The Olsen Champ Video: A Year Later

A two-minute cellphone video of a “something” swimming in Lake Champlain was taken at sunrise on Sunday May 31, 2009, by Burlington resident Eric Olsen, 37. What is shown crossses the mouth of the small cove and beach area near Oakledge Park, Burlington, Vermont.

When the story broke early in June a year ago, it held great promise for telling us more about the Champ cryptids that appear to exist in Lake Champlain, a body of water that overlaps into Quebec and the states of New York and Vermont.

However, Eric Olsen was not interested in being involved with the media circus, and all news attention disappeared. But that does not mean we should shelf the investigation.

This is extremely interesting footage, worthy of serious cryptozoological study, as an unknown, a “lake cryptid.” After all, we still have no clear understanding of what this was.

The following stabilized version of the Eric Olsen-obtained video was produced by John Donald Carlucci of Darke Media.

“If this pans out, this will be the most convincing moving picture of this creature,” said Loren Coleman, a leading cryptozoologist and author of The Field Guide to Lake Monsters. “And that’s the kind of evidence we need to get closer to what these things really are.”

But, due to Olsen being unavailable, what is the present state of the study of this footage? Why drop further examinations? What do you think it shows?

Brought to Cryptomundo’s attention via “boyinthemachine,” from Jason Ficks of West Coast Sasquatch, here are a few stills of this May 31, 2009, “Champ video”:

Bernard Heuvelmans’ Super-Otter (above) compared to images from Eric Olsen’s new footage (above the Super-Otter and below).

Loren Coleman 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.

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