When dealing with topics such as Cryptozoology, we rely heavily on reports from the media and eyewitness encounters. This testimony can lead to various problems when evaluating a report and the investigator has to make a determination if the story told is not a misinterpretation or a fallacy. The old cliché that all legends have a basis in fact is not always true. Many legends may be nothing more than a campsite story passed down through the generations.

 I was introduced to an interesting story while publishing my newsletter, Creature Chronicles, back in 1991. A correspondent sent me various newspaper clippings from the Ottawa County (Ohio) Beacon. The editor had been collecting reports of some sort of serpent reported in the western basin of Lake Erie From the reports I received, a story was developing about a strange creature similar to that of Loc Ness and the Ogopogo monster.

This animal had been dubbed the name South Bay Bessie by some of the locals from a contest that was held promoting lakeside tourist attractions. The basic description was that of a 30-50 foot long snake-like animal about as round as a bowling ball. The reported creature seems to appear when the water is calm. Reports of this water creature date back some thirty years.

 For simplicity of this article, allow me to cite a few reports from the past, so that the reader may become familiar with this alleged creature:

1960 - Ken Golic was fishing off a pier in Sandusky when he heard two rats. He decided to throw a couple of rocks at them when he saw the creature. He stated that it was cigar-shaped and came out of the water about 1-1 1/2 feet. It was about 11:00 PM on a clear, calm night.

1969 - Jim Schindler stated that a serpent came within 6 feet of him near South Bass Island. Although he did not see the length, the width was about 2 feet. The animal appeared to be about 1 foot under the water.

9/1981 - Theresa Kovach of Akron saw a snake-like reptile that "was so large that could easily capsized a boat. It seemed to be playing." She watched it from a house on the Cedar Point Cause- way.

1983 (app.) - Mary M. Landoll told John Schaffner about her encounter with Bessie off Rye Beach in Huron. Mary went out to the front porch just before dawn when the lake was quite placid. From the left end, she heard a rowing sound and saw what looked like a capsized boat. It was a greenish-brown colors about 40-50 feet in length. Landoll realized that it wasn't a boat, but an animal of some sort. It had a long neck and an eye was visible on the side of the head with a grin going up one side. The creature appeared to be playing in the water, but still put a scare into the witness.

Summer, 1985 - Tony Schill of Avon, Ohio was boating with friends north of Vermmilion when they reported the serpent. It was dark brown and had a flat tail. Tony stated that "5 humps came out of the water. No way it was a sturgeon."

Dale Munro, of Lorain was also boating when he came face-to-face with it. He stated that it had 3 humps and was black. He also reported that it was twice the size of his 16-foot boat. The location was in calm waters just off the Lorain Coast Guard Station and his sighting lasted 3-4 minutes.

May or June, 1989 - Gail Kasner obtains a graph from a boat owned by Ken Smith, of Streetsboro. The fish finder appears to show a sonar reading of a cigar-shape apparition about 35 feet in length at a depth of about 30 feet.

July 8, 1990 - Susan Seeson, of Salem witnessed the creature 2 miles from Cedar Point. Her description basically matched other reports.

September 3, 1990 - Bob Soracco was jet skiing off Port Clinton when he thought he spotted a porpoise. (Porpoise in fresh water? Oh well, Bob had just moved from Florida.) He told reporters that he saw humps with gray spots. "It was very long as I moved closer and it was going down.

September 4, 1990 - Harold Bricker and his family were fishing north of Cedar Point Amusement Park when a serpent type creature swam by their boat about 1000 feet away Their description- 35 feet long with a snake-like head. It moved as fast as their boat. Later, the Bricker's reported their sighting to the ODNR rangers at East Harbor State Park.

September 11, 1990 - Fire inspectors, Jim Johnson and Steve Dircks, of Huron saw the creature from a third story window facing Lake Erie. They described it as dark blue or black at about 30-45 feet long. He further stated that he saw three parts of the creature above water. "It laid there motionless for three to six minutes and was flat on top."

