Storsjön is the fifth largest lake in the north of Sweden, located in a glacial-tectonic basin, the banks are forested, steep, and heavily indented. The length of the lake is 70 km, the maximum depth is 74 meters. Many islands, the largest of which is Frösön, together with the city of Östersund located on the eastern coast, form the center of the historical province of Jämtland. The river Indalselven flows through the lake. According to legend, the monster Storsjöodjuret lives in the lake. However, the locals call him simply Birger.

In 1635, the priest Mugens Pedersen recorded an ancient legend explaining how his famous monster appeared in Lake Storsjon. According to legend, once two trolls were going to boil water for themselves on the shore of the lake. They lit a small fire and hung a kettle over it. Although the water in it had boiled for a long time, they still did not bother to remove the kettle and boiled the water to the point that a terrible creature with a cat's head and a snake body jumped out of the kettle. It quickly looked around and disappeared into the lake.

They say that the little monster liked the lake so much that it began to grow by leaps and bounds and reached such incredible sizes that its length was enough to wrap around Fresen Island. It is on this island that the northernmost runestone in Sweden is located, which depicts a snake surrounding Old Norse symbols.

There are many legends about this stone, as well as about Birger himself. In the old days, the lake monster was so drunk local residents that they had to turn to a sorcerer. He brewed a potion, then read the spell, it was it that was encrypted in the runic inscription on the stone. After that, the monster calmed down for centuries.

Rumor has it that it is worth saying this spell again, as the monster will again begin to misbehave and annoy people. There is also a legend according to which the head of a snake-like monster is crushed by an enchanted stone, and its tail stretches all the way to the other side of the lake. Allegedly, only this stone protects the population from the monster, so it cannot be moved and removed.

When the rune stone fell during the battle at Östersund, people could not swim across the strait for a long time because of the monster, but when the stone was raised, the monster calmed down again. Probably, these legends would have been forgotten long ago if Birger had not appeared on the surface of the lake from time to time.

In 1894, a captain in the Swedish Navy named Dedering created joint-stock company, the purpose of which was the capture of the famous monster. One of the sponsors of the hunt, which involved experienced whalers, was King Oscar II.

Then, for some time, the monster was silent, apparently Birger did not like it, and he decided to remind himself. At the beginning of the 20th century, the monster began to climb onto the shore of the lake and chase tourists and local peasants.

The patience of the people inhabiting the shores of the lake ended when Birger terribly frightened two girls, chasing them. To catch the monster, a giant trap was set up on the shore, but the mysterious creature deftly bypassed it. They decided to kill the monster, for this purpose they hired a harpooner who whole year guarded the coast, but never saw the monster.

The failure of the harpooner did not mean that no monster existed or that he died of old age. Local residents continue to observe it from time to time, and by now, about 500 eyewitness accounts have already accumulated. Local authorities, fearing that various amateur researchers and hunters might kill or injure the monster, which is a great bait for tourists, they decided to protect it from all kinds of persecution. In 1986, the administrative court of the province of Jämtland issued an official decree prohibiting the "destruction, injury or capture of a living being known as the lake monster of Storsjön". It was also forbidden "to take or damage his eggs, caviar, masonry or den."

However, such a decision irritated the Ministry of Environmental Protection, whose government officials said that the mythical creature, whose real existence has not yet been proven, such protection is not needed. In the end, the regional council relented and decided to remove the lake monster Storsion from the local Red Book. True, he categorically refused to admit that in fact there is no monster in the lake.

Until now, there is not a single more or less clear photograph of this mysterious monster. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, this is a snake-like creature with a dog's head and fins around its neck. Many versions have been put forward of what Birger might be. Some suggest that this is a huge, not yet discovered cetacean, others see it as an impressive catfish, others speak only of a flock of elks that swam across the strait and were mistaken by some simpletons for a lake monster.

It is said that in June 1998 the monster was captured on film, after which attempts to catch the monster, or at least see it, intensified again. In the spring of 2007, the Svergies Television documentary film crew installed automatic video cameras that respond to thermal radiation on one of the lake islands. In 2008, one of the cameras managed to capture Birger.

In the video, you can see a blurry, long and narrow silhouette moving in the depths of the lake. The group's journalist commented on the result: "Obviously, it is warm and consists of cells, otherwise our cameras would not have recorded it." So don't show up here and say that someone is pulling the rope!

