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Step 1
Point out that the most famous photo of the Loch Ness Monster, attributed to Colonel Robert Wilson in 1934 and reproduced extensively, is a fake. In the "surgeon's photo," Nessie's long neck that snakes out of the water is actually a small model built by Christian Spurling. The hoax was only fully revealed in 1996, but by then the photograph had created many confirmed Nessie believers.
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Step 2
Present the BBC findings of 2003. Hoping to conclusively prove or disprove the existence of Nessie, a documentary team sent 600 sonar beams into Loch Ness. They should have picked up any monster hidden in the depths, but all they found was a buoy.
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Step 3
Note that the Loch Ness Monster cannot be a plesiosaur, which has been a long-standing theory. In 2006, paleontologist Leslie Noe reconstructed a plesiosaur neck, vertebrae by vertebrae, discovering that the animal could only move its neck downward and side to side. The plesiosaur's neck could not move upwards into that familiar Nessie curve.
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Step 4
Allow that there may be large animals in the lake, but they are neither monsters nor prehistoric creatures. Some scientists believe that circus elephants bathing in the waters may be the cause of many sightings, especially those in the 1930s when circuses were prevalent in the area. Others believe that the sightings may be large fish or sea slugs.
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Step 5
Remind believers that after 14 centuries of sightings, there is still no definitive evidence that there is anything strange in Loch Ness.
