Cryptid Profile: Brosnie (AKA: Brosnya or The Brosno Dragon)
Situated within the Tver region of Russia and close to the town of Andreapol, there sits an icy lake with a max depth of 141ft. The lake is known as Lake Brosno and it is said to be the home of a dragon, and a particularly nasty one at that. While the lake does have many different legends associated with it (some going all the way back to the 13th century), the ones that strike the most fear into the residents are those that involve the dragon named Brosnie.
One legend claims that in the mid 1200’s during the invasion of Europe and the expansion of the Mongol Empire, Batu Khan (the grandson of Genghis Khan) led his Tatar-Mongol army towards Novgorod, one of Europe’s largest cities and the capital of the Novgorod Republic. After marching for quite a long while, Khan order his men to rest next to the large body of water alongside them in order to refill on water and allow the horses some down time. Unknown to them though, the body of water that they had settled down next to was Lake Brosno.
Suddenly, as the army sat near the water’s edge, a large dragon-like creature sprang forth out of the lake and began snapping its jaws at both man and animal alike. The army could not flee fast enough and countless horses and soldiers were crushed between the teeth and swallowed by the angry dragon within the lake. So terrified at the horror they had just experienced, the Tatar-Mongol army fled the area and completely abandoned all plans to take the city of Novgorod. The dragon had saved the capital.
Another legend within the area tells the story about a group of Vikings that had stolen a large amount of treasure and were searching the area for a place to hide it. When they came upon Lake Brosno, they noticed a small island out in the middle of the water. Feeling that this was the perfect place to hide their treasure, the Vikings loaded into a small boat and set out towards the island. As they were nearing the shoreline, it is said that a large dragon appeared from below the surface and got between the island and the Vikings. Terrified of the monster before them, the Vikings attempted to row back to the main shore, but their efforts were in vain. The dragon opened its mouth and swallowed the warriors whole, boat and all.
Later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was said that the monster started to become more docile. Locals in the area told stories about how the large dragon would appear on the lakes surface in the evening and just swim back and forth. If anyone were to try and approach it though, the creature would sink back beneath the surface and not appear again for another few days. The monster was said to be 16ft long, had the appearance of both a fish and a snake combined, possessed an extremely large head with equally large eyes and mouth, had exceptionally large fins, and an enormous tail.
But what about sightings in modern times, was this creature even around in the 20th century? What about now in the 21st? The answer to that question is yes. In 1996 while on vacation, a family from Moscow took a blurry photo of a large creature seen swimming far offshore in a calm section of water. The monster was brought to the attention of the adults after their 7yr old son had started shouting that there was a dragon out in the water.
In 1997, sightings of a large creature that was seen frequently swimming in the water not far from shore, began to spark interest in the dragon once again. Those that lived along the shore of Lake Brosno were even becoming quite terrified that the monster could quite possibly one day attack them if they ventured too close to the water’s edge.
Finally, in 2002, a team from the Kosmopoisk Research Association (a group that researches claims of UFO’s, Cryptozoological encounters, and other supernatural/paranormal phenomenon) launched an investigation into Lake Brosno. During their time on the water, the group conducted deep echo location sweeps of the lake and discovered a globster floating near the bottom of the lake. After throwing a low impact explosive near the location that the globster was stuck, the object broke free and rose to the surface. Testing on the unidentified mass proved interesting as no lab could match the samples to any known creature within the lake. All they could determine was that it was biological in nature and was more than likely alive at one time.
So what is the Brosnie? There are those that believe the dragon is actually a true relic from the days of the dinosaurs and is either a plesiosaur or a zeuglodon (like the Loch Ness Monster and Champ). Some believe extremely large pike within the lake are to blame for sightings as they could appear monstrous at times while others feel that Brosnie is a product of misidentification due to large moose or wild boar occasionally swimming across the lake and taking on an monstrous appearance while wet and covered in various vegetation from within the water.
There are a few investigators who look at it scientifically and feel that the dragon is nothing more than hydrogen sulfide bubbling up from the bottom of the lake bed and causing a disturbance on the surface of the water which makes it appear as if a large creature is underneath. Finally, there are those who feel that Brosnie was in fact real at one time, but died years ago and it’s decomposing body was what the Kosmopoisk Research Association pulled up from the depths of the lake.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
*Image Credit: Google