Is lake monster a tyre? New photo shams 'Bownessie'
A mythical beast rumoured to be lurking under UK’s Lake Windermere might be nothing but a floating old tyre.
This comes a month after the “giant four-humped Bownessie” was purportedly photographed emerging from the depths of Lake Windermere near Bowness in Cumbria.
The grainy photo, taken by 24-year-old kayaker Tom Pickles, had become a worldwide sensation and was called the “most conclusive proof” of the existence of the monster.
However, the Daily Mail reports that a family holidaying by the lake a week ago found something which casts suspicions on the beast theory.
John Phillips, 46, who was at Windermere with his wife and three daughters, spotted a large tyre cut open which when floating on water looks a lot like the four-humped creature in Pickles photo.
Phillips came across the type lying on the footpath at the edge of the lake and was stunned by the close resemblance.
"If you looked at this tyre floating from a distance, it did look a Nessie-like creature", Phillips told the Daily Mail.
Phillips suggests the thread of the black tyre tread gives the supposed creature a "leathery" look, resembling the skin of a seal or a snake.
Pickles had also claimed the creature was moving at a speed of 15 kmph, causing ripples on the lake's surface.
Phillips says the motion could be a result of the tyre being pulled with a rope by a person or a boat.
"I don't want to ruin anyone's fun, but maybe this tyre is the Bowness Monster,” he said.
However, his theory and the picture has not convinced everyone.
Thomas Noblett, who runs a hotel in Windermere, claims he spotted the Bownessie way back in 2009 when he was swimming with a friend in the lake.
He also claims to know more people who have sighted the rumoured beast.
“I felt something really big and powerful go past me and at first I thought it was a boat engine. Then my friend and I saw were very big waves, and then it disappeared,” he told the Daily Mail.
