b, Champ made the New York Times... -- Albany MSNBC Refugees Forum

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Date Posted: Friday, August 19, 03:31:39am
Author: BJ
Subject: b, Champ made the New York Times...

Vermonters Wonder What They Saw in Lak
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 18, 2005
Filed at 6:57 p.m. ET

CHARLOTTE, Vt. (AP) -- Two Vermonters fishing for salmon last month just beyond the mouth of the Ausable River on the New York side of the lake saw ripples on the smooth surface.

Later, when they saw it again, Dick Affolter and Pete Bodette, Affolter's 34-year-old stepson, used a digital camera to take pictures and video.

''We saw something on that lake we've never seen before,'' said Bodette. ''Is what we saw the same thing other people saw, and they called Champ? I don't know.''

Champ is the name that has been given through the years to a serpentine-type animal that some believe hides in the depths of the lake, although there's never been any irrefutable evidence.

The two seasoned anglers could not identify what species of fish it might have been, one they estimated to be 15 feet long that was breaking the surface where the lake is close to 200 feet deep.

The Burlington Free Press, which has reviewed the digital recordings, reported ''they clearly show something of significant size moving just under the surface. It does not appear to be a boat wake or a school of fish or cormorants. In one frame it almost looks as if the head of an alligator-like animal breaks the surface, the setting sun reflecting off what could be an eye.''

The modern legend of the lake creature known as Champ dates back to 1609 when French explorer Samuel de Champlain described a fish with ''dangerous teeth'' that the native peoples said grew to 10 feet long.

Strange sightings on the lake can be written off as a number of unusual natural phenomena -- from large lake sturgeon basking on the surface, to a school of large fish chasing bait, to a family of otters swimming. Yet throughout the years, hundreds of people claim to have spotted the mythical Champ.

Steve Smith, director of facilities at ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, has seen Bodette's and Affolter's digital images.

''I don't know what it is,'' Smith said. ''The majority of the video is very indiscernible. In one frame, he seems to feel there's an eye coming out of the water, but to me, I thought I was looking at an otter's nose. I've never seen anything that definitively proves the existence of Champ, and that video doesn't, either.''

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Replies:

Re: b, Champ made the New York Times... -- b, Friday, August 19, 08:39:01pm
- Re: b, Champ made the New York Times... -- BJ, Tuesday, August 23, 01:54:24pm