As a former employee of a museum that dealt with Great Lakes history, I’ve heard some stories about mysterious sightings in Lake Erie. One of the more fun Lake Erie mysteries to think about is Bessie, the Great Lakes monster. Could Lake Erie be harboring its own aquatic cryptid? Sightings of Bessie the Lake Erie Monster have been reported by sailors and fishermen in the Great Lakes for hundreds of years.
Bessie, the Lake Erie Monster: Does Nessie Have a North American Cousin?
We’ve all heard the stories of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster who inhabits Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. But did you know that there have been reported sightings of a similar cryptid in Lake Erie?
The Lake Erie Monster, known by the locals of Ohio and Michigan as Bessie or South Bay Bessie, has been sighted by numerous people in Lake Erie since 1793. Legends describing a water serpent living in the Great Lakes go back even farther. Most reports describe this monster as a gray-skinned snake-like creature measuring between 30 and 40 feet in length, with a body estimated to be a foot in diameter. Other observers have described Bessie as being more similar to a Plesiosaurus, much like her more well-known counterpart in Scotland, Nessie. Some locals speculate that there are two different cryptids lurking in the shallow depths of Lake Erie, while others believe that these sightings are all the same monster.
Some cryptozoologists believe that Bessie can live on both land and in the water. Though skeptics claim that a creature the size of Bessie could not possibly live in Lake Erie because the lake could not sustain such a creature, let alone a breeding population, many cryptozoologists believe it would be possible for such a creature to adapt to its environment over time, and be able to inhabit Lake Erie.
Some skeptics believe that the legend of Bessie comes from misidentification of sturgeons, as sturgeons have no limit to their growth potential and can live for over 100 years. The largest sturgeon ever recorded was 12 feet long and weighed 1100 pounds. Believers claim that Bessie is not a sturgeon, and is, in fact, a monster similar to either a sea serpent or a plesiosaur. They claim that Bessie is much larger than even the largest sturgeon.
Read the rest on Exemplore.com
This article was fun to write, so I’m planning to write some more on similar topics. What other mysterious creatures, paranormal phenomenon, or Lake Erie area mysteries would you like me to write about next? Let me know in the comments!
