A photographer has finally unveiled "the most compelling" photos of what she believes is the Loch Ness Monster after keeping them hidden from the public for half a decade.
52-year-old Chie Kelly who now lives in Fortrose, Inverness, had taken a series of snaps of the legendary loch-dweller in 2019 while on a holiday in Scotland - but, fearing public ridicule, had saved them for herself.
Last year, the first 15 photos, taken in a burst, were finally revealed - and now, hit podcast the Cryptid Factor has come forward with a deep-dive on all 71 frames of the "monster".
It's not clear just what appears to be moving through the bracing waters of Loch Ness, but the release of the stills has sent viewers wild with speculation.
So here is the much anticipated unseen #ChieKelly #LochNessMonster footage
A few pictures were released back in August last year & today the video & more pictures were released
The original footage was recorded in 2018 & took Steve Feltham to bring them to the publics attention🦕 pic.twitter.com/P99pmLqRrm
— CRYPTIDS UK 👣🦕 (@CRYPTIDSUK) March 19, 2024
Kelly said she had been photographing the Loch from Dores, a village on its eastern shore, when she and her husband Scott, 69, saw the "strange creature" move 100 metres across the water before disappearing, never to resurface again.
She managed to catch what she saw on camera, but kept quiet - however, a large-scale search for 'Nessie' in August 2023 featuring hundreds of volunteers finally convinced Kelly to share her images.
Her first port of call was Steve Feltham, a self-described "full-time Nessie hunter" who holds the 30-year world record for the longest search for the beast.
Feltham said: "They are the most compelling surface images of the phenomenon. Putting all 71 frames out there will hopefully spark international debate and an analysis - that's the point of it.
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Steve Feltham said the images were "vindication for all the people who believe there is something unexplained in Loch Ness"
Wikimedia Commons/GETTY
"They still defy explanation. I don't think they are otters - those creatures are much smaller than what is in the images - or divers. It also appears there may be two objects. They certainly warrant further investigation."
Kelly, who lived in Berkshire at the time, said: "My husband was originally from the Inverness area and Dores beach is a very special place to me as it where he used to take me when we first met.
"We had lunch in the Dores Inn and then started walking around... I was just taking pictures with my Canon camera of Scott and our daughter Alisa, who was then five, when about 200 metres from the shore, moving right to left at a steady speed, was this creature.
"It was spinning and rolling at times - we never saw a head or neck - after a couple of minutes, it just disappeared and we never saw it again... I could not accurately assess its length, but the two parts that were visible were less than two metres long together."
Chie Kelly now lives with her husband Scott in Fortrose, near Inverness
Wikimedia Commons
Feltham said: "They are exactly the type of pictures I have been wanting to take for three decades. It is rare to see something so clear on the surface.
"They are vindication for all the people who believe there is something unexplained in Loch Ness...They are remarkable. I have studied them and still do not know what it is."
The Cryptid Factor, hosted by Kiwi actors Rhys Darby and Leon Kirkbeck, as well as Australian writer Dan Schreiber, discussed just how important the photos could be; its hosts said the fact the video showed how the "monster" moved was a "game-changer".
Schreiber said: "Whether you're a sceptic or a believer, this mysterious video will give you goosebumps and have you debating late into the night over what was captured by Chie in the loch that day... Hopefully this video will serve as a reminder that there are still mysteries still out there to be solved."