Video: The Loch Volkhov Monster
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on February 22nd, 2007
I became aware of this article a week or so ago. As it was posted in Russian, I didn’t know what to make of it. However, one of my very good friends, Daryl Colyer, was a Russian Linguist in the military, so he translated the article for the readers of Cryptomundo.
At the link to the article on Pravda’s website, you can watch the video of the Loch Volkhov Monster. The video is also available here on Cryptomundo below.
KP Komsomol Pravda
Society | The Inquisitive Club [January 31, 2007]
A reader of the “KP” from Great Novgorod has shot video of a mysterious thing which floated in the river in the center of the city. The video was shot on 21 January, but only now its author – Alexey Mokrov – has dared to make it known to the staff and has given us a copy. Alexey was passing on the foot bridge on the Volkhov River – directly in the center of the city – and noticed a man who was dangerously hanging over a handrail, trying to get something on a video camera. Having oriented himself, he made out something in the waves like a grey-white-green monster. In the water, light rings appeared on it at the surface. It also reminded him of a huge snake or crocodile. It appeared to be two meters or longer. If something such as this had been taken on video on the well-known Loch Ness, it would certainly have been trumpeted to the whole world. And there would be no doubt about the existence of Loch Ness monsters anymore.
“Because of a dense falling snow the man could not get a good objective view of sharpness in any way,” tells Mokrov. “I had a digital camera. So I put it in video mode and began to film.”
The vague body floated near the bridge the whole hour. When it got dark, Alexey could no longer see it, and stopped trying to observe it. He has made some video recordings and photos of “the Loch Volkhov monster” before.
“The bodies were probably small – they were attached one behind another,” argues Mokrov, who works as the chief of a metal works site, and approaches everything that’s unusual from a scientific perspective.
“Seals? They are found in Ladoga. But how could they have floated more than two hundred kilometers against the current, having passed sluices or floodgates of the Volkhov hydroelectric power station and hundreds of fishing networks? And I have trouble believing that it was a snake in the water or some kind of fish.”
Loch Volkhov Monster witness Alexey Mokrov
Monster rollicked in the water – around it were bright rings… …up to the surface – to breathe air.
In the day after shooting, frost has struck, and Lake Ilmen where the thing went, most likely, has become covered by a thick layer of ice. Only on the Volkhov here and there were black ice-holes. Can the monster be seen again and allow us to solve the secret?
FROM THE KP FILE
The Ladoga seal, finest of all subspecies of seals, only lives in Lake Ladoga. It is a unique type of sea mammal who spends its life in the conditions of a fresh-water lake. The number of Ladoga seals for the last few decades has sharply declined – from 20 thousand in first half of the 20th century to 2,000 – 3,000 now.
EXPERT COMMENTARY
An employee of the Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, Konstantin Milto:
“Around the Volkhov River there are few kinds of snakes found which are natatorial and they do not exceed one and a half meters in length. Besides, in the winter, the snakes go into torpor. Therefore most likely it was a mammal caught on video.”
Sometimes we call on cryptozoologists for consultation, who search for gigantic snakes and other monsters. I recently consulted one about a flying snake. They usually bring video which is indistinct, making it impossible to make out anything for certain. The staff thinks that Mokrov got something like an otter or seal pushing a log around. Or, maybe it’s mating games of otters. They are playful animals. The behavior is characteristic [of the otters]. Though it would be strange for mating games during such a time…this is what anomalous heat in the winter can do…
Victor Kirillov, of hunting and angling clubs of Great Novgorod:
“Most likely, it was a Ladoga seal. A mother and two offspring floating ahead. During this period, seal cubs appear. And they are usually white in color. In such an irregularly warm winter, seals could go across the Volkhov in search of cold. But in general this is the first time I’ve run into this. Seals didn’t swim away before.”
Dear readers! And just what do you think the animal was that floated across the Volkhov? Call by phone (495 257-57-57 today, on January, 31st. Also you can express an opinion on this site.
Valery Rubtsov (KP – Great Novgorod), Nina Vostrova (KP – St.-Petersburg).
Photo of Alexey Mokrov by the author.KP Komsomol Pravda
Translation courtesy Daryl G. Colyer. Mr. Colyer is a director of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy and former Airborne Russian Linguist, USAF.
UPDATE:
Cryptomundo reader shovethenos has informed us that the video is available on youtube in a larger version. It is posted below.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Is it just me… or does that look like a person swimming on their side with their head underwater?
From the video link, it appears to be three separate creatures–one bigger one with two smaller ones trailing. The last creature seems to take on a different vector and then correct to follow the lead animal.
Seals!
Some sort of giant squid swimming near the surface?
The front would be the front, and the two “trailing” parts would be the tentacles.
Looks like a sturgeon to me.
I have seen several swimming at the surface while hooked and the motion is identical.
Maybe a few still exist after the over harvesting for the caviar trade.
