Free Lake Monster Mysteries by Benjamin Radford Page A

apparent at first glance, but the “head” and “hump” aren’t clearly connected. The neck and hump of the creature (if that’s what it is) are at a very unnaturalangle and position relative to each other. It’s difficult to picture how the gently sloping hump on the right could be anatomically connected to the neck, which emerges from the water at about an eighty-five-degree angle. The hump slopes down toward the base of the neck just a few feet away. In his book on Champ, Zarzynski admits that the head and hump are not obviously connected. He does, however, show an “electronic heavy enhancement of the Mansi photograph demonstrating ‘that the monster’s back and head are connected.’” I remain unconvinced; the “heavy enhancement” seems to have done little but emphasize the dark patches—which would, of course, include the head’s shadow. The neck portion doesn’t align with the hump and in fact clearly emerges from the water away from the hump and supposed body ( figure 2.7 ). The reason that the head and hump seem to be connected is the presence of a dark patch in the water between the two. I suggest that this is in fact a shadow from the neck and head. In the photograph, that area is not nearly as dark as the head and hump and has all the characteristics of ashadow. Furthermore, Mansi’s own account corroborates the shadow hypothesis. She claims that the photo was taken at around noon. If this is true, then at the lake’s latitude, the sunlight should be coming from the south, casting a shadow downward and north (to the right in the photo)—exactly where the neck and hump meet.

    Figure 2.8 Some researchers suggest that Champ may be a plesiosaur, a marine reptile
that died out over fifty million years ago. (Illustration by Benjamin Radford)

    Figure 2.9 Driftwood and tree stumps can often take on strange and fantastic forms, including those of lake monsters. This six-foot piece of drifnvood was found on Lake Champlain in the 1980s. (Photo by Bruce Rowland, courtesy of the Plattsburgh Press-Republican )
    There doesn’t seem to be enough space between the base of the neck and the hump to plausibly account for the rest of the submerged body. It’s hard to conceive of a large aquatic animal whose morphology would allow for such a tortuous positioning. One of the most popular candidates for Champ is a prehistoric creature called the plesiosaur ( figure 2.8 ), but the neck length and body shape are hard to reconcile with the object in the photograph.
    The object is supposedly a head and neck, yet (unlike all other known animals) there are no discernible organs—no mouth, no eyes, no nose, no ears, no sensory organs at all. It is simply a curved, ambiguous shape in the water, not identifiable as a head and neck other than by inference. It does seem to have a vaguely head-shaped tip, but a root sticking up from a partially submerged tree stump could look identical. Roots and branches can take many gnarled, twisted, and fantastic forms, and the shape in the photo wouldn’t be unusual. In fact, through the years, many people have found natural roots that resemble the heads and bodies of lake monsters. One striking photo of a serpentine (but wooden) head and neck can be found on page 99 of Zarzynski’s Champ: Beyond the Legend. Another—found near Lake Champlain—is reproduced here from an undated photo in the Plattsburgh Press-Republican ( figure 2.9 ).
    Behavior and Movement. Unlike other animals, the lake “creature” was oblivious to noise and movement. Despite two children playing in the water less than 150 feet away and a grown man shouting at it, the “creature” didn’t turn its head toward the source of the sound and was apparently unaware of the four humans directly behind it. As Mansi reported, “It did not even look our way—and the kids were loud, they were having a great