A Loch Ness Monster expert became a believer when he saw a "mini whale" with "no eyes, no teeth" emerging from the water.
Gary Campbell - who runs the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register - has revealed he didn't believe in the fabled beast and though the myth was "was just something for the tourist industry" until he had an encounter back in 1996.
Gary explained he was sitting in his car in a lay by off the main road which runs around Loch Ness when he saw something strange emerging from the depths, telling the Press and Journal newspaper: "A black thing came out of the water and went back in. I thought I was seeing things, and then it came out again. There was no head, no eyes, no teeth. The best way to describe it would be like a mini whale.
"I grew up on the West Coast of Scotland, and I’ve seen many things in different lochs, but it was nothing like I’d ever seen before."
Gary and his wife Kathy went on to launch the Loch Ness Monster Fan Club to record information about Nessie as well as unexplained sightings and the couple later set up Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register which has become the main hub for members of the public to disclose their own encounters.
Gary told the publication he will keep the website running for "as long as he can" because he wants to "find an answer" about what he saw in the water.
He added of the register: "In essence, I had no real interest until I saw something, and now my quest in life is to work out what I saw."
Sightings of the fabled beast have surged in 2026 as reports filed with the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register have soared to a total of 15 for the year so far.
More people claimed to have spotted Nessie in 2026 than in the whole of 2025 with the total of 15 sightings this year already eclipsing the 10 recorded during the bumper year of 2023, which included a tourist who claimed to have spotted a "black mass" or "hump" in the water which was "roughly the size of a double decker bus".
The sighting was recorded on October 7, 2023 with Sash Lake from Wiltshire telling the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register: "I was leaving Drumnadrochit on a coach, admiring the view while the coach was driving past the Loch.
"It started to rain and a light fog rolled in, my view/ vision was partly limited due to the trees alongside the Loch, but something caught my eye for approximately five seconds and made me jump out of my skin, I saw a huge black mass/ hump in the middle of the Loch, roughly the size of a double decker bus.
"I would say it was around 75-100 yards away from me. I was confused, and in disbelief. I jumped to my feet to get a better look, trees completely blocked my view for about five to eight seconds, there was a clearing in the trees, and when I looked back to where I saw the black mass/ hump, there was nothing there."