Despite the fact that there are practically no white spots left on the map of the Earth, and even the oceanic and cosmic depths finally gave up and pulled off the veil of the mystery surrounding them until then, there is still room for the mysterious and mysterious in our lives. Traditions and legends about monsters unknown to science, even in the 21st century, continue to excite the minds of people. And this is especially true of creatures living in all kinds of bodies of water, stories about which can be heard around the world.

The world-famous Loch Ness monster (it is noteworthy that in the vicinity of Loch Ness in 2003 a plesiosaur was actually discovered, however, a petrified one), you can find a relative in almost any country if you carefully ask the locals. We will tell you about ten creatures who are united with the famous Nessie only by the fact that they have chosen any lake on our planet as their habitat.

• Monster from the sky

  Lake Tianchi in China was formed in the crater of the Pektusan volcano. Literally, the name of the lake can be translated as "Heavenly" - this reservoir is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's highest crater lake (2000 meters above sea level). For the first time, a monster from the legends was encountered here in 1903: something resembling the outlines of a huge buffalo attacked the hunters who were on the shore from the water. Subsequently, eyewitnesses more than once observed the mysterious resident of Tianchi, and in 2007 they saw here at the same time as many as 6 creatures unknown to science.




Nahuel Huapi

In this lake in Argentinean Patagonia with a mysterious, defiant interesting associations a Russian person has his own name Loch Ness monster- Najuelito. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, this is a huge, at least 20 meters long, silver-gray reptile with jagged crests on its back. On January 4, 1994, about 20 people saw Najuelito splashing in the lake, making small waves.




Dragon from Brosno

This animal is our compatriot, "registered" in Lake Brosno, located in the west of the Tver region. According to one version, the Brosnensky monster is a plesiosaur who got here, others believe that it is a mutated giant beaver. Be that as it may, the dragon from Brosno showed true patriotism and adherence to spiritual values: according to legend, he more than once came into conflict with Tatar-Mongol yoke, and during World War II, it was swallowed by a German Messerschmitt flying low over the lake.




love ness monster

The British cousin of the famous Nessie lives in a lake near the town of Loveborough in Leicestershire. Basically, he became famous for the fact that from time to time he eats ducks that have the imprudence to splash down on the deceptively serene expanse of the lake.




Monster Varberg

It is documented that the monster living in the moat of the Swedish castle of Varberg was seen as early as the 13th century. This animal is distinguished by its extremely secretive disposition, but the tourists who saw it in 2006 managed to see that the monster is not covered with either fur or scales, and is the proud owner of an approximately 40-centimeter tail.




issy

The legend of Isshi, the Japanese monster from Lake Ikeda, is a legend about a white mare who once lived with her foal on the shore of the lake. But the foal was kidnapped by a samurai, and out of grief, the mare threw herself into the lake, turning into a lizard-like monster. Issy has been seen several times, mostly in 1991. Then the Japanese reported a strange creature with black humps sticking out of the water, up to 5 meters long each.




Ogopogo

The original Indian name for this monster is Naitaka, which translates as "lake demon". This demon lives on the island of Rattlesnake, on the Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, and there were more than two hundred of them, the monster has a log-shaped body from 4 to 9 meters long and a goat or horse head. Archival records of Ogopogo date back to 1872, but it appeared in Native American legends much earlier.




Lagarfljöt Serpent

There is nothing surprising in the fact that in Iceland, an island where people still believe in trolls and spirits, there is a lake monster of its own. The so-called Lagarfljout serpent or worm lives, as you might guess, in Lake Lagarfljout. For the first time, technicians laying a telephone cable across the lake in 1983 encountered a giant hundred-meter (the length of a football field!) Serpent. It soon became clear that something (or someone?) had damaged the cable. But, no one wanted to find out how and what.




Chipekwe

The first information about Chipekwa - the Hippo Eater - came from the pygmies living in the valley along the banks of the Congo River. This area is covered dense forests and is still poorly understood. In Europe, they learned about Chipekwa from the famous big game hunter G. Schomburg. When in 1907 he was hunting near Lake Bangweolu, he noticed the absence of hippos, the conditions for which were ideal for living here. From the aborigines, Schomburg obtained recognition that an animal similar to a rhinoceros with a long neck lives in the lake, feasting on the meat of river horses. According to some cryptozoologists, the Chipeque is a ceratosaurus that has survived to this day.




