New “Champ” Videos Need Analysis
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 15th, 2012
These are videos from the July 2011 trip to Lake Champlain, taken by Precious Ortiz Anderson:
Video 1
Video 2
What has been written with them follows:
“This is a video I took ar Button Bay State Park in Vergennes Vermont on July 30, 2011. I am a 16 year old amature videophotographer and this is the first video I shot of ‘champ’/’champs’. I own all rights to this video.”
and
“This is the second film I shot at lake champlain of ‘champ’/’champs’. If you watch from 1:23-1:55 and look toward the horizon you will see a couple champ animals moving in the direction of the boat. From 3:00 to about 3:15 there is a champ moving behind the ducks.
I own all rights to this video.”
The individuals involved ran out of funding before they could get these analyzed. But Ms. Anderson uploaded them on YouTube to share, as we have done here. Since November 2011, the videos have virally spread through travel and other non-cryptozoology sites, as far afield as even “Pakistan Tube,” due to them being on YouTube. Perhaps it is time we took a serious look at these “Champ” videos?
I look forward to Cryptomundians who have done screen captures and stabilizations before, as well as other forms of analyses, to contribute to more clearly observing what is shown on these videos. Thank you.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
All I see is a rogue wave. That happens in very deep lakes.
Looks like a standing wave, IMHO.
Looks like a standing wave, nothing more, IMHO.
Sorry about double-post.
Boat wakes.. ) :
If anyone thinks that’s anything more than a wave/wake, then they’re delusional. People see what they want to see.
looks like waves. plus the video is shaky and at times out of focus. i would pass doing an analysis on this.
I too, have to go with natural wave formations (and/or boat wakes..esp in the second video boat wakes) that one sees all the time in EVERY half-way deep lake.
Gotta say I love that “I own the complete rights to these videos” bit.
What you don’t have is authentic Champ footage.
waves
I don’t see anything that looks like more than waves.
Please be respectful in your comments to the fact that this is a 16-year-old young woman who is sharing her best efforts at taping something that she found to be anomalous. Her family is interested in analyzing this footage to look at the issue of misidentifications.
Comments that verge on the edge of name-calling will not be tolerated. Please be mature in your remarks you place here to be approved or you won’t see them published.
Only by encouraging young people to take a chance and photograph what they see, and then send it to zoologists and cryptozoologists can we hope to begin to investigate the possible new species that are out there. This is part of the mission of the International Cryptozoology Museum.
Thank you.
Upon closer inspection, I agree that these are waves. Thank you for sharing though, Precious!
I do believe they are just waves. At any point where there might have been more, the filmer either loses focus, a wave is too much or looks completely away from the scene. Also, I didn’t see any curiosity or concern from the houseboat towards the end. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the boat in the background didn’t create these waves. I think that the waves that hinder the good video can be timed back to the beginning of the video.
I think the young lady filmed some waves. In the second video you can see what looks to be some good sized swells. Some of these probably broke and that is what she was seeing. I can understand how this water effect could have been mistaken for a critter or critters. I think she did a good job getting the footage. Who knows, after further study the wave theory could be proven wrong therefore my hat goes off to her for documenting this event on video.
First look quickly looks interesting. After reading the comments and paying close attention, absolutely waves. You can even make out the curls of the wave. I think the constant camera movement and zoom/focus issues make it more mysterious as usually happens with crypto vids lol!
I’m going with wave on this one. And pass the motion sickness meds please….
Waves……nothing else…….but waves.
Loren: Thanks.
When there’s downright tomfoolery going on, that’s one thing. But to lambaste something – and the person who submitted it – as if Your Life Has Been Irreparably Crippled is just a bit over the top. Don’t open them (I didn’t open this one) if you don’t want to come here.
I salute everybody who thinks they have something and honestly submits it.
(Why didn’t I open it? Every lake monster video I’ve seen comes to no more than: inconclusive. Wish we had more evidence. Just gleaning the comments, I’m not seeing a scientific rush to Champlain – which is what will be needed.)
I’m sorry to say that it looks like waves to me, too.
But I do not want to discourage Precious Ortiz and any other reader who submits honest videos like this.
In a previous thread, I stated the futility of trying to establish the existence of cryptids on video evidence alone. But that is not to say they have no value in building up a body of evidence. I would encourage Precious to continue with her research. And I want to thank her for sharing her finding with us.
DWA, can you think of a video of a cryptid that isn’t inconclusive?
Didn’t look like waves to me.
@ DWA: Hope you’ll reconsider your “non-viewing” stance in this case – it’s ABSOLUTELY COMPELLING footage! Nah, you’re right; video of objects in open water, shot at long range and at high magnification are, by their very nature, poor video and open to (mis)interpretation.
My take on it? I’d like to suggest something about Otters Swimming In A Row; but that’s been beaten to death – mostly by myself(!) – in the past…
In any case, to all you young videographers out there: by all means, continue to send us your videos. Who knows what you might have filmed? And I, for one, enjoy viewing/speculating on those that are submitted. Keep ’em coming!
PoeticsOfBigfoot:
Maybe I should put it another way: I haven’t seen one that hasn’t made me go, at most: potentially interesting, maybe, but not from this video.
