Loch Ness-like monster reported in Ireland

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CARNDONAGH, Ireland, May 2 (UPI) -- A pair of students filming a college project said they captured footage of a Loch Ness Monster-like creature in Ireland.

Conall Melarkey said he and friend David Lynch were filming their project at Lough Foyle, which separates the Irish province of Ulster and County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, when a large creature broke through the surface of the water, The Scotsman reported Thursday.

"Looks like we have our own Loch Ness Monster -- any experts out there?" Melarkey said in posting the clip to YouTube.

YouTube comments suggest the object could be a whale, sea debris or an intentional hoax, a possibility Melarkey denied.

"Can't believe people are suggesting this is just a viral promotion for our college project which is only two minutes long," he said.

The modern myth of the Loch Ness monster started 80 years ago, with a headline in the Inverness Courier reading, "Strange spectacle on Loch Ness," detailing the accounts of a couple who claimed to have seen a large creature swimming in the loch, The Guardian reported.