Bunyip

When any atrocity is committed among the Australian aborigines, there will always be one among them who, having previously made magical gestures protecting against dark forces, will whisper: "this is the work of the bunyip." The first mention of such an insidious creature dates back to 1801. The Frenchman Charles Bailly and his comrades, having landed and deepened into an unfamiliar mainland, were forced to retreat in a hurry, having heard from the thickets surrounding the Swan River a devilish roar full of rage. Later, the bunyip was met in the most different ends Australia and described in different ways. Most often it was a dark-colored animal with a long neck, a kangaroo head and a huge mouth.

On May 18, 1960, three priests claimed to have seen a horse-headed monster in Lough Ree in Ireland. This is one of three lakes in Ireland where a monster has been seen. In 2001, a search expedition even took place on the lake, covered by the Irish media. We have collected information about another 8 of the most famous lakes, on which, at one time or another, eyewitnesses noticed unusual creatures unknown to science, the existence of which on this moment not proven.

1. Loch Ness, Scotland. Without exaggeration, the most famous lake with a monster in the world. The famous Nessie, rumors about which date back to the 6th century AD, according to many scientists, is the last dinosaur living on earth.
2. Lake Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada. Ogopogo is a legendary monster that glorified the whole of British Columbia and almost approached Nessie in popularity. First seen in 1958, it was regularly described by eyewitnesses as a long snake lizard with a barrel-like body, long neck and fins.
3. Lake Labynkyr, Yakutia, Russia. The Labynkyr Devil is a monster seen by the Yakuts in the 19th century. Although there is no photo or video evidence, the monster has been spotted by more than one scientific expedition. In addition, the noise allegedly made by the monster was recorded, and with the help of an echo sounder, a huge shadow was noticed, clearly not the size of any known lake fish.
4. Lake Kanas, Xinjiang Province, China. For the first time huge creature was noticed by students of the local university in 1985. Later there were rumors that the monster regularly drags animals and birds underwater. In the 90s, they forgot about him, but in 2011, several eyewitnesses stated that the monster had risen to the surface again. One of them even managed to capture it.
5. Lake Kok-Kol, Dzhambul region, Kazakhstan. Here, according to multiple observations of eyewitnesses, a huge (at least 15 meters long) bloodthirsty creature lives, dragging birds and animals under the water. The locals called the monster "the water spirit of Idahar".
6. Lake Storshen, Jämtland Province, Sweden. The local inhabitant is a huge pangolin, the first notes about which date back to 1635. its existence for a long time was considered just a medieval legend, but in the early 2000s, local media wrote that two girls saw the monster. They were scared to death. At first, their story was not taken seriously, but a few years later, incredible footprints were found on the shore of the lake, the owner of which has not yet been identified. It is also known that a giant trap was set on the lake.
7. Lake Champlain, USA - Canada. For the first time, a local monster was described by an eyewitness - a sheriff named Nathan Mooney in 1883, as a huge black snake about 50 meters long. In 1977, tourist Sandra Mansi managed to photograph the head, neck and part of the back of the monster. Also, according to other eyewitnesses, the "Shamp" has three to five humps on its back.
8. Lake Brosno, Tver region, Russia. The local monster is described by eyewitnesses as a lizard, strongly resembling a plesiosaur. Most of them talk about the lizard in words, but some, supposedly, were even lucky enough to take pictures of it. Nonetheless, official facts there is no monster at the moment.
9. Loch Ree, Ireland. According to legend, not only a monster is hiding in the lake, but also a whole underwater city with a cathedral.

For several decades now, interest in the problem of the so-called "Yakut Nessies"- unknown monsters that allegedly live in the lakes Labynkyr, Vorota and Khaiyr (Pestsovoe).

One of the first reports about the mysterious monsters of the North appeared on December 14, 1958 in the Komsomol newspaper Youth of Yakutia.

“In the Oymyakonsky district there are big lake Labynkyr, the newspaper wrote. – Its length is 14 km, and the depth is 60 m. The nearest settlement is the village of Tompor, located 120 km away. Its inhabitants have long been talking about a monstrous large animal that lives in this lake. They call him the devil.

One day this devil chased a Yakut fisherman. The animal had a dark gray color, a huge mouth, and the distance between the eyes was more than the width of a raft of ten logs (!). There was a case when he swallowed a dog swimming after ducklings. Collective farmer Pyotr Vinokurov says that on the northern shore of the lake he found the jaw of an animal with teeth. It had such dimensions that if it was placed vertically, then a rider could pass under this peculiar vault. Became a mystery and another, no less interesting detail. In winter, holes with smooth edges form on the ice of this lake. They are called here "devil's windows".

