Revisiting Gordon Holmes: Yorkshireman, Amateur Archaeologist, and Loch Ness Investigator

This lovely painting by Yorkshire artist Valerie Shepherd (used with permission) captures the imaginary view of the Loch Ness "Monster." The idea of an unknown creature swimming deep in a Scottish lake has fueled the imagination of many a mystery-lover, and blurry photographs of alleged sightings have made the monster, and her legendary Loch, a part of our cultural literacy. Gordon Holmes, too, has long been fascinated by Loch Ness and its legends, but he looks at the creature from a scientific perspective, and there is evidence, Holmes attests, that Loch Ness does, in fact, hold secrets yet to be revealed.

Gordon Holmes setting up Time-lapse camera at Dores, Loch Ness.

Yorkshireman Gordon Holmes and I connected back in 2017 when his footage of a mysterious, fast-moving creature in Scotland's Loch Ness became a sensation. The footage in question was widely viewed and discussed. You can find the original post here.

Gordon has been an amateur scientist for more than four decades, and he continues to pursue not just the Loch Ness mystery and "Nessie," but many of the mysteries that appear all around him in the Yorkshire countryside, where the land, first occupied after the retreat of the Ice Age, has historically been trodden by Romans, Early Britons, and Vikings. Gordon has developed a collection of artifacts, some of which are so valuable that they must be locked in a vault.

In following his scientist's instincts, Gordon has accumulated a fair amount of evidence to support the idea of a heretofore-unseen creature in the depths of Loch Ness--a 30-foot creature that appeared on Sonar a year after he took his footage. Below are some pieces of evidence, along with his own diagrams based on previous descriptions and his own experience at the Loch. (Captions by Gordon Holmes). I've saved the best image for last.

Nessie's side head view based on my latest research.

My 2008 Sonar contact of a 30 foot unknown Creature in 65 foot depth of Loch Ness.

Nessie's total length view (in black & white) based on my latest research.

My hypothetical 1933 Spicer Image based on description of Nessie 

crossing road and then entering Loch Ness.

My Loch Ness (after the Ice Age) artwork. Just before Nessie's Ancestors moved in. 

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Front view of my 2000AD possible Skull find at Whitby, Yorkshire (just 250 miles from Loch Ness as the Monster swims). Showing potential Nessie's Ancestor (early Jurassic). NOT FOR SALE below 4 million Dollars  ; - )"

Gordon plans to return to Loch Ness, perhaps in the spring, because he has new equipment. that he wants to try out in quest of Nessie--specifically, a cosmic ray detector and a magnetometer. Gordon Holmes, however, does not devote all of his time to Nessie research. The previously-mentioned study of the terrain in Yorkshire, something he has done seriously since age 25, has allowed him to 

decode at least seven different carvings on the cup & ring stones. one of which  might include an ancient star map (as covered in The Telegraph and Argus). In addition, his discovery of a fossilized skull in Whitby led him to theorize about a Nessie ancestor (see photo above), and a stone carving led him to finding what he dubbed "A Stone-Age Selfie."

Gordon Holmes has authored a number of books on his areas of interest. (All titles are now out of print).

Gordon's dedication to history and to the spirit of discovery have made him a prominent figure, but he's in it for the science; therefore, he is willing to consider all possibilities.

A still photo taken from Gordon's 2007 video at Loch Ness.

The image is one of two moving things Gordon saw in the water.

Here are the theories, in his own words: "It has taken me 20 years to reach the following conclusions based on my best  evidence, re; the still from my Holmes 2007 Loch Ness Sighting: [above] :

1 The Image was produced by freak waves forming the outline of two Creatures.

2 It was a quite by chance video footage of two unknown  robotic submarines.

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3 The shape, if proved to be the outline of a Creature, is unknown to Science.

 Hence, this must be The Loch Ness Monster!!!"

Amateur Scientist Gordon Holmes on Scotland's Loch Ness, The Legendary Monster, and The Scientific Unknown

Back in 2007, I wrote this blog post about the Loch Ness Monster, in which I referenced Gordon Holmes, the man who took footage of a mysterious creature in the Loch. Recently I had the pleasure of chatting with Gordon, who provided many insights into the world's fascination with both the Loch and its reputed "monster."  Here's our interview--all photos supplied by Gordon Holmes.