Week of September 16 1991 - Dennis Szececinski, of Toledo saw Bessie near Toledo's water intake structure three miles offshore in Maumee Bay. He was fishing in the bay when something long and black slithered in front of him.

During the years of 1992-1994, I took a leave of absence from my research, as I returned to college. I put ‘Bessie’ on the back burner until I could return to the world of Cryptozoology. In 1997, I added my original story to my web page.

To my surprise, I was receiving a large amount of email regarding this subject. Some of these posts appeared to have some merit, but I still wasn’t convinced that there was a serpent in Lake Erie. Nevertheless, I put the reports up on my web site in hopes that I could get a better understanding of the phenomenon.

In 1991, George Repicz took some video that he believes may have been some sort of creature.

His report is as follows:
 

"In July 1991 my family and I spent a week at a family camp on Kelley's Island I took my camcorder to film family events and local scenery. On one of the days during that week and after filming all over the camp, I decided to get a good sun set on film. The picture through the lens did not look that great because the camera I was using did not amplify the light like some newer ones do these days. So I decided to scan the bay for something interesting when by chance I came across this (I believe was a swimming creature) moving object in the bay. The bay at the point where I shot the film is about 1 plus miles across. Around the bay is about 3 to 5 miles. The people who were fishing or boating in the scene were close to the state campgrounds across the bay. I’m not aware if any of those people saw what I saw. The people next to me could barely see the object in the water with there eyes. The camcorder was zoomed out to max and the object appears closer than it is. When our week ended we went home. That was the last time that we went to that camp.

In 1993 my mother passed away so I tried to gather all possible film clips of her to share with my brothers and sister. It so happened that the scene of the creature was also part of the over all family film that I took. By chance I saw this clip again but soon forgot about it again. I think in either 1994 or 1995 I saw a program on TV about some a creature in Lake Erie. I remember seeing the wake or wave that people took pictures of that was supposed to be the creature. I remembered that at the end of the clip I took of the swimming creature was the same wake. At the end of 1997 I happened to be on the net and decided to search for sea creatures

when I came across the Cryptozoology zone web site and then discovered your site."

The following year, I received the most recent report. It occurred in Bay Village, Ohio and was told to me by Leslee Rasgaitis:

"On July 28th at about 7:00 p.m., we were returning to our home in Bay Village from an outing with my nephews. We stopped at Huntington Beach to show them the Great Lake Erie. They are from Charleston, South Carolina. The youngest one wanted to go down to the beach and touch the fresh water, and see if he could see Canada. Meanwhile, my husband and son stayed at the top of the cliffs that overlook the lake and viewed from there, a very long, rippling, effect in the water. While watching the effect, it took on a more physical appearance, and soon they were able to see three distinct black humps rising from the water. The sun was in the west and silhouetted the thing. When I arrived from the beach they were standing watching the last of the " thing". I personally only caught a brief glimpse of something moving. But it was definitely not just a fish or a seagull.

It was just about 500 feet from the shore at the end of the stone piers. It was pretty close considering it was a warm summer evening and there were still people and boats about. The actual sighting was preceded by a lot of rolling of the water.; lots of bubbles and a general disturbance of pretty soft waves, which drew their attention. The sun really illuminated it. Then there was a surfacing of something VERY long and sort of roundish like a tree trunk. At first they thought it might be a tree and then it moved. They watched it for about 5-6 minutes. Rick told a friend who is an active fisherman what he had seen and was told it was probably 'Bessie'. I decided to look it up on the Internet and found your site. I have confirmed what I have sent you with both Rick and Victor."

A time line is beneficial because it presents several variables to the phenomenon. For instance, sociological and economic situations change over the years. The media’s coverage of events become more sensationalized or downplayed depending on the mood of the populous.

The nickname of “Bessie” is relatively recent. However, reports of a serpent in Lake Erie date back to the early 1900’s.