After looking at the video again, the seal idea seems more solid. The “trailing” parts are swimming wildly, and at one point one of them moves to far to the right to be anything but a separate creature. The front object is swimming straight and strong, while the back two “pups” are swimming behind, enjoying themselves and being seal pups.
I agree – it really looks like a fish swimming near the surface. Could be a sturgeon, could be something else. Whatever is there, it isn’t really that big in the grand scheme of things; we can see the entire body (at least I think so) and it doesn’t appear to be some 30 foot monster.
Great quality of video though! Thanks for posting, Craig!
looks like a good candidate for applying Occam’s razor, so sturgeon for me too
I thought gator. Not it, of course, but that was my 2 cents.
I agree with PhotoExpert, three seals, the mother and her two pups.
Notice that the cameraguy stopped recording when the third seal was moving to the right, seperating itself from the group.
I dunno, it looks like two objects. About 5 seconds into it the top object looks sorta seal like through the water, but they seem to be moving a bit slow for seals…although I haven’t seen many seals in my lifetime.
Yep. Looks like three somethings. Still a cool bit of vid though.
I think three otters playing chase.
I see one large creature. What everyone else is seeing as the “second or third” creature looks like a tail or something. There does not appear to be two or three wakes like you would think there should be if it is different animals. It moves kinda like an otter or seal would at the surface, side to side, but then so do gators and crocodiles. One things for sure, its one of the clearest cryptid films to date that I can remember of a lake monster.
My vote is for one animal.
This video cuts out at a very bad moment. I think whether this object is one, two, or three creatures would be clear if the video was longer. It appears as if some part of the object breaks right, but the cut is too quick.
Very interesting. I don’t think there are three animals; I think there is one long animal with a lateral tail movement generating momentum. That would be typical of fish and not whales.
I agree, the motion looks quite crocodilian, but an eel might also pass.
As for seals being 200km upstream… there’s no doubting that possibility: they have been found over 1000km upstream in Australia and some argue these explain what the Aboriginal people called “bunyip”.
Nevertheless, I still think this is a singular animal. It may well be a snake – in which case alternatively an eel.
It’s bizaare that they had 1 hour to watch it without capturing additional footage, or forming a solid opinion.
Chris.
Does not look like anything I’ve ever seen, creature moves like a snake or crocodile. I’ve seen and studied seals at the zoo and aquariums and on TV etc. and this does not look like them. The lazy way it moves does not resemble the erratic and hyper way seals move. Especially when they are close to the surface, besides; the movement is side to side like a snake, not up and down like seals, otters or beavers etc. The creature looks very large, maybe over 15 feet.
I base this on the wave-water rippling size. I’ve lived by and fished in rivers all my life and know the way they look. The striped yellow to black is a lot like an American alligator, but they wouldn’t make it in those cold climbs. Maybe a sturgeon, or maybe the best lake monster footage yet. The photos at the top of article definetly don’t look like a seal, a sturgeon or anything. Man!!!
I agree that’s three seperate animals, they could even be dolphins filmed somewhere for all we know. The ‘rear’ animal is the one that gives it away most for me.
Wow, this is a really strange video indeed. The other posters have put forth some good ideas, but I just can’t seem to make my mind up about it. I looks like it could be more than one creature swimming in unison, I suppose but it is difficult to tell. Has anyone heard of the giant fish that are said to inhabit Lake Illiamna in Alaska? They are said to be some sort of oversized sturgeon or some such fish that occasionally surface and are said to be seasonal inhabitants of the lake. That is the first thing that jumps to mind when I watch this. I don’t believe the creature(s) looks fake in any way. I feel this is genuine footage of something living in the water but what? Really some of the more interesting footage to come along in a while but why are these films always so short?
I read through the article again and noticed that the thing or things was floating around there for a whole hour. And all we get is this 30 second clip? Is there some reason for this, I wonder?
I’ve watched the video 5 times now and to me it looks like one animal. I think it’s a really big sturgeon. It’s plainly swimming side to side. I think I could even make out the out line of the tail fin several times as it moved back and forth through the water. Sturgeon have been hugely over fished in Russia so I think they aren’t used to seeing them anymore.
Hello,
We don’t really now, where the tape was filmed.
To me it seemed like two individuals. One adult and a juvenile. Maybe we see a Beluga whale mom with her kid?
Sturgeons need “warm” sweet water. To me it looks like a bay. The ice has the typical form and color like coast ice in saltwater.
Hello again 🙂
after a short inquest….
The Volkhovriver connect Lake Lagoda and several smaller lakes in the area. Lake Lagoda is the biggest european sweetwater lake. The most popular inhabitans are Lagoda-Seals (Phoca hispida ladogensis), a rare sweetwater seal.
Even if the lake is nearly 200 km away, the unnatural warm winter make a “swimmthru” possible.
Bye MNSRaptor
Oops, not Lagoda
the name is Lake Ladoga and Ladoga seals 😉