The Kanas Lake Monster
In a remote mountain lake in north-west China, people have photographed huge, dark shapes moving just below the surface.
What was reported
Kanas Lake is a long, deep glacial lake in the Altay Mountains of Xinjiang, near the borders with Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. Local Tuvan people have told of creatures in the lake, and since the 1980s, tourists and researchers have reported large, dark shapes moving in groups near the surface.
The 'Kanas monster' became a famous Chinese mystery, featured in the national media.
Explanations offered
In 1985, a professor from Xinjiang University led a team that watched large red fish in the lake, and scientists believe the sightings are of taimen, a giant relative of the salmon that can grow to 1.5 metres or more. Some suspect even bigger individuals live in the lake.
- When
- Reported since the 1980s
- Where
- Kanas Lake, Altay, Xinjiang, China
- Witnesses
- Tourists, scientists and local Tuvan people
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.