Posted on 04/07/2026 12:42:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Sightings of pink, horned creature began in 1953 on Lake Dexter
Decades ago, a 35-foot-long creature was allegedly seen along the St. Johns River in Astor, sparking rumors of a mysterious beast lurking in the waters nearby.
Boaters who saw the so-called “St. Johns River Monster” described it as grey, horned, four-legged, and with an appetite for hyacinths. Strangely, witness accounts reported seeing it either in the river or on land.
According to newspaper articles from 1953, the beast — theorized by some to be a prehistoric creature that had survived to modern times — had been reported by witnesses ranging from Lake Monroe up to Lake George.
During that year, The Orlando Sentinel spoke with Buck Dillard, a longtime Astor resident and river guide who was the first to report seeing the monster.
Dillard told reporters that he was taking a Missouri couple out fishing in Lake Dexter, which is when he spotted the creature’s head pop up out of the water.
“He looked at us for about a minute, then he went under the water and swam underwater away from us,” Dillard said. “We waited about two hours in that same spot to see if he would come up again, but he didn’t.”
An animal with the same description was later reported in Blue Creek and the Astore Bridge, among several other locations.
Rumors of the monster spread to the point that even then-President Homer Wright of the Astor Chamber of Commerce believed them.
“That thing has been seen by many reliable persons,” Wright said. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in the wilds of Florida, there weren’t some creature like that monster.”
Several news outlets at the time reported the decrease in hyacinths along the river, which fed even further into the myths surrounding the monster.
It was even reported by people all the way up in Jacksonville, where one woman described it as an “ugly thing” and pink “like a boiled shrimp.”
A Kissimmee resident posted a $5,000 reward for anyone who could catch the monster alive. Some people tried to organize a hunt to capture the monster and prove its existence.
Regardless, the legend brought crowds of tourists to Astor, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fabled monster.
However, many biologists at the time believed the creature was just a manatee that had been “exaggerated” by witnesses.
In addition, The Miami Herald reported that the disappearing hyacinths were being carried downstream thanks to quicker currents brought about by the rainy season.
What about witnesses who reported seeing it walk?
Former Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commissioner John Dequine told The Orlando Sentinel it might have been a regular cow.
”If you’ve ever been up in that country and have seen a cow come up with eelgrass and weeds all over its head, you might imagine it was a monster,” he said. “They stick their heads under the water to get the eelgrass.”
Despite these theories, Dillard didn’t believe it could be a manatee.
“I’ve seen schools of 25 manatees. They’re in the river all the time,” he said in October 1953. “I’ve seen some of them 800 or 900 pounds in size and 15 feet long.”
Chances are that the “St. Johns River Monster” wasn’t some sort of prehistoric beast, but there’s no way to know for sure what Dillard saw that day on the water.
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Is Hillary! on vacation again? ;)
Have she and said ‘monster’ ever been seen together at the same time?
$5K doesn’t sound like enough for a real monster.
In the Government inflation index, $5000 then would be $61000 today.
I remember fishing it in the early 70s and all we caught was trash fish. Lots of crabs, eels, catfish, gar, and a bunch of bizarre things we couldn’t identify.
I was there early 90s and it was a lot cleaner.
It looks even cleaner in the picture.
But there are definitely bizarre fish in there.
We definitely had huge gators in the Ortega River and its tributaries. Didn’t stop us from water skiing in it.
I think there are tales of monster-things in the Ohio River, too.
It should be $250,000. The government fine is $200,000.
Probably an albino alligator. There was a fun episode of “river monsters” where the locals in a rainforest village thought the river had a monster but it turned out to just be a pod of albino dolphins. And the poor gar down south. They were wiped out over some little girl who said one attacked her, which never happened, but the locals wiped them out.
Sounds like a job for Jeremy Wade!
Giant catfish wouldn’t surprise me.
The Chattanooga Aquarium is (was?) the biggest freshwater aquarium in the world. It had some monster catfish. They’re from the Tennessee River, but I’d expect similar and bigger in the Ohio.
There are a number of answers:
Swamp gas
Moonshine
Spring break
Something at Disney went out of control
illegal alien sub
The crazy Chinese spies crashed a balloon
Possibilities are endless.
wy69
OMG. Hilarious
One-eyed, one-horned...
https://search.brave.com/search?q=St.+Johns+River+Monster&summary=1
The St. Johns River Monster, also known as Pinky or Johnnie, is a legendary cryptid reported in Florida’s St. Johns River, with sightings dating back to 1849.
1849 Sighting: A ship’s crew described a 90-foot (30-meter) dirty brown creature with a snakelike head, neck, and multiple fins.
1953 Description: A widely circulated report described a 35-foot grey, horned, four-legged beast with an appetite for water hyacinths.
1970s “Pinky” Sightings: Witnesses, including five boaters in 1975, described a pink, dinosaur-like creature with a long neck, a man-sized head, and two snail-like horns; this specific entity was nicknamed Pinky due to its pink skin color.
Modern Accounts: Recent reports often describe serpent-like or eel-like creatures rather than the horned or pink variants.
Scientists and locals often attribute these sightings to manatees (sea cows), alligators, or large fish like bull sharks and tarpon, though no physical evidence has ever been confirmed. The creature remains a popular subject of cryptozoology and local folklore, with no photographs or specimens ever recorded.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
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