Between August 2000 and September 2001 three companies from around Lake Okanegan promised $2 million to anyone who could find definitive, living proof that the fabled Ogopogo monster did exist. The crime the creature committed is hard to say, although there are stories of it seizing and murdering helpless native people out on the lake. It cannot be denied that the Ogopogo is a serial offender at causing civil unrest. Lake Okanagan is in British Columbia, Canada. It is around 100 miles long and has areas almost 1000 feet deep. The native Salish tribe believed in a terrible serpent, which they called ‘N’ha-a-tik’, the ‘Lake Demon’. They said the beast had a cave dwelling near the middle of the lake, and they would often make sacrifices to please the monster. European settlers initially scoffed at the legends, but over the years the Ogopogo has established itself in the minds of many who live nearby.
From the mid 1800s white immigrants started seeing strange phenomena in the lake. One of the first stories told of a man crossing the lake with his two tethered horses swimming behind. Some strange force pulled the animals under, and the man only saved himself by cutting the horses loose. Witnesses say the creature is anything up to 50 feet long, with green skin, several humps and a huge horse-like head. Some people have managed to closely view it as it ate water vegetation; they said the Ogopogo also had small feet or fins.
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart;
Unexplained:"Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena" by Jerome Clark
From the mid 1800s white immigrants started seeing strange phenomena in the lake. One of the first stories told of a man crossing the lake with his two tethered horses swimming behind. Some strange force pulled the animals under, and the man only saved himself by cutting the horses loose. Witnesses say the creature is anything up to 50 feet long, with green skin, several humps and a huge horse-like head. Some people have managed to closely view it as it ate water vegetation; they said the Ogopogo also had small feet or fins.
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| Ogopogo Sightings Image Credit: Unexplained:"Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena" by Jerome Clark |
Susan Allison watched a 60-foot animal swimming against the wind off the western shore during a storm in 1872.
Lydia Hodgson, of Okanagan Landing, got a good view of Ogopogo on July 21, 1923, as she was riding a horse along the shore. It looked like an “upturned boat” at first, but as she got closer, she was able to see three humps and a head. The animal moved its head from side to side and moved its eyes. When Hodgson called to her son, Ogopogo immediately submerged and swam under water toward the center of the lake.
John L. Logie, his wife, and his driver, P. J. Dodwell, saw a 20-foot animal on July 19, 1926, as they were driving along the lake north of Peachland. It raced alongside their car, producing a foot-high swell.
Ogopogo made an appearance between Gellatly Point and Westbank during a baptism on November 18, 1926, where fifty or sixty people were gathered on the shore. Witnesses said it had a sheeplike head raised 2 feet above the water and several coils the size of automobile wheels.
On October 6, 1935, Edward Grahame, Jim Ripley, and Charles B. Grahame were fishing near the north end of the lake when they saw Ogopogo rise to the surface some 200 feet from their rowboat. The animal’s undulating humps were about 1 foot above the surface.
On February 26, 1948, bus driver Don Nourse saw four small animals 50 feet from the shore.
On the evening of July 2, 1949, the families of Leslie L. Kerry and W. F. Watson Jr. watched Ogopogo off Kelowna. It was 30 feet long, sinuous, and consisted of five undulations. They saw what appeared to be a forked tail.
Rev. W. S. Beames saw Ogopogo off Naramata on August 12, 1950. A disturbance described as being like a fire hose thrashing about was caused by several humps that submerged and left a large wake.
In mid-July 1974, Barbara Clark was swimming toward a diving platform off the southern shore of the lake when something large and heavy bumped her legs. After jumping on the platform, she was able to watch a serpentine animal moving through the clear water 20 feet away. One coil was 8 feet long and 4 feet above the water. She could also see a flukelike tail, 4–6 feet wide.
John Kirk, his son, and two members of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, Jim and Barbara Clark, were at Peach Orchard Beach on July 30, 1989, when they spotted a 35-foot, humped animal. One large hump was visible through a 40X telescope. On August 1, 1989, John Kirk again saw a 35-foot animal with three to six humps thrashing frenziedly near Green Bay.
On July 24, 1990, Mike Guzzi noticed an image at a depth of 350 feet on his fish-finding sonar near Bear Creek as he was taking Japanese reporter Masayuki Tamaki on an Ogopogo search for Nippon TV. It seemed to consist of a head, tail, and 30-foot-body, with bubbles coming up off the head.