The following account supposedly occurred near Sandusky on July 21, 1931. Through this one account, the reader can see that legends of strange creatures in the western basin have been around for a long time.

“Two Cincinnati fisherman, Clifford Wilson and Francis Cogenstose described a ‘serpent’ that raised out of the water along side their boat. They said the beast measured about twenty feet and was about twelve inches long at the broadest part. Even though they were frightened, they jabbed it with an oar, fastened it to a line and brought it to shore.

Several important people saw the carcass from Sandusky, including Police Captain Leo Schiverly and three newspapermen: E.L. Ways, C.J. Irwin and Mel Harman. According to the Associated press, the creature was described as huge, snake-like and colored black, dark green and white. The hid appeared similar to an alligator.

The article mentions other reports of a sea serpent.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t mention what happened to the animal. Some researchers have dismissed the account as a hoax. It could be possible that they did capture some sort of fish species and it wasn’t recognizable to them.

Recently, I received an email from Dave Monk of Windsor, Ontario. He explained that he had an encounter in September of 1986 while fishing the Detroit River near Peace Fountain. Dave was trolling with a pickerel jig. As he bent down to adjust his fishing line, he noticed a long, black neck appear out of the water for about 30 seconds. He further stated that this ‘neck’ rose about seven feet above the water.

The creature submerged only to reappear a second time. At this point, mark reeled his line and watched the animal disappear into the current heading for Lake St. Clair.

Mr. Monk goes on to report that the eyes entranced him. He felt as if the object had some sort of intelligence.

In 1990, he contacted the Great Lakes Institute and gave an account of his experience in hopes that someone could give him a logical explanation. Mark doesn’t mention who he talked with, but told me that someone from the institute told him that bottom areas of the Great Lakes have never been explored.

The July 29, 1993 edition of the Wall street Journal wrote a skeptical piece about the phenomenon. They theorized that the reports were a marketing tool to bring tourists into the town of Huron. This northern Ohio city would become the National Live Capture and Control Center for Bessie, the Lake Erie Monster.

The reward for the capture was offered by Tom Solberg of the Huron Lagoons Marina. He was willing to pay $100,000 for the safe capture of the beast.

In January, 1999, several messages were posted to a Cryptozoology  list on the Internet in regards to an incident on Lake Erie. Allegedly, Bessie was reported to have attacked a sailboat killing three people. The creature was said to have a horse-shaped head. No source was give for the incident, so I wrote several newspapers in an attempt to track down this story.

I received an informational reply from the Sandusky Register. Their research department informed me that this story had appeared in the tabloid newspaper The Weekly World News dated August 24, 1993. The cover contained a photo of a ‘dinosaur-like’ creature wrapped around a sailboat and was allegedly taken from an airplane. However, the Register has no mention of any deaths.

Reporters from the register had talked to the pilot, but he wished confidentiality, so I wasn’t able to obtain a name. I was told that the staff did not take the report seriously and felt it was a hoax. The newspaper does have a file on Bessie, but at this time, I’m unable to make the trip to Sandusky, or do I have the funds to pay for a search of information.

I was also told that reporter Don Lee covered a ‘flap’ of Bessie reports in 1990 and 1992. He wrote about Gary Couts of White Landing who operated a “Special Lake Investigations” out of his home. Couts is said to be interested in “Bigfoot, 100-foot octopi and other interesting creatures.”

Some Cryptozoologists believe the entire Bessie scenario is nothing more than a hoax based on newspaper embellishments and promotional ploys. Supermarket tabloids raise more suspicions when writing feature articles on monster accounts. One can clearly see that South bay Bessie is on the minds of the many residents along Lake Erie coast. It would be safe to say that anyone living around Lake Erie would claim a sighting of this animal when they observe something in the water that they cannot identify.

