MQ Ogopogo Reminder
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 15th, 2009
Tonight, after a rebroadcast of the recent Bigfoot encounters episode, “MonsterQuest” premieres their Ogopogo expedition program.
Here’s some summary information to remind you of some of what you may see tonight.
I was contacted by Arlene Gaal, a respected historian and researcher who has written many books on the history of the Okanagan Valley and also the Ogopogo mystery. The American History Channel was coming to Kelowna to film an episode of “MonsterQuest” (a show of which I was already somewhat familiar). They wanted to interview myself and my girlfriend Jessica about our sightings and were interested to see what photographic evidence I had obtained.
In Josh Dorsey’s (director) own words my photos were “the most interesting and compelling pieces of evidence” he had yet seen in regards to Ogopogo.
I have since had them analyzed by Dr.Edward Bousfield, a biologist and esteemed Cadborosaurus researcher who said that in his professional opinion my photos show a large “Megaserpent” or unknown aquatic animal living in Okanagan Lake.
I was one of the few people on the boat during the MonsterQuest expedition and I was the 3rd person on planet Earth to hold and photograph whatever it was they pulled up from a cave near Squally Point.
I initially didn’t think it looked very much like a fish but who knows what decomposition can do to a carcass. The headlines are reading “Baby Ogopogo” but we will have to patiently await the DNA testing in Guelph as even my pictures are not clear enough to ascertain what exactly the divers found that day. Sean Viloria
On tonight’s MonsterQuest, the results of the baby Ogopogo body find will be revealed.
I have attached a picture showing the divers with the specimen bag…though for now I had to remove the creature. I do believe that any person on the planet interested in “MonsterQuest” or Cryptozoology would think this worthy of readership…and I would be more than happy to re-write a summary at some point.
I was only supposed be a witness interview but they ended up threading my story throughout the whole episode so I would be glad to share my account for the benefit of all those interested.Sean Viloria
Here are images that give more hints of what was found.
I have included the first pictures anyone will have seen of the decomposing carcass the Dive Team pulled up from the cave in Okanagan Lake during the “Monster Quest” expedition that I was a part of. This was the first of two planned dives and took place after the helicopter thermal scan. When they pulled it up, someone came in and shouted “They found something!.”
Being one of the few present with a digital camera I tried to take as many photos over the shoulder of the divers during the excitement and even got to hold the specimen and inspect it for a few seconds before I unfortunately had to depart the expedition to catch a plane.
I am not a biologist.
I am an artist, photographer and musician; I have nothing more than my keen interest, open mind and beyond my few personal sightings I have researched a few things cryptozoological, but upon first glance I was unsure as to what exactly it was they found.
My initial thoughts were not a fish because the skin appeared too wrinkled and not scaled but upon first observation of the photos both Arlene Gaal and Dr.Edward Bousfield commented that it looked fish-like.
Salmonoid or possibly a Ling Cod were there suggestions. Every person I saw look at the specimen on that boat seemed to not be able to identify this creature at all even though Bill Steciuk himself has spent many years on the lake and should be familiar with most of it’s inhabitants. I have read the recent “baby ogopogo” headlines and I remain skeptical though regardless of what the DNA testing proves, I still 100% believe in the animal’s existence and I know that the MonsterQuest team did not leave empty handed.
Joshua Dorsey (director) and his crew did exactly all they could given the time and conditions, which was shine a little more light on the hugely compelling mystery that is Ogopogo.
Their biggest difficulty was that unlike other lake creatures around the world there exists a mass amount of real evidence spanning 100 years proving the existence of an unknown zoological species living in the waters among us.Sean Viloria
Photo of Jessica Weigers (Sean’s girlfriend), MonsterQuest director Joshua Dorsey, and Sean Viloria.
Jeff H. Johnson’s sculptured model of Cadborosaurus.
