At a meeting yesterday, the town council of Fljótsdalshérað, East Iceland, agreed to suggest that town authorities award a prize in the amount of ISK 500,000 (USD 775, EUR 696) to Hjörtur Kjerúlf, farmer at Hrafnkelsstaðir, for capturing the Lagarfljótsormur monster lake snake on video, RÚV reports. The money will be paid “at our convenience.” Hjörtur saw the phenomenon and captured it twice on video—in February and March of 2012.
The video caught world attention at the time—and still enjoys popularity. Japanese State Television recently conducted experiments in Lagarfljót lake and attempted to recreate the phenomenon Hjörtur filmed. No one went as far, though, as the producers of Fact and Faked Paranormal Files from the US, who in 2012 brought a retired FBI agent to investigate the monster and the video.
The recent Japanese visit made the city council decide to speed up delivery of the award. “They asked me why we hadn’t paid this yet,” states Stefán Bogi Sveinsson, city council member and chairman of the famous Truth Commission, which was established in 2012 to evaluate whether the video did show the monster snake. After careful consideration, the majority concluded this was indeed the monster.
Hjörtur received ISK 50,000 (USD 388, EUR 348) recognition and a bouquet of flowers at a community reindeer party last year.
Here is a YouTube link to the monster video: Monster Video.
