[Ogopogo]
Ogopogo is the most-sighted lake monster in the
world. Each year there are up to reported sightings.
2 Urban Legends
Introduction
Hundreds of years ago, Native
Canadians feared a demon in Lake
Okanagan. This lake is located in
British Columbia, Canada. Today,
people still claim to see a monster
in the lake. This creature has been
named Ogopogo. It has been
spotted more times than the Loch
Ness monster.
Ogopogo is slim and snakelike. It
has a head like a horse or a goat.
It is between and feet (5 and
meters) long. Its skin is dark and
smooth. It lives in the depths or in
caves along the shore, and it comes
to the surface to eat sh. Swimmers
say they have been chased by the
giant beast.
Videos show what could be a creature
with humps or coils moving in and out
of the water. Some scientists say the pictures show
logs or waves. Others see known animals, such as
beavers. But some people think the legend could
be true. They search for proof of Ogopogo.
It is said that Ogopogo lives in an
underwater cave o Squally Point, near
Lake Okanagans Rattlesnake Island.
Did you know?
depths: an area far
below the surface
of the water
Creatures
Lake Okanagan is miles
(135 kilometers) long.
Best Recorded Sighting
Thousands of people have said theyve seen Ogopogo. In 1968, a man
named Arthur Folden was one of them. He also said he had proof.
Folden had seen something alive out on the lake. He had taken out a
home-movie camera and lmed the unknown creature.
The August day was sunny and the water was calm. Foldens lm is
dark and grainy. But it is clear that something disturbs the water. It
moves to the right of the screen. It starts moving quickly. Whatever it is,
it leaves a long wake.
Some people say the lm shows a big animal. They compare its long
length to the trees along the shore. They say its head and tail are a long
ways apart. Each end breaks the surface of the water at the same time.
4 Urban Legends
In 2005, National Geographic asked
Benjamin Radford, a scientist, to
look at the lm. Radford and other
scientists did visual experiments.
Radford decided the subject of
the lm was indeed alive, but he
thought it was a bird or a beaver.
He said Folden was too far away to
clearly see the size of the creature.
Did you know?
Could small animals or birds really
make such big splashes in the lake?
Creatures
Ti m e l i n e
People have been reporting Ogopogo stalking the
waters of Lake Okanagan for hundreds of years.
Native Canadians draw
Nha-a-itk on stones. Warriors
test their bravery with a swim to
Rattlesnake Island. The beast is
said to live near it.
Locals nd the body of an
unknown animal on the shore of
Lake Okanagan. A naturalist says
it is a manatee. But manatees
live only in warm places. Is this a
baby Ogopogo?
The name Ogopogo is
given to the creature in
the lake. The name might
have come from the
newly popular pogo stick.
6 Urban Legends
Thirty carloads of
people say they see
the beast. They watch
it at the same time.
A group on a boat
sees an odd animal. It
is feet (9 m) long.
It has a forked tail.
Arthur Folden
lms an unknown
creature.
Daryl Ellis swims the
lake. Ellis sees two
long, dark creatures.
They swim with him
for two hours.
Richard Huls lms
a long shape in
the water.
Creatures
Evidence For and Against
In 2014, Benjamin Radford looked
at Richard Hulss video. While
Huls saw one long shape, Radford
thought he saw two short, straight
ones. They seemed to oat at
dierent angles. Radford decided
they were logs. Timber companies
work on Lake Okanagan.
Thousands of logs oat in the
water. These logs could have
been mistaken for a creature.
What about the stories of
eyewitnesses? The descriptions
are usually similar. People see a
slim neck and a dark color. They
see a creature bigger than any sh. They say a serpent coils through
the lake. It chases their boats. Its large head bursts out of the water.
The number of sightings is very high. In 1926, the editor of the
Vancouver Sun made a case for Ogopogo. He said too many people
had seen a beast in the lake. Could they all be wrong? Today,
cryptozoologist John Kirk agrees.
Kirk doubts the existence of the Loch
Ness monster, but he says hes seen
Ogopogo himself.
Many people who report seeing Ogopogo
say it looked like a log that came alive.
cryptozoologist: a
person who studies
creatures from
myth and legend
8 Urban Legends
Many dierent kinds of creatures live in caves. Some cave species are
so rare, they can be found in only one single cave. Olms are one type
of rare cave creature. They have no eyes, are completely white, and
look like dragons. They can grow to be up to foot (30 centimeters)
long. Olms are a kind of amphibian, like a salamander. They
can be found in the water caves of Slovenia and Croatia.
Researchers went on a search in 2008. Divers found large sinkholes on
the bottom of the lake. Some water creatures burrow in the sand. They
do this to hide from predators. Others hide and then surprise their prey.
Could Ogopogo be hiding there?
