EARLY SIGHTINGS PART ONE

And Mac Holmes has the most frightening experience to date, Read on, dear reader : "I had a terrifying experience with a creature while swimming in Lake Simcoe about 25 years ago. It was a sunny summer day in August, 1996.   

I was age 12, I went to the little rocky beach at the bottom of the 5th Line of Oro. My brother and I liked to swim as far out as we could, looking for rocks where larger crayfish would hide and clams. We usually made it out quite far. I always wore a scuba mask so I could search for the crayfish and clams. This particular day was a very clear one, and the water was not dark or murky. I swam out with my brother, probably 100 feet from shore and we began our search.  

I had my back to my brother's direction (to shore). I got my fingers under the edge of the biggest rock in the small area I was in. That's when the area around me got much darker, as if a boat was passing almost overhead but a little in front of me, or when a cloud obscures the sun and suddenly there's shade. I remember thinking to myself that's weird, I don't hear a boat? So I started to look up and that's when I saw it.  

It was immense. I could not see where it began, and I could not see where it ended. It was at least 3 feet thick from its belly to its back. I think it was 6 feet in front of me. It was moving past me, headed in the direction of Orillia. It undulated through the water up and down, not side to side. It was moving really fast but had a slow undulation, like you see in whale videos on You Tube. It was dark gray and scaly, and I saw a small flipper or fin on its side. It was also absolutely silent, and it was maybe a second and a half from when I first saw its shadow to when I looked up. I panicked and swam frantically towards my brother who was unaware of the passing creature. I was a great swimmer and had fins on my feet so I made it to him quickly, grabbed his arm and dragged him to the surface. I screamed monster and swam for my life towards shore."

And this from a young Barrie woman, sent to me most recently (in exactly her own words):                                                                                                                                                      You wrote an article on Kempenfelt Kelly. Well i saw it !!!! Not last November but November 1, 2020. I was sitting at the lake with a friend like we always did late around 2 a.m. and the lake at the time was super clear and calm. Out of nowhere my friend said look at that and i looked over and saw it. It had had two humps trailing behind it and a really long neck. We watched it swim until it hit the bridge just down from the playground at the end of the lake. It was huge. I've never seen anything like it and we both had our phones in the car. But man we're we in shock we both sat in silence from the creepy scary monster we witnessed. I'm 35 and i have never seen something like that. It still scares me to this day. I should add that once it got to the bridge by the park it vanished into the water somehow. It was crazy and i've been checking the lake every night since!!!             - Krystal