Monsters and Myths

‘ALLO ‘ALLO star Vicki Michelle took a pleasure cruise on Loch Ness and had a close encounter with Nessie herself.

Vicki was appearing in the stage version of the classic telly comedy at the Eden Court in Inverness.

And she and the rest of the cast got more than they bargained for when they enjoyed a sightseeing trip on the loch’s Jacobite Queen cruise ship.

The boat was on its way to Urquhart Castle when the crew picked up a strange signal on their sonar.

Vicki dashed below decks for a look, and was amazed to see five mysterious “arch shapes” on the screen.

The boat’s skipper said he’d never seen anything like it in his 15 year on the loch. Monster-hunters plan to investigate the sighting further.

Vicki, who plays saucy waitress Yvette in ‘Allo ‘Allo, said yesterday: “Perhaps Nessie’s a fan of the show!”

She added: “I caught an arch shape on the monitor, followed by four more.

“The whole cast had been hoping to see something on the trip. And if it was Nessie, that positive energy probably brought her out.

“In all seriousness, whether it was Nessie or not, we all definitely saw something on that monitor.”

Loch Ness researcher Adrian Shine, who has spent years investigating the monster mystery, said: “This has got me puzzled. It has every appearance of a genuine sonar contact.

“It certainly adds to the Loch Ness mystery and will be the subject of further investigation.”

The ‘Allo ‘Allo stage play, starring Vicki and Hi-De-Hi’s Jeffrey Holland as Rene, was on in Inverness from May 18 to 23. The cast are now continuing their UK tour.

Source: dailyrecord

The object was spotted by the pilot of Olympic Airways flight 266 from Athens, and the sighting was corroborated by staff at Athens Airport and a nearby Greek air force base. Pilots of two other passenger jets also reported seeing the body.

The eyewitnesses described it as looking like a large star, although it was moving erratically and constantly changing shape.

Two fighter jets were sent to investigate the sighting over the Greek capital in November 2007 but the object shot up into the sky and vanished before they could get a clear view.

The incident was kept secret by the Greek authorities for more than a year, but is now generating huge interest after official documents and recordings of the conversation between the pilot and control tower were released.

An Olympic Airlines spokeswoman said: “I can confirm the incident. It is the first of its kind involving our pilots.”

Greek officials say that the object, which was not detected on any radar, was probably a mistaken sighting of the planet Venus in the Autumn night sky.

This is not the first time that a passenger jet has had a close encounter with a UFO. Documents released by the Ministry of Defence last year disclosed that an Alitalia flight had a near miss while landing at Heathrow in 1991, with the pilot describing an object “similar to a missile – light brown or fawn – about three metres in length but without any exhaust flame”.

telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4577717/

Fighter-jets-scrambled-after-UFO-follows-plane-over-Athens.html

A COUPLE enjoying a romantic weekend in the Highlands believe they may have had a close encounter with the Loch Ness Monster.

Experts are now investigating this latest photograph, which was taken by accident, to establish if it is in fact the Loch’s most famous resident.

Ian Monckton, from Solihull, took his fiance Tracey Gordon to a cottage in Invermoriston on the shores of the loch to celebrate her 30th birthday.

On their way back to the village at about 11pm they pulled into a lay-by. The driver’s window was wound down and before the couple stopped their car they heard a commotion in the water.

Using the car headlights and the flash from his camera to check their footing on the rocky shores of the loch, data analyst Ian unwittingly recorded this picture which he hopes could be the elusive monster.

“There is clearly a very large shape in the water that looks aquatic a few metres out from where I was standing and you just see the tips of the trees lower down the slope to the loch in the photo,” said Ian who has passed the picture to naturalist Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness Project to get his expert opinion.

“Myself and Tracey were always quite sceptical about Nessie but after having had this experience I would say we now have a very open mind on the matter.

“It was the highlight of our trip. We’ll definitely be back and we are struggling to get an explanation for what we caught on camera.”

Ian said the pictures were taken from a small cliff overlooking the loch. But it was only when they got back to their country retreat and checked the images they realised they significance of the what they had on their digital camera.

Ian said it was his first visit to Loch Ness and the weather was reasonably clear with only a light breeze.

“We decided to get away for a few days to celebrate Tracey’s birthday and because it was off season we headed up to Drumnadrochit for a meal.

“On our way back to Invermoriston we stopped off at Urquhart Castle to take a few photos, but the lights that illuminate the castle were turned off, so there were no photo opportunities there.

“Then we pulled over at a parking point to let a car pass, as my fiancé doesn’t drive as fast as the locals in the dark.

“I had the passenger window open as I was smoking at the time and as we pulled into the lay-by there was an rustling and a splash. It sounded as if a Mini had landed in the water. That’s how loud it was.

“We both looked at each other and I said ‘What the hell was that’? It wasn’t a small splash like a piece of debris or a stone falling into the loch. It sounded like a car or a motorbike had rolled into the loch.

“I got out of the car and walked up to the edge using the light from the car headlights to see where the edge of the loch dropped away and taking snaps with the camera so the flash let me see we where to tread.”

The couple called out to see if anyone was there, or in trouble in the loch but couldn’t hear anything apart from the water splashing around in the loch.

“After a while we continued back to Homewood, both wondering what the hell we had heard and joking about Nessie,” Ian added.

“However, when we looked back at the photos I had taken up to and looking over the cliff we now genuinely believe there is something in this, there is clearly a very large shape in the water that looks aquatic a few metres out from where I was standing and you just see the tips of the trees lower down the slope to the loch in the photo.”

Mr Shine, who has spent years researching the natural history of the Loch and the Great Glen and is the leader of the Loch Ness Project, commented: “We have been sent material and will be doing some on site investigations. There’s not enough information on the image to hazard a guess what it could be. However, the account sounds not inconsistent with an animal such as an otter going into the loch.”

Mikko Takala, who runs a webcam network for Nessie watchers worldwide, receives thousands of “Nessie sightings” every year as photos and videos.

He too has analysed the photograph and concludes it may be a dead fish.

“Obviously this photo is taken in the dark and camera flashes can accentuate details that would otherwise be barely noticeable in daylight conditions.

“I think this is probably a dead fish – maybe a flatfish.”

highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5121