When it comes to Crimean cryptids, most people have only heard of the sea serpent, also known as the Karadag Monster.
However, strange “sea people” or underwater humanoids have also been regularly sighted in Crimea. Most of the known sightings occurred in the 20th century, which is considered a fairly enlightened era.
These observations mainly took place in the part of the Black Sea near Cape Aya, not far from Balaklava.
Descriptions of the strange underwater beings varied, but they were most commonly depicted as human-like, unusually large, and silver in color, as if wearing smooth, tight-fitting suits, with fins on their feet, possibly artificial. The most striking feature noted by witnesses was their eyes—huge, almond-shaped, and an intense blue color.
The fact that these beings were not human but some mysterious underwater humanoids was evidenced by their lack of any visible breathing apparatus, such as gas tanks, and their excellent swimming abilities at great depths.
The Underground City of Cape Aya
Why this particular location near Cape Aya? Crimean ufologist Anton Anfalov has his own theory. He believes that a powerful underground river of fresh water flows into the sea at this point, attracting the underwater humanoids who collect this water for their needs.
Anfalov also suggested that these water humanoids do not actually live in the water but in an underground city beneath Cape Aya. He speculates that they might be descendants of an ancient advanced race mentioned in ancient sources, such as Indian epics and Sumerian tablets.
Incidentally, UFOs are also frequently observed in the Cape Aya area, and there might be some connection between them and the water humanoids.
Born in Sverdlovsk, Anfalov later moved to Crimea and lived there for many years, collecting stories from local residents about strange underwater creatures. He concluded that although the eyewitnesses did not know each other, lived in different places, and their stories did not appear in the press, their descriptions of the humanoids’ appearance were strikingly similar.
The Glass Tunnel
Anfalov also heard a story that in 1954-1956, during the construction of military underground shafts at Cape Aya, workers stumbled upon a strange tunnel descending deep underground. The walls of the tunnel were so heavily melted, as if exposed to high temperatures, that they appeared glassy.
No technology of the time could have created such a tunnel. The builders were greatly surprised. Then naval intelligence representatives arrived, inspected everything, and ordered the tunnel to be carefully buried again, first filling it with concrete.
The Beautiful Mermaid
The most famous sighting of an underwater humanoid near Cape Aya occurred on August 18, 1991. Musician Vyacheslav Tertus, an experienced swimmer, was swimming near Cape Aya and had drifted about a hundred meters from shore. It was night, around 11:30 PM, the sea was calm, and a bright full moon was in the sky.
Vyacheslav was enjoying the coolness, swimming slowly on his back. Suddenly, someone slapped him hard on the shoulder! He turned around but saw no one, only hearing a loud splash.
He thought it might be one of his friends from the shore playing a prank on him, so he turned and swam back. But then he was slapped on the shoulder again, even harder.
This time, when Vyacheslav turned around, he saw the face of a young girl right in front of him. She had long blonde hair and huge eyes, much larger than human eyes, glowing brightly in the night.
Terrified, Vyacheslav pushed the girl away and swam to shore as fast as he could, feeling like he had set a world record. He heard splashes behind him, as if he was being pursued, but he did not look back.
At the shore, he was hit again, this time in the back. Turning around, Vyacheslav saw the same girl in the water, her face now looking disappointed. He quickly swam to shore, where his friends were waiting.
His friends said they saw the girl’s body in the water behind Vyacheslav, appearing to wear a silver tight-fitting suit, visible in the “moon path” on the water.
Vyacheslav was so shaken by the incident that he was in a state of shock for several hours, not even helped much by a glass of vodka offered to him. However, he later returned to the site, hoping to see the beautiful sea maiden again, but he never did.
The Fisherman and the Atlanteans
In the summer of 1997, Vasily Ivanovich N. was fishing near Cape Aya. After casting his lines, he stared at the floats and suddenly saw “two giants with huge heads” in the water. These beings were talking in a language he did not understand and swimming smoothly about ten meters from shore, rounding a rock.
According to Vasily, these humanoid creatures were about three meters tall, and he immediately thought they looked like Atlanteans, which he had recently read about somewhere.
Their eyes particularly amazed him—they were enormous, much larger than human eyes, very protruding, and bright blue. Their feet had either webbed toes or fins.
The fisherman watched these beings in a daze until they disappeared from view. Only then did he feel a strong fear and ran to the nearest boarding house.
The Giant Man and the Sea Serpent
In July 2000, tourists from Moscow with children were vacationing near Cape Aya. Suddenly, they saw something unusual in the water about 300 meters from shore.
The head of the family had binoculars and saw an enormous snake in the water, with a person at least three meters tall, as he estimated.
The snake and the giant person seemed to be playing with each other, swimming side by side. The tourists watched their game for about fifteen minutes before the snake swam away, and the giant headed toward the shore, soon disappearing into the coastal thickets.
The Giants with a Child
In the summer of the same year, Alexey S. was diving near Cape Aya. When he dived to a depth of about 20 meters, he saw what looked like an entrance to a cave, and then two three-meter-tall humanoids and another smaller one, about two meters tall, appeared nearby. Alexey thought it was their child.
All three beings quickly swam into the underwater cave, and Alexey was struck by the fact that they had no underwater equipment—no wetsuits, no tanks.
Frightened, Alexey hurried to the surface.
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