Is This Video Proof the Loch Ness Monster Resides in Alaska?

A video from Alaska shows a weird creature swimming around. Is it some sort of Loch Ness monster?

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Just in time for Halloween, we might have new proof of a Loch Ness Monster-like creature in Alaska. The real Loch Ness Monster—if there is one—supposedly lives in Loch Ness, a lake in the Scottish Highlands, so the creature in the video above may not be the Loch Ness. But whatever is seen on this video—some are calling it the "Chena Chomper"—is creepy.

On Wednesday, Alaska's Bureau of Land Management posted a video on their Facebook page (which you can watch above) of a "strange thing" swimming around in the Chena River in Fairbanks, Alaska. The 22-second video, which has been viewed over 360,000 times and counting, only vaguely describes the "Chena River Ice Monster," and doesn't provide any further details about the monster. 

According to the Alaska Dispatch News, Craig McCaa, who works for the Bureau of Land Management, was taking pictures and videos of the Chena River to capture the changing weather. On Oct. 18 though, he saw more than he expected. While the creature "never fully revealed itself," McCaa saw a "strange thing" that was about 12 to 15 feet long. 

Alaska's Bureau of Land Management did speed up the video and added music. In a Facebook comment, Alaska's Bureau of Land Management explained, "Our employees did have fun with the music, but like you all we honestly don't know exactly what it is. But all the guesses are great!"

FACT CHECK: Not all the guess are great, actually. Some people were speculating that it was an alligator or a shark... but the video was shot in Alaska. As one person commented, "I bet half or more of the people commenting on this [don't] even know where the Chena River is. Alligators? Sharks? In the Chena River? Come on now, get real."

McCaa, who took the video, explained his thoughts to ADN: "I initially thought, and several people thought, it could be some rope that snagged on the bottom of the river with chunks of ice. Other people have mentioned everything from sea monster to giant sturgeon."

Sadly, some scientist think they've figured out what the thing was—and they're saying it's not a monster.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Tanana River Management Biologist Klaus Wuttig told ADN it's probably just a frozen rope stuck to a bridge pier. While it looks like the thing is swimming, Wuttig says, "It's actually stationary and just wading in the current." The video looks "really cool," but he says, in reality, it's "not that exciting."

What do you think it is? Loch Ness-like monster or something else entirely? Let us know in the comments.

Latest in Life