“Ogopogo Photos” Update

Another photograph has been released from the “Ogopogo” series taken in August 2008. Click to increase viewing size.

Ogopogo researcher and filmmaker Sean Viloria earlier released his MonsterQuest embargoed photographs taken in the context of an Ogopogo investigation. Critical comments were received here.

-I am open to any and all interpretations of these photographs.
-I have not taken any monetary compensation for anything I have done in regards to my sightings/evidence.
-Art is a hobby for me. Creating a new Ogopogo sculpture in Kelowna would be a way for me to give back to what has certainly been an incredibly alluring and enthralling mystery for many witnesses and researchers over the years.
-My personal belief is that the surplus of evidence (not only my own) has almost certainly proven the existence of something unkown here and if I can contribute in any way,on any level to the path that leads to the discovery of an entirely new species or a prehistoric animal still living…I will have achieved something amazing in my lifetime.
-The object I witnessed on August 23rd was there for a few moments and then gone, it was this that made me think twice about what I had initially perceived to be a windsurfer/parasurfer.
-In my opinion from what I saw, the object was absolutely in the water and not a kite.
-The creature’s reddish hue seemed very strange to me but I have since then seen other witnesses photographs and heard their stories of similar looking creatures in the lake leading myself and others to believe that this is a recent development in the species and may be related to water pollution and or the maturity/mating season.

Photo of Jessica Weigers (Sean’s girlfriend), MonsterQuest director Joshua Dorsey, and Sean Viloria.

In the midst of talking about the Lake Champlain video (which I think he incorrectly says is of a deer, but that’s for another time), Hamilton writes: “Loren Coleman of Crytomundo fame…Hell, recently he mistook a kite for Ogogpogo.” [Yes, “Ogogpogo” is how he spelled “Ogopogo,” although he might correct it by the time you go there.]

Duh, I didn’t know I had to say such things outloud, but just because I report news items here doesn’t mean I endorse the linkages that might appear in someone else’s cosmos. I must inquiry, does Hamilton feel that merely because, let’s say, for example, if the New York Times prints that the Carradine family says that maybe the Triads killed David Carradine that means the story’s writers are backing that theory? Seeing something at Cryptomundo does not mean that I have accepted new photographs released as an unknown named cryptozoological creature, or taken them as either factual or fiction, without further investigation and my specific statements on what I think.

For those few (e.g. Mr. Hamilton) who need to be reminded of what “cryptid” means, here is my broad summary of what the term encompasses: “A cryptid is an unknown species of animal, or a supposedly extinct animal, or a misidentification, or anything more than myth until evidence is gathered and accepted one way or another. Until that proof is found, the supposed animal carries the label cryptid, regardless of the potential outcome and regardless of various debates concerning its true identity. When it is precisely identified, it is no longer a cryptid, because it is no longer hidden.”

Out of respect for Sean Viloria’s release and in the style of initial news posted here, I did not take a stance on what might be behind the identity of these images. If anyone wanted to ask me straightforwardly what I thought the following photograph taken by Viloria at Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, might be…

I would have answered, “probably a long-distance photograph of a windsurfer” (especially using a rig similar to what is shown below on the right).

As long time readers know, part of the exercise here is for you to flex your investigative skills, and not merely read and parrot what I think.

Loren Coleman 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.

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