A drawbridge operator in Maryland describes a bizarre incident when he witnessed a huge unknown sea creature being towed by a U.S. Coast Guard convoy. Very interesting account!
I received the following account:
"This incident occurred during the winter of 2018. I'm a drawbridge operator located outside of a busy vacation town in Maryland's Eastern Shore on the Chesapeake Bay. During the summer the bridge opened up quite a bit when a vessel was making its way either in from or out to the ocean. We tried not to disrupt the flow of traffic too much so we would batch the requests together and open the bridge every 20 minutes or so. There's a coast guard station near the bridge and perimeter is heavily fenced off. Apparently, they took trespassing incidents seriously. The winter traffic was minimal and the bridge might only open three or four times a day to accommodate the few commercial fishermen in the area.
It was a very cold winter day in January when this incident took place. I had just started my shift. I was on nights for the next two weeks I was going over the previous operator's log notes. On the outbound log I noticed that the big Coast Guard cutter, along with a bunch of their smaller boats and the two tugs that they had had come through the bridge. I was a little bit of a surprise as it would take a few dozen people to man all of those craft, and it being winter that was quite unusual. There had been no 'may day' or distress calls broadcast so I figured that the Coast Guard conducted some kind of a drill or exercise.
Later into my shift, and for some unknown reason, I missed a first call over the radio. As soon as I realized it I asked for them to repeat their message. It was the captain of that big Coast Guard cutter. I was told that the bridge needed to be opened in exactly 13 minutes and then it would need to stay open until I was given directions to lower it. This wouldn't have been an issue since fewer than six cars had crossed the bridge all night but military and law enforcement were entitled to passage through the canal as they needed it.
They called in with the ETA so when the time got close I logged the communication and I opened the bridge.looking out over the water I could start to see the bow lights of a small fleet of ships. It would end up being six in total including the cutter, two tugboats, and three other small craft. The smaller vessels were paced out about 500 feet behind the cutter. Directly behind the cutter were the two tugboats almost side by side. The operator room was about 70 or 80 feet away from where the bridge opened but there was a camera system which constantly recorded the area around and beneath the bridge.
As the cutter passed beneath the bridge and passed one of the cameras I could make out a few dozen people aboard the craft. I couldn't believe it at first but about half of them were holding assault rifles. Then the tugboats came next. It was the middle of the night and water visibility here is poor but I could just make out the thick toe ropes trailing into the water behind the tugs and attached to them was something unbelievably long. It was hard to tell but whatever it was looked smooth with a greenish hue. I could see a scaly texture and just by how much time it took for the creature to pass by the camera I guess that it was at least 200 feet long. I'm not even sure that I saw the end of it before what happened next.
I'm not positive if it was because of the lights on the bridge or the underwater noise of the props bouncing off the nearby concrete but the long thing started moving slowly. It was kind of swaying back and forth beneath the bridge. One of the guys on the tugboat started yelling out loud and I could see the small craft was straining to maintain its straight path. The three smaller boats in the back started gunning in towards the tugs kicking up tons of wake. The water started churning violently throughout the canal in an area a few hundred feet long. On camera I could see that one of the tow cables from a tugboat snapped and now that it was no longer restrained. The tug shot forward slamming into one of the bridge pilings. I heard a quick round of pops followed by another and I ran over to the door of the office and pushed it open. From my vantage point I could see the small boats in the rear of the convoy speeding up to the tugs but giving the erupting water a wide berth.
Suddenly, several of the guys started shooting at that long creature in the water. The other tug, now bearing the full burden, was getting dragged across the surface. At one or two points it looked like it might even dip beneath the water. The cutter was trying hard to come around but the bridge didn't give it any room. It was hard to tell how it happened but somehow the line from the other tug snapped just as a massive snake-like tail erupted out of the water near one of the smaller boats, slamming down on the edge of it. This caused it to tip.
There was a minute of total chaos. A few of the crew were floating in the water. The gunshots stopped but the shouts continued for at least a minute longer. One of the other boats went to pick up the floating crew of the tipped boat and the other craft fell back into the loose semi-formation. The convoy then headed in the direction of the Coast Guard Station. The creature or whatever it was didn't resurface again. I dropped the bridge and I just plopped into my seat at the desk. I was trying to figure out what had happened.
A few minutes later, a black SUV drove over the bridge and stopped right in front of the operating room. Two men got out of the vehicle and they walked right in without knocking. One was wearing a U.S. Coast Guard uniform and carrying an assault rifle. The other man was wearing a style of uniform that I didn't recognize. This man introduced himself as a US Navy Captain (name withheld). He told me to recount the events that I had just witnessed. So I did. He then asked a bunch of questions, like if I had recorded anything or contacted anybody. I told him no, but that the bridge utilized a camera system. He finished by telling me that I was relieved for the night and that I should get a call from my supervisor soon that would confirm it. I didn't say anything else. I grabbed my stuff and I headed home. My supervisor did call me while I was driving. He sounded just as confused as me but he told me that I had the next week off with double pay.
He called back a few days later and he told me that a new position for a higher paying administrative job at another location had just opened and refusal wasn't an option. So, here I am now working that new job. I don't know if I can get in trouble for repeating any of this but I guess I will soon find out. I know it sounds like complete BS but it really did happen."
NOTE: I withheld the eyewitnesses' name and the exact location of the incident by request. Honestly, I have no idea what occurred or what was seen. Any thoughts? Lon
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