Many people asked whether Alaska had its very own sea monster recently when government officials captured on video a mysterious “thing” moving its way through the Chena River.
Last week, the Bureau of Land Management posted a video on Facebook that shows a something moving back and forth in the Chena River in Fairbanks.
“Our Fairbanks employees captured this strange ‘thing’ swimming in the Chena River,” the bureau wrote.
The video shows a long ice-crusted object slowly slinking its way through the river current.
Speaking with Alaska Dispatch News, Craig McCaa said he spotted the “thing” when he was taking photos of the ice forming on the river.
“It never fully revealed itself,” the bureau employee told the newspaper. “I initially thought, and several people thought, it could be some rope that snagged on the bottom of the river with chunks of ice.
“Other people have mentioned everything from sea monster to giant sturgeon,” McCaa told the Alaska Dispatch News.
The Facebook video, which has been viewed over 850,000, was slightly tweaked. McCaa told the newspaper the footage was slightly sped-up, an old-school camcorder view screen and music were added for effect. You can watch the unedited video in the player above.
Many Facebook users commented on the bureau’s video, speculating what the mysterious “thing” was.
“Weeds and debris on the top of the water that have snow and ice on top, snagged by a submerged strainer. The current is making it move like a ‘fish gator ice monsta!” Jason Faris wrote.
“Y’all know that could just be a salmon that survived longer then normal right? They get those white spots on them as they die because they are literally falling apart,” Colin Lehman chimed in.
Others thought it was a sturgeon or a Greenland shark. The ever so elusive “Beavegator” was a popular guess.
In an email to Alaska’s KTUU 2 News, McCaa said he was amazed by the response the bureau received about the video.
“It points out how strongly the mysteries of the natural world capture our imagination,” McCaa told the news station.
Turns out the “thing” is probably some rope covered in ice.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Tanana River Management Biologist Klaus Wuttig explained to the Alaska Dispatch News that the object was most likely rope stuck to a bridge pier and covered in frazil ice (soft, slush-like ice crystals that form on water).
“It looks like it’s swimming but it’s actually stationary and just wading in the current,” Wuttig said. “It looks like it’s swimming upstream, but it’s not organic.”