What could people have been seeing in the OH river?
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This was from 1894, there have been a few other similar reports in more recent times, but not many at all.
In those days, the OH river was not nearly as large or deep as it is today.
Honestly though, I cannot think of what type of river fish, they saw and mistakenly thought it was a 'mermaid'...no fish even comes close to looking 'humanoid' that Ive ever seen, and apparently they only saw them among the sunken logs and tree stumps during low tide...so whatever it was, could live in water and on land.
My best guess is, (considering it was 1894), was probably a vagrant or some disfigured person that made their camp among a pile of logs when the tide was low, it would account for all the fish bones and mussel shells they found, both would have been free and plentiful sources of food to a vagrant at the time.
This was from 1894, there have been a few other similar reports in more recent times, but not many at all.
In those days, the OH river was not nearly as large or deep as it is today.
Honestly though, I cannot think of what type of river fish, they saw and mistakenly thought it was a 'mermaid'...no fish even comes close to looking 'humanoid' that Ive ever seen, and apparently they only saw them among the sunken logs and tree stumps during low tide...so whatever it was, could live in water and on land.
My best guess is, (considering it was 1894), was probably a vagrant or some disfigured person that made their camp among a pile of logs when the tide was low, it would account for all the fish bones and mussel shells they found, both would have been free and plentiful sources of food to a vagrant at the time.
I did not know rivers in OH had low and high tides. That alone would be very paranormal and mysterious.
I did not know rivers in OH had low and high tides. That alone would be very paranormal and mysterious.
Rivers can be 'tidal' which is basically the sea coming in to increase the height of the river. Obviously, it does not happen very far from the sea but in the last few miles before the river flows out into the sea, it happens.
Rivers can be 'tidal' which is basically the sea coming in to increase the height of the river. Obviously, it does not happen very far from the sea but in the last few miles before the river flows out into the sea, it happens.
There was also no locks or dams on the OHio in those years.
Rivers can be 'tidal' which is basically the sea coming in to increase the height of the river. Obviously, it does not happen very far from the sea but in the last few miles before the river flows out into the sea, it happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rstevens62
There was also no locks or dams on the OHio in those years.
You 2 might want to check where OH is on a map. There are no tides on a OH river unless someone is telling a paranormal made up story.
The problem with older stories like this is -- the line between reliable journalism and tabloid junk tended to be a lot blurrier than it is today. Part of the reason I suspect is that it was a lot more difficult to debunk a made-up story back then -- you couldn't tell a reporter to fly to Ohio and phone in his story.
The tidal influence dissipates as you go up any river from the coast. An extreme example would be the Pororoca tidal bore on the Amazon, which people surf on, but it dissipates by the time it's 500 miles inland. Same would be the case for tidal effects on a pre-lock Ohio River.
Of course the Ohio River is not subject to the tides of the ocean or Gulf of Mexico, but it does, or did, vary drastically in height depending upon the season and the amount of rainfall upstream. Nowadays, the river level is controlled to a considerable extent by upstream flood control dams on the numerous contributaries of the Ohio River. In the "old days" before the dams, the Ohio river would frequently get shallow enough for an adult to wade across during the dry season. At least, that's what I've read. I wasn't around then.
My guess as to what was seen is that it was a large catfish or carp.
Of course the Ohio River is not subject to the tides of the ocean or Gulf of Mexico, but it does, or did, vary drastically in height depending upon the season and the amount of rainfall upstream. Nowadays, the river level is controlled to a considerable extent by upstream flood control dams on the numerous contributaries of the Ohio River. In the "old days" before the dams, the Ohio river would frequently get shallow enough for an adult to wade across during the dry season.
I was responding to the suggestions that there were tides on the Ohio. Our house when I was growing up was five blocks from the Mississippi, not far from Lock and Dam #15 so I'm intimately familiar with seasonal flooding on big rivers.
Just wanted to correct my grammar/spelling in my post above. There is no such word as "contributaries". I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that word. The correct word is "tributaries". Sorry for my brain fart on that one.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
