Russians to hunt for snake-like monster in lake.
Moscow, Feb 1.
Plans are being made for a student expedition to investigate the reported sighting of a huge, snake-like monster in the remote Lake Kok-Kol in Soviet Kazakhstan.
Interest in the possibility that the Loch Ness monster could have a Soviet cousin was aroused at the weekend by the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, which printed a letter from Mr Anatoly Pechersky, a geographer, who said he and his son had seen it in the summer of 1975.
The creature had a body 50ft long and head over 6ft in length, he said. = Reuter.
From The Times, February 2nd, 1977.
Soviet lake is just mud.
Moscow - A team of experts from the prestigious Soviet Academy of Sciences claims to have scientifically disproved the existence of a mysterious marine beast in the depths of Lake Kol-Kol.
For many years there have been reports from witnesses of sightings of "a dinosaur-like" creature about 20 yards in length and emitting loud trumpeting sounds appearing above the surface.
Reporting from the town of Alma Ata, Tass, has disclosed that an expedition mounted by members of the academy's Institute of Evolutionary Morphology and Ecology of Animals has discovered a natural explanation.
According to the researchers, the deep lake is connected with underground cavities by mud-covered cracks. When the mud is washed away and water rushes down, large whirlpools appear. And if air is sucked in as well, the lake starts "singing."
From The Times, January 18th 1986.