In July 1993, from a hill 6 miles north of Penticton, John Moore watched an animal with a horse’s head protruding about 6 feet from the water and creating a wake. It moved in a straight line for about thirty minutes.
In mid-August 2000, Darryl Ellis, a cancer survivor, was swimming the entire length of the lake to raise funds for cancer research when he saw two Ogopogos pacing and swimming underneath him near Rattlesnake Island. One was at least 20 feet long. When he neared Okanagan Lake Bridge, a large, grayish animal flipped out of the water near him, and he saw an eye the size of a grapefruit.
Some cryptozoologists, individuals who study the possibility of such creatures as sea and lake monsters truly existing, have theorized that plesiosaurs, one of the giant reptiles of the Mesozoic Age, which ended about 70 million years ago, could have survived in the depths of the relatively unchanged environment of Earth’s oceans. Because some sea monster sightings occur in cold waters, other researchers favor the survival of an ancient species of mammals, such as the ancestor of the whale known as Zeuglodon or Basilosaurus. The Basilosaurus had a slim, elongated, snakelike body measuring more than 70 feet in length which the huge creature propelled by means of a single pair of fins at its forward end.
British cryptozoologist Dr. Karl Shuker has categorized the Ogopogo as a 'many hump' variety of lake monster, and suggested it may be a kind of primitive serpentine whale such as Basilosaurus. However, because the physical evidence for the beast is limited to unclear photographs and film, it has also been suggested that the sightings are misidentifications of common animals, such as otters, and inanimate objects, such as floating logs.
Another suggestion is that the Ogopogo is a lake sturgeon. It could be the North American cousin of the Loch Ness Monster. Most sightings have come from around the city of Kelowna, near the centre of the lake, and many monster watchers now agree that it seems to live in the area originally indicated in native legend.
Sources & Pic Sources:
100 Strangest Mysteries by Matt Lamy;
Lydia Hodgson, of Okanagan Landing, got a good view of Ogopogo on July 21, 1923, as she was riding a horse along the shore. It looked like an “upturned boat” at first, but as she got closer, she was able to see three humps and a head. The animal moved its head from side to side and moved its eyes. When Hodgson called to her son, Ogopogo immediately submerged and swam under water toward the center of the lake.
John L. Logie, his wife, and his driver, P. J. Dodwell, saw a 20-foot animal on July 19, 1926, as they were driving along the lake north of Peachland. It raced alongside their car, producing a foot-high swell.
Ogopogo made an appearance between Gellatly Point and Westbank during a baptism on November 18, 1926, where fifty or sixty people were gathered on the shore. Witnesses said it had a sheeplike head raised 2 feet above the water and several coils the size of automobile wheels.
On October 6, 1935, Edward Grahame, Jim Ripley, and Charles B. Grahame were fishing near the north end of the lake when they saw Ogopogo rise to the surface some 200 feet from their rowboat. The animal’s undulating humps were about 1 foot above the surface.
On February 26, 1948, bus driver Don Nourse saw four small animals 50 feet from the shore.
On the evening of July 2, 1949, the families of Leslie L. Kerry and W. F. Watson Jr. watched Ogopogo off Kelowna. It was 30 feet long, sinuous, and consisted of five undulations. They saw what appeared to be a forked tail.
Rev. W. S. Beames saw Ogopogo off Naramata on August 12, 1950. A disturbance described as being like a fire hose thrashing about was caused by several humps that submerged and left a large wake.
In mid-July 1974, Barbara Clark was swimming toward a diving platform off the southern shore of the lake when something large and heavy bumped her legs. After jumping on the platform, she was able to watch a serpentine animal moving through the clear water 20 feet away. One coil was 8 feet long and 4 feet above the water. She could also see a flukelike tail, 4–6 feet wide.
John Kirk, his son, and two members of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, Jim and Barbara Clark, were at Peach Orchard Beach on July 30, 1989, when they spotted a 35-foot, humped animal. One large hump was visible through a 40X telescope. On August 1, 1989, John Kirk again saw a 35-foot animal with three to six humps thrashing frenziedly near Green Bay.
On July 24, 1990, Mike Guzzi noticed an image at a depth of 350 feet on his fish-finding sonar near Bear Creek as he was taking Japanese reporter Masayuki Tamaki on an Ogopogo search for Nippon TV. It seemed to consist of a head, tail, and 30-foot-body, with bubbles coming up off the head.
