A robotic submarine searching for the Loch Ness monster has instead found a long-lost film prop of the mythical creature. (Photo : YouTube/BBC News)
A model head of the Loch Ness monster created in 1969 for a film has resurfaced. The head was built for a "Sherlock Holmes" film. It has now been rediscovered 50-years since it sank to the bottom of Loch Ness in the Scottish highlands.
The model head measured to about 30ft, according to the BBC. The prop was commissioned by director Billy Wilder who was behind the film " The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes." The film starred Sir Christopher Lee and Sir Robert Stephens.
Recently an underwater robotic submarine captured the first images of the lost prop. Adrian Shine, a Loch Ness expert confirmed that the measurements and shape matched the lost prop, the British broadcast channel reported.
Kongsberg Maritime is the company that owns the aquatic robot. The company is based in Norway and has been behind robots used to navigate the bed of Loch Ness.
Shine is behind The Loch Ness Project, which aims to gather scientific information on the possibility of the mythical sea monster. Shine's project studies the ecology of the lake and searches for scientific claims and possible sightings.
"The model was built with a neck and two humps and taken alongside a pier for the filming of portions of the film," Shine told the British channel. He said the director had wanted the initial humps on the prop removed. This was against warnings as the production crew feared for the buoyancy of the prop. The inevitable happened and the Loch Ness head sank into the loch.
"We can confidently say that this is the model because of where it was found. The shape - there is the neck and no humps - and from the measurements," Shine told the British channel. According to reports, the prop was floated out to a place on the lake for filming. A few months prior to filming residents had made claims of Loch Ness sightings in the same area.
According to Daily Mail, the robot scanned the loch at a depth of more than 200 meters. While the wreckage of a boat and the prop were discovered, the lair of the famed Loch Ness monster was not sighted, the publication reported.
Previous media reports quoted Keith Stewart, a tourist as claiming to have discovered a trench at the bottom of the loch. He claimed his sonar equipment detected a 900foot opening. However, the British publication reported that such theories have since been disproved.
Watch a clip which captures the discovery of the film prop below:
