The White River Monster is an aquatic cryptid known from the White River in Newport, Arkansas. The first recorded sightings of "Whitey" are from 1915, but the creature has allegedly been seen since the American Civil War. On July 1st, 1915, a plantation owner spotted Whitey, stating that it had gray skin and was "as wide as a car and three cars long." Sightings didn't happen again until 1971, when a variety of descriptions emerged. One witness said that the creature was gray and had a horn protruding from its forehead, while another description made note of a spiny back. Other features, such as three or five-toed footprints measuring fourteen inches long and unidentified sounds had been reported as well.
According to cryptozoologist Roy P. Mackal, the creature is nothing more than an elephant seal that entered the White River via the Mississippi River. Another possibility is that Whitey is simply a large unidentified fish. An unlikely possibility could be that it's a presumed to be extinct Xiphactinus, somehow able to survive in the freshwater of the White River, rather than the salt water of the ocean where it used to roam.
Entertainment[]
The White River Monster was featured in the 2nd season of Animal Planet's Lost Tapes where it attacked a trio of catfish noodlers on the White River.
