It has been decades since the mystery surrounding the sacking of an internationally renowned zoologist at one of Britain’s top museums.
However, newly-released documents have revealed that Dr Denys Tuck lost his job as a Natural History Museum employee because of his beliefs in the Loch Ness monster.
After serving as a pilot in World War II, Dr Tucker started his academic career. He joined the museum as a scientist officer in its department of Zoology in 1949. His ranks rose and he became the principal scientific officer in 1957.
At 39 years old, Dr Tucker’s career was over. His alleged insubordination led to his dismissal, shocking colleagues, and sparking decades of speculation regarding Tucker’s views about Loch Ness.
These documents were discovered by the museum’s trustees and support his view that his decision to dismiss him was based on his belief in the creature, rather than his professional conduct.
Ridiculed! New documents show that Dr Denys (pictured) was fired from the Natural History Museum because he believed in the Loch Ness Monster.
His sacking led to him being unable to work again as a professor. Months before his exit, he wrote in the New Scientist magazine of his belief that the supposed monster – by then the subject of thousands of alleged sightings – must be a plesiosaur, a reptile thought to have been extinct for 70million years.
Documents from the board have revealed that senior officials at the museum were paranoid about the possibility of reputational harm if the creature’s existence was taken seriously.
In 1959, the board sent a memo to its staff warning them that it did not approve the use of their official time and official leave for the “Loch Ness Phenomenon”. In 1959, the board sent a memo to staff stating: “If the museum’s activities result in unwanted publicity due to the actions of its members, [the trustees]You will be deeply disappointed.
Faked: Staged 1934 Nessie photo
Official reason Dr Tucker was fired was “continued, vindictive, insubordinate, and generally offensive behavior towards the director of the museum and other senior staff”.
Also, the documents show that Tucker was unsuccessful in securing funding from Royal Society to fund a scientific project.
A newspaper clip from that period, kept in the museum’s archives, quotes him as saying “I submitted the project to Natural History Museum. To collect specimens, the museum sends out an expedition. However, they were not keen on the idea.
They refused to allow me to speak on this subject. They have since banned me from the library, after I had been fired. My international reputation was as a zoologist. Now, I feel like a strike off lawyer.
The unsuccessful legal battle against the museum was not won by Fisher. He also launched a lawsuit against Lord Fisher (then Archbishop and Canterbury), who led the legal action.
Tucker, despite ridicule and criticism from scientists, claimed to have even seen the creature.
In 2009 Dr Tucker, who was unrepentant about his belief in the existence of it, died in France.