Giant Congo Snake

Submission 2,751

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About

Giant Congo Snake or 50 Foot Congo Snake refers to an alleged sighting and photograph, taken in 1959, of what appears to be a 50-foot-long snake in the Katanga region of the Congo. In 1980, pilot Remy Van Lierde shared the photograph and story of the sighting on an episode of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, alleging that when they flew their helicopter near the snake it reared up as if about to strike, leaving shortly after. The claims circulated online throughout the 2000s and became notably popular on TikTok in mid-2023 as users began sharing photographs of the Congo jungles that they believed showed further evidence of the snake. The authenticity of Van Lierde's photograph has been questioned, but was allegedly authenticated.

Origin

On November 11th, 1980, pilot Remy Van Lierde appeared on an episode of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World titled "Dragons, Dinosaurs and Giant Snakes" where Van Lierde alleges that he and two other witnesses saw a 50-foot long snake in the Katanga region of the Congo in 1959 (shown below). Van Lierde claims that when he saw the snake, he turned the helicopter around and got closer, inspiring the snake to rear up as if about to strike. They then flew away from the snake. The episode was uploaded to YouTube^[1] by Forgotten Documentaries in December 2021.

Along with the story, Van Lierde shares an alleged photograph of the snake (shown below, left). The photograph was also allegedly examined by CIA Captain Lorenzo W. Burroughs, who wrote a letter about the photograph (shown below, right). It has been speculated that the snake is either an oversized African rock python, a new species of snake, or a descendant of the giant Eocene snake Gigantophis.

Spread

The giant snake story and photograph spread online throughout the 2000s. On November 3rd, 2022, YouTuber^[2] MRU INK posted a video about the snake, garnering over 150,000 views in 10 months (shown below, left). On January 13th, 2023, a clip of Forrest Galante telling the story on The Joe Rogan Experience was posted to YouTube,^[3] garnering over 6.3 million views in eight months (shown below, right).

2023 Congo Snake TikTok Videos / Photos

Throughout 2023, videos about the snake became increasingly popular on TikTok. On March 23rd, 2023, TikToker^[4] @theconspiracyprojectsg posted a video telling the story, garnering over 3 million views in six months. On April 3rd, TikToker^[5] @ayushrxh54a posted a video claiming to show the Congo snake on a beach, although the video has been debunked as fake,^[8] garnering over 4 million views in five months (shown below, left). On August 3rd, TikToker^[6] @chrisfranklins96 posted a video comedically reacting to the snake story, garnering over a million views in a month (shown below, right).

On August 14th, the clip of Joe Rogan talking about the giant snake was uploaded to TikTok,^[7] garnering over 13 million views in two weeks. On August 19th, TikToker^[9] @theyfw.devin8 posted a slideshow where they show a birds-eye-view of a jungle in the last slide, claiming to show the Congo Snake in it, garnering over 46 million views in two weeks. That day, TikToker^[10] @elyalmanzor03 posted a version of the slideshow where they circle the supposed snake, garnering over 6.7 million views in the same span of time (shown below).

TikTokers continued to upload videos examining the photo posted by @theyfw.devin8 throughout August, also posting new images that they claim show the giant snake. For example, on August 23rd, TikToker^[11] @looberplayz posted a video circling a supposed image of the snake that garnered over 5.4 million views in a week (shown below, left). On August 28th, TikToker^[12] @za.fivem posted a similar video that gained over 4.9 million views in four days (shown below, right).