{"id":155,"date":"2018-10-01T09:30:50","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T09:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/view-from-the-middle\/?p=155"},"modified":"2022-08-25T18:04:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T18:04:52","slug":"the-capital-region-and-its-mythical-beasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/view-from-the-middle\/2018\/10\/the-capital-region-and-its-mythical-beasts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Capital Region and its Mythical Beasts."},"content":{"rendered":"

In the good old days before the internet, if you wanted sensationalized, unsubstantiated facts, and absurd story-lines, one had to peruse the check-out lines at your local supermarket, for it was there where you would find the “rags,” a.k.a., the tabloids.\u00a0 These “news” magazines were sordid sheets that filled the public with salacious gossip, fashion trends, crazy diets, alien sightings, roaming creatures, and mythical beasts that prowled the night.\u00a0 Most of it was either “fake news” to borrow a phrase, or at the very least, exaggeration to the point of absurdity in order to titilate the public.\u00a0 (Not unlike your local “Community News,” with their stories of high school sports, and garage sales, and breathless reporting regarding the new skateboarding park, and other such nonsense that nobody would ever believe.)\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Alien sightings as well as the occasional mythical beast recordings are usually the stories that grab our attention first.\u00a0 We so want these things to be true.\u00a0 The idea for example that we are not alone in the universe is something that has intrigued mankind for almost its entire existence.\u00a0 How wonderful would it be to know that there are other intelligent beings zipping around the universe, perhaps looking for interstellar BFF’s?\u00a0 Unfortunately, at least according to the late Stephen Hawking, if this is true, then we are most likely royally screwed.\u00a0 Hawking claimed that if there were other intelligent beings, and he believed that there were, then we’d best keep our proverbial shades drawn since they aren’t likely to be friendly.\u00a0 In fact, Hawking believed that they would come here, use us for our resources, and then dump us in a wormhole like so much trailer trash.<\/p>\n

However, if you read the trashier tabloids you will often encounter stories of people who say that aliens have already been here, and for some reason, have an unhealthy obsession with probing people in their most intimate of areas.\u00a0 (As a man over 50, I’ve already been probed on multiple occasions, and all I know is, while my insurance took care of the bill, I’m not sure they will pay for an alien probe seeing that it would be performed out of network.\u00a0 Thanks a lot Obama!)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>There are multiple issues regarding these kinds of stories, not the least of which is that they always seem to happen to people who either live way out in the woods or in a trailer in the desert, or in countries where it’s hard to verify whether their stories are true or not.\u00a0 Russia seems to be a favorite place for aliens to probe. (Literally and figuratively.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Is Putin aware of this?\u00a0 Does he allow such nonsense to go on?\u00a0 Sometimes it’s a place like Uzbekistan, or Kazakhstan, or some other such location where aliens seem to enjoy running wild.<\/p>\n

It’s the same with mythical beasts.\u00a0 They always seem to appear in places where it is difficult to verify whether the stories are true or not.\u00a0 Just once I’d like to see a Yeti<\/em> in Clifton Park. (I’m not counting the Yeti I use to keep my beer cold either.)\u00a0<\/em>How about a nice friendly sighting of Bigfoot<\/em> in Colonie Center<\/em>?\u00a0 Would it be so terrible to drive down the road and find that Bigfoot<\/em> is waiting on line at\u00a0Jumpin’\u00a0<\/em>Jack’s<\/em>\u00a0in Scotia because he also enjoys coleslaw on his burgers?\u00a0 Once, just once, I’d love to see this type of sighting near where I live so I can actually believe that such wild happenstance is possible.\u00a0 Well, it would appear I’ve come to the right place.<\/p>\n

Incredibly, the Capital Region is host to not one, but two mythical creatures.\u00a0 The first is a beast whose story has been told and retold for many years.\u00a0 I first heard the tale of the great leviathan known as Champ<\/em>\u00a0back in the fall of 1994.\u00a0 At the school where I teach, Rensselaer High School, one of the requirements that all seniors must meet is to make a 20 minute presentation to a panel of teachers on practically any topic that may be of interest to the student.\u00a0 Topics have included historical events, great artists, sports figures, local traditions, and of course, unsolved mysteries.\u00a0 It was here where a student of mine told us about a creature that lurks in the depths of Lake Champlain.\u00a0 He is known as Champ<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If the story of a great serpent like beast trolling through the waters of a fresh-water lake sound familiar to you, then you know\u00a0 your unsolved mysteries.\u00a0 Scotland’s famous and infamous Loch Ness Monster is often considered the “gold standard” of mysterious aquatic beasts. Champ<\/em>\u00a0may not have the international fame of the Loch Ness Monster, but it has its fans to be sure.\u00a0 How do these two great sea monsters compare?\u00a0 Well…<\/p>\n

