Lake Erie Monsters?

 

A Lake Erie swamp monster? Alligator sighting begs question: What else is Lake Erie hiding

With a fisherman catching an unusual salmon in Lake Erie and a group of people reporting an alligator on the Great Lake, you may be wondering what else has been hanging around this 210-foot deep waterway.

On July 28, Colton Alex of Erie caught a 10.4 pound Atlantic salmon that is believed to have been stocked hundreds of miles away in Lake Huron. On Aug. 4, people believe they saw an alligator swimming near East Avenue. As of Friday, the reptile has not been captured.

However, it’s not the first time an alligator was released in Erie.

“We caught a 3-foot long alligator at the mouth of Elk Creek,” said Capt. Jim Smolko of the Northwest Region of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Smolko believes it happened about a dozen or so years ago. It was in late September or early October and was spotted near the access area in a pile of trees. “The water was getting cold. If somebody didn’t catch it, it was probably going to end up dying.”

The reptile was caught and given to someone in North East Township who could care for it.

Read the rest of the story of strange things in the Lake here :

https://eu.goerie.com/story/sports/outdoors/2024/08/12/did-peope-see-a-swamp-monster-aliens-alligators-and-sharks-in-lake-erie/74740504007/

There is said to be  another resident of lake Erie, a lake monster called South Bay Bessie.

Lake Erie is 241 miles long( approx 389kms) and 57 miles(approx 90kms) at its widest point.It is shallow compared to other great lakes but is said to be over 200 feet(over 65 metres) at its deepest.

The lake creature, now known as Bessie, was first reported in 1817 when the crew of a schooner reported seeing a large serpent like creature swimming in the lake. On July 8th, 1898, the Daily Register Newspaper, of Ohio reported that the lake monster was able to live on both land and in water and  was a fierce, ugly, coiling creature between 25(8 metres) and 30 feet long ( 10 metres)and at least 12 inches thick( .3 metres).

It became a bit of joke in 1912 when some hoaxers tried to pass off an exotic snake as the creature. Then more sightings began to be reported.

In 1960, Ken Golic was fishing off a pier in Sandusky when he heard what he thought were  rats. He decided to throw a couple of rocks at them but then when he got close he saw a cigar shaped creature.

In 1969, Jim Schindler was startled by a snake like creature came near South Bass Island. He said it appeared to be about 2 feet ( .6 metre)wide.

In September 1981, Theresa Kovach of Akron watched a snake like creature  from a house on the shore.She said  that "was so large that it could easily capsized a boat."

In 1983, Mary M. Landoll saw Bessie off Rye Beach in Huron. Mary was out to the front porch just before dawn when from the lake she heard a rowing sound and saw what looked like a capsized boat, but realised it was animate. It was a greenish-brown and about 50 feet( 18metres) long . It had a long neck and an eye was visible on the side of the head .

In 1985,there were two reported sightings . Tony Schill of Avon, Ohio was boating with friends north of Vermilion when they saw a dark brown snake like creature with a flat tail. Tony stated that "five humps came out of the water. No way it was a sturgeon." .In 1985, Dale Munro of Lorain was also boating when he saw something strange. He stated that it had three humps and was black.

In 1989, Gail Kasner had a soner reading graph a graph from a boat owned by Ken Smith of Streetsboro. It appeared to show cigar shape object about 35 feet ( 11 metres)in length at a depth of about 30 feet.(10 metres)

Then there were several sightings in 1990 including:

Susan Seeson, of Salem saw a  creature two miles from Cedar Point. In September , Bob Soracco was jet skiing when he saw something.. He told reporters that he saw humps with gray spots. "It was very long as I moved closer and it was going down.". In the same month, Harold Bricker and his family were fishing north of Cedar Point Amusement Park when a creature swam by their boat .They described it as being 35 feet ( 11 metres)long and having  a snake like head. It moved as fast as their boat.Also in  September  Fire inspectors, Jim Johnson and Steve Dircks of Huron, saw the creature from a window facing Lake Erie. They described it as  black at about 30 feet( 10 metres) long.

In September 1991, Dennis Szececinski,was fishing in the bay when something long and black slithered in front of him. Also in In 1991, George Repicz shot  some video footage which he claimed showed  Bessie.

In the summer of 1998, Leslee Rasgaitis reported seeing 3 black humps moving in the water of the shore of Huntington Beach, Ohio.

There are some more recent sightings I believe but the explanation given is that it is a sturgeon. I have never seen a sturgeon undulate so it has humps .Perhaps it is a giant eel or water snake? Whatever people are seeing it should be investigated.

Skinwalker Ranch

 

Skinwalker

In Navajo culture, a skinwalker  is a type of  witch who has the ability to turn into or  possess  animals. They are considered evil and  can be male or female.  The nearest creature in western mythology would be a werewolf, The Navajo are reluctance to talk about them,

"We as Native people are now opened up to a barrage of questions about these beliefs and traditions ... but these are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders. At all. I'm sorry if that seems 'unfair', but that's how our cultures survive.”

(Keene, founder of the website Native Appropriations on being asked about skinwalkers in literature.)

The legend came to the notice of the wider world with the story of the skinwalker ranch.

The so called Skinwalker Ranch, previously known as Sherman Ranch, is a property located southeast of Ballard, Utah,Claims about paranormal events at the ranch first appeared in 1996 in the Salt Lake City, Utah, Deseret News,

Robert Bigelow, founder of the National Institute for Discovery Science, purchased the ranch for $200,000 in 1996, after being convinced by the stories of cattle mutilations, and strange lights told by the family of former ranch owner Terry Sherman.Bigelow set up round-the-clock surveillance of the ranch, hoping to get to the bottom of the paranormal claims.

In 2005, Colm Kelleher and co-author George Knapp published a book, Hunt for the Skinwalker, Kelleher and Knapp, reported they saw evidence of  incidents that include vanishing and mutilated cattle, sightings of unidentified flying objects or orbs, large animals with piercing red eyes and invisible objects emitting  magnetic fields. However, the investigators admitted to "difficulty obtaining evidence consistent with scientific publication".

There was a TV series made of the investigations at the Ranch which further extended its fame.

The  Sherman’s family ranch was 400 miles north of Navajo Nation so skinwalkers unlikely..

Author Robert Sheaffer believes the events  at the Skinwalker Ranch to be "almost certainly illusory", as the previous owners of the property, who had lived there for 60 years, say that they saw no strange things of any kind . Sheaffer considers the "parsimonious explanation" to be that the Sherman family invented the story "prior to selling it to the gullible Bigelow", with many of the more extraordinary claims originating solely from Terry Sherman.

All I can suggest is read the literature and watch the TV series and make up your own minds.In view of the lack of Navajo nation in the area ,the skinwalker legend seems unlikely. However as I have said in the past certain areas seem to attract strange phenomena .Or do they attract the people that see them? You decide.

 

 An article for those interested in the ranch:

https://www.history.com/news/skinwalker-ranch-paranormal-ufos-mutilation