LOCH NESS MONSTER

"Nessie." the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, captures the imagination of many people.

There were headlines just last week "Policeman says Nessie is real."

There are knowledgeable quotes from the Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine where the head guy, Loren Coleman, keeps records and investigates sightings of the world's mythic creatures. Old photographs and current ones, made by tourists, keep us interested, excited, curious -- is there solid, factual proof that the Loch Ness Monster is real?

Out of this question flow other questions:

Are there strange creatures roaming the earth? What about ghosts? Is there really ESP? Will the world end on one of the dates that have been predicted? Are Shirley MacLaine's other selves communicating with her? Did Houdini prove that mediums and spiritualists were fraudulent? What about Channeling, UFO's, crop circles?

Have we invented the concept of supernatural forces because it helps us face the inevitability of death? Maybe Big foot, Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster are part that, like angels and ghosts, and other inexplicable things.

About ten years ago, Coleman, who co-authored of "Field Guide to Lake Monsters," scheduled a submarine exploration in Loch Ness with Dan Scott Taylor.

Taylor was with the policeman who declared Nessie was real -- 30 YEARS AGO. Yes, the headlines made it sound current, Coleman and a much older Taylor planned to harpoon the beast and take a DNA sample.

Scottish authorities, learning of Taylor’s plan, revoked his exploration permits and the submarine trip never materialized. Taylor died in 2005.

Coleman said: “There’s always been the sense that quietly they (Scottish authorities) were taking the reports more validly. There was a serious acknowledgment that the Loch Ness Monster exists.” (He was tactfully explaining that the Scotts want to keep their flourishing tourist business alive.)

While the submarine trip didn't happen, Coleman presided over a two-week surface expedition in Scottland, in 1999. He interviewed 38 people who claimed to have seen the monster. Coleman said, "Eight appeared valid."

What about "Champ," a creature seen by Jimmy Garter and Ronald Reagan in Lake Champlain? And the giant lizard that recently appeared in the Philippines? And vampires? What do you think about vampires?

I wonder if it comes down to kid stuff -- do I -- did I believe in the tooth fairy, or Santa? Do I, do you knock on wood, cross your fingers?

Do I, do you believe in good luck? What about fate?

It's interesting, fun, to ask these questions and wonder about the Loch Ness Monster, and realize people had fun with this 30 years ago.

What do I really, truly, honestly believe?

I believe that I don't know what I believe. Depending upon my mood, I keep changing my mind.