



50 Foot Congo Snake

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Background Type Snakes First Sighting 1959 Last Sighting Unknown Country Democratic Republic of the Congo Habitat The unexplored Rainforests of the Congo Possible Population Unknown

In 1959, Remy Van Lierde served as a Colonel in the Belgian Air Force at the Kamina airbase in Belgian occupied Congo. In the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, returning from a mission by helicopter, he reported having seen an enormous snake as he flew over the forests. He described the snake as being close to 50 feet in length, with a 2 foot wide by 3 feet long triangular head, which, if his estimations were accurate, would earn the creature a place amongst the largest snakes to have ever existed. Colonel Van Lierde described the snake as having dark green and brown top scales and a white-ish colored underside.

Upon sighting the reptile, he had the pilot turn around and make another pass. at which the serpent reared up the frontal ten feet of its body head as if to strike, giving him the opportunity to observe its underbelly. However, after flying so low that Van Lierde believed it to have been within striking distance of his helicopter, he ordered the pilot to resume his journey, and so the creature was never properly documented, although some reports suggest that an onboard photographer managed to snap a shot of it.

It is believed to be either a massively oversized African rock python, a new species of snake entirely, or perhaps a descendant of the giant Eocene snake Gigantophis.

An interview with Colonel Van Lierde about the sighting can be found here.