In the 1960's, five teenagers boarded a rubber raft and set out a mile out to sea to skin dive. The five teenagers never came back home. Early the next morning, one of the teenagers, Brian McCleary, was found sleeping on a beach. As soon as he woke up in a naval hospital, he told everyone that he witnessed, in great detail, a fictional character, 'sea serpent' or 'Cecil the seasick sea serpent' from a cartoon 'Beany and Cecil' released three weeks prior, attacking and eating his friends. The bodies were never found and the water in the area they went missing was very shallow, about twenty feet deep at most.

McCleary repeatedly shared this story, wrote to Fate Magazine where he went into great detail that read like a court testimony. He corresponded with various paranormal investigators. By the time McCleary was middle aged, the internet had become a thing. So, McCleary made accounts on forums related to paranormal phenomena. He shared his made-up story and reportedly demanded the telephone numbers of anyone claiming to have seen this Cecil the seasick sea serpent character. He died aged 71, didn't contribute anything to society other than this one made up story, since the age of 16. His four friends, Eric Ruyle, Warren Salley, Bradford Rice, and Larry Stuart Bill were all declared dead in 1967.

My question is why do people lie like this? It's like they are going out of their way to be as ridiculous as possible. A fictional character appearing out of thin air, eating four kids, then vanishing? That's not even physically possible. McCleary became depressed when people did not believe his made-up story.