Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Salt Lake Monster!

Picture a dolphin... that eats cows.  No, wait.  It's more like an alligator, uh... with a horse's head.  And it's seventy-five feet long.  Yeah.  Scary.  Actually, no.  A snake's body and a greyhound's head.  Is that scarier?  Hmm...

Which is Scariest?Okay, so the last one I made up, but it's something I'd like to see one day in real life.  Surely there must be one out there somewhere.  Otherwise -- mad scientists: get on it!

 I guess this is the closest I'll ever get to seeing one...

Speaking of whales, though, in 1890 a newspaper in Provo, Utah reported that a pod of whales had been spotted swimming through the Great Salt Lake.  Fifteen years earlier a pair of whales had been planted there.  They probably died from the high salinity, and it's pretty unlikely that they went on to have children, like the article suggests.  Anyway, the point is that whales are on topic when it comes to alleged monster sightings in Great Salt Lake.

The first three horrific beasts that I mentioned are all descriptions of monsters (or conflicting descriptions of a single monster) supposedly encountered in the Great Salt Lake.  Perhaps partly to explain why a huge monster like this would be residing in a lake as shallow as Great Salt Lake (avg. max. depth: 33ft. (10m)), and partly to not have to explain how a macroscopic creature could live in an environment of nearly 30% salinity (and nearly devoid of food), it has been speculated that an underwater cavern connects Great Salt Lake to Bear Lake.  Bear Lake is a freshwater lake, and it's much deeper than the Great Salt Lake, with a maximum depth of 208ft (63m).

The Corinne Record reported in 1877 that employees at Barnes and Co. Salt Works spotted a monster in Great Salt Lake and quite literally ran for the hills (well, mountains).  One of the workers, J.H. McNeil, described the creature as "a huge mass of hide and fin rapidly approaching, and when within a few yards of the shore it raised its enormous head and uttered a terrible bellow ... [It was] a great animal like a crocodile or alligator ... but much larger ... It must have been seventy-five feet long, but its head was not like an alligator's -- it was more like a horse's."

Here are some photographs and artist renderings of the alleged monster:

 I see the alligator parts... where are the horse parts?

 Wait, is this even the same monster?

 Is the guy standing and pointing supposed to make this look less shooped?

 A little kid about to be swallowed the eff up.
 
 The sperm-shaped version of the monster that I forgot to mention.

 Look, there it is! It can walk on land too?!

The moral of this post is -- though I hate to admit it, because I'm always pulling for the folks down at Salt Lake (even the, uh, more imaginative ones...) -- that you can swim quite safely in Great Salt Lake.  Rest assured, you won't get eaten.  At least not by some weird hybrid beast.  Probably.

15 comments:

  1. Haha, I don't believe in sea monsters... Except giant squid, those bastards are scary.

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  2. Aligator with horse head.

    Even if theres a monster in the lake who cares? It still wouldn't be likely to kill you! It be like being hit by lightning!

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  3. Also I love Lois Lane Comic Books! Yay!

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  4. In Scotland every loch has a monster.

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  5. And now I'm scared of large bodies of water. Thanks.

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  6. If anyone put whales into their salt lake, they deserve to be shot. Thats seriously so cruel :S

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  7. @Kid Shuffle - Agreed. But sadly, those were very different times. Consider that in 1903 Thomas Edison tried to prove the "dangers" of Tesla's alternating current by electrocuting stray dogs and cats, and finally publicly executing an elephant. All in the name of science, supposedly...

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  8. this post remindsme to the monster of the ness lake,,it s so cruel if some one put animals in that lake

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  9. That was a hard one hey how did you set up a poll? I had one the other day salt and vinegar vs sour cream and onion but I just did a comment poll.

    Oh yea + follow also :)

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  10. I don’t know how should I give you thanks! I am totally stunned by your article. You saved my time. Thanks a million for sharing this article.

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