What Could the ‘Monster’ Be at the Bottom of Kentucky’s Herrington Lake?
I've said it before and am about to say it again. I do not know whether or not Bigfoot exists, and that's only because nobody has proven to my satisfaction that he IS or is NOT really out there.
I've read a number of stories about the density of certain jungles in South America and Southeast Asia being the reason there are likely species of animals deep within them that zoologists have yet to discover. They simply can't get to them. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirms that more than 80% of the world's oceans remain unexplored because of their depth. Makes you wonder what's down there, doesn't it?
A 'Monster' in Kentucky's Herrington Lake?
Keeping NOAA's research in mind, I wonder what lurks at the bottom of some of our deepest lakes. Are THEY so deep that their floors can't be reached? I would lean toward no, but Kentucky's Herrington Lake IS very deep. In fact, it's the deepest one in the Commonwealth. And folklore tells us there is a "monster" lurking far beneath the surface of this man-made body of water.
The accounts aren't as specific as some I've heard regarding Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster, the creature that most likely comes to mind when you hear a story like this.
But the clues are interesting...there are the admittedly sketchy eyewitness accounts, but the fact that FISHING is a hopeless enterprise at Herrington Lake has also raised some eyebrows. It has tended to make folks wonder if anything is eating them?
A Possible Herrington Lake Monster Eyewitness Account From the Past
Herringtonlakeky.com shares a 50-year-old story about a University of Kentucky professor who thinks he might have seen the Herrington Lake Monster:
In August, 1972, Dr. Lawrence S. Thompson, a UK classics professor who keeps a second house on the lake, saw on two occasions 'something definitely moving in the lake between the Chenault Bridge and Well's Landing in the early morning hours.' Although the creature's body was mostly submerged Thompson said he saw a 'snout', or possibly a hump in the middle of its body, and a tail which trailed about 12 to 15 feet behind.
In this presentation, you'll see artist renderings based on descriptions--or maybe just Dr. Thompson's description--of the Herrington Lake Monster:
What Could the Herrington Lake Monster Be, If Anything?
A large lake creature with a pig's snouts is, yes, a bit of a stretch, but when water is murky or if you're far enough away, there's no telling what something might look like. I just wonder if there is some sort of enormous catfish that's managed to evade capture for a VERY long time. Jeremy Wade--the host of the old Animal Planet series, River Monsters--has gone after a "monster" catfish. That they grow to mind-boggling sizes isn't news.
Okay, so catfish can be enormous, but can they really live 50 or more years? Well, a Wels catfish has a life span of 60 years, but it's a European species. I searched the life spans of all the catfish species we have here in Kentucky, and they're all less than 20 years. So, unless it's an invasive species (that hasn't caused any trouble or we'd have heard about it by now), it's not a native catfish.
And it could be what many people have long speculated about the Loch Ness Monster--that it's just a really big log or piece of wood. Something like that.
But, hey, cryptids are fun conversation subjects, and I would imagine searching for them would be a blast--although I'd want something stronger than just local legend before I spent a good deal of time looking for one.
Who knows what the Herrington Lake Monster is, if it's anything at all? But if it IS a catfish, get it out of there and let's go get some corn meal and seasoning. I'll have mine blackened, thank you.