‘Nessie’ Back Again--Like Fireman’s Helmet

DRUMNADROCHIT, Scotland — A bagpiper has reported the first sighting this year of the elusive Loch Ness monster.

Murdo Urquhart, 55, said he was sitting in his car with two tourists Sunday when he saw a black object about six feet across in Britain’s biggest lake.

“I just saw a hump,” the bagpipe player told reporters. “It looked like a fireman’s helmet. It seemed to be between two waves and was submerging. I’m convinced it was the monster.”

The first reported sighting of the creature was in 1933, and more than 3,000 have been reported since. Experts have searched the loch in vain, although serious research has produced 40 unexplained sonar contacts.