Researchers just uncovered a lost camera trap set in the 1970s to capture the Loch Ness Monster – and the film survived

Researchers testing a submarine for the National Oceanography Centre uncovered a camera trap with a Kodak Instamatic 174 camera dropped in the lake 55 years ago to try to photograph the legendary Loch Ness Monster.

Researchers from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre were testing an underwater vehicle when the submarine’s props snagged on something unexpected: An old Kodak Instamatic 174 camera inside waterproof housing. After investigating the odd find, the team realized that the camera had been placed in the lake 55 years ago as part of an attempt to photograph the infamous Loch Ness Monster in the 1970s.

The little Kodak, surprisingly, survived underwater for more than 50 years before it caught on the prop of the submarine robot Boaty McBoatface and was pulled up from where it had sat at around 426 feet (130m) deep. Researchers then developed the film left inside. While the film doesn’t appear to have caught an image that answers any questions about the legendary Loch Ness Monster, the find is an iconic representation of the past technology deployed in an attempt to solve the famous mystery.