They Thought It Was a Giant Octopus: Fishermen Accidentally Discover the Wreck of a Three-Masted Sailing Ship Lost Over 150 Years Ago

While fishing this summer on Lake Michigan in the northern United States, a father and his 6-year-old daughter accidentally discovered the wreck of a ship lost over 150 years ago.

Initially, the two Americans thought they had encountered a large octopus.

They were alerted by a signal and surprising images emitted by their boat’s sonar.

The Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program eventually solved the mystery in a statement published on Facebook on Monday, December 11th.

According to the society, the wreck is that of a three-masted wooden sailboat, the George L. Newman, which disappeared over 150 years ago.

The ship, approximately 37 meters long, is believed to have been wrecked on October 8, 1871, while sailing through the smoke of the Peshtigo fire, a massive forest fire that burned nearly 500,000 hectares and caused the death of at least 1,500 people.