LAKE DEMON: Beneath the cold, isolated waters of north western Canada a fifty foot swimming monster is said to lurk. The stories from North West Canada’s Lake Okanagan date back to the earliest First Nation peoples, who lived in fear of this terrifying creature of the lake that became known as ‘Ogopogo’. According to accounts of this ominous creature, it has a large snake like body, large eyes and can move at high speeds. Sightings of this lake creature are so common that it has been seen more times than Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, making Ogopogo the world’s most documented lake creature. With new, recent photographic evidence and an array of high technology, MonsterQuest will launch one of the first major expeditions to this lake. A helicopter outfitted with a thermal camera will scan the lake for signs of the creature while a dive team stands ready to jump into the hazardous waters, ready to capture the necessary evidence.
Remember the museum, and thank you for considering to…
🙂 Thank You.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
What is interesting to me on the Monsterquest shows of late is they are regularly putting up samples for testing.
Now, I realize this has happened before, but the more testing that occurs increases the opportunity for a discovery. And the popularity of the show, which cannot be accounted for simply by those with a deep interest in cryptozoology, shows a subtle change in mainstream acceptance.
Shows like Monsterquest, and more importantly, web-sites like Cryptomundo, are lifting cryptozoology out of obscurity. Even the bad press from last year’s Georgia Bigfoot debacle probably went a long way in convincing a lot of people that those really searching for Bigfoot are looking for a real animal, not some Hollywood monster.
Regarding the Ogopogo episode, even if they prove the specimen is the most common of fish, more persons will, hopefully, be aware of their surroundings and more open to sharing what they see.
I’m actually looking forward to this episode. The photographic evidence mentioned above sounds very intriguing, and we’ve been waiting, how long?, for the baby ogopogo results. I know I generally go on a negative rant about MQ, but this particular episode has major potential and is about a cryptid that I am particularly fond of researching. I may even have to miss LOST tonight to tune in, errrr….well, maybe, or maybe I’ll just have to tay off cryptomundo for a week and watch this episode when it re-airs next week, very tough decision….
been waiting for this episode i hope they find something good about the baby
it would shock the world if it is 1, not to mention monsterquest would be a bigger hit then it is
i have a simple way in which you can watch both
watch lost, then monsterquest later on in the night since it will be repeated
01:00 AM MonsterQuest: Lake Demons
boxerpit – thanks for the suggestion. I’ve noticed before that the episodes re-air again around midnight, and I have tried to stay up and watch what I missed in the past, but I usually end up falling asleep before the late episode comes on. Besides that, even if I did somehow manage to stay awake, I’d be miserable at work all day tomorrow and regret it, lol.
I’m also looking forward to this episode.
Hopefully, something good will come out of it (as in “unknown creature”, at least).
Although, IF there were a genuine discovery of a creature there it would probably have leaked out by now. Not always, but most of the time. So my enthusiasm is somewhat “cautious.”
One can always hope, as usual.
So let’s see whether MQ will “come through.”
I have SERIOUS reservations about this being anything but a dead Sturgeon or similar large fish. I think that if it were something of a cryptid nature we would have heard something in the news given the hysteria over this supposed creature.
I would love to be proven wrong, but the track record of MQ so far, although the shows have been somewhat entertaining, has been to show no physical evidence to prove the existence of anything cryptid or mysterious in nature (and that includes sewer gators). I believe that because of this that in the end, unless they produce some physical evidence of some kind, the cause of cryptozoologists will be hurt not helped by MQ.
cryptidsrus i agree with you
i hope and pray that it is some unknown creature, if not then there’s still Bigfoot which i believe is a primate.
after watching southern fried Bigfoot, I’m now convinced that is a few unknown primates in north America
Hmm i will wait hheheheheheheheeehehe
this better be the real deal cause anybody can find a dead body of animals in a lake/river of an unknown or known animal, but that doesn’t mean it’s ogopogo. so this is not what i can “Finally we will reveal with is the ogopogo”, there can be other animals unknown there not seen yet! i really don’t like hearing or reading about them claiming they revealed it yet!
Speaking of which i’m still waiting for the Mokele and Ropen Expedition Film of MQ!
:O
If they did find it, WOW Judging by the picture it does resemble the ogogpogo from Ogopogo Model/Mannequin.
Looks like we got MonsterQuested again 🙁
Spoilers for those that haven’t seen it ahead.
