Cadborosaurus Witness Expertly Recounts her Classic Sighting
Posted by: John Kirk on February 16th, 2006
One of the sites on the Internet I like to visit with frequency is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) archive which contains a wonderful section on cryptids and cryptopersonalities. It’s a treasure trove for anybody who has an interest in the cryptozoological field.
One of the stories in the archive I find myself drawn to over and over again, is the black and white footage of Mrs. Langley, wife of Major Langley of the B.C. Provincial Legislature, as she speaks of her experience with Cadborosaurus in 1933. Her husband was also present when they saw the creature near Chatham Island
Mrs. Langley, I discovered from the footage, was an Englishwoman with an upper crust accent who speaks clearly, intelligently and matter-of-factly to the interviewer who in turn is a very bright Scotsman with a keen mind. Watching this footage is a little akin to watching those old newsreel interviews with individuals who have claimed to have seen the Loch Ness monster. In days past, people were much more believable about their experiences because they spoke better and were better able to make themselves understood in terms of what they had witnessed. How I wish I had been an investigator in that era of the 1930’s – 60’s as I am sure my understanding of what these phenomena are would have been substantially enhanced by the crispness of the answers of old time witnesses.
On watching Mrs. Langley, one gets the distinct impression that everything she says happened exactly as she says it did. She has no hesitation correcting any impression the interviewer has that does not conform to the event she witnessed.
I always knew the Langleys were intelligent people, but seeing how sharp Mrs. Langley is for myself, has absolutely convinced me that they had a very real experience with an unknown animal all those years ago. She is one of the most convincing witnesses I have ever seen and I recommend you watch this interview for yourself. Her understatement in the relating of all that she saw, clearly indicates that she has no agenda and is not trying to make the interviewer believe her story. To her, it happened and that is all there is to it.
In a similar manner to what happened with the Mackay sighting at Loch Ness, the newspapers got hold of the account and ran with it. Suddenly, the creature Mrs. Langley saw had a name, Victoria Times editor, Archie Wills, named it Cadborosaurus and soon the rival Colonist newspaper had its own name for the BC beast which it dubbed Penda after Pender Island where a famous sighting took place in the 1930s Those of course were the names white people had given the creature, but the First Nations peoples of B.C. and Alaska knew it as Hiyitl’iik (Manhousat), Say Noth Kai (Salish), T’chain-ko (Sechelts), and Pal Rai Yuk (Inuit).
By having a credible and intelligent witness like Mrs. Langley come forward, the floodgates were opened to a whole host of other witnesses who had seen this creature over the years, but had not made their stories known for fear of ridicule. Seeing that Mrs. Langley was treated with respect, the other witnesses felt encouraged to come forward and relate a wonderful catalogue of encounters with the great megaserpent of the North Pacific. You’ll read more about them here on Cryptomundo and here at the BCSCC website.
About John Kirk
One of the founders of the BCSCC, John Kirk has enjoyed a varied and exciting career path. Both a print and broadcast journalist, John Kirk has in recent years been at the forefront of much of the BCSCC’s expeditions, investigations and publishing. John has been particularly interested in the phenomenon of unknown aquatic cryptids around the world and is the author of In the Domain of the Lake Monsters (Key Porter Books, 1998).
In addition to his interest in freshwater cryptids, John has been keenly interested in investigating the possible existence of sasquatch and other bipedal hominids of the world, and in particular, the Yeren of China. John is also chairman of the Crypto Safari organization, which specializes in sending teams of investigators to remote parts of the world to search for animals as yet unidentified by science. John travelled with a Crypto Safari team to Cameroon and northern Republic of Congo to interview witnesses among the Baka pygmies and Bantu bushmen who have sighted a large unknown animal that bears more than a superficial resemblance to a dinosaur.
Since 1996, John Kirk has been editor and publisher of the BCSCC Quarterly which is the flagship publication of the BCSCC. In demand at conferences, seminars, lectures and on television and radio programs, John has spoken all over North America and has appeared in programs on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, TLC, Discovery, CBC, CTV and the BBC.
In his personal life John spends much time studying the histories of Scottish Clans and is himself the president of the Clan Kirk Society. John is also an avid soccer enthusiast and player.
