For a long time there was complete silence about what actually happened in June 1983. For 13 years, no one knew who had released a “sea snake” into Seljordsvatnet in Telemark. In the latest season of the news podcast “Mysteries from Norway”, a separate episode has been made about the Seljordsormen. There, new sides of the story emerge. Inexplicable waves For 270 years, a snake-like being has been observed in the dark Seljordsvatnet. It has been easy with mini-submarine and sonar without finding an answer to the riddle. The inexplicable phenomena have often occurred on hot summer days with still water. But are there waves, old logs, otters or a flock of ducks? Or an as yet undiscovered living being? Former Seljord mayor Jon Svartdal is among those who have seen something he cannot explain. – I don’t know what I believe. I lay down and bathed and sunbathed. Then there were inexplicable waves moving in one direction. The first disappeared, then a new one appeared behind. Former Seljord mayor Jon Svartdal is among those who have seen something he cannot explain at Seljordsvatnet. He thinks it’s a mystery. Photo: Stian Wåsjø Simonsen / news Had a backbone and lay curled up In the summer of 1983, the whole of Seljord was turned upside down. A married couple on a trip with their little son stopped to swim in Seljordsvatnet. They went out on a headland about 500 meters from the center of Seljord. Harald Foss took a walk around the water’s edge where there were sticks and prawns. A swarm of flies buzz around furiously. Suddenly he felt a foul smell rise up. Because among the debris and debris on the beach there was also something yellowish. Something that was coiled together and with a spine. Of meat and with ribs sticking out. – There is a sea snake here, granted, said Harald. Something close to four meters and up to 20 centimeters wide lay skinned and dried. Clearly a dead animal that did not belong in the fauna of Seljord. Pythons were not found in those areas, and it had much larger dimensions than both bollworms and vipers. And he had heard many stories about the sea serpent in Seljordsvatnet. His wife Mari, who had such a fear of worms that she couldn’t bear to see pictures of worms even once, panicked. – I was frightened. It was disgusting. And what should one actually do when one finds something large and snake-like in a place known for myths about the sea serpent and observations over centuries? They called the local sea snake expert Halvor J. Sandsdalen in Seljord, and set off as quickly as they could. When they got home, total chaos reigned. Sandsdalen had hidden the carcass in his barn and tipped off the media. “Of course it’s the sea snake” Journalists and photographers were flown into the village. Media from all over the world were waiting and believed that the sea snake had finally been found. The lake was teeming with people. Everyone wanted to see the world sensation, but few were allowed. Among the lucky ones were a band and a bus with pensioners. news Dagsrevyen hired seaplanes and had a zoologist with them. The sensation that something that could be the sea snake had been found in Seljordsvatnet caused media from all over the world to go to the small village. The zoologist determined that this was a boa constrictor, a constrictor snake. And it was skinned and split professionally. The air went out of the world sensation. The disappointment was total – and Seljord was humble in prime time. Now the headlines read: “Sea snake bluff!” “Seljordsvatnet’s secret just as secret, because the sea serpent was a strangling snake”. “Who is the mockingbird?”. – I don’t know if someone is sitting and stopping animals nearby, it’s quite unusual, the zoologist added. And one would have to shut up for many years to come. Got blamed for the hoax The focus was now directed at the couple – and people got angry. Harald was blamed for the bluff and received a lot of abuse. – We were accused of cheating and fraud, and it is not pleasant to be in the middle of such a media mess for a long time with newspapers and TV, says Mari. Mari and Harald Foss will never forget the day they found the “sea snake”. Photo: Stian Wåsjø Simonsen / news Unsuspectingly, they had ended up in the middle of a stunt that had become much bigger than the prankster had imagined. Because it was the “wrong” married couple who had found the “sea snake”. But more about that later. Got in tiger python We turn back time. Because before the joke was even thought of, the Biological Institute in Oslo had received a tiger python. The almost five meter long snake had to be skinned. They were going to keep the skull, but didn’t need the body. Øystein Bernhard Mobråten looked at the creature lying before him on the table. – It was like from another world, silky, alien. I