User:Englishgroup/Flathead lake monster

The Flathead Lake Monster is a cryptid, a creature whose existence is not proven or disproven, that is said to be located in Lake Flathead in Montana. Its appearance is very similar to that of the Loch Ness Monster and the two have often been said to be the same type of creature in each of the lakes.

Lake Flathead
Lake Flathead is on the southern end of the geological feature, the Rocky Mountain trench. It is located in northwest Montana and is the largest lake in the western United States going from 27.3 miles in length and 15.5 miles and it is 370.7 feet in depth at it’s deepest point. It covers 191.5 square miles and the average depth is 164.7 ft. Two rivers come out of the lake; the Flathead River and the Swan River (About Lake Flathead).

Appearance of the Monster
The monster is usually described as a large eel shaped creature that spans from twenty to forty feet. The lake monster is supposedly brownish to blue-black with grayish-black eyes. It is round with a wavy body like a snake. It has often been described as looking like a whale or a giant sturgeon; an eel like fish often found in lakes. One other account described the beast as a giant eel-like creature that was very shiny and had a head shaped like a bowling ball. It has been reported to have many humps coming above the surface of the water when spotted, pointing toward a the possibility that it is a creature similar to or the same as the loch ness monster (Hanzel).

First Spotted
The first time that a sighting of the Flathead Lake Monster was documented was in 1889. James C. Kerr skippered the U.S. Grant which was a lake steamboat that made its rounds in Lake Flathead. While on a trip Kerr and his passengers saw what first appeared to be a log or another approaching boat in the water. After coming closer they realized an unusually large sized whale-like object coming toward them in the lake. Frightened, one of the passengers on the steamer pulled out the rifle that he was carrying. He did not kill the creature, but this sighting started a legend that would follow Lake Flathead for ages (Fugleberg).

Other Reputable Sightings
Sightings are most often reported to have occurred between April and September. There have been many sightings since it was first spotted in 1889. One of the most unusual accounts was made by a researcher in 1985 who claimed he had made two spots of the beast. One of these sightings was in 1985 and the other two years later. This was very uncommon because it is very difficult to see the lake monster even once in your life (Hanzel).

The average number of sightings was about one to two each year. However, the year 1993 recorded about thirteen reports alone. When analyzing the conditions of the year 1993 it was clear that there was no difference in weather or lake conditions. There were just more sightings than normal On May 24th, 1993, there was a sighting reported of two monsters together at the same time in Big Arm Bay, a part of Lake Flathead. One was considerably larger than the other and was believed to possibly be a mother and its child, or a male and female couple. Another was made on July 15th 1993, where two sightings occurred, marked to be 25 minutes from each other. Most interesting about the sighting is that the two sightings were fifteen miles apart. Another sighting was made on July 17th, 1993 where two sightings were made in the same area, but half of a day separate from one another (Hanzel).

Along with this, on July 13, 1993, off of Woods Bay, a Seattle bank officer and a district sales manager managed to acquire a few seconds of video footage of the monster. The video showed large dark shape about 12 feet long just below the surface. The men stated that he was able to see the monster before the film started rolling and said it had a sturgeon like head and an eel-like body (Fugleberg).

There have obviously been more sightings of the monster than this, but the year 1993 proved to be a very significant year in hunting the Flathead Lake Monster.

Possible Explanations
Because of the sightings of two creatures at the same time and the multiple sightings at different locations in a short amount of time, there are theories that there could be two different monsters. This could also be explained through the possibility that one of the more common fish in the lake, such as a sturgeon, could be mistaken as the monster and that is why multiple people are seeing it (Fugleberg). Perhaps the year 1993 was a more common year to spot sturgeons in the lake, and therefore the monster was much more prevalent.