Paranormal Article - August 2009

LAKE MONSTERS

Lake monsters have been reported on every continent except for Antarctica and South America. They are a popular phenomenon and are part of most peoples mythologies and cultures. Some lake monsters are famous although there are reportedly dozens more of them throughout the world.

The Loch Ness monster is probably the most well known of them all although it is not the most reported, witnesses, photographed or caught on video. That would be Ogo Pogo, of lake Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada.

What makes Lake monsters interesting is that they could be real. The lakes they are reported to live in all have similar characteristics, including cast depths formed by glaciers at the end of the last ice age. Almost all are located in northern latitudes.

Most legends go back hundreds of years. Native American Indians have names for all the North American lake monsters that were also spotted by colonial settlers continuing up to this day by modern locals. Loch Ness sightings became popular in the early 1930’s and not much is reported before then. However, the Loch is in such remote location that earlier sightings might not have been reported outside of the local villages.

Witnesses across the globe, regardless of which lake, describe the same basic animal. Something akin to a long-necked-dinosaur-type-aquatic-creature. Humps, long face and rolling wave producing disturbances are often reported.

As far as Nessie, the iconic "surgeons photo" has been discredited however several sonar anomalies exist. Photos and video of Ogo Pogo are common. Champ of Lake Champlain Vermont has had a remarkable photo taken by a passing family that stands as authentic to this day, on top of the dozens of witness accounts back to the 1800’s.

A curious thing is happening right now in the African countries of Congo, Cameroon, and Gabon. Villagers report a dinosaur looking creature called Mokele-Mbembe feeding in the shallow waters of rivers and lakes and it is described as a modern living sauropod. A long necked elephant sized creature that terrorizes the hippos in the areas it is seen.

Witnesses in China have reported about the Lake Tianchi monster, first sighted in the early 1900’s. This was described as a buffalo like animal with wings.

Skeptics laugh all of this off as misidentification. The creatures could actually be one of a hundred plausible things. However, new species of fauna are discovered every day, including large mammals. For example, a species of deer was discovered in Vietnam in the 1990’s, an entire plateau ecosystem in South America, in Borneo 2007 a treasure trove of uncatalogued animals was discovered and a new species of monkey was found this year in the Amazon. It is not completely implausible that there is something BIG and UNCATALOGUED in the lakes...

Sonar picture of Nessie, 1975

Above Top: The Mansi photo of Champ - Lake Champlain, Vermont, July 1977