In July 1993, from a hill 6 miles north of Penticton, John Moore watched an animal with a horse’s head protruding about 6 feet from the water and creating a wake. It moved in a straight line for about thirty minutes.
In mid-August 2000, Darryl Ellis, a cancer survivor, was swimming the entire length of the lake to raise funds for cancer research when he saw two Ogopogos pacing and swimming underneath him near Rattlesnake Island. One was at least 20 feet long. When he neared Okanagan Lake Bridge, a large, grayish animal flipped out of the water near him, and he saw an eye the size of a grapefruit.
Some cryptozoologists, individuals who study the possibility of such creatures as sea and lake monsters truly existing, have theorized that plesiosaurs, one of the giant reptiles of the Mesozoic Age, which ended about 70 million years ago, could have survived in the depths of the relatively unchanged environment of Earth’s oceans. Because some sea monster sightings occur in cold waters, other researchers favor the survival of an ancient species of mammals, such as the ancestor of the whale known as Zeuglodon or Basilosaurus. The Basilosaurus had a slim, elongated, snakelike body measuring more than 70 feet in length which the huge creature propelled by means of a single pair of fins at its forward end.
From an analysis of more than 200 reports compiled by Mary Moon, Roy P. Mackal gives this composite description of the Okanagan animals:
"The animals look most like a log, elongated, serpentine, no thickened body centrally, about 12 meters (40 feet) long, although a range of smaller sizes has been reported and a few larger, up to say 20 meters (70 feet). The skin is described as dark green to green-black or brown to black and dark brown. Occasionally the color is given as gray to blue-black or even a golden brown. Most often the skin is smooth with no scales, although part of the body must possess a few plates, scales or similar structures observed by close-up viewers and compared to the lateral scales of sturgeon. Most of the back is smooth, although a portion is saw-toothed, ragged-edged, or serrated. Sparse hair or hair-bristle structures are reported around the head, and in a few cases a mane or comblike structure has been observed at the back of the neck."
Mackal remarks that these characteristics 'fit one and only one known creature,' zeuglodons, and takes note of reports of identical animals off the coast of British Columbia and in other Canadian lakes. He suggests that the Ogopogos are freshwater-adapted versions of animals that originally lived in the oceans and that also exist at Lakes Manitoba (Manipogo),Winnipegosis (Winnipogo), and Dauphin.
"The animals look most like a log, elongated, serpentine, no thickened body centrally, about 12 meters (40 feet) long, although a range of smaller sizes has been reported and a few larger, up to say 20 meters (70 feet). The skin is described as dark green to green-black or brown to black and dark brown. Occasionally the color is given as gray to blue-black or even a golden brown. Most often the skin is smooth with no scales, although part of the body must possess a few plates, scales or similar structures observed by close-up viewers and compared to the lateral scales of sturgeon. Most of the back is smooth, although a portion is saw-toothed, ragged-edged, or serrated. Sparse hair or hair-bristle structures are reported around the head, and in a few cases a mane or comblike structure has been observed at the back of the neck."
Mackal remarks that these characteristics 'fit one and only one known creature,' zeuglodons, and takes note of reports of identical animals off the coast of British Columbia and in other Canadian lakes. He suggests that the Ogopogos are freshwater-adapted versions of animals that originally lived in the oceans and that also exist at Lakes Manitoba (Manipogo),Winnipegosis (Winnipogo), and Dauphin.
British cryptozoologist Dr. Karl Shuker has categorized the Ogopogo as a 'many hump' variety of lake monster, and suggested it may be a kind of primitive serpentine whale such as Basilosaurus. However, because the physical evidence for the beast is limited to unclear photographs and film, it has also been suggested that the sightings are misidentifications of common animals, such as otters, and inanimate objects, such as floating logs.
Another suggestion is that the Ogopogo is a lake sturgeon. It could be the North American cousin of the Loch Ness Monster. Most sightings have come from around the city of Kelowna, near the centre of the lake, and many monster watchers now agree that it seems to live in the area originally indicated in native legend.
Sources & Pic Sources:
100 Strangest Mysteries by Matt Lamy;
Mysterious Creatures: "A Guide to Cryptozoology" by George M. Eberhart;
Unexplained:"Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena" by Jerome Clark
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