The Patterson/Gimlin film – to cite an almost unique example – has been analyzed extensively. Every expert that has reviewed it has done one of the following:
(1) made an irrational dismissal not warranted by the evidence right there on the film (e.g., Napier, who otherwise thought the sasquatch could be real);
(2) said, boy, I’m not sure but it’s intriguing (which in a few cases could be interpreted from context: I think it’s real, I just can’t say so here); or
(3) said: this is a compelling testament to the sasquatch’s existence.
None of those results are possible in any water-cryptid vid I’ve seen.
AreWeThereYeti:
Here I am, back here, and I still don’t feel one scintilla of temptation to watch it. Maybe for Precious, I will. And I would say two things to her and to anyone who submits something like this:
1) remember that your video may not capture everything you experienced; supplement it with as much as you honestly can say in terms of what made it intriguing.
2) remember that those who watch this don’t have those supplemental cues; what seems like proof to you may not be enough, on a screen, for everyone else.
DWA:
Amen, brother.
Hard to honestly say what it truly is. At first its easy to say its just waves. When I slow the video down and view it frame by frame I can’t tell if it is a creature, waves, or beavers. In my honest opinion I can not tell what it is from the footage given. Could it be a champ creature? Yes. Could it be nothing more then just a wave? Yes.
Kudos to the young individual for taking the time to film this and share this with all of us. Don’t give up. I know champ is real. Not everyone will be a believer. I once wasn’t a believer, until I saw one with my own eyes.
At least in the first video, you might have gotten a better look at your subject if you’d gone to the zoom right away. I saw you zoom in later, so I know you had the capability. Read up on waves and their like, and then walk the water so you can get the feel of what are waves vs. ducks, fish, etc. Every hour spent seeing nothing is not time wasted.
As for Champ, keep shooting and keep looking. The Sandra Mansi photos are rare…and yes, I consider that pretty good stuff. The other video footage for water critters I’m most intrigued and excited about is a piece that ABC nabbed hold of and we haven’t seen since…think it was back in 2002 (ish) of two guys on a fishing boat and something comes up under the boat–I didn’t think it was photoshopped and it looked like some living thing cruising along under the surface. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I can’t remember the details of the critter…
I agree on the water cryptid front…evidence is extremely sparse and what there is available is often at long range and the eye witnesses or photos or vids are on a two dimensional plane with the water…so we’re only seeing a skim of what may really be there, and with weather and waves it’s really hard to distinguish. I would have to pick the cryptid that is probably the hardest to hunt for…:)
As for Precious, keep shooting, and keep a notebook with you so you can instantly jot down any pertinent information if you have more encounters…place, time, weather, condition of the water, details, details, details…
@SHJ, I completely agree about the ABC “Champ” footage. I have no idea what it shows but it seems to have really disappeared and never received any significant analysis that I have seen. Now, I say that as a card carrying skeptic. But, I would like someone with knowledge and skill to look at that ABC video and offer a reasoned opinion on what it shows. Here is a link for those who may not recall the video.
It appears to be constructive antinodal interference–waves.
I applaud the young videographer though. Getting out of the chair and going out, in an effort to capture on video a cryptid, is something rarely seen today. Good job!
The video was pretty steady compared to some I have seen. I also think the videographer did a pretty good job of zooming in and zooming out, recording known object like the raft, to give a size of scale. That is important.
My only recommendation to the videographer is to try using the manual focus instead of the autofocus. In monochromatic subject matter or in low light conditions, autofocus can waste precious time. It might serve you well to start practicing at using the manual focus. In time, you will be able to focus faster than the autofocus system on your camera. That way, you will not miss an important piece of footage.
They look like waves to me, they crest above the water line, this occurs when the water above and below are flowing in two different directions I’ve seen this many times out in SF bay.
Very Squatchy
Stop the first video at 40 seconds….does NOT look like a wave.
Something black right there…LOOK!
After some minor investigation into the pieces and using a program called “Magna-Glass”…the moving items appear to be waves created in the aftermath of a boat wake. They have foamy appearances to the tops. That being said, to the beginning videographer; don’t let this get you down. Cryptid investigation of any kind of creature takes dedication, constant learning and evolving of your techniques to improve the quality of captured moments, and hard work. Don’t be discouraged. Further insight into the pieces tell me other things that wouldn’t be conducive to a large swimming animal. The lines of movement wouldn’t be moving in the same direction or angle if the animal was wiggling it body either up or down, or side to side. That kind of movement would create diverse tracks in the water. Watch an eel sometime and notice the way the water runs off in different directiosn as it wiggles. In fact it would greatly disturb the natural flow of the surrounding water with an animal the size of the suspected Champy. Please don’t allow some of the comments that are a little more harsh to get you down…in this field you will encounter critics on all spectrums of the manner scheme. We need young people with energy to continue the work othrs have started. My last bit of useless direction I will attempt to give you will be my last, but the most important. Practice your videography frequently and learn to use the camera by touch you know it so well. Theory here is if you can catch a moment in time when a turkey or deer crosses your lawn or local state park, when the time comes on a vacation or outting to catch some real good stuff…you’ll be ready. Keep up the good work!
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