Robert H. Rines, a lawyer, composer, inventor and physicist whose discoveries led to sharper resolution in radar, sonar and ultrasound imaging and who claimed to have seen the Loch Ness Monster, has died. He was 87. Rines died of heart failure at his home in Boston Sunday, surrounded by his family, his wife, Joanne Hayes-Rines, told The Associated Press Monday. Rines invented prototype radar and sonar technology that was later also incorporated in ultrasound imaging of internal organs. He donated the radar patent to the US government and gave the imaging patent to the rest of the world to use for free. He also wrote music for more than 10 Broadway and off-Broadway productions and shared an Emmy for his work on a piece about former New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. He also is the founder of the Academy of Applied Science, a nonprofit group that promotes creativity and interest in science. Rines used some of his inventions in attempts to prove the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, and claimed to have seen Nessie in 1971. The encounter enticed Rines to go back to the Scottish lake every few years, hoping to use better imaging and tracking technology to capture sharper images of the animal. He previously said it looked like a plesiosaur, a dinosaur that lived under water millions of years ago. “It was maybe 45 feet (14 meters) in length with a neck 4 or 5 feet (1.2 or 1.5 meters) long, according to eyewitness accounts,” he once said.
