Divers Finding In A Siberian Lake Uncover A 'Monster' That You Want Believe What It Is
There are still some things that just can't be explained. Legends of great beasts and mythical monsters inhabiting our world persist despite a lot evidence to the contrary, leaving us to wonder what "facts" are truly worth believing. Now, however, a recent discovery in a Siberian lake has even the experts stumped, proving that monsters may truly walk — or swim — among us after all.
No Ordinary Lake
At first glance, Lake Labynkyr appears to be nothing more than your standard body of water, spanning 17 square miles and running 171 feet deep. Yet there's something unusual about this lake that's made locals hesitant to approach its shores.
Strange Phenomenon
Lake Labynkyr never freezes. Siberian scientists have cited the presence of a potential hot spring beneath the lake as the cause of its unusual behavior, though there's a growing belief that this phenomenon may be the result of something far more terrifying lurking in its waters.
Mysterious Monster
Known as the Lake Labynkyr Devil, this fearsome creature has become notorious throughout Siberia. The first recorded stories of the monster appeared in the 1800s, though locals may have discussed the monster much earlier.
What Is It?
Even so, no one can agree on what this cryptid actually is. Some have speculated that the monster is actually a long-extinct dinosaur like an ichthyosaur or plesiosaur, while others believe it could be a killer whale that somehow got trapped in the lake.
Here or There
There have also been sightings of the creature in the neighboring Lake Vorota, leading some to speculate that there’s an unknown connection between the two bodies of water. But is there really any truth to these claims?
In Search of a Monster
For decades, scientists have made it their mission to find out. One of the biggest developments concerning the creature took place in 1953, when a group of geologists from the Soviet Academy of Sciences led by scientist Viktor Tverdokhlebov reportedly saw the animal at Lake Vorota.
One Big Fish
Viktor was responsible for generating national interest in the monster based on an enormous shadowy figure he saw under the water. "There have been all sort of hypotheses about what kind of creature it could be: a giant pike, a relic reptile or an amphibia," he wrote.
Putting Technology to Good Use
Another group in 2012 also attempted to learn more about what was living in the lake. Using sonar, associate professor of biogeography at Moscow State University Ludmila Emeliyanova scanned the lakebed for any trace of the monster — and came away with some startling finds.
It’s Something
Ludmila claimed her sonar picked up on a few objects in Lake Labynkyr. "I can't say we literally found and touched something unusual there, but we did register with our echo-sounding device several seriously big, underwater objects, bigger than a fish, bigger than even a group of fish," she revealed
A New Perspective
Yet the most significant insight into the creature's existence came when a group of Russian Emergencies Ministry divers, Sakha National Broadcasting Company camera operators, and Yakutsk State University scientists ventured to the lake, using their high-tech equipment to explore the area like none had before.
Could It Be?
As they mapped the lake bottom, they stumbled upon something unprecedented. Concealed beneath layers of mud and muck, a massive jawbone and the skeletal remains of something enormous appeared on their scanner. Could they have found the fabled Lake Labynkyr Devil?
Red Flag
While the team insisted that they had, there was a major red flag here: they didn’t bring anything to the surface. Not only that, but they didn’t take any pictures or videos of the skeleton either. Unsurprisingly, this gave the skeptics plenty of firepower.
Has to Be Fake
One naysayer was scientist Yury Gerasimov of the Institute of Freshwater Biology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Not only did he have a problem with the claim of the discovery, but he also felt that the creature’s rumored size didn't make sense.
Too Big
"If we trust the stories about this 'Devil,' there must be about 1.5 meters [5 feet] between its eyes. It means the length of its body must be about 7 to 8 meters [23 to 26 feet]," Gerasimov said. That’s huge.
Not a Fish
He even disagreed with the theory that the monster was a large pike fish: "There are two factors that help fish to grow: nutrition and comfortable water temperatures. Even if nutrition is perfect there, surely the temperatures are not that high."
Bad Conditions
Gerasimov argued that while it's true that the lake doesn’t freeze during Siberia’s notoriously rough winters, the water temperatures are still too cold to suit the growth of an unusually large fish, even in the warmer months. “So, in my opinion, the view about a huge pike is a fantastic one," Gerasimov said.
Where’s It Hiding?
Supporting his claims was also the fact that the lake itself isn’t really that big, meaning that the monster would have a difficult time remaining hidden for so many years. Someone likely would have noticed a 25-foot marine animal living in the area.
