Searching for the illusive Iliamna Lake monster in 'River Monsters' and 'Aliens in Alaska'

Back in June of 1980, the Anchorage Daily News offered a $100,000 reward for proof of the Iliamna Lake monster's existence.

People have lived on this land for more than 7,000 years, and for centuries, they've fished these lakes wearing lightweight waterproof parkas made from seal gut. These isolated communities have a strong ancestral tradition of myths and legends, including the lake monster, Jeremy Wade of Animal Planet's River Monsters said.

The season 2 episode aired in 2010, and somehow managed to avoid fishing in rivers despite the name of the show.

Glen Alsworth Sr. shared a story on River Monsters about a mechanic's run-in with the creature, who fashioned his own hook and fixed it to the end of the cable, then tied off to a 2oo-pound tree stump for the evening. Apparently, a neighbor that lived by the river observed the stump passing by against the wind in the rough current.

Jeremy went to the same place where the tree stump slumped into the water, but had no luck of his own. He spoke with Bill Trafon, whose family has been living on Lake Clark for generations. Bill's mother estimated the creature to be around 12 feet long.

Anthropologist Robin Levine says she saw the monster when she landed her airplane on Lake Iliamna. She said the creature was the same size as her friend's boat, approximately 15 to 18 feet long.

We probably had a good 30 to 40 seconds, maybe longer, to see it. Initially, I thought it was a seal, but almost immediately after that thought crossed my mind, I realized it was far too big, and it moved differently, Robin said. It had a long, broad head, blunt-tipped nose, there were very distinct pectoral fins – fins on the side of the fish.

After factoring out pike, beluga, salmon sharks, and pacific sleeper sharks (They are the oldest living animal on earth with a backbone!), Jeremy says a 12 foot pike is next to impossible. His conclusion to what they've been searching for all along is a white sturgeon – which he doesn't even try to catch in Alaska. He travels to the Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border. Pfftt.

Illie is also mentioned in Aliens in Alaska. Bob Bird first heard about the monster from Chuck Crapuchettes in the 1960s, who spotted it from the air, twice. Bob says that there might be something there "unknown to science."

Chuck's daughter, Sara, shared stories about what her father saw in the lake, and estimated the creature to be about 20 feet long. He wanted to figure out what it was, so Chuck put his float plane in the lake, attached a big hook with some caribou meat, threw it off the floats and waited, Sara said. Something grabbed the hook and dragged the float plane down into the water. She says her dad had to cut the line.

Bob told camera crews that his son called him in 2017 and asked if he had seen the story in the Anchorage Daily News. He found some of the folks who had been interviewed for the story and interviewed a few of them himself. Bob said all of their stories were consistent with each other.

Christina and Alexanna Salmon have lived on the banks of Lake Iliamna their whole lives, and say that the monster has always been part of their culture. The sisters saw the monster together. Christina said it looked like a submarine was coming out of the lake, and had whitecaps coming off both sides of it.

At that moment, when you think we know everything there is to know about this world, and you're raised with these ancient stories, my first instincts were, 'Oh, it's a Bristol Bay power boat,' 'Oh, beluga whales have come up,' And then finally, 'No, it's thing that I've been told about my whole life,' Alexanna said.

Some kids in Kakhonak spotted the creature, and a day later, so did some neighbors. Gary Nielson shared his account of what he saw to KDLG in Dillingham.

There was more than one, at least three. The first was the biggest, maybe double the size of a 32-foot gill netter. The animal either blew like a whale or spit water from his mouth or something. The smaller animals behind him did the same, but not as dramatic. They were black or very dark gray. They surfaced like whales for maybe two to three seconds about a mile off-shore. I am at a total loss as to what they could be.

(total watch time: 1 hour, 24 minutes)

Happy Pride Month! 🌈

Happy Pride Month, besties! The Coven recently had its grand opening at their new location, 239 B Street, Suite 202. I cannot wait for all the fun, exciting events they have going on this summer! Pride Flash is happening next Sunday, June 14.

And... Our first AK IRL in-person watch party is happening Aug. 9 at The Coven! Mark your calendars 📅

Thank you for reading, friends!

I love getting play-by-plays from friends experiencing a show for the first time. I have three friends watching Summer House currently and it's