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