couldn’t throw it in a container. It was sacrilege. Øystein Bernhard Mobråten is a taxidermist, sculptor and artist from Kongsberg. He never forgets the prank that went wrong. Photo: Anlaug Bergan Johansen The choke snake weighed over 42 kilos and was smooth. He rolled it up and stuffed it into a sack. One late Friday evening, he threw the huge beast into the back of the car and drove to Seljord. It was dark and tall grass, and he could barely see his legs in front of him. He half-way carried and dragged the snake down to Seljordsvatnet. – I clung to this thick carcass, but I couldn’t get a very good hold. I have to stop and take a breath and make sure it doesn’t get stuck. He was allowed to push it into the water and fasten it with stones around where the head had been. – I saw this long white creature that caught the movements in the water. It looked like it was alive. About to take a “romantic boat trip” At Kongsberg, Arnfinn Brekke was ready for action. Mobråten made a map and delivered it to his mate. The plan was for Brekke and his wife to take “a romantic boat trip” that weekend in Seljord and accidentally find the “sea snake”. Brekke was manager of Lågendalsmuseet and saw the opportunity for some PR. But on Monday, Brekke called his friend and told him that they had unfortunately been prevented from going to Seljord. Before they could think about trying again, the newscaster broke in with an additional message on the radio: A seal earthworm has been found in Seljordsvatnet. Another couple had found the snake. Didn’t think of the consequence – I didn’t laugh. I was half paralyzed, but saw the humor in it. Mobråten found that the zoologist on the radio had got it right with the species identification – because you couldn’t tell a tiger python from a boa constrictor when the skin and skull were removed. But suddenly he became anxious that the truth would come out. He had two confidantes, otherwise no one knew about it. – I had ended up in something I had not imagined the consequences of. Mobråten decided to lie low. Seljord Lake is large and dark and 150 meters at its deepest Photo: Stian Wåsjø Simonsen / news Forsnakkelsen 13 years later, in 1996, it was just before the opening of the art gallery in Seljord. Mobråten, who was also a draftsman and sculptor, had a sculpture and was working on a drawing he wanted to include in the exhibition. Øystein Mobråten in front of the picture “Archaic landscape” depicting the Satajuvet in Vallaråi, which flows into Seljordsvatnet. He thinks that perhaps every 10 years the sea snake swims up Vallaråi and into Satajuvet and lays one spawn. Photo: Anlaug Bergan Johansen In another room, two guys were arranging a room for sea snake art. – That you did not take care of the skeleton of the sea snake that was found in Seljordsvatnet 13 years ago, said Mobråten. They answered that it was a boa constrictor. A researcher had said so. Mobråten objected that it was a tiger python. No, he couldn’t know anything about that, thought the fellows. – Yes, because I was the one who posted it, he said, and immediately regretted it. The guys burst in and demanded that he tell the story. The exhibition needed publicity. – You must not show yourself in Seljord Again, sea snake expert Halvor J. Sandsdalen was contacted. – Do you remember the sea snake that was found down in Seljordsvatnet? This is the man who put out the choke hose, said the guys from the seal exhibition. – You must not show yourself in Seljord now, or you can, but then you will be shot, Sandsdalen is said to have said. The reporter who was there broadcast everything on the radio in Telemark. Later that year, the pranksters met the “unfortunate” couple in the studio. Mobråten had the skin from the choke hose with him, and the atmosphere was good. The iconic sea snake story was broadcast in prime time in “På’n iggen” with Tande-P and Hilde Hummelvoll: The pranksters Øystein Bernhard Mobråten and Arnfinn Brekke meet the Foss couple who found the strangler snake (the sea snake). Worm phobia cured So what now – 40 years on? Do the Foss couple believe that there is a sea snake that has not yet been found in Seljordsvatnet? – I think there are a lot of nice fish there, but I have no idea. I am not anxious about swimming in Seljordsvatnet, and have also gotten rid of the phobia. I’m not afraid of worms anymore, says Mari. Her husband Harald is keeping the option open. – They have observed a lot over the years that could really be a creature like that. One does not know everything about nature. And the rock maker himself, Øystein Mobråten, does he believe in the sea serpent in Seljordsvatnet? – YES! I’m doing it.
ttn-69
When Øistein fooled the whole world with the “sea snake” in Seljord – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
