BEAR LAKE MONSTER

MAKING OF A MONSTER: Since its first reported sighting in 1868, the Bear Lake Monster has been a source of pride for locals in a small Idaho town. A Mormon colonizer, Joseph C. Rich, published a series of articles in the Desert Evening News claiming locals had seen a monster on the lake. Witnesses gave differing descriptions of the monster; some compared it to a walrus, while others described it as a large reptile or crocodilelike creature. Rich later recanted his stories, but the legend of the Bear Lake Monster prompted an influx of tourists hoping to catch a view of the lake beast.

NEW SIGHTINGS: Well over a century later, in 2002, a new report of a sea monster living in Bear Lake surfaced. Brian Hirschi, a local business owner recalled seeing two humps just above the water's surface while out on his boat one summer day. Hirschi said the humps disappeared, and then he suddenly felt his boat move. The monster reappeared right next to his boat and Hirschi came eye to eye with a creature he described as having "dark green, slimy skin and beet red eyes." As quickly as the monster appeared, it disappeared. Bear Lake residents weren't sure what to make of Hirschi's tale, but they all agreed on one thing: The Bear Lake Monster continues to be good for business.