Changing Locations
And even if Lake Labynkyr was linked to Lake Vorota with some kind of tunnel — thus allowing the creature to stay undetected more easily — the passage would have to be enormous for the monster to be able to swim through it. So far, nothing of the sort has been detected.
Striking Similarities
And so, the existence of the Lake Labynkyr Devil remains shrouded in mystery, though that doesn't mean researchers have thrown in the towel. In fact, interest in the creature is now greater than ever, thanks in large part to its resemblance to another cryptid of legend...
Legend of Loch Ness
The Loch Ness Monster. Many believe that mythical Scottish creature may actually be the same species as the Lake Labynkyr Devil. But while the Siberian serpent has only recently entered the public consciousness, Nessie's complex story goes back centuries.
Passing Down Stories
Before we relied on sonar equipment to tell us stories about Loch Ness, we relied, like most ancient people, on local lore. The Scottish Highlands are wrapped up in centuries of stories that may or may not be true, some more bizarre than others.
The Picts
What we know for sure is that the Highlands were once populated by tribal farmers that the Romans called the Picts. The Picts are today known for two things: their artistic creations and their admiration of animals, two passions that were often intertwined.
Animal Depictions
Pictish animal depictions can still be found in Scotland today, mostly carved into stones in the region around Loch Ness. From snakes to horses to seagulls, most of the animals are easy to decipher...except for one.
The "Pictish Beast"
There’s one creature that appears repeatedly in Pictish art, and historians are still at a loss as to what it even is. Dubbed the “Pictish Beast,” the creature looks something like an elephant and a seahorse combined. One feature stands out above the rest.
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Sounds Familiar...
More than anything, it’s the creature’s elongated “neck” or “beak” that has made people question whether the beast is merely a creation of the Pictish people or something more. The common depiction of the creature with flippers points in a familiar direction…
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Points Towards Loch Ness
It points right towards Loch Ness, where an elusive long-necked and flipper-having creature allegedly lives. Around 1,500 years ago, it wasn’t eccentric to believe that something magical lived inside even the smallest, most unassuming body of water.
Evil Water Horses
If you look at an ancient map of Scotland, you might see some bodies of water labeled “Loch-na-Beistie.” Back then, people thought these lakes and streams were home to creatures like “kelpies,” or mysterious, often evil water horses.
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First Recording Sighting...
In this way, bodies of water have always contained mysteries in Scotland. It may sound silly to us now, but what if you heard about the existence of a dangerous aquatic monster from the person you trusted the most? In A.D. 565, that’s exactly what happened.
Saint Columba's Experience
Saint Columba, the man who brought Christianity to Scotland, was walking along Loch Ness when he saw a large creature about to attack a swimmer. Columba raised his hands and commanded the monster to flee...which it did, leaving the swimmer unharmed.
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Tourist Destination
By 1933, Loch Ness had been turned into a can’t-miss tourist destination. Radio shows were interrupted for updates about the lake monster, and a British circus offered 20,000 pounds for anyone who was able to capture the creature. Everyone wanted a glimpse…
Marmaduke Wetherell
So when the London Daily Mail hired a famous big-game hunter (and actor) named Marmaduke Wetherell to catch the beast, people arrived in droves, lawn chairs in hand, to watch the action unfold. Days went by as Wetherell searched, with expectations higher than ever.
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Mysterious Footprints
After a few days of the search, though, Wetherell hadn’t even captured a ripple on the lake’s surface. That’s when he miraculously discovered the huge, 20-foot-long footprints of a four-toed animal, which he immediately sent off to the Natural History Museum in London for analysis.
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Hippo Prints
The analysis results, though, revealed a disappointing truth: The footprints actually belonged to a hippopotamus. No one knows if a desperate Wetherell manufactured the footprints himself or if someone else did, but the point was, Nessie was still just an unconfirmed legend…
Revitalized Excitement
And when the phony footprints were revealed, the once-excited tourists started to wonder if everything was a hoax. In 1934, though, a new photo emerged that brought the public’s interest in the so-called monster to new heights.
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The "Surgeon's Photo"
Nowadays known as the “surgeon’s photo,” this photo of Nessie became the most famous evidence of an unidentified creature living in the loch. Taken by respected London doctor R. Kenneth Wilson, few people believed it was a hoax...until 1994, that is.
60 Years Later...
And 60 years after the photo was published by the Daily Mail, a 1975 newspaper clipping was uncovered that made historians and Loch Ness experts think twice about the validity of the surgeon’s photo, and all because of the author of the newspaper article.
