Ningen: Ocean Cryptid

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories​
Despite our ignorance about the vast oceans that cover the majority of our planet's surface, many find it difficult to believe that gargantuan, humanoid-type animals have been seen in different parts of the Pacific Ocean. 

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Ningen is believed to prefer cold water, and is a nocturnal creature

Ningen translates as human in Japanese, and it was given this name by the fisherman who saw it in the 1990s. They were shocked by its large size, albino appearance and humanoid profile. It's considered an Unidentified Mysterious Animal (UMA).

​They estimated it measured 60 to 90 feet in length, and appeared like a mix between a whale and a human. Other witnesses say the tail is mermaid-like and are not legs, but it does have hands with five fingers and long arms.

Ningen have been sighted in the Pacific, Atlantic and Antarctic Oceans, and they are unmistakably the same type of creature. They don't have distinctive facial features except for huge eyes, and a slit-like mouth.

They seem to prefer frigid water, and surface more frequently at night. They came to attention at the end of the 20th century, despite the hundreds of years mariners have traveled across the seas.

The Japanese have been fishing in the waters of the Southern Ocean since the 1930s.

An initial report came from a Japanese forum known as 2channel in 2007, where a witness said they were working on a "government whale research vessel" off the Antarctic coast when the creature that would become known as the ningen surfaced nearby. The crew initially believed it was a submarine, but on closer inspection they realized it was a living thing.

This is the post that originally appeared in 2002 from Mr. F.:

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I heard that the research whaling surrounding the Antarctic Sea conducted by the Japanese government is not only conducting research on the whales they catch, but also researching and recording whales they do not catch.

In  the last few years of research, it is said that "some objects" that cannot be officially announced have been witnessed. This information is gained directly from a person involved. These are what is called among people related to research whaling 'hitogata buttai '(human shaped objects).

There are several type of them, such as one that looks like a human (with four limbs and a head) and one that looks as if two humans' upper bodies are joined. They emerge from the water, just like whales. The whole body is white and the size is a few tens of meters long. 

I heard that nobody had seen such a thing when they were conducting whaling years ago. They are 'really baffled' at it, because an official announcement of the object could overturn the credibility of current research whaling.

They are just recording them, but that does not mean they are vigorously conducting research on them, (as they have to submit their research schedule to the international committee, they cannot change their schedule flexibly). The person who told me this story said, 'You can tell this story... but please keep me anonymous though I am pretty sure that other people are telling this story too.'

That's all I heard.

Mu displayed a Google Maps image of what was alleged to be a Ningen swimming in the South Atlantic off the coast of Namibia

Rumors have circulated that photos were taken, but were suppressed since the research was government-funded and it would mean financial ruin to associate this type of sighting with a scientific endeavor. 

​That same year the Japanese magazine Mu published a story of the ningen which caught like wildfire in its popularity.

There are also rumors that MIB-like men from the government have approached witnesses to remain silent. Some wonder if this is a government cover-up by the Japanese government, and if so, why?

Others have theorized the creature is not a cryptid, but perhaps an unknown type of giant, albino manta ray. The white color is used to camouflage itself among the ice floes where it's been sighted.

Others believe this is not a natural animal but something supernatural from Japanese lore, perhaps even a water demon. Could it be related to the Kappa, Baku or the Yokai?

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Use of the ningen in artwork - Izanami - A Cold Day in Hell c.2019

Another possibility is that the ningen are aliens, different from any form that we have come to believe they look like. Perhaps they were introduced into our ecosystem by design or accident.

Like the kraken that was reported for hundreds of years by sailors and thought to be pure myth, these giant squid were found by scientist to actually exist.

The report of the ningen heralds back to a report from a Japanese whaling fleet in 1958, in what was described as an "Antarctic Godzilla".

Is the ningen a creature conjured by protests surrounding the decades where whales were killed in these waters, which like Moby Dick is a ghost-like white color? With its human face, dare we anticipate that it might be sentient?

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