Town of Marion officials aren’t quite sure what to do with the nearly two-dozen reports from residents around Aucoot Cove alleging that they have seen what appears to be a frog-like man swimming in the water.
Five reports were called into the Harbormaster’s Office, while 18 were made with the Police Department.
The first report was filed the morning of October 18 by an Aucoot Avenue resident (anonymous complaint) who said he was walking his dog by the water when a splash caught his attention. In the report, the witness’ statement reads, “I saw the splash and right then my dog starting growling. A few seconds later, a lump broke through the surface and whatever it was started swimming towards an exposed rock.” Then, the witness reported, “The lump emerged from the water, and it was clearly the head of a large frog. I saw its bulging eyes on the side of its head and as it rose up out of the water, I could see shoulders and a hunched over back and then two human legs. The thing was standing like a human, but the top looked exactly like a frog.”
When the frog-like creature looked at him, the witness further stated, “[It] crouched forward and leapt back into the water before I could grab my phone out and take a selfie with it.”
Other reports used words like “swamp man,” “person with webbed hands,” and “fish dude” to describe what they saw, but by far the most commonly used phrase was “frogman.”
Perhaps the most interesting of the reports was one dated October 23, in which the witness claims at around sunset he watched from his kayak behind a clump of phragmites as the frogman metamorphosed into a human man, walked out of the water onto the shore, got into a Town of Marion electric vehicle and drove off.
Last year when the Town of Marion applied for and received grants for four electric cars to add to the town’s fleet, the Town determined that the departments that would predominantly utilize the electric vehicles would be the Recreation Department, Building Department, Council on Aging, and Department of Public Works. None of these department heads could be reached for comment by deadline.
Town Administrator Paul Dawson would not comment on the alleged incident, saying that he did not have enough information to answer any questions.
Aucoot Cove is a picturesque residential and marine recreational area, and a popular spot for shellfishing. It is also the site of the outfall for Marion’s municipally treated sewer wastewater that empties into Aucoot Cove via Effluent Brook, which starts at the Benson Brook Road sewer wastewater treatment facility and runs down into Aucoot Cove.
Aucoot Cove water quality tests in the past have shown high levels of nitrogen pollution in the inner cove area.
After some online research, The Wanderer found other incidents where sightings of a frogman-like creature were allegedly seen, but never proven. The most widely featured was the Loveland Frogmen, first reported in May of 1955 outside Loveland, Ohio, which evolved into a local legend of sorts.
The Wanderer will continue to investigate the frogman sightings and provide the public with further information as it becomes available.
A Special HALLOWEEN Report*
By Jean Perry
*Editor’s note: This story, like the Rochester haunting story, is a fictional news report created solely for the Halloween season. However, we cannot prove either way that a frogman does or does not actually exist at Aucoot Cove.