Wetherell Returns
Historians realized that the surgeon’s photo was actually a cropped version of an original photo, which hardly anyone knew existed. The thing is, the author of the article seemed to know about the two versions...and the author's name was Ian Wetherell, Marmaduke's son.
The Wetherell Plot
Historians knew they had to speak with Wetherell, but he had died by the time they read the article in 1994. So, they talked to his stepbrother, Christian Spurling, who at 93 years old confessed to a shocking plot organized by his stepfather, Marmaduke Wetherell.
Fake Nessie
According to Spurling, Marmaduke’s career as a hunter and actor was tarnished after the hippo-tracks fiasco, and he sought revenge. To do so, he created the fake Nessie as seen in the surgeon’s photo taken by Dr. Wilson — an acquaintance of Wetherell.
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Story Keeps Unfolding
With that, the Loch Ness monster went from an as yet unproven phenomenon to a bedtime story...one that kept adding chapters. You see, by the 1970s, better underwater technology meant better equipped expeditions on the loch...
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Introducing Sonar Equipment
Instead of scrappy local groups investigating the waters, people from Oxford, Cambridge, and the BBC arrived with bigger and better technology. Most revolutionary was the use of sonar equipment, a military technology used to detect movement underwater.
Project Urquhart
Though each expedition made by Oxford, Cambridge, and the BBC were inconclusive, they all picked up huge moving objects that they couldn’t explain. In an effort to get to the bottom (literally) of Loch Ness’ many mysteries, the BBC organized Project Urquhart.
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Sonar Surprises
Project Urquhart was dedicated to studying the biology of the loch. The expedition’s sonar technology detected a large moving target that they followed for a few minutes before they lost contact. A different expedition yielded even more compelling results.
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Whale-Sized Mystery
During a separate 1997 expedition, two scientists detected another moving target, which they estimated to be the same size of a small whale. With all these sightings, it’s getting harder and harder for scientists to ignore the unusual activity under Loch Ness’ surface...
Professor Neil Gemmel
Loch Ness is over 700 feet of deep, dark water, so locating this mythical beast is a tall order...one geneticist and self-described monster-hunter, Professor Neil Gemmell, was fascinated by. He believed he could be the one to finally get some answers.
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How Nessie Came To Be
But before answers could be found, Gemmell had to ask himself some key questions: How did Nessie come to be? What does it look like? What truly lives in Loch Ness’ murky underwater world?
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Water Beasts
Believe it or not, the existence of a larger-than-average underwater creature in Loch Ness was recorded all the way back in 500AD. A man was swimming when he was apparently “mauled and dragged underwater” by a “water beast.” From then on, the sightings only increased.
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On the Loch
At the beginning of the twentieth century, local interest in an underwater beast hit its peak. The tourism in the area was increasing, and in 1934, a vacationing man was looking out at the loch when he saw something odd...so he grabbed his camera.
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Remember the 'Graph?
It was that “surgeon’s photograph." Suddenly, Nessie’s long neck and bumpy back was famous worldwide. This became the definitive Nessie sighting — but it also sparked years of controversy.
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Hoax!!!
The scientific community has always resisted the existence of the Loch Ness Monster due to a lack of evidence, and it wasn’t long after the surgeon’s photo was published that it was exposed as a hoax. Obviously, this was a huge blow to enthusiasts everywhere.
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Drawings
You see, back then, photographic evidence was really the only surefire way to provide evidence that something had happened. All believers had to go on were local tales and childish drawings. Thankfully, times have changed.
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The Professor
Professor Neil Gemmell knew that even some myths should be investigated, so he decided to find out the truth once and for all...and since it’s the twenty-first century, he was able to do a lot better than photographic evidence.
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Samples of Loch
Leading a team from New Zealand’s University of Otago, Neil took water samples from three different depths of the lake. Each sample contained DNA that Neil hoped would shed some light on the murky mystery — DNA that was comprised of seemingly-normal materials.
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DNA
Neil’s team sent the DNA samples, which reportedly contained skin, scales, feathers, fur, and fecal matter, to labs in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, and France. Neil’s investigation couldn’t have come at a better time, as Nessie sightings have recently reached a record high.
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Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register
“Sightings are now at a level that were being recorded in the 1990s,” said Gary Campbell, recorder of the official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register. “The internet has meant that Loch has never been more watched — and from anywhere in the world.”
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Thanks, Nessie!
With so many people intent on uncovering the loch’s secrets themselves, the Scottish economy rakes in millions a year thanks to Nessie. In 2019 alone, there have already been twelve people claiming to have seen the Loch Ness Monster with their own eyes.
