Location: Shuswap Lake, British Columbia, Canada 

Possible Cryptid: Shuswaggi- Lake Monster

Witnesses: 3: Larry Roberts, his wife, and a friend.

User described details of sighting: "On Aug 6, 2018, at approx 9am, three of us (between the ages of 55-68yrs old) were on the lake (Shuswap) in a houseboat when we witnessed a creature in the water.

The lake was dead calm, like a sheet of glass, when our friend called us to look at the water as there appeared to be what initially looked like a telephone pole/log in the distance blocking our path. We put the engine in neutral, and watched from about 300 feet as it (the log) appeared to be gliding straight along with no current on the water. I would estimate its size to be around 60-70 feet long. We watched for a couple minutes and all of a sudden, it was like it rolled towards the bottom of the lake from front to back. As it did this, there appeared to be some type of flat bumps on its back approx 2 feet long and 1 foot high, which stood up as it slightly bent its back to go down below the surface. The thing appeared greyish in colour, but we did not see what may have been a head unfortunately.

When we arrived back at the houseboat rental company later that day, I mentioned what we saw and one of the employees kind of laughed it off and seemed to not know anything of what we had seen. The next day, my wife and I were still puzzled as to what we saw, so we googled around and were surprised to find that there were other sightings of this thing on the lake. We were very excited and of course felt it prudent to report this, our only wish was that we had pictures for others to verify. But this creature definitely exists to this day.

If ever there was ever an attempt to find this incredible creature, I would certainly want to be there so as to help ensure its future well being. I feel so privileged to have seen what we saw, as this was perhaps a once in a lifetime thing. Feel free to post and using my last name is not an issue, as I would like to answer questions should anyone wish to pursue the issue.“

Larry, first and foremost, thank you so much for reaching out to us with your sighting! It is always a great feeling knowing that people are willing to share their experiences with the unknown with us.

Now, let’s get into your sighting. Right away, it goes without saying that you saw something, no doubt about that at all. But the big question is, what exactly did you see? Lake Monsters are reported to come in many different shapes and sizes, with some being long and serpent-like, and others appearing more thick and whale-like. And Shuswaggi is no different, as nearly all sightings describe a creature somewhat different than the last.

What you personally witnessed though, according to your description, appears to be more in line with a sighting made on the lake in August of 1970. This sighting of Shuswaggi described it as first resembling a log, appearing grayish in color, and having a length of around 30ft. The creature then rose up out of the water, and quickly submerged back down below it. Could the creature you witnessed be the same creature spotted 48yrs ago, only now, it has grown an additional 30ft? Honestly, who knows. But with a lake that is 528ft deep and 55mi long, the possibility that something unknown could be living in there is not hard to believe.

Now, I don’t have a 100% solid answer as to what exactly you saw, and to be honest, I wouldn’t really even know where to begin to look as The Shuswap Lake Monster is particularly elusive and even harder to describe even after it is seen. The few and far between recorded sightings we have on file prove this. But what I do feel confident in saying is that you not only did see something unknown, but something that so many other people only wish they were lucky enough to see.

Thank you again for the sighting Larry and if you make it back out onto the lake to search for Shuswaggi, let us know what you find! We will be anxiously waiting!

-The Pine Barrens Institute

*Image Credit: 

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