There ’s a strange story that often does the round on net forum and podcasts , which speaks of a giant 15 - meter ( 50 - foot ) snake that lurks in the depths of Central Africa , prone to lurch out of the jungle and tap make it eggbeater if it feels threatened . Like many story ofcryptozoology , it ’s almost certainly nonsense , but it ’s a hell of a story .
Remy Van Lierde , a Belgian Air Force Colonel who served in World War Two , made the call in 1980 during an interview with the British TV showMysterious World , host by illustrious sci - fi writer Arthur C Clarke .
Van Lierde claimed that in 1959 he encountered a gargantuan greenish - brownish snake while pilot over the Katanga Province of the Belgian - occupied Congo ( now Democratic Republic of Congo ) by helicopter . As an experient pilot , Van Lierde argued that he was extremely skilled at gauging the size of thing on the background from the sky .
" I would say the snake I saw there was close to 50 animal foot , " he told the program .
He said the helicopter dipped down within 9 meters ( 30 foot ) of the snake below , at which full stop it " leaven up " its neck opening by around 3 meters ( 10 feet ) and eye - up the chopper for a sharpness .
" I could very distinctly see the head , " which he said looked like a " very large horse " with a huge trilateral jaw .
" I find – and I ’m confident – that if I had been in its range , it would have struck at me . The head , I would say was certainly 2 foot wide and 3 foot long . It could have easily eaten a human race , ” aver Van Lierde .
Along with this first - hand account , Van Lierde also managed tosnap a photographof the sight . However , the image was taken in bleak and white , plus it ’s a little on the grainy side .
As a well - respected aura force stager , Van Lierde is often take to be a reliable germ who has no unmistakable motive to make up such a claim . However , it does look exceedingly doubtful that this mythical snake is in secret live in the Congo Basin .
The largest species of snake in the grass know to be in the area is theAfrican Rock Python(Python sebae ) . They typically grow to well over 3 metre ( 10 feet ) , although there are reliable accounts of specimen measuring up to 6 meters ( 20 feet ) .
If anyone was to make the title of a 15 - meter ( 50 - infantry ) snake , then they ’d have to provide some extremely robust grounds , which Van Lierde ’s report is not .
However , his story of the string - sized snake is not the only prodigious cryptid reported in the depths of the Congo Basin . One of the most famous is mokele - mbembe , a swamp - dwelling monster that ’s said to resemble a farsighted - neckedsauropod dinosaur . In fact , in the judgment of some , this cryptical creature might be a survivor of the asteroid thatwiped outnon - avian dinosaurs around 66 million years ago .
Most scientist believe that sightings of mokele - mbembe are likely to be elephant or black rhinoceros , orotund - bodied mammals that could be misguided for prehistoric wildcat if becloud by thick rain forest .
As for Van Lierde ’s giant python , we can assume that he came across an African Rock Python – or , who do it , perhaps the serpent - like neck of an tempestuous sauropod .
