TinWiki: Champ

Champ is North America's version of Scotland's Loch Ness Monster. The legendary cryptid inhabits a body of water known as Lake Champlain, which is located on the border separating New York state and Vermont. Lake Champlain is approximately 125 miles long and around 13 miles wide at its greatest width. It covers an area of about 600 square miles and is over 400 feet deep in its deepest parts. So it is easy to see that if a monster is hiding there, it has plenty of space to do so.

Sightings

Champ has a long history of sightings. Indeed, the Native Americans described a "horned" beast living there long before the first Europeans settled the area. Champ was first sighted by explorer Samuel de Champlain, in July of 1609. He wrote in his journal that the creature was about 20 feet long with a serpentine like body, as thick as a barrel with a head like a horse. He said that the Native Americans in the area called the creature: chaousarou. After the Europeans came, reports of a large creature living in the lake started, and continue to this day. Some people describe Champ as being a living dinosaur, like a plesiosaur. Others have said the beast looks like a large snake. Skeptics contend that the lake cannot support such a large creature, never mind a viable breeding colony of them. They say that reports of the monster are just misidentifications of fish or odd waves.

One of the most famous sightings of Champ occurred in 1977, when Sandra Mansi and her family were enjoying the nice weather on the shore of the lake. According to reports, Sandra and her husband spotted a creature with a head like a plesiosaur and a long neck swimming with its head and neck sticking out of the water. Sandra took a picture of it, and the picture today remains one of the best proofs of Champ's existence.

Theories

While it is very unlikely that a large population of plesiosaurs are swimming the cold waters of Lake Champlain, believers have their own theories. One of them is that the creature is actually an oceanic dweller that comes to the lake perhaps to breed or raise young, via underwater caverns or streams and rivers. These are, of course, just theories.

Google Earth

By typing in Iberville, Quebec in Canada, you will get a small sequence of Lake Champlain. Moving south along that section, a small brown object leaving a large wake behind it can be found. The object is about the size of a nearby fishing boat, but has the shape of a neck and body, and what may be a head. The object can be found at 45 14'55.86" N 73 14'43.74" W, or you can find it at Google Maps without the better zoom and view.

External Links

The Legendary Champ
"CHAMP" of LAKE CHAMPLAIN
Champ, the Famed Monster of Lake Champlain
The Denizen of Lake Champlain

Relevant Discussion Threads

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