What is the Ningen?
The Ningen (“human”) is a giant creature said to appear in the Antarctic Ocean, shaped like a human and white all over. It is said to be tens of meters long, with arms, legs and fingers, and something like eyes and a mouth on its face. Similar beings sighted in the Arctic Ocean are sometimes called “Hitogata” (“human shape”).
A cryptid spread on internet message boards
The Ningen story is said to have begun in the early 2000s, when an account of a sighting by a crew member of a research whaling ship was posted on an occult thread of an internet message board. The story spread online after that, for example when a shadow on a map in an image search service was said to be a Ningen.
What is the Ningen really?
The supposed photos and videos are thought to be composites or icebergs and whales mistaken for a creature. It is a prime example of a “modern cryptid,” born on the internet and given its shape as it was retold.
