Zegrze Reservoir Monster is a fictional

lake monster A lake monster is a lake-dwelling entity in folklore. The most famous example is the Loch Ness Monster. Depictions of lake monsters are often similar to those of sea monsters. In the ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', entities classified as "lak ...

, that according to an

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

, lives in the

Zegrze Reservoir The Zegrze Reservoir (or Zegrze Lake, in Polish officially ''Jezioro Zegrzyńskie'', unofficially ''Zalew Zegrzyński'') is a man-made reservoir in Poland, located just north of Warsaw, on the lower course of the Narew river. It is formed by a da ...

near the city of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The creature was invented by a journalist

Wojciech Mazurkiewicz Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish: * ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojown ...

, as a local equivalent to the legend of

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...

, and was for the first time mentioned in media in the 1980s.

History

The creature was invented by a journalist

, as a local equivalent to the legend of

. It was for the first time mentioned in media, in the 1980s, in the ''

Lato z radiem Lato ( grc, Λατώ, Latṓ) was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village of Kritsa. History The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay betwee ...

'' radio audition of

Polskie Radio Program I Polskie Radio Program I, known also as PR1 or radiowa Jedynka is a radio channel broadcast by the Polish public broadcaster, Polskie Radio. It is dedicated to information and easy listening music. Program I began test transmissions on 1 February ...

. The sightings of the monster have been reported for several years since the audition. Some media had published the interviews with people who allegedly saw the creature, and posted the pictures meant to visualize the possible look of the monster. Eventually, it was revealed that the story of the monster has been fabricated by the journalist. Dirty water present in the lake led many to believe that the monster had consumed sewage. The topic of the monster lost popularity after the

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

plant has been built nearby, leading to the improvement of the water quality. In 2007, the municipilaty of

Nieporęt Nieporęt is a village in Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Nieporęt. It lies approximately east of Legionowo and north of Warsaw Warsaw ( ...

Masovian Voivodeship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The ...

, together with ''Twój Dobry Humor'' satirical magazine, had organised the contest for the best satirical drawing of the monster.

Citations

Notes

References

{{Urban legends Aquatic cryptids Urban legends Polish folklore Slavic folklore characters