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Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland,
is an area of great natural beauty.
But it is perhaps best known as the
home of a monster, called Nessie . . .
Nessie has a long history going back
more than a thousand years,
when people first reported a strange
movement in the lake.
But it wasn't until a number of sightings in the 1930s
that Nessie really became famous.
Newspapers in London published stories about the monster.
But there was a problem—they didn't have any pictures.
In 1934, this image—from a London doctor named R. Kenneth Wilson—
was published in several newspapers and books.
It made many people certain that Nessie was real—
and the Loch Ness story continued to grow.
Then, nearly 60 years later,
a man named Christian Spurling finally told the true story.
He said the photo was the work of his stepfather, "Duke" Wetherall.
A newspaper in London had sent Wetherall to Loch Ness
to take a photo of the monster.
When Wetherall didn't see anything, he lost his job.
So Wetherall decided to design and build his own monster.
He made a monster's head
and placed it on a simple toy submarine.
He put it in the water, and took a photo.
Then he got Dr. Wilson to say that he had taken the picture.
Although the photo wasn't real, that hasn't stopped
thousands of people from coming to Loch Ness,
hoping to see for themselves
if there really is a monster in the lake.