st. johnsbury caledonian (st. johnsbury, vt.) 1867-1919 — sea serpent
- Date of account
- Newspaper page published 1886-09-09
- Location
- saint johnsbury, vermont, united states
- Source
- Chronicling America paranormal and anomalous-report excerpts
- Reference
- st. johnsbury caledonian (st. johnsbury, vt.) 1867-1919 · 1886-09-09 · page 2
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English OCR
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
A 1886-09-09 newspaper page contains wording relevant to “sea serpent”. This is historical reporting or commentary preserved by the Library of Congress; it is not treated as verification that the described event occurred.
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention only... violence from the first. THE SEA SERPENT'S HISTORY. From the Cape Ann Advertiser. Numerous attempts are beiug made to explain away the sea serpent by stories of horse mackerel and black- fish and immense bodies of floating seaweed having been mistaken for the sea monster: and the probability of optical illusions at the distance at which the sea serpent has been seen by late Cape Ann observers is pointed out. But it should be borne in mind that when the historical sea serpent visited Gloucester harbor in the sum mer of 1817 it was approached within the short distance of 30 feet, wheu it raised its head in plain view, and was tired at by ...
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis OCR excerpt may mix reporting, humour, folklore, syndicated copy, editorial comment and witness claims. Newspaper title, date and original page remain available for source-critical reading.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice can compare reported features across periods while preserving uncertainty, OCR limitations and the possibility of conventional explanation, exaggeration, copying or satire.
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