When a Tyneside man ‘discovered’ Nessie

YOU might have seen the recent Chronicle story about the mystery sea creature captured on video in the River Tyne.

Local man Kevin Burton filmed the unknown animal from the North Pier at Tynemouth during the summer.

He joked: “I think I witnessed the first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster outside of Scotland.”

It was on June 11, 1960, meanwhile, that the fabled Scottish monster appeared on page one of this newspaper.

A local fireman and former naval frogman contacted the Chronicle claiming he’d taken pictures of the elusive creature.

It was, he claimed, proof of the beast’s existence.

In today’s more cynical, worldly-wise times, it’s doubtful whether such a story would be given much credence.

Back then, it was happily splashed all over page one.

We reported: “A Gateshead fireman says he has photographed the fabulous Loch Ness Monster - and the sensational picture above is the one he took. “The fireman, ex-Royal Marine frogman Peter O’Connor of Swinburne Place, claims he photographed the monster between 6am and 6.30am on Friday, May 27, about a mile north east of Foyers Bay on Loch Ness.

“He was accompanied by a member of his survey team, Mr Fred Fulcher of Swindon Street, Hebburn, and although conditions were not ideal for photography and the creature appeared in half-light, they were satisfied by what they saw.

“They believe ‘Nessie’ is a creature with a large, broad flattened body with four paddle-like limbs.

“The tail is short and otter-like and a small head similar to that of a sheep’s is set on a long, thick neck.”

Mr O’Connor, meanwhile, planned to capture the mystery animal.

He said: “I have worked out a perfect method of catching it which involves getting the creature into a cage.”

Sadly, however, we were compelled to end our sensational report: “When shown the picture today, Mr A M Tynan, curator of the Hancock Museum, Newcastle, said ‘In view of the unsatisfactory condition of the evidence, we are not prepared to make any pronouncement’.”