Russian myth: The Lake Baikal Swimmers.

 

Did the Soviet Union discover strange lake monster .

Lake Baikal is the deepest rift lake in the world. It is located in southern Siberia, it's home to all I ngs of aquatic life thriving in it's chilly waters. 

But what else could possibly be lurking in the depth of the vast lake?

Lake Baikal is often called the “Galapagos of Russia,” and for a good reason. Thousands of species of animals and plants can only be found in this lake or the surrounding area.

The Swimmers...

According to the legend, in 1982 a team of Russian Navy divers set out to  explore Lake Baikal when, to their surprise and  amazement, they encounter large, humanoid beings possibly as tall as nine feet in hight.

They procided to  try and capture them with nets! This deadly ecounter would eventually be known as The  Swimmers of Lake Baikal.

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In 1982. During a regular military dive exercise and working at a depth of 50 meters (164 feet), the divers noticed something strange in the water with them.

The divers reported sightings of humanoid-shaped creatures that had bodies that stretched out 3 meters (9ft) in length..

The divers described these beings as having silver silhouettes, and some had transparent spheres on their heads. These spheres have also been described as looking like an open umbrella being held over the creatures’ heads.

Once the divers surfaced, they reported the sighting to a commander who ordered the men, back into the ice cold lake  and told them to catch one of these strange swimmers.

 Seven divers reentered the water and again encountered the Swimmers, which forcefully threw the soviet divers to the lake’s surface.

There were not enough  decompression chambers on the shore for all seven of the divers, and three unlucky divers were left to die from the caisson disease, aka decompression sickness or “the bends”. The attempt to contact the Lake Baikal Swimmers had turned deadly.

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First telling.. 

The story of the Swimmers first appeared in a book written by Soviet/Russian UFOlogist named Vladimir Azhazha. He has been studying UFOlogy for  decades but is also know for making alleged  false claims about aliens in Russia.

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Many people especially those in the government claim this story is nothing more then an urban legend.

The city of Severobaikalsky, near the port of Baikal, did have a special base where dives were conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

However managers of the base have all said the story of the swimmers is utter  nonsense and that there has never been a single death of a diver at the base, and the town of Severobaikalsky formally became a town in 1984, two years after the supposed navy exercise in the story occurred.

Though if the military had actually encountered otherworldly creatures at the bottom of the lake especially one's that killed some of their personal, do you really think they would admit it?

So what do you think, are the swimmers real or just a cool urban legend?