This photograph was taken in 2007 and claims to have captured the creature hailed as “Pennsylvania’s Loch Ness monster”.

Raystown Ray (named after the reservoir it purportedly calls home) is said to be a hitherto undiscovered aquatic creature of enormous size. Similar to Scotland’s Nessie in appearance, local sightings describe Ray as being 50 to 60 feet long, possibly plant-eating and “extremely elusive”. 

Certainly, asides from eyewitness testimonies and photographs taken from a distance, like this one, evidence of the beast’s existence is scant.

According to the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau, whose biggest tourist-magnet is the manmade lake, Raystown Ray was first reported in 1962. Since that time, further sightings have been reported, with many locals doubtless as to the creature’s existence. A local marina owner, Jim Filson, once said that Ray is “great for business” and that the area is “lucky to have him”.