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Richard's Claim
One man, Richard Cobb, saw something large break through the surface of Loch Ness in late July 2019. “I never believed in Nessie, but now I’m not so sure. What I saw was just weird,” he said. “There was something in there for sure.”
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Favorite Lairs
In June 2019, a boat skipper logged a large creature on his sonar close to one of Nessie’s “favorite lairs.” It was a 25-foot long object — definitely not your average fish. “It was exceptionally big. I would like to think it was Nessie,” he said.
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Outlandish
Hundreds of Nessie sightings have been debunked as otters, swans, and floating debris. Gemmell hopes that the results from his investigation will be undeniable, but he knows how staunchly some people believe in even the most outlandish of theories…
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Catfish or Eel?
Some people think that Nessie is really just an enormous catfish or eel, while others believe it to be a large Greenland Shark. One of the more eccentric beliefs is that the “monster” is a slightly evolved plesiosaur that somehow avoided extinction.
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“Find dat big boi"
Fans of the mystery are craving answers. On Facebook, 18,000 people have signed up to “storm” Loch Ness in September 2019. They hope enough people in Loch Ness will get the creature to resurface so they can, as the group put it, “find dat big boi.”
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Tests
But Gemmell hopes that his findings will answer any questions people have before any “storming” ensues. “We’ve tested each one of the main monster hypotheses and three of them we can probably say aren’t right and one of them might be,” he said mysteriously.
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A September Release
He described his findings as “significant” and “a bit surprising,” and expects to release them in September. “We’re delighted with the amount of interest the project has generated,” he said. “Monster or not, we’re going to understand Loch Ness and the life in it in a new way.”
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While Loch Ness Monster enthusiasts wait for the results of Gemmel's study, some are turning their attentions to Lake Van, the largest body of water in all of Turkey: it's also hiding a secret "monster" within its depths.
Despite being situated over 5,000 feet above sea level, Lake Van never freezes. The lake's high salinity keeps the water flowing year-round, though this phenomenon has come at the price of Lake Van's biodiversity.
Because of these high salt levels, only one type of fish – the Pearl Mullet – is known to live in the lake's brackish waters. However, according to local legend, these mackerel-sized fish aren't the only creatures lurking beneath the waves of Lake Van.
For over a century, locals have reported sightings of a monster that calls Lake Van its home. Most of these claims have proven unfounded over the years, though in 1997, Ünal Kozak managed to capture the creature on film.
In the video, a large, almost squid-like monster emerges from the water before slowly disappearing beneath the waves. Yet like similar "sightings" of legendary creatures, the legitimacy of Kozak's discovery continues to be a point of contention among scholars.
Even so, the possible existence of such a creature hasn't deterred archaeologists from exploring the the lake. Just recently, in fact, an expedition led divers to the very bottom of Lake Van, though what they found there was unlike anything they'd seen before.
On the day in question, a group of researchers assembled by Van Yüzüncü Yıl University arrived at the lake shore to debunk another age-old myth: that the lost city of Atlantis was actually somewhere beneath Lake Van. Believe it or not, this idea wasn't so farfetched.
The land surrounding Lake Van was once home to the Urartians, an ancient civilization that flourished in Turkey during the Iron Age some 3,000 years ago. Yet despite their centuries-long presence in the area, very few remnants from the days of these ancient people still remain.
While conquest surely played a role in the disappearance of most Urartian structures, some scholars believe the rising tides of Lake Van sunk these relics beneath the water. Locating these structures would be no easy task, however, so the team opted to bring in a little extra help.
A veteran underwater photographer, Tahsin Ceylan was pegged to lead the expedition's dive team in search of the lost Urartian kingdom. With his years of diving experience, coupled with his extensive knowledge of Lake Van, Ceylan was surely the team's best bet for uncovering this long-forgotten piece of history.
But when it finally came time to take the plunge into the lake, even Ceylan couldn't help but feel a little wary over the thought of the legend of the Lake Van Monster. Sure, he'd dived here hundreds of times before, but would this be the day he finally came face-to-fin with the terrifying creature?
The team seemed to echo their guide's fears, and as they dove deeper into the lake, it became increasingly difficult to shake this unnerving thought. After all, in a body of water as large and murky as this one, almost anything could be lurking just a few feet below.
Once they'd reached the bottom of Lake Van, Ceylan and his team quickly set to work combing the sands for any sign of Urartian artifacts. Almost instantly, one of the divers spotted an enormous shadow that made everyone's blood run cold.
