Another Ogopogo Video Surfaces: Is This Evidence of the Mysterious Sea Creature?
Has the elusive Ogopogo, the Canadian version of Scotland's famous Loch Ness Monster, finally been caught on video?
Richard Huls, who was visiting British Colombia's Okanagan Lake last week claims he has captured video footage of the mysterious sea creature. He spotted the object while visiting a West Kelowna winery with a clear view of the lake.
"It was not going with the waves," Huls told The Vancouver Sun. "It was not a wave obviously, just a darker color. The size and the fact that they were not parallel with the waves made me think it had to be something else."
The shaky video shows two slender objects on the water. The shadows appear to be 40 feet in length. Whether this is actually the Ogopogo of myth will have to be left to the viewers' judgment. Huls however believes that his video proves there is something in the lake.
"It proves something is down there. Whether it's Ogopogo or not is a different story, but there is something at least down there."
The legend of Ogopogo has its roots in native Indian folklore that told of a lake monster called N'ha-a-itk or lake demon that resides under a cave under Squally Point near Rattlesnake Island. The Indians would offer sacrifices like chickens or other small animals to appease the lake demon and grant them safe passage across the lake.
Sightings of the legendary lake monster began in 1872 and have continued through the years. Ogopogo has been described as being 6 to 20 meters in length, with a characteristic snake-like body. While there have been numerous sightings, hard evidence like photos, videos and actual physical evidence of the creature have been scarce. A 1991 expedition looked for the mysterious creature even going as far as using a miniature submarine to search the lake's depths but the submarine didn't find any evidence of the Ogopogo.
As for video evidence they remain too blurry to be definite. The most famous video evidence of Ogopogo was a minute footage in 1968 shot by Arthur Folden. The video shows an object in the water that moves to the right of the screen. Investigators have since concluded that Folden actually captured an animal, likely a beaver or waterfowl that was too far away to be identified. Skeptics have also been quick to point out that there are other more plausible explanations for the sightings such as waves or logs.