Since the 1970s, the Loch Ness Monster has become so famous that it doesn’t need much of an introduction. The craze surrounding the monster’s existence, however, has faded quite a bit since the 1980s. Basically, for several decades, there have been sporadic sightings of a large aquatic creature in Loch Ness, Scotland. A few pictures have been captured, as well as a grainy film, but none of those have ever been proven to be authentic. Believers in the monster think it is actually a group of Jurassic Period aquatic dinosaurs (known as plesiosauruses) that somehow escaped extinction. All reported sightings of the Loch Ness monster describe a form and length (twenty to thirty feet) that sounds similar to the plesiosaurus.
Of course, academics are skeptical that a breeding population of plesiosauruses could have survived this long without being definitively discovered. You would think at least one of their bodies would’ve washed up on shore by now, right?
Minor details, like the lack of a body, haven’t stopped interest, or sightings, of “Nessie” (as the Loch Ness Monster is often affectionately called), nor have they stopped similar sightings in the good ole U.S. of A.
That’s right, America has a couple of its own versions of the Loch Ness Monster!
Located primarily in Vermont, but spilling over the international border into Quebec, Lake Champlain is believed by many locals to be the home of one or more creatures known as “Champ.” Although there have been far fewer sightings of Champ than Nessie, most witnesses report seeing a similar a plesiosaurus type creature emerge from the lake before quickly going under water.
A 1977 photograph taken by local Sandra Messi certainly makes it seem like there could be some large creature swimming in the water, but skeptics believe the object in question is merely a floating log. Still, people continue to claim to see the creature to this day. In 2003, a team with the Discovery Channel even recorded sounds coming from the lake that were like those of small whales or dolphins.
Because it is an inland lake, Lake Champlain may seem like an unlikely place to house Nessie’s American cousin, but a further look at the lake reveals that it is actually very similar to Loch Ness. Like the latter, it is very long, at over one hundred miles, but fairly narrow, with a maximum width of fourteen miles. With an average depth of sixty-four feet, t would also be deep enough to hide a few such creatures.
The locals of Lake Champlain certainly believe in Champ—or at least they say so for the sake of tourist dollars.
Another one of Nessie’s American cousins inhabits the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and has become known as “Chessie.” There are even fewer sightings of Chessie than Champ and photographic evidence is also less convincing. The descriptions of Chessie also differ slightly from that of Champ and Nessie, which suggests that he may belong to a different Jurassic family.
Chessie has been described as being about the same length as Champ and Nessie, but more like a long zeuglodon than a plesiosaurus.
Since the Chesapeake Bay is connected directly to the Atlantic Ocean, Chessie’s true identity presents a host of possibilities, including manta rays, sharks, small whales, or even escaped/released anaconda snakes.
One thing is for sure, if these creatures really do exist this would make for one interesting family reunion!