Thermal drones debut at Scotland’s weekend Loch Ness-palooza

An unrelenting quest for truth – and businesses recognizing a ripe opportunity when they see it – will be fueling the convergence of myriad mystery lovers, avocational researchers, and drone pilots on Scotland this weekend to search for the Loch Ness monster during the 90th-anniversary year of its first sighting.

The August 26-27 hunt for the Loch Ness monster in northern Scotland is far from the first organized mass search for the mythical beast – nor novel in using cutting-edge gadgetry as part of that effort. But included among new tech to be deployed over the weekend, says organizer Loch Ness Centre organizer, will be “drones to produce thermal images of the water from the air using infrared cameras.” 

It adds those heat detecting drones – coupled with hydrophones to detect any underwater acoustic signals (apart from fish audible rolling their eyes at the spectacle) – “could provide a crucial component for identifying any mysterious anomalies” revealing the presence of Scotland’s celebrated monster.

So, too, could liberal administration of the area’s equally famous whiskeys to observers, though there’s some doubt about the reliability of that method (also). 

Read: Stunning views of 18th-century Scottish manor restoration captured by drone pilot

Participants not actively involved in the tech-side of the search will be able to witness hydrophone monitoring aboard a boat crisscrossing the lake for a mere £45 ($57), in addition to the costs of hotels and travel, of course.

Though drones have repeatedly overflown Loch Ness seeking to capture visual evidence of the monster – with some pilots actually publishing images that quickly proved (wait for it) fake – use of the thermal sensors will be a first. Just how far down those will penetrate the murk of the 775-foot-deep water, however, is another matter.

Pilots will be among what’s expected to be a sizeable throng making the pilgrimage to Scotland’s famous lake exactly (to the year, anyway) nine decades after a local paper published the first sighting of the monster by an employee of the neighboring Drumnadrochit Hotel. 

Perhaps less than coincidentally, event coordinator Loch Ness Centre now operates out of that same said building.

Indeed, in addition to heat-seeking drones and boats scouring the waters for signs of the monster doing its business, the Loch Ness Centre will be doing some of its own, with the assistance of Scotland’s voluntary research group, Loch Ness Exploration (LNE). 

“There will also be a special tour available at the Loch Ness Centre… of the (former hotel’s) seven rooms, featuring real artefacts, scientific debates and eyewitness accounts, and recorded sightings,” the organizer’s site reads, adding a talk about the monster’s existence will then be given by an LNE member. “The one-of-a-kind experience and talk costs £30 per person.”

If Nessie is out there, she’ll doubtless be visibly fuming in anger that she isn’t in for a percentage of the proceeds.