All that for a decomposed salmon, wow. I know they need to keep mystery so people will watch, but wow come on don’t pretend like you’ve got something by keeping photos secret and waste my time.
LOL, well, all I can say is that pretty much ends my MQ watching days I’m afraid. I actually stayed up until midnight to watch that episode, only to find out close to 1:00 AM that the “baby ogopogo” was a dead salmon (snore….). I really should have known better, I do believe that I’ve said before that if they did in fact find a baby ogopogo that we’d know about it by now, but I decided to give MQ the benefit of the doubt and tune in, thinking even if it wasn’t baby ogopogo that they would entertain nonetheless, but that didn’t happen, despite the potential felt the episode had to be an entertaining one. Instead, I was bored to tears throughout the entire show, since they didn’t really show any evidence that I haven’t seen already, and I ended up just waiting to see the big reveal, or the big MonsterQuest letdown, however you choose to look at it.
Anyway, I had been steadily loosing interest in MQ for quite a while, not because they haven’t produced a cryptid, but because the show has gotten to be really boring for me personally, and the hype they put behind some of the episodes that just end up ending in a big flop is more than a bit annoying, it’s just plain wrong. But I think that should be a sign, or I see it as a sign that they (MQ) have no other choice than to mislead viewers into thinking they’ll see something spectacular to get them to tune in and boost their ratings. Now I do enjoy seeing Loren on the show, and that alone has interested me enough to get me to watch a few times, but the stunts they pull with the hype has gone too far lately, especially when it turns out to be a salmon. Now had it been an unknown species or the results came back “inconclusive”, maybe the way they promoted the build-up and suspense could be justified, but not for a friggin salmon. And for me personally, I guess it will be like the boy who cried wolf, they could actually come up with something tangible, but I won’t see the show because I’m tired of the misleading promos. I think I’ll just stick with DT from now on, I can’t recall even one time that they have disappointed me or let me down.
Very disappointing. I thought this might finally be the episode where they find something substantial other than a giant squid which we already know exist. I also highly doubt the animal is cold blooded, in 45 degree F* water I doubt it would be anything other than extremely lethargic. They released the news of the possible “baby ogogpogo” way back in the fall, made us wait 10-12 weeks into the season to reveal that they found a decomposing Salmon. Extremely disappointing to say the least, I love the show but using the term “monsterquest” as a synonym for you got fooled, should become more prevelant.
I didn’t watch MQ last night but am unsurprised by the findings or lack thereof. I’ve given up on the show entirely, with things going downhill for me after the Jersey Devil episode. I will give the producers and editors credit where it is due – they know how to build suspense but that is about it.
Hate to say it, but wow, finally a good ep of Monster Quest. Yes, we all knew that the carcass would not be an Ogopogo offspring. But everything else was first rate and some interesting new evidence came to light. Wish they could find that water skier! We even had a nice drama moment when the diver lost contact with the boat.
My only complaint was the omission of one story. It was an Ogopogo (not Champ) that bumped into a swimmer and lifted her out of the water as she made her way to a floating platform, right? That should have gotten a mention. Otherwise, excellent. Really made up for the Loch Ness episode.
Wow, thats an hour of my life I can never get back.
“OMG something stirred the water, I cant see AHHHHHHHHH”.
MQ showed zero thought in throwing this together.
Here is one thing that really got me: When they showed the holes in the mud (which they called underwater caverns) they said it probably is where Ogopogo hid from predators. What predators does a 50 foot carnivore have?
And how could any reasonably sane person not think the evidence pictures of “ogopogo” were not waves?
And the dead baby ogopogo is a 18″ piece of blob? That was ridiculous. Ive had dead goldfish blobs in my pond bigger than that. Any respect I had for what MQ was trying to accomplish is completely gone. I am officially deleting MQ from my dvr timer.
Good day Sir!!
The biggest question I came out of that episode with is how the hell did Sean land Jessica. He must be able to show her Ogopogo pretty regularly.
