Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 6, 2018 7:34:24 GMT -5
Canada’s Ogopogo Lake Monster Caught on Video
Until recently, it had been years since anyone claimed to have seen the legendary Ogopogo – Canada’s version of the Loch Ness monster. In the past three weeks, however, there have been three sightings of the giant serpent-like creature said to dwell in Lake Okanagan, a huge body of water in British Columbia that reaches depths of 760 feet.
On Sept. 12, David Halbauer (above left) and his brother Keith (right) and their families were enjoying a picnic at one of Lake Okanagan’s many beaches when they saw something in the water. “When you’re sitting by the beach on a sunny day, you don’t expect to see a dinosaur come out of the water,” David Halbauer told Global News. “I saw this black form come out of the water ... cylindrical ... and then roll.” The brothers compared the monster to a “giant snake” moving across the water and estimated it to be almost 50 feet in length.
Since the initial encounter, there have been two additional sightings of Ogopogo, generating a lot of excitement among locals and tourists alike.
Local Indian tribes told stories of a monster that would rise from the depths when storms battered the lake, but the first documented sighting of Ogopogo was in 1972. Since then, there have been multiple witness who describe creature with a long, undulating body, several humps and a head resembling that of a horse.
Bill Steciuk, who lives in the nearby city of Kelowna and runs a website dedicated to the legend of Ogopogo, said he was stunned by the cluster of sightings. “There haven’t been a lot of Ogopogo sightings lately, which is the problem,” he explained. “Then all of a sudden, you have three in three weeks – totally amazing.”
Steniuk’s obsession with Ogopogo began in 1978 when he came to a screeching halt while driving over the Lake Okanagan floating bridge after catching a glimpse of something in the waves. “There’s three humps in the water and a head moving towards Kelowna,” Mr. Steciuk recalled. “Before that, I was not a believer.” The experience led him to dedicate his life to searching for Ogopogo and he has organized numerous expeditions on the lake over the years, but all were fruitless. However, his luck changed in 2015 when he spotted a large snakelike head popping out of the water about 500 feet from shore. He quickly grabbed his camera and captured an image of an odd, round object breaking the lake’s glassy surface. He is convinced it is a picture of Ogopogo.
Steciuk believes the lake may be home to dozens of the elusive serpents. “The theory is that eons ago, this lake was open to the ocean,” he said.
Sources: Marnie O'Neill, Fox News, October 5, 2018, and Doris Maria Bregolisse, Global News, September 17, 2018.
View Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMS0Q8U8X7A