Tacoma may have a “Loch Ness” monster swimming in Puget Sound. Get the scoop on this electrical beast after the jump.

A Group Of Fishermen Attacked In Puget Sound

^{That AI sure did take some liberties with the sea serpent description, eh?}

Sea Serpent Attack Details

On the night of July 2nd, 1893, five fishermen and two Easterners (vernacular for New Englanders) set up camp along Black Fish Creek on Henderson Island. A storm came roaring in, with winds over 40 mph. This storm sidelined the men’s 3-day fishing trip.

Around midnight, the men heard a terrible noise that jolted them awake. At that point, the men could feel the electricity in the air, so much so, every nerve began to hurt. Arcs of electricity flashed as the monster emerged from the bay.

The electrical attacks left two fishermen paralyzed after they got hit by the monster’s flames (electric bolts). Birds and insects also fell dead from the monster’s electric charges.

The beast then dove back into the depths of Puget Sound with light trailing behind it, never to be seen again.

A few days later, the Easterners left by train with no intention of returning.

Monster Description

According to The Daily Ledger, witnesses described the sea monster as:

• 150-feet long
• 30-foot circumference
• 6 eyes along its head
• 2 horns near the center of its head
• Blue flames (electricity) on the horns
• Coarse hair blanketing the upper body
• A propeller-like tail
• Copper bands found along its serpentine body

At first, some people thought it may be a cadborosaurus. However, the sea serpent encountered displays wildly different physical characteristics.

Some Things Just Don’t Add Up

How can I put this gently? Nah, I’ll just tell it like it is. The fishermen were obviously drunk. The journalist and witnesses made a point of stating who was sober and who wasn’t. Ok, that knocks the story’s credibility.

Next, the story says “Black Fish Bay, Henderson Island” as the location where the encounter happened. But there is no Henderson Island in Puget Sound. It does have an Anderson Island, but it’s down by Olympia. That is way too far south for their location. There’s a Black River, south of Olympia, but that’s too far away from their location. And there’s no Black Fish Creek near Tacoma.

I did find a Henderson Bay, maybe that’s what they meant? Maybe? I’m not so sure.

The next part that doesn’t make sense is the electrical attack on the shore. To me, it sounds like lightning striking around them. I mean, they were in the middle of big ol’ nasty storm rolling in off the Pacific. It’s plausible the very tall trees would attract the lightning. The terrible noise that woke them could have been thunder and lightning.

I think the dead giveaway that it’s a hoax is the closing line:

This monster fish probably receives its power from some submarine cavern of a volcanic origin, which owing to its peculiar construction, and having an extra deposit of copper, it charges … of course, this is merely a theory and I may be mistaken.

It sounds like a well-educated Easterner is pulling a fast one on us, country-bumpkin Westerners. After all, popular culture ate up all the science-fiction stories about hollow earth and its monsters at the time. And that fiction had tons of submarine caverns involved.

One other thing: the Easterners insisted on anonymity.

Read It For Yourself

I found the newspaper article from 1960, which you can read below. It’s not the original report from The (Tacoma) Daily Ledger in 1893. I tried to find that one using Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com, but got nothing. Maybe it wasn’t scanned by those services? Is it a cover up? I kid! We don’t need anymore conspiracy theories running wild across the InterWebs.

Anyway, have a read and let me know what you think about this monster attack in the comments below.

Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated. Take care!

Last Updated on December 1, 2024 by Jacob Rice