Is the Loch Ness Monster real? This question has been debated for years after many people have captured pictures claiming to have seen the famous Nessie.

Almost all of these pictures have been disproven … until now.

A new picture, captured by one of Apple Maps’ satellites, shows a shadowy figure in the depths of the North End of Loch Ness in Scotland. The figure is approximately 100ft long, and seems to have two large flippers moving it through the water.

The image was spotted by two individuals last year as they were searching through Apple Maps on their smart phone app. Andrew Dixon, one of the men who first noticed the picture said: “It was a total fluke that I found it. I was looking at satellite images of my town and then just thought I’d have a look at Loch Ness. The first thing that came into my head when I saw it was, ‘That’s the Loch Ness Monster.’ It was the shape of it, I thought it had to be something more than a shadow.”

Dixon then alerted the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, who have since been studying the picture, trying to determine if it is actually shows Nessie. After six months, the club still has no other explanation. Gary Campbell, the club president, said that the image “most likely” shows proof of Nessie.

“It looks like a boat wake, but the boat is missing,” Campbell said. “You can see some boats moored at the shore, but there isn’t one here. We’ve shown it to boat experts and they don’t know what it is. Whatever this is, it is under the water and heading south, so unless there have been secret submarine trials going on in the loch, the size of the object would make it likely to be Nessie.”

Do you think the image is proof that Nessie exists? Leave your comments below.

Image via Wikimedia Commons