Projecting the Loch Ness Monster On The Surface of the Lake

This is a genuinely strange bit of news that I stumbled across this morning:

The latest technology has been used to create a striking image of one of the world's most famous mythical creatures.

Experts projected the Loch Ness Monster on to the waters of the loch to recreate a scene from the film The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep.

Crowds in Inverness-shire gathered to view the image of the beast, which is the subject of the 2007 Hollywood movie.

The projection was created using water jets and large semi-circular water screens.

It was staged to coincide with the DVD release of the movie on Monday.

(source)

What do you make of that?

It must have been a wonder to see. The idea of imprinting or impressing the images of our imagined monsters onto the landscape is a very old one - just look at this - but this is a new way of doing it. I am trying to picture in my mind what that projection must have looked like. It certainly makes for remarkable publicity for the movie - what a way to sell an audience on the magic of the film!

Water is already magical. Imagine being in that crowd on the bank of Loch Ness, gazing out over the cold water as such a beautiful creature shimmers into being.

Can I have a Water Horse, too?

(By the way, for those who may be fascinated by the enduring Loch Ness legend and by the continuing ardor of so many "Nessie"-hunters, you may enjoy this site, which tracks Nessie sightings and catalogues various bits of Nessie lore and memorabilia.)