Somewhat later, in the journal Vokrug Sveta (1961, No. 2), the diaries of Viktor Ivanovich Tverdokhlebov, head of the geological party of the East Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, were published, where the existence of unknown to science creatures. True, he said that he had seen him, together with the geologist B. Bashkatov, not in Labynkyr, but 20 km away, in Lake Vorota, which has a 4-kilometer length and 60-meter depth.

“The object swam and quite quickly. It was something alive, some kind of animal. It moved in an arc: first along the lake, then straight towards us. As it approached, a strange numbness that made me feel cold inside seized me. A dark gray oval carcass slightly rose above the water ... two symmetrical light spots, similar to the eyes of an animal, stood out clearly, and something like a stick protruded from the body ...

We saw only a small part of the animal, but a huge massive body was guessed under the water. This could be guessed by seeing how the monster moves: with a heavy throw, having risen somewhat from the water, it rushed forward, and then completely immersed in the water. At the same time, waves were coming from his head, born somewhere under water. “Slams its mouth, catches fish,” a hunch flashed ...

Before us was a predator, without a doubt, one of the strongest predators in the world: such an indomitable, merciless, some kind of meaningful ferocity was felt in his every movement, in all his appearance ... there was no doubt: we saw the devil - the legendary monster of these places " .

The stories of V. I. Tverdokhlebov about the existence of giant animals in the lakes of the Sordonnokh plateau were picked up by sensationalists and served as a pretext for organizing a number of amateur expeditions, specially engaged in the search for "northern Nessies". Their reports were published in the journals "Nature" and "Chemistry and Life", in the newspapers "Pionerskaya Pravda", "Volzhsky Komsomolets" (Kuibyshev), "Komsomolskaya Pravda" and others.

Lake Khaiyr

By the way, the last report of the expedition on the search for the "Russian Nessie" in the Yakut Lake Labynkyr was published in Komsomolskaya Pravda on September 15, 2000.

All these trips to unravel the mystery ended in failure: their participants never once had to see northern Nessie at least from a distance, despite truly heroic attempts to find the mysterious creature.

Confirmed myth

In this regard, the question began to arise more and more often; maybe the Yakut monsters are a myth? However, unexpectedly, the existence of an unknown monster on the Sordonnokh plateau was indirectly confirmed.

On the pages of the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" on November 21, 1964, a sensational message appeared under the intriguing title "The Mystery of Lake Khaiyr". In it, G. N. Rukosuev, deputy head of the North-Eastern Expedition of Moscow State University, told readers that a certain mysterious animal with a long snake neck lives in the depths of the tundra Lake Khaiyr in Yakutia, beyond the Arctic Circle. The text accompanied the drawing. Here's what he said about the meeting with mysterious creature one of the members of the biological detachment of the Yakut branch of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR N. F. Gladkikh.

“Two days ago at 7 am I took buckets and went to the lake for water to boil tea. I had heard about the existence before. the existence of the “devil” in the lake, but I don’t believe in either evil spirits or devils, so I walked to the lake without being careful, looking at my feet so as not to stumble. Not reaching the lake about 15-20 meters, I heard something like a splash. When I raised my head, I saw that an animal unknown to me had crawled out of the water. His torso was 4-4.5 meters long, 1.5-2 meters high, his neck was long - perhaps a meter and a half, and a flat small head, like that of a snake. Its color is dark blue with a tint, the skin is smooth.

I thought it was eating grass. My heart began to beat faster, my legs immediately gave way, and buckets involuntarily fell out of my hands. And when the buckets rattled, the monster turned its snake head in my direction. I don't remember what happened next, because I was very excited. I only remember that I screamed loudly, calling for help, and, turning around, ran headlong to our camp, but, unfortunately, the detachment’s employees were not in the camp at that time. When I looked at the lake, I saw that waves were moving along it, although there was no wind, the weather was calm.

This message, like the previous ones, did not go unnoticed. A year later, a group of Moscow divers and Voronezh tourists travel to Khaiyr to try to unravel the mystery of the lake. Here is what the participants of this fascinating expedition told on the pages of Komsomolskaya Pravda on November 27, 1965.

