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Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 53: Sep-Oct 1987 |
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Another Tale Of Ogopogo
Another report of Lake Okanagan's monster, palindromically named Ogopogo, has surfaced. A Canadian woman, Mrs. B. Clark, actually bumped into Ogopogo while swimming in the British Columbia lake in July of 1974.
"Mrs. Clark's report states: 'I did not see it (the animal) first. I felt it. I was swimming towards a raft/ diving platform located about a quarter of a mile offshore, when something big and heavy bumped my legs. At this point, I was about 3 feet from the raft, and I made a mad dash for it and got out of the water. It was then that I saw it.' The report goes on to describe the observation: 'When I first saw it, it was about 15-20 feet away. I could see a hump or coil which was 8 feet long and 4 feet above the water moving in a forward motion. It was traveling north, away from me. It did not seem to be in much of a rush, and it swam very slowly. The water was very clear, and 5 to 10 feet behind the hump, about 5 to 8 feet below the surface, I could see its tail. The tail was forked and horizontal like a whale's, and it was 4 to 6 feet wide. As the hump submerged, the tail came to the surface until its tip poked above the water about a foot...About 4 or 5 minutes passed from the time it bumped me until the time it swam from view.'"
Ogopogo's estimated length was 25-30 feet; breadth, 3-4 feet. No fins or hair were seen. The animal was serpentine -- seemingly without a neck. Its vertical undulations and horizontal tail procclaimed it to be a mammal, possibly a primitive type of whale.
(Anonymous; "Close Encounter in Lake Okanagan Revealed," ISC Newsletter, 6:1, Spring 1987. ISC = International Society for Cryptozoology.)
 | Drawing by Ogopogo witness and bumpee, Mrs B. Clark. |