Lake Van Monster

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The Lake Van Monster, which, according to witnesses, is about 15 meters (49.5 feet) long can be compared in many ways to the Loch Ness Monster from the UK, as well as the Lake Champlain Monster (Champ) from the USA.

1 First Sighting
2 Lake Van Area
3 The Legend
4 Sightings
5 The Video
6 Unal Kozak
7 Theories
8 Where is the monster now?
9 Conclusion
10 References
11 External Links
12 Related Discussion Threads

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First Sighting

In June 1997 a young University teaching assistant, Unal Kozak, took the world by storm with a video showing some sort of creature swimming in the waters of Lake Van in Turkey, and renewed interest in the age-old legend of creatures living in that Lake.

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Lake Van Area

Lake Van (Turkish: Van Gölü) is the largest lake in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East, located in the far east of the country. Lake Van is in the realm of the beauties of Eastern Anatolia. Mountain silhouettes, coves, beaches, islands, waterfalls and centres belonging to various historical ages are located around the lake. There is plenty of sodium carbonate in the lake which is at an elevation of 1720 meters above sea level, 120 km long, 80 km wide, has an area of 3,755 km². Roughly triangular in shape, the lake lies in an enclosed basin; its brackish waters are unsuitable for either drinking or irrigation. The salt water allows for no animal life save the darekh (related to the European bleak, a small soft-finned river fish of the carp family), a freshwater fish that has adapted to a saline environment. A lava flow from the Nemrut volcano extended for nearly 37 miles (60 km) across the south-western end of the basin, blocking westward drainage to the Murat River and thereby transforming the depression into a lake basin without outlet.

The area is one of the oldest civilized areas and some people suggest that the Biblical Garden of Eden is located in this area.

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The Legend

Unlike the Loch Ness Monster there is no clear date or indication of the first sighting of the Lake Van monster, or when the legend was born. Most agree that the Lake Van monster was "created" or first sighted in 1995.

However there are some folklore surrounding the Lake. One of the legends says that the lake is enchanted and that angels go in and out of the water. Another legend speaks of ‘‘Canavar’’, which is Turkish for "Monster".

There is also a church, Aghtamar: Church of the Holy Cross, in the area with hundreds of carvings. A couple of these carvings depict a creature some say is the Lake Van monster. In some of the carvings humans are sacrificed to the creature.

Image: [[1]] This is one of the carvings depicting the monster

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Sightings

There is little public information available about the sightings. Sightings remain word of mouth stories told among locals.

According to several sources there has been over 1,000 sightings since 1995. Unal Kozak supposedly interviewed the eyewitnesses, and recorded the findings in a book he wrote on the Lake Van monster. The book was written in Turkish in 1996, titled Van Golu Canavari.

Some of the witnesses include Bestami Alkan, deputy governor of Van province, and a member of Turkish parliament, Zeki Ergezen. A parliamentary commission has agreed to send a search party designed to unveil Turkey's version of the Loch Ness Monster, after the provincial deputy governor claimed to have seen it.

There is also inconsistency between eyewitnesses as to what exactly the monster looks like. Some say it looks like some kind of fish, others compare it to a dragon or a dinosaur with "triangular spikes like a dinosaur". Thus it is believed that some eyewitnesses are mere attention-seekers.

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The Video

CNN bought the rights to the video and the video can thus only be seen on CNN.com. (See External links.)

A young University teaching assistant, Unal Kozak in 1997, shot the video. Kozak was 26 at the time. The video is one of the best quality videos to support the existence of Lake monsters.

The footage shows clear movement in the water of some large, dark object. According to Kozak the footage are from 3 different sightings, caught on film when he waited for the monster on locations it was previously sighted.

The first part shows - what can be described as - the outline of a long body surfacing the water. The next shot shows what could possibly be a dorsal fin or hump. The last scene clearly shows what is generally accepted as the head of the creature, stationary in the water, but blowing bubbles from underneath the surface.

Although all the shots are clear, "in focus" camera work, the creature can at no stage be seen "as a whole", thus no conclusion can be reached as to what exactly the creature is. This can be understood as the creature remains mostly under the surface of the water.

Most theories are based on this video.

A special effects/rubber monster artist from Hollywood, USA, took a look at the video and came to the conclusion that the video shows a fake monster. His main reasons were:

1. In the stationary shot, the exhalation from the creature's nostrils appears not to be respiratory (in-and-out or intermittent), but constant, as you might see from an air hose.

2. The creature's movement seems "stiff", i.e. not flexible like that of a wood or plastic model.

3. Its movement is like something being pulled by cable (via a motorboat), and would also explain the "tight" tracking by the camera.

4. There doesn't seem to be any muscular movement.

CNN reported that the video was sent to Cambridge University for examination, and Jacques Cousteau, the world-famous marine biologist. Further investigation showed that no one at Cambridge University knows anything about the video. Jacques Cousteau also never received the video. Cousteau since passed away. Jean-Michel Cousteau, who continued with his father's work, felt that the video (which he saw on the Internet) doesn't hold anything of interest worth pursuing.

Queries to CNN about the location of the video was ignored.

Image: [[2]]

Image enlargement: [[3]]

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Unal Kozak

Several attempts has been made by the author of this article as well as other investigators to contact Mr Unal Kozak who supposedly worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Van.

The University of Van has no records of Mr Unal Kozak. CNN ignores queries about the video footage and the whereabouts of Mr Kozak.

There are no references to Mr Kozak on the Internet, other than articles describing his video.

The only other link to Mr Kozak is the book he wrote in 1996 in Turkish, titled Van Golu Canavari.

The location and background of Mr Kozak is thus unknown at the time of this article.

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Theories

Most theories on what exactly the Lake Van Monster is, is based on the video footage.

A popular theory after the video footage became public was that it is a giant squid. Further investigation showed that this is an unlikely explanation.

Further guesses include hippos, elephants, and giant sturgeons or other fish.

Most people, including the local Turkish government, believe the creature to be an elaborate hoax created to boost the local tourist industry.

Cryptozoology supporters would like to believe the creature to be a Plesiosaur or Ichthyosaurus, much like Nessie and Champ.

More serious conspiracy theorists suggests that the local Turkish government is very much aware of the creature, but tries to hide its existence for reasons unknown.

Local intellectuals say that it would be impossible for such a big animal to live in the lake, as the lake doesn't have enough resources to sustain it, let alone more than one.

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Where is the monster now?

The excitement surrounding Lake Van and its mysterious creature long since died down. The last report of a sighting was back in 2004. Due to the lack of actual proof very few people are interested in investigating the creature. Even locals are sceptic and say that the monster is nothing more than an urban legend. There were also recently some whispers that locals were paid to help create the video hoax.

However, Jan Sundberg, Expedition Leader of GUST (Global Underwater Search Team), is patiently waiting to investigate Lake Van and the area. According to him there's some clashes between the Turkish Government and the PKK (considered terrorist organization) that could make travels to the area unsafe, as well as the ongoing war in the nearby Iraq. Sundberg is convinced that there is some sort of lake monster in Europe, and he will find it.

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Conclusion

In the end we know very little about the mysterious Lake Van Monster. It may be nothing more than an urban legend, a hoax to attract tourists or a strange faceless creature in a shaky video. But to Cryptozoolgy investigators there is enough reason to believe that there is something lurking in the salty waters of Lake Van.

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