 Are you a scientist by profession?

For twenty-two years I worked my way up from a Machine Tool Craftsman to a Design Engineer.

Then, when manufacturing went duff, I worked at Bradford University, Yorkshire, as an IT/Media Technician for another 22 years. Now I've retired early, so I have much more freedom.  

What got you interested in searching for Nessie?

Like most people, I have always been interested in the scientific unknown. So in 2003, I decided to finally  investigate the so-called Loch Ness Monster phenomena.  During the next four years, I visited the Loch on six occasions, armed with 7 X 50 Binoculars and Video Camera. However, there was no sign of Nessie.

Do you live near Loch Ness?

I live in a Yorkshire town called Shipley. Which is about 350 miles South of Loch Ness in England via roads and motorways. Journey time is about 10 hours, having several stops on route.

 You seem to have invented a great deal of sophisticated equipment. Do you have patents on your inventions? Do you work with a team, or alone?

No, I cannot patent anything on the equipment side since, I basically am utilising several units into a complete assembly. Anyone can do this, it just needs a bit of imagination and some technical know-how in mechanics, dynamics, electronics and, say, instrumentation. I have been fortunate to have experience in these topics during my career and hobbies. Most people could achieve all this; the main challenge is overcoming the fear to attempt it in the first place. Belief in the force, Luke or Lucy!

On the day that you got your famous footage, were you taken by surprise? Or were you expecting to find something?

On Saturday 26th May 2007 at about 9 PM (British Summer Time) I began to have doubts about my past 4 years and approx 160 hours attempting to observe the Loch Ness Monster, but with no luck. I had virtually decided not to investigate it in future. Although, one hour earlier I observed a good omen, a rainbow across the Loch. Then, whilst I was sat in the car, 70 foot above the loch (parked in a small parking area), around
 9: 30 PM, I noticed something moving tangentially across my line of sight about 150 yards away. I grabbed the camcorder and dashed next to the edge of the parking area. 

It took me about 20 seconds before I caught in through the camcorder viewfinder. For the next 2 minutes, I recorded, panned and zoomed in and out on the moving object. It seemed to be moving about 6mph. During this time, I also looked at it with just my eyesight. It was jet black but, appeared to be a couple of feet above the loch level with the water flowing over it. It was very aerodynamically shaped, like a Dolphin or a Big eel's head. Finally, it went out of visible range. When I stopped filming, I started shaking, for I knew this was going to be a massive sighting. A year later, Scottish TV told me their webpage showing my sighting, had about 1.8 million hits in the first 2 weeks!

DId you read about the Loch Ness Monster as a child?

 I was aware of the Loch Ness mystery from about the age of 10 years (1962) when my Mother bought me a small glass-like Nessie (actually, it was probably meant to be a stylish swan). My oldest Brother took me camping in Scotland during the early days of Skylab. For I remember seeing a large solar flare flowing off the low down, hazy sun. We had stopped near the shores of Loch Ness when it happened. (Note: Gordon warns that people should not look directly at the sun.  :) )

Why do you think the legend of the Loch Ness monster is so enduring?

When you observe tourists standing next to the Loch, they are praying to see Nessie. Whether they are from the US, Canada, Japan or Europe, they all are desperate for a Sighting. They want to believe, but should Nessie move quickly towards them, everyone would scream and quickly vanish, not surprisingly. 

Do we really want mysteries like this to be solved? Or is the joy in the quest?

As you say, it is the quest to solve the mystery that brings out our efforts. If we then solve it, the challenge has dissipated. I suppose if we knew all the Universe's biggest mysteries, then what would we search for? Fear not, though, is it likely we Humans will solve everything? Very unlikely, since we will probably be extinct long before then.

You've been to Loch Ness many times, but to most of us in America it's just the name of a famous body of water. What is the most striking thing about Loch Ness?

Since 2003, I believe I have had seventeen visits to investigate the Loch and Nessie. One year I visited four times. Usually, it is for a one week duration.

Loch Ness has many different aspects/treasures to it. One of the major influences is the weather. 

