There are many creatures on this planet that are suited only for the cold waters of Antarctica, so unique are these animals that you will not find them anywhere else in the world. A shortlist of these fascinating cold water creatures includes the Crocodile Icefish, the Antarctic Scale Worm, the Giant Antarctic Sea Spider, the Giant Antarctic Octopus (Megaleledone setebos), and the Basket Star. But one creature has been reported to inhabit the icy waters of this frozen landscape as well, a creature nearly 90ft long and looking frighteningly humanoid. This “monster”, which appears to have swum directly out of folklore, is known collectively as the Ningen.

The giant cold water creature known as the Ningen is most often described as being pale white, humanoid in body shape, and possessing fin-like appendages that roughly resemble human arms and legs. Its skin appears to resemble that of a whale beluga, incredibly smooth and blubbery. Witness reports note the creature as having two huge eyes on the underside of the head and a large slit-like mouth. No other facial features have been described presently. It is also noted by those who have seen this beast that the creatures appear to be primarily nocturnal, and most of the witnessed activity has been reported as taking place at night when the Ningen is said to come to the surface, possibly to feed in the darkness or even breath without being seen.

Reports of the Ningen first made waves in the 1990s when Japanese fishermen claimed to have spotted one of the creatures when it abruptly surfaced alongside their boat in the frigid waters of the pacific under a calm, moonlit sky. Upon first glance of the large white object, the crew instinctively thought they were witnessing the surfacing of a dangerously close submarine, but they quickly realized the object was far from a giant inanimate steel object. The incredible sight before them proved to be a giant living thing. The fishermen, standing along the side of the ship in total shock and awe, were amazed by the massive size of the unknown pale creature and stood motionless as they watched it glide both effortlessly and silently along the surface of the ocean before sliding back into the cold darkness around it.

After this first reported sighting, other fishing vessels in the southern pacific ocean around the arctic began to also report seeing these strange and humongous creatures. The description, which is said to have come from multitudes of reputable people, was always the same. The giant creature possessed a disturbingly large pale white body, two massive eyes which sat above a large slit mouth, and limb-like appendages that crudely resembled human arms and legs. The estimated size of the creatures varied anywhere from between 20 to 90ft (10ft shorter than a blue whale).

Immediately after sightings started being reported, speculation that the Ningen was a hoax began to emerge. Digitally fabricated photos began to appear on the internet and flood message boards. Along with these photos, fabricated eyewitness reports started to spread slowly around and were shared via early email accounts and presented as being genuine. Because of this blatant hoaxing and how easily early internet users believed every strange story that appeared in their inbox, it was quickly assumed that the Ningen was nothing more than a fictional story that quickly grew out of hand. But even though a large majority of people considered the creature to not exist, there were still those small groups of people who truly believed that the Ningen, being of true flesh and blood, swam silently through the cold waters of the Arctic.

Since its “discovery” over 30 years ago, many people have speculated that the creature known as the Ningen may have just been a result of mistaken identity of a known animal. Some researchers even speculate that fishermen may have been seeing a massive, yet currently unknown, subspecies of albino ray or skate. The reported albinism of said creature could be an evolutionary trait that helps the cold water creature camouflage amongst the floating ice of the arctic. Others claim that the witnesses were/are just misidentifying already known whale species such as belugas or bowhead whales. But, as with other reports centered around unknown animals, a definitive yes or no answer cannot be given on the existence of the Ningen until either a body has been found that proves 100% without a doubt that this animal is real, or full scientific research and expeditions into the existence of the creature have repeatedly turned up zero evidence proving the creature does not exist.

-The Pine Barrens Institute

*Image Credit: Google

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