Shrouded in a veil of deep blue, what the diver saw sat in total stillness, almost as if it were made of stone. The divers summoned their courage and swam toward the sight, but what they found wasn't a monster.
It was a castle! The towering structure was in remarkable condition, its walls and foundation intact. It had certainly been down here for quite some time, but was this castle truly a relic from the long-forgotten Urartian empire? They needed to know more.
As Ceylan and his team continued exploring the ruins, one of the divers stumbled upon a revelatory etching on one of the walls: that of a lion. This all but confirmed the castle was Urartian, as the civilization had used symbols such as these to identify themselves as a kingdom for centuries.
After snapping photos of the structure, the divers returned to the surface to share their findings with the rest of the team. The researchers were thrilled at the discovery, though upon learning of the lion symbol, things quickly became complicated.
Despite the Urartians using this motif throughout their history, some of the scholars believed the lion symbol looked more medieval than ancient. If this was the case, then the castle would date back to the Middle Ages rather than the Iron Age.
The structure itself also supported this theory, as the stones used to build it were a mix of both Urtartian and medieval. This led scholars to deduce the kingdoms of the Middle Ages likely repurposed materials from these ancient ruins to build their own fortresses.
The archaeological community remained split over the true origin of the castle beneath Lake Van. In the meantime, historians turned their attention to a new discovery made in the U.S. — one that might be even more extraordinary than the lost Urtarian kingdom.
Beneath the calm waters of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, divers found a massive secret, one that lay hidden for hundreds of years. It would excite just about any historian, they knew.
It's the wreck of the Whydah, a massive ship built to hold 150 men and several hundred tons of cargo. It went missing off the coast of New England in 1717, and many assumed it was lost forever.
However, explorer Barry Clifford discovered the wreck of the Whydah in 1984, and he has been digging up artifacts from the site ever since. His exploits make him one of the greatest treasure hunters of all time.
Barry has long been on the hunt for a treasure that will make him a legend. He once believed he found the remnants of the Santa Maria from Christopher Columbus' original 1492 voyage, but tests later determined it was a different vessel.
The Whydah, however, was a monumental find. It was the flagship of one of history's greatest pirates: Black Sam Bellamy. This captain was known as the 'Robin Hood of the Sea,' and for good reason.
For one thing, Bellamy only targeted wealthy merchants and tried to use as little violence as possible. His crew members received equal pay and respect, even those who were Native Americans or former slaves.
In fact, the Whydah was originally the property of slave traders until Bellamy seized it by force and freed the captives aboard.
Most famously, Bellamy pulled off the biggest heists in pirate history. Historians estimate that he plundered the modern equivalent of $120 million throughout his career.
These daring exploits made Bellamy one of the most talked-about pirates of his time. He rose above his criminal origins to become a bona fide folk hero.
Unfortunately, Bellamy didn't have much time to enjoy his success. A massive storm sank the Whydah, claiming untold amounts of treasure and most of the crew, including Bellamy himself.
Centuries later, Clifford and his colleagues have unearthed countless relics and treasures from the wreck, and they established the Whydah Pirate Museum to share Bellamy's story.
Even though Clifford's team has been studying this site for decades, he still felt like they were only scratching the surface. Then, one diving mission in late 2016 changed everything.
The explorers located a large chunk of debris from the Whydah that had many artifacts trapped inside of it. They hauled it up to dry land for a closer look.
It presented a virtual treasure trove, with genuine coins and seafaring equipment jutting through the rough surface. But this motherlode contained one thing the scientists didn't expect to find... human bones.
They came across a femur just a short distance away from what appeared to be Bellamy's pistol. Could it be the remains of the late great Captain himself?
Clifford knew they needed proof, so he recruited a team of forensic scientists. They extracted DNA from the bone and compared it to that of one of Bellamy's descendants in the United Kingdom. At last, the results came in...
But it was not a match. This bone likely belonged to an anonymous crew member, but certainly not to Captain Bellamy. The elusive Black Sam slipped away from authorities once again.
The bad news sunk Clifford's theory faster than the Whydah. Nevertheless, the bone gave researchers the chance to learn more about the typical sailor from that era.
Clifford can still take pride in his ongoing excavation of the Whydah. After all, no other famous pirate ship has been studied so closely. Nobody can question his accomplishments or contributions to history.
Besides, the mysteries of the Whydah are still out there in the briny deep, and Bellamy's final resting place may even surface someday. All it will take is the right person to find it.
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