But, what if credible fisherman, boaters and lakeside observers are witnessing something unidentifiable to them? Are they seeing a lake serpent, or something else that can be explained in conventional terms? It should be noted that eyewitness observations can be fallible and not everybody interprets their observation in the same manner. They may add descriptive details in a later interview and their subconscious may have recorded a detail from a story they may have heard years ago.

Let's take a look at the basic descriptions and see if we can attribute this to any known species inhabiting the Great Lakes:

1.       30-50 foot snake-like or cigar-shaped
2.       Reported in water which is calm
3.       Width of two feet
4.       Eye visible on one side of the head
5.       Reported 30 feet underwater with a fish finder
6.       Color described as black, brown, blue or green
7.       Some witnesses describe ‘humps’

If we allow for some natural exaggerations on the part of the witness, it is plausible that they have misinterpreted a serpent for the endangered lake sturgeon. (Acipenser fulvescens). Certainly, the sturgeon is prehistoric in appearance. Since this fish is rarely seen these days, the casual observer may have difficulty in identification. After all, their size can sometimes reach up to 200 pounds.

The largest lake sturgeon as recorded in Becker’s Fishes of Wisconsin was caught from Batchawana Bay of Lake Superior in 1921 or 1922. It was 90 inches and weighed 310 pounds. A similar catch occurred in southern Lake Michigan in 1943. That fish was 95 inches and similar in weight.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources fact sheet, the sturgeon’s habitat requires water with sand, gravel and rocky bottoms. This habitat is indicative of Lake Erie’s bottom, especially close to shore where many sightings take place. The bony plates could be misconstrued as humps under certain conditions. The color descriptions could be the result of sunlight reflections against the clear water in the late spring.

The observance of this fish would be a rare occurrence for any knowledgeable fisherman or photographer. If you factor in the sighting by someone not familiar with this species, you could have a report of a lake serpent. Remember the problems associated with eyewitness testimony.

Perhaps this endangered species does not apply to some of the reported accounts. It is equally plausible that misinterpretations of driftwood and other debris could be mistaken for a creature. We cannot ignore any possibilities until there is a catch of Bessie and the determination is made that it is a lake sturgeon. Even then, more reports will continue to surface.

As for the possibility of a man-made object, consider the following article from CNN:
 

          ‘Monster in Lake Michigan is manmade, but just as mysterious

January 26, 199

CHICAGO (CNN) –OK, so it’s definitely not the Loc Ness Monster. It’s not even alive. But Lake Michigan is indeed harboring a mysterious object.

Right where the Chicago River enters the Great Lakes sits an oak construction the size of a bus and shaped like a zeppelin.

Nobody can say what exactly it is, and it’s in the way – slated to be demolished by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources when it revamps the basin that is currently the object’s home.

But not if Sam Frank of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago has anything to say about it. Frank is trying to organize a moving party to get the big wooden thing out of the way, and hopefully leave it available to divers in a safer location.

And Frank would be delighted is someone could step forward and explain just what the object is and how it came to rest at the bottom of lake Michigan.

For now, however, the evidence seems to indicate that the Birth of South Bay Bessie probably resulted from some fabricated newspaper reports of the past. These stories soon began a legend that could be used to heighten tourist attractions. Furthermore, with these reports circulating the shores of Lake Erie, it is no surprise that lakeshore residents and vacationers have heard the reports and seen for themselves an unusual aquatic creature swimming the lake.

As always, this writer keeps an open mind. The hoax and misinterpretation factor may not be an easy solution. I am open to any suggestions along with reports and documentation on this phenomenon.

END

The major portions of this article first appeared in Issue # 1 of the North American Biofortean Review; Chad Arment, publisher

Thanks to James Moore, William Gibbons, Craig Heinselman, Ellene Guy, Todd Frank, Cliff Kraft, Loren Coleman, John Schaffner and others who have provided me with sources.

Newspaper sources:
The Beacon, Ottawa County, 9/90 Dayton Daily News, 10/7/90 Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 9/23/90 Columbus Dispatch 9/26/90