Creature record / 1966

The English Rose III Sea Serpent: John Ridgway's Night Encounter in the North Atlantic

1966 · North Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the Aran Islands, Ireland, International waters

16Thinly documented Cryptid Creature 16 sources 2 real photos 4 videos

Summer 1966. Two British Army paratroopers are rowing the North Atlantic in a 20 ft open dory called English Rose III. One balmy night, Captain John Ridgway is at the oars, lulled by the unending monotony. Then a swishing noise to starboard. He looks out over the water. A great creature is writhing and twisting in the dark, outlined by the phosphorescence in the sea "as if a string of neon lights were hanging from it." Some 35 or more feet long. Coming towards him quite fast. Ridgway had seen whales and sharks, dolphins and porpoises on the voyage. This monster in the night, he wrote, was none of these.

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Key facts

When	1966
Time of day	night
Where	North Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the Aran Islands, Ireland,International waters
Duration	about 10 seconds
Witnesses	1
Witness roles	military
Found	,
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	none recorded
Status	undisputed

The creature

A great creature with a long, writhing, twisting body, some 35 or more feet long, visible only as an outline in the sea's phosphorescence, 'as if a string of neon lights were hanging from it.' It announced itself with a swishing noise, came quite fast towards the boat, went beneath it, then made a tremendous splash on the far side.

Size	about 11 m (some 35 or more feet long)
Sound	other sound
Motion	high speed
Duration	10 seconds

The voyage

On 4 June 1966, at 5:30 pm, two men pushed off from Orleans, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Captain John Ridgway and Sergeant Chay Blyth were paratroopers of the Parachute Regiment. Their boat was English Rose III, a 20 ft open dory. Their plan was to row it to Ireland.

Sources (16, most influential first)

7 strange sea serpent sightings from history · History UK · Press, book, documentary · news
Underwater Monsters · Mysteries Around Us· 2007-06 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
A Fighting Chance (scan) · Internet Archive · Press, book, documentary · book
A Fighting Chance (second scan) · Internet Archive · Press, book, documentary · book
John Ridgway (sailor) · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki