Creatures, Myths & Legends

Chinese 'river monster' is not what it seems

By T.K. Randall
September 21, 2019

Image: Murray Darling Carpet Python
Credit: Scarlet23 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Reportedly filmed near the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province, the footage was viewed millions of times in China as social media users debated over exactly what the 'creature' could be.

It proved so popular that it was even picked up by several local news stations.

Some speculated that the mysterious denizen - dubbed the "Three Gorges Water Monster" - was some sort of mutant that had arisen due to the amount of pollution in the river.Others meanwhile dismissed such ideas, instead favoring the theory that it was a large water snake.

As it turned out however, the footage shows neither of those things.

The 'creature' is in fact a 20 meter-long industrial airbag that workers later hauled out of the water.

You can view the original video, as well as the airbag being removed from the river, in the video below.


Source: The Guardian

Tags: China, Yangtze, Monster