushed into the Loch sinking into the dark waters. There were rumours he had been killed....
This is a fresh take on Scotland most famous story - humane and hilarious - this is the unbelievable story behind the unbelievable story"
Doors Open at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm.