FLORIDA RIVER MONSTER: FACT OR FICTION?

Horned beast has been spotted for about 200 years

A MYSTERIOUS, 35-foot horned sea creature may be the world's second Loch Ness monster - and it's been hiding in the waters of a twisty Florida river for nearly two centuries!

Residents of the town of Astor in Lake County say they have known about and steered clear of the brute for decades, dubbing the giant "Johnnie" because they believe it lurks in the murk of nearby St. Johns River.

The first reported sighting of the beast was in 1849, when a shaken-up ship's captain described "an immense sea monster," which he referred to as a "serpent" and a "monster of the deep."

The captain said he and his crew ran into the varmint at the mouth of the St. Johns River, where it "lifted its head, which was like that of a snake, several times out of the water and at such times displayed the most of his body, exhibiting a pair of frightful fins several feet in length."