Ogopogo Monster

I must admit that while I did hear of Ogopogo, I never knew just what affect on the world Ogopogo really had.

Canada's most famous water monster is Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan in the south central interior of British Columbia. Although native legends support a monster living in Okanagan Lake long before white men arrived in this country, Ogopogo is very much a present day phenomenon.

Each year, sightings are reported of a creature some 20 to 50 feet long, with a horse shaped head and a body resembling a serpent. Okanagan Lake is about 80 miles long extending from Vernon at the north end to Penticton in the south with the fast growing city of Kelowna in the center. Sightings have been reported throughout the length of the lake but the monster appears to favour an area just south of Kelowna in waters near Peachland.

One of the first recorded sightings by a caucasion was by Mrs. John Allison in 1872 and such instances have continued to this day with many credible, rational and sober people becoming absolute believers. Native folklore specifically places the lair of the lake monster which they called N'ha-a-itk, or Lake Demon, at a cave under Squally Point near Rattlesnake Island which is offshore from Peachland.

It's been said that natives would never paddle a canoe near this area without an offering because too often a storm would spring up and N'ha-a-itk would rise out of the waters to claim another life. When white settlers first came to this area in the mid 1800s, they were not superstitious but gradually changed their views with ongoing sightings of the monster.

An early instance tells of two horses swimming behind a boat that were mysteriously pulled beneath the waves and the owner barely saving himself by cutting the rope attached to the horses. Today's sightings, often from modern power boats, indicate a much friendlier monster but still very large in size.

It has been filmed a number of times but other than people agreeing there was something in the water, no absolute conclusions have been made. It is usually reported as dark blue, black or brown with a lighter underside. It can move with astounding speed but many sightings in calm weather have been made of the creature apparently feeding on either fish or aquatic weeds. People very close, between 50 and 100 feet, report seeing fins or feet on the animal.

The first alleged film of the creature is The Folden Film, filmed in 1968 by Art Folden, which shows a dark object propelling itself through shallow water near the shore. The film was shot from on a hill above the shore.

Ogopogo was allegedly filmed again in 1989 by a used car salesman, Ken Chaplin, who with his father, Clem Chaplin, claimed to have seen a snake-like animal swimming in the lake, which flicked its tail to create a splash. Some believe that the animal the Chaplins saw was simply a beaver, because the tail splashing is a well-known characteristic of beavers. However, Chaplin alleges the animal he saw was 15 feet long, far larger than a typical beaver (beavers are approximately 4 feet/1.2m long). A few weeks later, Chaplin came back with his father and his daughter and filmed it again.

British cryptozoologist 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 is also possible in some cases that Ogopogo could be the misidentification of a seiche, a standing wave in a lake that travels below the surface in a long serpentine motion.

Whatever Ogopogo really is it is forklore in a place we call Canada. Ogopogo may not bump into buildings but if you go swimming in Lake Okanagan, this creature might, just might bump into you. Hide!

(The Ogopogo Monster - Fiction or Fact)