“We did not find any traces of the monster. Taking turns, several people kept their eyes on the surface of the lake around the clock. Khaiyr village is 2 km from the lake. Maybe the locals know something about the monster? Indeed, among the Yakuts of this, and many other villages of Yakutia, there is a legend about a bull pike that lives in lakes and is able to swallow a fisherman along with a boat. The legend has a basis: they do not eat pikes here (there are better fish), and the locals throw them away when they accidentally fall into the nets.

Therefore, there are many of them in the lakes, and large specimens can come across. The Yakuts are not at all afraid and do not avoid Lake Khaiyr, they often visited us and told us that some residents of the village saw a large pike in the lake. A monster similar to the published drawing, none of them saw.

On the highest shore of the lake there is an abandoned fur farm, in the house of which for the third year from spring to late autumn the microbiological detachment of the Yakut branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences is working. Last year, the detachment consisted of 3 people: the head of the detachment, Kolesnikov, the biologist Mezhenny, and the minder Gladkikh. These are the three who, as the author of the note claimed, saw the monster. Nikolai Gladkikh is the “main” eyewitness and author of the drawing, with his light hand this sensation was born.

We met Andrey Alexandrovich Mezhenny on the lake, and he told us that neither he nor Kolesnikov had seen anything and that this fact was pure fiction. The only eyewitness - Nikolai Gladkikh - left after the end of the season for his homeland. Later, after the article appeared in the newspaper, Gladkikh wrote to A Mezhenny that he had invented the story with the monster.

From all that has been said, it is quite obvious that there are no monsters in Lake Khaiyr, every meter of the bottom of which is currently explored by scuba divers. However, until now, along with the lakes Vorota and Labynkyr, for some reason it appears in the reports of hunters for living fossils as worthy of attention. Therefore, again and again, enthusiasts of searching for the unknown are attracted to themselves by the “mystery” of Khaiyr...

Lake Labynkyr

Is it possible for living fossils to exist in the lakes of Yakutia? This question has already been raised more than once in the pages of the press, and we will not touch on it now. Consider another, no less interesting and mysterious - what real creature could give rise to the legend of the "northern dinosaurs"?

According to A. N. Tolstov, a researcher at the Institute of Permafrost Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who has repeatedly worked in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the mysterious animal of Lake Labynkyr is a giant catfish. Indeed, this huge monster, whose weight reached 300 kg and a length of 5 m, can seem like a nightmarish monster to anyone. There are cases of such giants attacking land animals and even humans. Perhaps V. A. Tverdo-Khlebov overestimated the size of the mysterious creature, because fear has large eyes.

Meanwhile, as it turned out, such an assumption does not stand up to criticism. Here is what S. K. Klumov, senior researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Biological Sciences, wrote about this in the journal Nature:

“... catfish do not live in the basin of the Arctic Ocean”, this “has been established for a long time and has been confirmed many times (until very recently). Conditions for this type of fish in Labynkyr are completely unsuitable: the lake is covered with ice for 8 months a year. Temperature regime it also does not correspond to the catfish habitual for life and reproduction. For 4 months, this fish could not complete the breeding cycle and accumulate strength for such a long (8 months) wintering. Thus, the hypothesis of A. N. Tolstov contradicts the facts about the distribution and life of catfish that we know.

Pike from Lake Labynkyr. Can larger specimens be found there? Without a doubt

By pike command

Then the prototype of the monster, perhaps, was the well-known freshwater predator - the pike? One of the authors (A. V. Potapov) in 1970 in Lake Khaiyr almost mistook her for a dinosaur. In the article “The Devil of Pestsovoe Lake”, published in the journal “Knowledge is Power” (No. 6, 1983), this episode is described as follows:

“The first meeting with a mysterious creature occurred under the following circumstances. That morning, I carefully watched the calm surface of the lake. A duck landed on the water 50 m from the shore and suddenly screamed desperately and, flapping its wings, disappeared into the abyss of the lake. Apparently, someone grabbed her and dragged her under the water. All this happened literally in 2-3 seconds, but I managed to clearly see the long semicircular, beak-like jaws of the animal. After this incident, I had great difficulty in forcing myself to get into an inflatable boat when I was fishing. All was quiet for the next eleven days.

The second meeting took place in the same area, but under different circumstances. I was sailing on a boat and at the very surface of the water, at a depth of no more than half a meter, I saw a shadow, in its contours resembling a long giant cigar. She accompanied me 10 m from the port side, and then slowly went into the depths. The length of the cigar by eye is at least 2.5-3 m, but consider any features I did not succeed, as the surface of the lake rippled a little.

