By Ron VandenBoom
It somehow seems natural for the mysteries of the Universe to be discussed on the World Wide Web. Its the greatest gathering of information to ever be made available to mankind.
Everything from facts and figures to fantasy and fiction are only a mouse click away over the Internet.
Today I want to dive into the fantasy realm with an examination of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie as she is more affectionately known.
Three sites, all claiming to be official, top the Nessie list for the quantity and quality of information provided.
Now, who selected any one of these sites as the official site, Im not sure.
Theoretically, for a site to be official, it would have to be selected as official by the principle subject involved a Brad Pitt site would have to be endorsed by Pitt himself, for example. The same is true of parks, commercial products, or anything else that might have ownership or copyrights protecting it.
Nessie, as I understand it, has refused to endorse any of these sites as official. While all claim to have sought her official approval none have yet been able to even prove she exists.
The first site, www.nessie.co.uk, is perhaps the most complete site of the three with a broad data base of information on who has sighted the monster and when she was seen. There is also a page dedicated to film evidence, sonar contacts, and stories surrounding the elusive creature.
The Geology of the Lock page will also give the surfer input on what is unique about Loch Ness and why some people feel it is possible for a beast of this size to exist undetected in the nether regions of the loch.
There is also the usual FAQ page and the Official Nessie Fan Club page. All, Im sure, endorsed by Nessie herself.
If you want to visit the first and official Loch Ness Monster site stretch your long neck and floppy fins over to www.lochness.co.uk/index.html.
This official site has most of the information the other official site has but has added a few movies of eye witnesses who will tell you their story.
All you need is the VIVO player and lots of time to waste.
The third site, Lock Ness Live, features a web cam that will allow you to look for Nessie yourself. Or at least spend a lot of time glaring into your monitor hoping to see something besides still water and on what is supposed to be Loch Ness.
This site also claims it is the first to have a spectator just like you capture a picture of the long lost monster over their Internet Web Cam. It happened June 5, 1999, and the pictures are posted on the site if you doubt.
If you dont doubt and would like to be a spotter yourself, feel free to surf over to wysiwyg://26/http://www.lochness.scotland.net and spend the rest of your life glued to the computer hoping to catch a glimpse of this elusive legend.
