Lake Champlain Monster

Does Champ, the Lake Champlain monster exist? That was the question that was attempted to be answered that summer of 1993, or was it?

Didn't some Japanese scientists and technicians come to Lake Champlain armed with the latest electronic equipment to definitively answer the question of the monster's existence? In other words, to find out what it was, and to determine fact from fiction, to find the truth?

WRONG! The truth has nothing to do with it. Some people insist "There's something out there." There certainly is something out there, but zoologically speaking it's probably not a dinosaur or the missing link between a mastodon and a trout. Logically speaking the sightings may be a large pike or even the odd sturgeon which over the years have missed the nets, traps and hooks of commercial fishermen, sport fishermen and researchers from the governments of New York, Vermont and countless academic institutions. Champy may also be a manifestation resulting from a combination of wind, wave and reflected or refracted sunlight.

To understand what this author is alluding to, lets look at our Scottish brethren in the environs of Loch Ness. Nessy has been seen by hundreds. Many excursions were launched to find it. Correspondingly, many papers and books have been written by crytozoologists to explain the unexplainable. (Crytozoologist by definition is a biologist who cannot find gainful employment and uses the best pseudo-scientific principles and mumbo-jumbo he can to manufacture and impress the local populous and to affirm that there is in fact, "Something out there!" and thereby make a buck or two.)

The local people living near Loch Ness are glad to tell researcher and tourist alike their own tale of personal encounter with Nessy as they sip on their whisky. (Has anyone ever studied the correlation between the consumption of Scottish whisky and the frequency of Nessy sightings?)

As these tales are told and searches are made, the local people supply everyone with food, drink, room, fuel and various and sundry supplies and equipment. The sound you hear is the cash register ringing! And if you ask the local folk whether Nessy exists and what form it may take, their answer is, "There's something out there." However, no "something" has ever been found.

So, back to North America and Lake Champlain and the hopefully unsolved mystery of Champ.

The Japanese had invaded. They hired boats, they purchased room and board, they may have even purchased fuel and marina space and rented boats.

Everyone breathlessly followed the story. And what did they find? They stated unequivocally, "There's something out there!" However, no "something" has ever been found.

I do not know whether the Japanese researchers ever returned to Lake Champlain. There is one thing I do know though, there is no Lake Champlain monster, except of course unless I have had too much scotch!

All rights reserved Gerald Desko 2012