We are the champions

"America's Loch Ness Monster" is the very first episode of "MonsterQuest", History Channel's never-ending series about cryptids, the paranormal and scary creatures in general. The episode is available on the DVD "MonsterQuest: Complete Season One" or free of charge on Youtube, so you don't have to buy this single-episode DVD, which seems to have become unavailable anyway.

"America's Loch Ness Monster" is an even-handed look at the lake monster supposedly lurking in the waters of Lake Champlain at the US-Canadian border. The monster has been nicknamed Champ. Eye-witnesses, true believers and skeptics are interviewed on the show, and "MonsterQuest" launches an expedition of their own hoping to find some hard evidence of Champ's existence. Alas, they fail - one problem with this series is that they virtually always fail to find the "monsters" they are looking for!

One popular speculation concerning Champ's identity is that we're dealing with a Plesiosaur. Scientists consider this idea very far-fetched indeed (Plesiosaurs are long extinct and known only from fossils), and propose that "Champ" sighting are misidentified lake sturgeons or other big fish. The most sensational piece of possible evidence for Champ is Sandra Mansi's photo from 1977, which does indeed show something Plesiosaur-like. Skeptics consider it a log photographed under somewhat unusual circumstances. "America's Loch Ness Monster" also features an interview with a lady who claims to have seen two Champs on land - one was brown, and the other was green! Somehow, this particular witness report challenges our credulity...

Like other episodes of "MonsterQuest", this one too is incredibly dragging, but if you manage to sit through it, it does give a relatively good overview of the mystery of the Lake Champlain monster. I therefore give it three stars.