Search for Norwegian 'Nessie'

The monster might look like the legendary Nessie

A team of Swedish scientists is exploring a lake in south-eastern Norway for evidence of an unidentified monster like Scotland's legendary "Nessie".

Mysterious noises have already been picked up since the search of Roemsjoen lake started this week.

The expedition is headed by Espen Samuelsen of the Global Underwater Search Team, which has previously looked for the Loch Ness monster.

The most recent sighting of the "Roemsjoen monster" was in 2001 - but reports about the creature go back as far as the 18th century.

Strange sounds

The monster is said to be between five and 15 metres (15 and 50 feet) long, with a slim body - wider in the middle - and with either feet or fins.

The four-man team is using sonar equipment from the Swedish navy to search the lake, which covers 14 square kilometres (six square miles).

"Already on the first night, we registered a sound that we at first thought was coming from a canoe. But no canoe appeared and the sound suddenly stopped after 30 seconds," said Mr Samuelsen.

Quoted by the Norwegian online daily Nettavisen, he said the sounds picked up in the lake corresponded to the noise of a large animal in the water.

"We think this is a previously unidentified animal," he said.

In the most recent sighting, a woman claimed the creature - a large black animal - slipped into the water after she spotted it on the shore and threw a stone at it.

In 1998 scientists studied another Norwegian lake, Seljord, hoping to find the legendary monster, known as "Thelma".