And finally last meeting which greatly disappointed me. Now, for self-defense, I took a loaded speargun and always kept it ready. In the evening, I was sailing in my flimsy boat, carefully working with oars-blades, and near the shore, at a shallow depth, I again noticed a large object. Indeed, it was smaller than previous time. “Probably a cub,” flashed through his head. Cautiously approaching him, I made up my mind... The creature remained completely immobile. Taking the gun, I took careful aim at the supposed head and pulled the trigger.

The harpoon is firmly stuck in the body. I felt this by the force with which the nylon line was pulled, and if it had not been tied to my belt, the gun would have flown out of my hands. I lay down on the bottom of the boat, and she, towed by an animal, slid along the surface, changing direction. This went on for about half an hour. Then the line gave up. I raised my head and saw that I was on the shore. Pulling the boat close to him, I carefully began to select a thick nylon cord.

What was my surprise when my eyes were not an unknown monster, but ... huge pike. Its length was just over 2 m! With great difficulty I dragged her to the shore. She weighed at least 35 kg! The harpoon pierced through her bony head. I have never seen such a large specimen of this formidable freshwater predator. The length from the tip of the nose to the tail was 2 m 2 cm! (Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of this hulk. I was caught in heavy rain, and all the films were damaged by water.)

This event greatly shook my belief that a "plesiosaur" lives in the lake. However, the very existence of pikes of this size is at least unusual. Even the fish I killed could well swallow almost any waterfowl. Apparently, even larger specimens are found, which gave rise to the legend of the existence of the “devil”.

The fact that the legend of the “Labynkyr line” also owes its origin to a giant pike is also written by A. Pankov in the book “Oymyakon Meridian”:

“It is no coincidence that the village near which mountain rivers, merging, form Indigirka, called Shchuchye (in Yakut - Sordonnokh). There are legends that on the shore of the neighboring lake Vorota, such jaws of a pike were found that if they were put on the ground, a rider on a deer could pass under them like a gate (isn’t the name of the lake from here?) ... In the lower reaches of the Indigirka, one bulldozer driver told me, how he shot a pike. I saw some terrible muzzle in the sea, fired, the fish was belly up. The length of the pike turned out to be about 4 m. All mossy, green-brown, flabby, like cotton wool. It's no joke: maybe she lived a hundred years, or even two hundred ... "

In "Komsomolskaya Pravda" dated September 15, 2000, an expedition report was published on the search for "Russian Nessie" in the Yakut lake Labynkyr. Despite truly heroic attempts to find the monster, the participants failed to catch it. We saw only signs that testified to its existence, and nothing more.

A.V. Potapov, from the book "Phenomena, secrets, hypotheses"

8 Russian lakes where monsters have been seen

Not only the Scots can boast that a fossil animal lives in their lake. In Russia, according to eyewitnesses, there are as many as eight such lakes. Our Nessies are called, where the devil, where the shaitan, and where just a monster or even a pike-ox.

Seydozero

It is located on the Kola Peninsula and translated from the local dialect means "sacred lake". The area surrounding Seydozero is considered anomalous zone. There are many legends about the giant Kuyva, who lives on its shores, and about the monster that lives in the depths. The Saami, the people inhabiting the surroundings, have a legend according to which the underworld is located just at the bottom of this lake. The monsters that live in the lake protect this very world from our curiosity. By the way, on the shore there ancient image the giant Kuyva, who, as the Saami are sure, controls the underwater beast.

Labynkyr

Lake Labynkyr is located in Yakutia. It is far from the nearest locality for a hundred kilometers, so it is not particularly mastered by tourists. The Yakuts believe that the Labynkyr devil lives at the bottom of the lake. They describe him as a huge gray monster with a big mouth. One can be ironic about the primitive fears of the local population, but geologist Viktor Tverdokhlebov also notes the inhabitant of Labynkyr in his diary. According to different versions, this is either a relic reptile, or even a huge pike. In 2005, the creators of the TV show "Searchers" went to Labynkyr to find the beast. They dived under the water, found a huge crack in the bottom, the remains of various animals, but the devil was not found.

