Name: Edgar Estes

Age: 67

Number of witnesses: 3

Location of sighting: Herrington Lake, Kentucky

Date of sighting: May 1976

What you believe the creature was: Unknown Creature

Message: “We were in the boat, it came up 15 ft away, looked like a whales back showing a foot above the water, pushing water. I casted my line and float and pulled it across its back, there was 5 foot of its back showing, moving slow, we all 3 said what is that, we started holding on the side of the boat. Its skin was grayish black, no scales, like a whale. I couldn't see a head or tail. It went down. This lasted about a minute. I had a camera in the storage of the boat but didn't think about it. I was stunned and thinking it might attack or turn the boat over. We were in a 15 ft fiberglass boat with a 33 hp outboard. We were fishing out from a deep cliff back. I'll never forget.”

Thank you Edgar for contacting us with your story! We here at The PBI absolutely love tales of lake “monster” sightings, and when they can link around to a creature we’ve actually talked about before, they become even better!

For those of you who might not be aware of what I am referring to, let me tell you. The creature in Lake Herrington that Edgar and his companions believe they witnessed in the lake back in 1976 is not just some random unknown beast, it actually has a name and has been seen many times before. You see, the creature we are talking about is known as The Herrington Lake Eel-Pig and its believed to have been spotted as far back as 1925. Many who believe in the Eel-Pig claim that after Kentucky Utilities flooded the tributary and built the dam which created Lake Herrington, a mysterious creature somehow got trapped inside and has been sporadically spotted ever since.

The Eel-Pig wasn’t really thought much of or taken seriously until 1972 when a University of Kentucky Professor spotted something odd swimming around his lake home on multiple occasions. When asked by a local newspaper if he believed that what he saw could truly be the monster and bring validity to the stories, he famously responded by saying, “it’s only a monster in the sense that one would call an alligator a monster if they had never seen one before.” After these 1972 sightings, many believed that the creature went dormant, but now, thanks to you Edgar, we know that isn’t the case!

Thank you again, Edgar, for sharing your sighting with us. It has now officially moved on from being just a strange story shared among those around you, to being a legitimate piece of a crazy puzzle involving one seriously odd creature!

-The Pine Barrens Institute

Image Credit: Trip Advisor

If you have a sighting to share or a piece of folklore to tell, make sure to get in touch and let us know! Remember: It’s your story, so why not share it in your own words!