The problems with MQ could be solved, but it’s going to take a complete overhaul of their format. Originally, the show started out pretty well and held my interest for a while, but lately it’s way too predictable. They’ve lost all entertainment value whatsoever and, most importantly, the allure to bring in new viewers and get them intrigued by cryptozoology. I mean, imagine that you have never seen the show before, and although you have heard of Bigfoot, Loch Ness, etc. you aren’t what would be considered a cryptozoology enthusiast. Now you see these big promos that allude to an upcoming show that will show proof that Ogopogo exists. You get interested and start wondering if there is something to this cryptozoology stuff or if it’s just a joke. You sit down and watch the show, only to be bored for an hour and find out the proof turns out to be a salmon……Would that experience really convince you that the search for cryptids is a science to be taken seriously? Would you ever watch that show again? You know, I honestly wonder if they’re trying to commit primetime suicide, maybe the producers are ready to move on and put this one to rest??
I honestly didn’t believe that they had a baby ogopogo, but I thought that they may at least have something interesting, more interesting than a salmon anyway. And I thought that they would find a way to make the reveal entertaining, but I was bored by the whole show. I nodded off several times, but managed to stay awake waiting for the results. I’ve said before that if they aren’t going to produce a cryptid despite all the effort, they owe it to the viewers to at least entertain. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to DT this season, they know how to keep the viewers interested and you definitely get your money’s worth. MQ has just lost its excitement, and that’s a huge part of what cryptozoology is all about for me, adventure and excitement.
I find it rather amusing that people are so upset at Monsterquest. People are taking offense that MQ doesn’t produce that undeniable proof of cryptids. Come on people, come to the real world. First it’s a show. Second, if they actually discovered a corpse of a real sea monster, don’t you think you would have read about it months ago in the NEWS. Don’t be mad at MQ, most likely the majority of their expeditions are for animals that most likely don’t exist, so how is MQ going to produce the evidence? Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show for the mystery, drama, and the fun of the “hunt”. That’s why I enjoy the show enormously. I’m not going into the latest episode expecting them to shock the world. Get your expectations in to perspective and enjoy it for what it is!
Greg102, I agree.
Samson77, I believe they said it could be used to ambush prey or hide from predators. There are lots of animals that cannibalize the young, and if this is true for the Ogopogo species then the “caves” could be from the younger of the species. After all they never examined how deep these “caves” are. Of course this is all in the assumption that Ogopogo exists.
I’m going to agree with Greg102, enjoy the show for what it is. Don’t expect anything to be discovered on this show, it just won’t happen. If they do happen to have real evidence we will hear about it months before the show airs.
cmigrace, did I not say a “hide from predators?” They made no distinction between young “ogopogos” hiding from predators or grown “ogopogos”. And the “caves” looked like nothing more that holes in the mud caused water flows.
I think you missed my whole point. If MQ doesnt have a shred of evidence and they KNOW that they dont, then they shouldnt elude to the fact that they MIGHT have evidence.
They have been eluding to the fact they MIGHT have evidence of cryptids of every show from day one (all along knowing that they did NOT). Again, my original point was that because they have time after time mislead viewers, they are at a point of almost zero integrity and believability. I am not saying I am 100% correct, but I do believe that I am not that far out of line.
Tuning into MonsterQuest is the same as listening to a carnival barker at the side show. Everything you hear needs to be taken with a grain of salt. After a while you just get sick of the gimmicks.
As for watching the show for its entertainment value; that would be the same as taking marriage advice from your mother-in-law. Good luck with that.
Another point I’d like to make is, there is a reason these animals are cryptids. They aren’t found easily and a 2 day monsterquest expedition is not going to cut it, unfortunately. Monsterquest is still a great show, but obviously it could be better. I’d like to see a new MQ show that is a full hour on the Patterson Gimlin film. Get skeptics and believers, analyze it again. Tell more of the story behind it and the events after, etc.. That would be a great episode.
Samson77, I did not mean to offend you. I was merely saying that the “caves” could have been made from the younger of the species because you said and I quote “What predators does a 50 foot carnivore have?” I also mentioned that the show said the “caves” could be used for ambushing prey.
Of course the show eludes to having new info. How else would they get anybody to watch? You can be upset all you want, but the bottom line for this or any show is ratings.