Monsters of Brothers’ Lighthouse
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 13th, 2008
Hawera & Normanby Star, New Zealand
June 18, 1896
Marine Monster.
(PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, June 17. C. Tregurtha, keeper of the Brothers’ lighthouse, reports having on May 29 seen some strange marine monsters. They were about three miles off. At first it was thought they were whales, but he could not see any spouting though there was plenty of splashing. Three of them rose 15 to 20 feet out of the water, remaining in the position half a minute. Afterwards a fourth appeared. Their heads were snakelike, the neck much smaller than the head and of a greyish white color. Another monster, like an enormous snake, with two fins behind its head, was also seen both by Tregurcha and another man named Butler.
Thanks to Jerome Clark.
i wonder if they were using a telescope.
3 miles seems a long way off to judge pretty much anything that small, 15-20 feet.
then again i am not someone who see’s the ocean everyday like a lighthouse keeper.
sounds like that other thing fighting the whale that was recently posted here.
cool find.
That was a lot of detail for the distance. Unless they used a telescope, spyglass, etc. I guess I will assume they used something to note small heads and what not–also interesting that there was more than one sighted in a group…doesn’t happen often either.
Since they mentioned whales, I am going to also guess they had seen enough whales to know the difference between them and another creature, even at long range.
So, was a USO of some sort…the ocean is definitely big enough and full of things yet to be discovered (every year there are plenty of new ocean critters being discovered, and not just small things either!)
Frankly I’m wondering if they saw the arms of a giant squid breaking the surface. The description would certainly fit.