Quote:
A sea serpent of impressive size was reportedly seen in and around Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, by many persons during the month of August 1817. Prompted by heated debate between believers and skeptics, a special committee of the Linnaean Society of New England collected a sheaf of sworn statements from purported eyewitnesses. The affidavit of Matthew Gaffney, ship's carpenter, typically deposed:
" That on the 14th day of August, A.D. 1817, between the hours of four and five o'clock in the afternoon, I saw a strange marine animal, resembling a serpent in the harbor in said Gloucester. I was in a boat, and was within 30 feet of him. His head appeared full as large as a four-gallon keg, his body as large as a barrel, and his length that I saw I should judge 40 feet at least. The top of his head was of a dark color, and the underpart of his head appeared nearly white, as did also several feet of his belly that I saw. ... I fired at him when he was the nearest to me."
The creature, Gaffney went on, turned as if to charge the boat, then sank like a stone and reappeared some 100 yards away. It moved at a rate of about one mile per two or three minutes.
" That on the 14th day of August, A.D. 1817, between the hours of four and five o'clock in the afternoon, I saw a strange marine animal, resembling a serpent in the harbor in said Gloucester. I was in a boat, and was within 30 feet of him. His head appeared full as large as a four-gallon keg, his body as large as a barrel, and his length that I saw I should judge 40 feet at least. The top of his head was of a dark color, and the underpart of his head appeared nearly white, as did also several feet of his belly that I saw. ... I fired at him when he was the nearest to me."
The creature, Gaffney went on, turned as if to charge the boat, then sank like a stone and reappeared some 100 yards away. It moved at a rate of about one mile per two or three minutes.
What do you guys reckon? Just crazy people caught up in the Sea Creature craze and trying to bring some attn to New England?
Source:
http://www.theunexplained.org/unexplained-creatures/massachusettsseaserpent.html
