"Tourists Capture Mysterious Creature"
Management Office Says "It Could Be a Tiger or Leopard"
A video showing an unidentified creature swimming in Cheonji (Heaven Lake), the crater lake at the summit of Baekdusan (known as Changbai Mountain in China), is becoming a hot topic on the internet.
On the 11th, local media including Huanqiu.com, the online edition of the state-run media Huanqiu Shibao, reported a video titled "Unidentified Creature in Cheonji" filmed by a tourist at the summit of Baekdusan on the 7th. The video is rapidly spreading on social media.
The footage, taken about 500 meters from the center of Cheonji at the summit of Baekdusan, shows a mysterious creature swimming and moving.
The object appears to be raising only the upper part of its body, seemingly gliding forward through the water. Light ripples formed in a long trail where the object passed.
Light ripples formed in a long trail where the object passed. Netizens are reacting with comments such as "Could there really be a monster in Cheonji?"
However, a Chinese official managing Baekdusan presumed it to be an animal. According to the report, the official said, "Although the exact nature of the object has not been confirmed, felines can swim," suggesting that the object might be a tiger or leopard inhabiting the area.
Rumors about mysterious creatures in Baekdusan’s Cheonji have existed for 61 years. It began in 1962 when a person claimed to have seen two mysterious creatures chasing each other underwater in Cheonji through a telescope. Since then, including about 10 years ago, dozens of people have claimed to have seen mysterious creatures in Cheonji multiple times.
At that time, experts identified the 'mysterious creatures' reportedly sighted in the 1980s as salmonid fish living in Cheonji, and China Central Television (CCTV) concluded in 2009 that several swimming objects filmed in Cheonji were amphibians.
In 2020, there was a report of an unidentified object over 2 meters in size moving in Baekdusan’s Cheonji. A video filmed by a Chinese national park employee patrolling Baekdusan showed a round moving object about 7 feet (2.13 meters) in size in the middle of Cheonji.
A photo taken during the 2013 Baekdusan Cheonji mysterious creature appearance theory. [Photo source=YouTube video capture]
Also, in 2013, a local official measuring the temperature of a hot spring near the lake for volcanic activity monitoring saw a rapidly swimming mysterious creature and took a photo. The Baekdusan mysterious creature in the photo released by Chinese media looks like a deer raising its head above the water surface. Due to poor photo quality, it is difficult to identify the exact shape.
At that time, experts concluded that Cheonji, a lake formed in a volcanic crater at an altitude of about 2,700 meters, is a harsh environment where it is difficult for living creatures to survive.
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