Champ - The Lake Champlain Creature

Website visitor Brian Driscoll of South Burlington, Vermont suggested we include some information about Champ, the Lake Champlain monster. (We prefer to call him a creature) So here are some excerpts from Joseph A. Citro's book to pique your interest about our very own Loch Ness creature! Look for his book in the Folklore section of our Country Bookstore.

Joseph W. Zarzynski, founder and head of the Lake Champlain Phenomena Investigation Group, is considered the foremost authority on the elusive Lake Champlain Creature (he also prefers "Champ Creature" or USO: Unidentified Swimming Object). He has catalogued well over 300 creature sightings dating back to 1609. Here are some examples of multiple-witness sightings, when many people reported exactly the same thing:

In July 1870, everyone on a steamship excursion saw the monster near Charlotte, Vermont. The name of the vessel is lost, but the story of the startling event lingers like a ghost.

In July 1873, the crew and passengers of the steamer W.B. Eddy watched the monster near Dresden, New York.

In 1945 , people aboard the S.S. Ticonderoga observed the creature cavorting somewhere near the middle of the lake.

Then, on July 30, 1984, the largest mass Champ sighting in history occurred aboard a sightseeing boat called The Spirit of Ethan Allen. It was near Appletree Point. A private party was in progress. The time: about six o'clock in the evening. Between seventy and eighty-six passengers were aboard. The creature remained for about three minutes. Three to five humps surfaced, each about 12 inches out of the water. They estimated the creature was about 30 feet long. It was green-brown and slimy-looking like a frog. It swam parallel with the boat for 1,000 yards until a speedboat approached. Then the creature turned 90 degrees and submerged.

What do you think? Does Champ exist? Do you have any of your own Champ stories? If so, send them along!

Source: Joseph A. Citro,Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls and Unsolved Mysteries, Montpelier, VT, 1996.