Loch Ness monster: New Nessie photos ‘most exciting’ ever released amid new search

The photos — which show a “serpent”-like animal with its body on the surface of the loch — were actually taken in 2018, but photographer Chie Kelly, 51, kept them to herself in fear of public ridicule, the NY Post reports.

However, now that there’s a large ongoing search for the famed water beast — the largest Loch Ness hunt in 50 years — Ms Kelly, a translator, was convinced to put the photos out into the world.

She and her husband, Scott, were having lunch at the Dores Inn on the banks of the loch in Inverness, Scotland, on August 13, 2018, when she started to take photos.

“I was just taking pictures with my Canon camera of Scott and our daughter Alisa, who was then five, when about 200 metres from the shore, moving right to left at a steady speed was this creature,” Ms Kelly told The Telegraph. “It was spinning and rolling at times. We never saw a head or neck. After a couple of minutes, it just disappeared and we never saw it again.”

While she couldn’t get an image clearly showing the beast’s length, she estimated that the two parts that were visible were less than two metres long combined.

“At first I wondered if it was an otter or a pair of otters or a seal, but we never saw a head and it never came up again for air. It was making this strange movement on the surface,” she told the outlet.

“We did not hear any sound. There were these strange shapes below the surface. I could not make out any colours — the water was dark.”

Ms Kelly also said she witnessed the monster moving at “steady speed” when she photographed the rare moment and shared the snaps with Steve Feltham, who has dedicated over 30 years to searching for Nessie ever since quitting his job and selling his Dorset home in 1991.

“I don’t know what it was but it was definitely a creature — an animal. At the time I did not want to face public ridicule by making the photographs public,” said Ms Kelly. She added that she’s long believed in the Loch Ness creature’s existence, “but I don’t know what it is”.

“What I saw looked like a serpent. It was definitely a creature and it was moving,” she said.

Mr Feltham heralded Ms Kelly’s photos as some of the best images he’s ever seen.

“These are the most exciting surface pictures [of Nessie] I have seen. They are exactly the type of pictures I have been wanting to take for three decades. It is rare to see something so clear on the surface,” Mr Feltham told The Telegraph.

“We are lucky the Kellys have decided to go public at last. I have met the Kellys twice and they are absolutely genuine. I persuaded them that these pictures were so important they should make them public. They warrant further investigation. It is not driftwood — it is a moving creature and totally unexplained.”

Meanwhile, the Loch Ness Center and the Loch News Exploration volunteer group teamed up to host “Quest Weekend” last weekend, the latest event in a centuries-long tradition of looking for Nessie — so believers of the fabled creature are going to be in for a treat when they see these unearthed photos.

The monster hunters faced some difficulties in their search, including inclement weather that prevented them from launching heat-seeking drones and forgetting to turn on their recording equipment when the underwater microphones picked up four “strange” sounds.

“[The pictures] are vindication for all the people who believe there is something unexplained in Loch Ness. They are remarkable. I have studied them and still do not know what it is,” Mr Feltham said.

Nessie enthusiasts continue to explore the lake despite not having much success in substantiating their claims, with about 1148 sightings recorded of the creature, according to the Official Loch Ness monster Sightings Register.

At least three sightings have been reported so far this year, after six in 2022.

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission