Shell game

It was a big turtle, or a big story.

The "Beast of Busco" was reported in 1948 by two Indiana fishermen, Ora Blue and Charley Wilson, who said they saw a rowboat-size turtle in a pond near the town of Churubusco.

The pond's owner, Gale Harris, said he had seen the animal himself, and in 1949 came the claim that it had been trapped for a short time.

The story made its way into the news, and thousands began making the trek to watch the search. Divers, trappers and fliers looked for "Oscar," named after Oscar Fulk, a former owner of the pond who told reporters he had seen the giant turtle a half-century earlier.

Increasingly elaborate attempts were made to catch Oscar -- nets, a periscope outfitted with headlights, a harpoon, even a giant sea turtle on a leash in a bid to lure the possibly lonely leviathan. More sightings were reported, including a claim by spectators that they had seen Oscar attack live ducks that had been placed in a pen above a trap.

Harris developed vision problems from his relentless use of the periscope, but was determined to refute allegations that he was a hoaxer. He made a seven-week attempt to drain the pond with a tractor-powered pump, but was sidelined by appendicitis before he could finish the job and rain refilled the pond.

Debt forced Harris to sell his farm in 1950. Among the items auctioned was a 200-foot-by-32-foot turtle net.

People who have owned the pond in the years since have barred any searches, and except for a shadowy claim that the turtle was spotted in 1957 by an owner who kept mum, the story hasn't progressed beyond the question of 1949: Was Oscar real?

Harris, who risked his health and lost his farm in his expensive and time-consuming quest, certainly thought so.