A foggy, murky loch has a mystical, frightening feel to it.

A bright, sunny loch would be wondrous and delightful.

Four days of continuous rain at Loch Ness would obviously be depressing.

Your 2007 webpage blog mentioned a romantic legend, which is something I never thought of, Julia. 

A child would be excited, but would also experience a scary-like sense.

To me it's a vast expanse I know well, a sort of friend, a second homecoming. The weather can change within minutes, so its never boring. However, the Real Monster of Loch Ness ia the Midge, a tiny biting fly thing. If the loch is calm and it is about to rain, beware of the Midge - aaarr!

Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster?

Reports of Monster sightings at Loch Ness go back centuries, even to Saint Columba - 565 AD. For many years the locals would not discuss, if they had a sighting, since, they were very superstitious. However, based on hearsay, they describe a horrible looking Beastie. From the 1930s, there have been many hoaxes, and unfortunately it still happens up to the present day. The Experts agree that my footage was genuine, but they do not agree what it was. There is a TV Programme called, 'River Monster' and the Chap it is based around, catches very large and rare fish all over the world. He proves the local legends are indeed, true. 

Therefore I believe one or more large, scary looking Monsters could exist in Loch Ness over the centuries. Based on my footage, I would guess I filmed two large eels or dolphins (about 8 to 12 foot long), although, I don't believe anyone else has observed Dolphins in the loch before.

Thank you so much for chatting with me, Gordon!


Finally, here's an interview with Gordon on YouTube from the time of his sighting.

Lake Monsters and Their Legends

I've posted a couple of times about the Loch Ness Monster, a legend that I find fascinating. But David Bennet of British Columbia pointed out that BC has two of its own legendary lake monsters, called Ogopogo and Cadborosaurus. David revealed that "Ogopogo is a lake monster, like Nessie, supposedly living in Lake Okanagan, in the interior of BC. Cadborosaurus, or Caddy to his friends, is a sea monster supposedly living in the waters off Victoria's breakwater, which shelters the Inner Harbour area."

This was a revelation to me, since I thought Loch Ness was the only story of this kind. Now, after some research, and with the tip from David, I have found that many a lake has its attendant monster, or legend thereof, and that there is much folklore regarding the creatures. There are plenteous websites that offer information about the lake legends, like this one and this one and many more. And David's BC lake creatures are not alone by a long shot!

What this tells me is that many people, like me, crave mysteries. We want things to be unsolved and larger than life, because that means that we can hold onto our fascination and our hope of something compelling. Do I think that one of these lake monsters will be found? Of course I can't rule it out. New species (or really old ones) have been located before--why not in the bottom of a lake? But will it bother me if they are never found? Not really. These sea creatures are already alive in the imaginations of thousands of people, and they'll stay there as long as we have the capacity to think and dream.

What's your favorite legend?

Photo link here.

My Favorite Mystery: Loch Ness

I've always been fascinated by the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. The fact that it's called a
"monster" at all, and not just a "mystery," shows that we all love our bogey stories, and we love the thought of something undiscovered out there, like a UFO or life on other planets. In a way, I'm content to just let all those mysteries be. It's the mystery that creates the wonder, not the solution.

This famous photo of "Nessie" was taken by a surgeon on vacation at Loch Ness in the 1930's. I believe it's the most famous photo of the monster. However, recently someone else has added to the Nessie museum of evidence. A man named Gordon Holmes has video footage of something he saw in the Loch.

From ABC News: "'I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this jet black thing, about 45 feet long, moving fairly fast in the water,' said Gordon Holmes, the 55-year-old a lab technician from Shipley, Yorkshire, who took the video Saturday."

Holmes' video has got people talking again, and the skeptics say he has done it just in time for tourist season. But the romantics like me say that the monster does exist--that in fact he cannot live there alone, but must have a family. What he is remains a mystery, and that mystery is compounded by the fact that Loch Ness is huge, and deeper than the North Sea.

Scientists have tried to find the monster before, but without luck. The question is, do we really want it found? Or would we prefer to cling to possibility?

(image: http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~bcutherb/Loch%20Ness%20Monster%20large.JPG)