The 2026 winter storms moving across the United States this past weekend had some folks seeing something else in the weather map—a Leviathan.
Conspiracy theories are rampant in the modern age, to the point where the line between people joking around vs. people actually believing something that sounds truly unhinged when spelled out can run thin. Such was the case this week, as social media users began pointing out a strange shape on the weather map near Virginia.
"The Leviathan is waking up"
A post from @trappalachiann on X shared screencaps from Facebook users likening the shape in the water to that of a Leviathan—a giant sea serpent referenced throughout various mythologies.
"OMG the Leviathan is waking up near Virginia," reads one such post. "This is why they are creating a FAKE snow storm and manipulating the weather so they can freeze it because the military bases in the area."
The idea of the weekend's snowstorms either creating some sort of cover for a giant sea creature or being part of some larger master plan by puppeteers who allegedly control the weather soon caught on.
Memes take over Leviathan discourse as sh*tposters enter the chat
We like to imagine the vast majority of people making these posts are doing so in jest, and they probably are. Others...it's admittedly less clear.
"People on threads think a giant (like, new jersey-sized) monster is rising out of the ocean, the cold weather is related, and the military is suppressing the story," wrote @micsolana.
"You’re laughing. the Leviathan is waking up near Virginia and you’re laughing," joked @favelaoverlord.
"It's amazing how the Internet has destroyed any notion that people had become more reasonable than medieval peasants," wrote @phl43.
"Between this and the ice leviathan im noticing a worrying rise in schizoid cryptozoology," wrote @BestCryptids, alongside a post of massive "Blue Ridge Mountain" crabs.
"Please don't start. 33% of the country is gullible enough to believe this."
While the real conspiracy theorists presumably spent the weekend praying for deliverance from a sea serpent that could swallow Rhode Island in one bite, the sh*tposters and meme makers simply had a good time focusing on the idea of a supernatural harbinger of doom to distract from the horrors we already have at home.
"I want to go to this delusional reality. Praise Leviathan."
Praise be.
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