Gates

Lake Vorota is located near Labynkyr. The Yakuts believe that a monster also lives in it. There is even such a version that the same animal lives in both lakes, which periodically visits here and there. The first mention of it refers to 1953. The monster was seen by the same geologist Tverdokhlebov. It can be assumed that the researcher has gone crazy, and various monsters seem to him. But the words of the scientist are confirmed by his colleague Bashkatov. They both said that they saw a strange creature in the lake, resembling a huge lizard. In 1963, a group went to Lake Gate to find the monster. They claimed to have seen the monster, but, unfortunately, they failed to capture it on film. Some researchers believe that fossil lizards can indeed live in these lakes, because. in their place there used to be an ancient sea. However, their opponents argue that huge creatures in small lakes simply would not have enough food.

Khaiyr

The second name of Khaiyr is Pestsovoye Lake. It is also located on the territory of Yakutia. Nevertheless, the Republic of Sakha is rich in legends about lake monsters. The inhabitant of Khaiyr is called the Yakut Nessie, the devil and even the pike-ox. Pilot Ivan Cherevichny was the first to report the existence of a large animal in local waters. In 1940, he flew over the lake and noticed two large animals that quickly dived under the water, frightened by the noise of the aircraft. The second time the creature was seen in 1964, when members of the expedition of the Moscow State University noticed in the water a large beast with the head of a snake. Around the same time, Gladkikh, a member of the biological expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences, also reported a strange creature. And in 2001, a new message appeared about the mysterious pike-ox. Zoologist Pavel Sitnikov claimed to have found the remains of a plesiosaur cub on the shore of the lake. But this is the only confirmation of the existence of the monster was destroyed the next day. An unexpected storm swept the body into the water.

Brosno

This is the closest "anomalous" lake to Moscow. If desired, it can be reached in a couple of hours. According to witnesses, a monster lives in the local waters. The lake is quite large and deep, so it is not possible to comb through with a log and make sure the presence or absence of the beast. The first mention of the monster dates back to the XIII century. According to legend, a huge creature scared the Tatar-Mongolian army to death, which was moving towards Veliky Novgorod. The soldiers were so impressed by what they saw that they decided to abandon the campaign against Novgorod and turned back. There is also chronicle evidence of the periodic appearance of a certain sandy mountain in the middle of Lake Brosno. The monster frightened the locals and periodically ate the fishermen. But there is not a single photo confirming the existence of the beast yet.

Satan

The name of Lake Shaitan, located in the Uzhum region Kirov region, speaks for itself. Translated from Tatar, it means "devil". The locals believe that the devil lives in the lake or evil spirit. On Shaitan, strange ejections of water do periodically occur, floating islands appear, which only add to the mystery. However, the researchers found several wells at the bottom through which groundwater enters the lake. Periodically, wells become clogged with peat or silt, forming a plug, which is then knocked out by the pressure of water. This is how fountains are made. But this explanation does not suit everyone, and the lake still enjoys a bad reputation.

vats

This is one of the largest lakes in Western Siberia, though shallow. Fishermen often disappear here. Various hypotheses are put forward. One of the versions is an ancient lizard that devours lovers fishing. The first mention of the beast dates back to the seventeenth century, when ataman Semyon Kulagin came to these lands with his warriors. He was surprised that no one lives on the shore of the lake, although the places here are excellent. Ataman organized a fishing settlement on the shore, which ceased to exist after a couple of years. In the seventies of the last century, it was reported that a local fisherman was pulled under the water by some strange force. And in the nineties, during excavations on the shores of the lake, archaeologists found an ancient image of a pangolin floating in the water. But, nevertheless, at the moment there are no authentic facts confirming or refuting the existence of a mysterious beast in the waters of Lake Chany.

Ladoga

The lake, which once swallowed up the army of the Teutonic Knights, is also famous for legends about a huge ancient beast that lives in its waters. In Karelian villages, stories about a monster living here are passed down from generation to generation. However, there are more recent references. So, in the seventies of the twentieth century, a local fisherman Konovalov saw a large shiny hump above the water. At first he thought it was an overturned boat, but it turned out that the object was alive and heading towards the boat. Frightened, the fisherman started the engine and rushed to the shore. Already standing on the ground, he watched a strange beast of a dark gray color. The monster stopped a few tens of meters from the shore and, having raised a bunch of spray, disappeared into the depths. As in the case of other monsters that live in lake waters, there is no clear evidence of the existence of a lizard in Ladoga.

Text: Vladimir Erkovich

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