CRYPTOLINK: Mystery 'monster' stalks Vallejo's Lake Chabot - No fooling!

Bill Richard with Trevor Allen, right, and Shannon O'Hare steering from Obtanium Works tow Cecil the Chabot Monster into the boat docks at Lake Chabot in Vallejo. The creation was set afloat as an early April Fools stunt. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting, usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me.

It's easy to tell the difference between the monster that lurks beneath Loch Ness in Scotland and the one that was briefly sighted Sunday in Vallejo's Lake Chabot.

The Vallejo creature wore mascara.

For about an hour Sunday, the lake bounded by Dan Foley Park and Six Flags Discover Kingdom hosted the latest project of Vallejo art car factory Obtanium Works: a foam replica of the so-called Loch Ness Monster.

"This might not be a real monster," said Shannon Lacy, who watched from the fishing dock as the green monstrosity bobbed on the lake surface.

The artists of Obtanium Works, known for creating their fantastical art cars that have become a staple at both Burning Man and Vallejo events like the Mad Hatter Parade, spent months developing the early April Fools prank.

They even put together a two-page faux history of "The Lake Chabot" creature, which can be traced back to the Spanish Mission era and to the modern day investigation of the "Traveling Academy of Unnatural Sciences -- Cryptozoology Division." Like the Scottish monster affectionately known to locals there as "Nessie," the Lake Chabot monster also has a name.

Read on...