Chicagoans have reported spotting a sea serpent in Lake Michigan for more than 100 years. The monster is described as “eel-like,” and somewhere between 30 and 60 feet in length.

However, it has also been pointed out that the “sea-serpent deception” has been used often to draw tourism to towns. For example, months after a sea serpent was alleged to be spotted in 1904, an observation was made that more people were using Lake Michigan as a summer resort than ever before.

The Great Horned Serpent is a legend told by many Native American tribes. The creature is said to resemble a huge dragon or snake, is covered in large scales, and has prominent horns and long teeth. The creature is also said to have supernatural powers, such as the ability to control the weather, shapeshift, and turn invisible.

When settlers from Europe started showing up in the Great Lakes region in the late 1600s and early 1700s, stories of monstrous beasts started to creep through surrounding settlements.

In August 1867, three articles were published in newspapers about sightings of a strange creature in Lake Michigan.

A shift in believability started to appear within reports on the Lake Michigan monster, starting in 1885.

H.R. Brinkerhoff, a lieutenant for the Ohio Infantry, observed a “very large” black speck among the waves of Lake Michigan in March of 1893. He described his depiction of the monster as having an alligator’s head and being about thirty feet long.

In 1903, a fisherman reported seeing a sea serpent in the lake. However, the Chicago Tribune reported 90 years later that the creature had actually been a sea lion named Big Ben, which had escaped from the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Then in September of 1934, Captain G.E. Stufflebeam of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt spotted the sea serpent. He said that the serpent was wriggling and twisting around, and swimming faster than the ship was going.
Various reported sightings of a sea monster have been made since 1934, but the reports largely dwindled.

But in the summer of 2019, a video went viral of the South Haven Pier, where a large, dark snake-like figure is seen slithering through the water’s current.

The Lake Michigan sea monster has also been the star of a 2018 movie, “Lake Michigan Monster.” This black and white adventure comedy horror film is about an eccentric man that creates a team to track down and kill the Lake Michigan monster out of revenge for the death of his father.

So, what do you think? Is the Lake Michigan sea monster real, or a hoax?