Comments on: Lake Van Monster Resurfaces

By: Megatherium

Megatherium — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:25:00 +0000

It’s difficult to tell if the last part of the video clip which contains the most detail – but the worst perspective – has any connection to the first portions of the video showing the unknown(s) swimming and submerging. If a connection can be made – then the elephant theory can be ruled out because while the head may resemble one – the rest of the odd notches, length of the creature, method and speed of motion in the water do not.

The bubble-blowing aspect of the supposed head-shot is intriguing to me – both in a “I haven’t seen that before” and humorous way. Reminds me of my daughter playing motorboat in the bathtub. If the unknown is intelligent, maybe it’s doing the same!

By: CryptoInformant

CryptoInformant — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:37:13 +0000

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it! If it is a strongly Alkaline lake, then elephants, manatees, and other mammals are ruled out. The only vertebrate that can live in that situation, at least as far as we know is the flamingo, meaning we have to look at hoax or tough crocodilian. It reminds me, oddly enough, of Postosuchus, a Triassic LAND croc, so a croc is not out of the question. The end of the head tapers, suggesting a snout, but the dark skin color obscures the nostrils. If it is hoax done modeled after an elephant, it was done by an idiot because an elephant would not be out that far without its trunk elevated. As for the “hair”, it appears to be a picture defect.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 04:16:04 +0000

The one thing that I find in this video that leads me away from the hoax idea is the apparent “eye”. It seems to be blinking and looking around, and I don’t think you’d find this sort of anomaly on something being towed through the water. The impression of an eye could be an optical illusion, but there is something definately animated there and it just seems to me that that is a rather intricate detail for a hoax. Something about that footage of its “head” seems to be that of some type of living creature. Be that an elephant, tapir, or whatever remains to be seen.

By: praetorian2317

praetorian2317 — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 03:21:29 +0000

Looks like an inanimate object being towed.

An alkaline lake with very little going on in it biologically; the absence of any lake monster tradition or sightings before 1995 (or after for that matter); the videographer’s failure to produce an “expert” analysis of the footage (at the time it was taken he stated that it was going to be submitted to experts at Cambridge University for analysis).

All this leads me to one inescapable conclusion: HOAX!

By: greenteaaddict

greenteaaddict — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 19:18:18 +0000

In the video, it does look like an elephant, but then, as mentioned before, why would an elephant be swimming around in a lake in turkey?

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:28:38 +0000

I was studying some pics of tapirs, and there is something very similar about the eye and general shape of this thing’s head that reminds me of one of these South American creatures. I can see it being more of a tapir than an elephant. Then again, it would still be an odd thing for a tapir to be swimming around in a Turkish, high alkaline lake. I wonder if there was anything for size comparison in the edited footage. That would be of immense value. One thing that someone mentioned that kind of makes me suspicious if it is true is that this thing has only been sighted since 1995. I would think that any sort of native cryptid would have been sighted since long before that.

By: Maer

Maer — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:43:57 +0000

The end picture looks like the head of an elephant, but the trunk is not above water, also the first two scenes show something much longer. What I do see are air bubbles in front of what looks like the face. I wonder why it stayed in place so long, and how the picture that far out was so steady. There are a lot of cuts, I wonder how long the original film was?

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 05:10:32 +0000

Thanks Craig. Like I said, boy do I feel stupid. But, now that I have seen them, it’s obviously not an elephant. That closest shot is intrigueing. Well, all of the footage is interesting, but the close one is especially fascinating. Not enough info there to say just what this is. I look forward to future instalments and evidence.

By: Craig Woolheater

Craig Woolheater — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:09:55 +0000

In my original post, I gave the link to the CNN story, which has a link to a large (comparatively speaking) and a much smaller version of the video. But I'll save you some time and post the direct links to the videos. Large version and Small version

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:03:29 +0000

Yeah, I find it hard to believe that there would be so many stray elephants running around. There probably would have been eyewitness reports of elephants around the lake as they would be harder to miss than an elusive lake monster. I think trying to explain away all sightings as elephants would be just as irresponsible to cryptozoology as saying that every little blurry pic must be a lake monster.