Loch Ness Monster (Fun Facts)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The land of kilts, thistles, haggis, and instantaneous rage is the home of one of the world’s most fascinating myths, the story of Nessie<\/em>.\u00a0 Loch Ness (Loch is Lake in Welsh.)\u00a0<\/em>is an enormous freshwater lake located in central Scotland.\u00a0 It is a long, narrow shaped lake, not unlike Lake Champlain.\u00a0 It holds more water than all of the lakes and rivers in England and Scotland combined.\u00a0 It is only six degrees Celsius all year, or 42 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 (Prime for shrinkage gentlemen.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Loch Ness is a dark and murky lake which would explain why it’s so difficult to spot a sea monster swimming around in its depths.\u00a0 The first sightings of Nessie\u00a0<\/em>dates back to 565 AD.\u00a0 The myth of Nessie<\/em>\u00a0really took off in 1933 when George Spicer (No relation to Sean)\u00a0<\/em>reported a sighting.\u00a0 Nessie<\/em>\u00a0which means “pure” is good for the local economy, generating 25 million pounds annually.\u00a0 Some believe it might be a plesiosaurus, which had its heyday around 205 million years ago.\u00a0 There have been dozens of searches, and despite the fact that there are approximately 25 sightings per year of the monster, no official search has ever turned up anything.\u00a0 This includes the time when Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” herself planned to bring in dolphins from America (Larry Csonka and Dan Marino?)\u00a0<\/em>to search for Nessie, <\/em>and still nothing turned up.\u00a0 Most of the famous photographs depicting a\u00a0 sea-serpent like creature poking its head up above Loch Ness have turned out to be hoaxes.<\/p>\n

Champ (Fun Facts)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lake Champlain, named after the great French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, the man known as the “Father of New France,” and the person who made being snooty all the rage in the “New World,” is a relatively narrow lake running 120 miles along the New York and Vermont border.\u00a0 It is located in northeastern New York, and its northern shore reaches into Canada.\u00a0 Like its cloudy cousin Loch Ness, it is long and narrow, and like Loch Ness, it supposedly houses a mysterious dinosaur like creature in its depths.\u00a0 Unlike the murky Loch Ness, more than 200,000 people drink from Lake Champlain, and a few years ago, supporters of Lake Champlain petitioned for it to be awarded the status of “Great Lake.”\u00a0 That’s correct, Lake Champlain was being championed as being worthy of becoming the sixth Great Lake.\u00a0 A bold step to be sure, however while those who sought this incredible honor for the lake they loved were plucky and determined, Lake Champlain was refused Great Lake status, and has been forced to wear the label of being just “pretty good.”\u00a0 As for Champ<\/em>, he is believed to be anywhere from approximately 20 to 80 feet long.\u00a0 He allegedly has a serpentine like body, and has several distinct humps on his back.\u00a0 His head allegedly looks like that of a snake or a dog.\u00a0 No eyewitness account of Champ<\/em>\u00a0has ever been substantiated, but the legend goes back centuries, and local Native American tribes used to warn Europeans not to disturb the monsters that live in the lake.<\/p>\n

While everybody loves a good sea monster, perhaps the most famous mythical beast known to man is\u00a0 the enigma known as Bigfoot<\/em>, or as the Natives referred to him, the Sasquatch<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Bigfoot<\/em>, or Sasquatch<\/em>, is allegedly a seven foot tall man\/beast, covered with hair, and apparently, has a healthy sized foot.\u00a0 Some have suggested that the Bigfoot<\/em> is the much sought after missing link, the elusive primate who is missing in evolutionary theory.\u00a0 Others have put forth the theory that Bigfoot<\/em>\u00a0emanates from a group of hominids that have somehow escaped detection from modern man.\u00a0 Still, the more skeptical amongst us have simply dismissed it as a hoax, and essentially nothing more than utter nonsense.\u00a0 This idea gained steam when a few years ago, the most famous sighting of\u00a0Bigfoot,\u00a0<\/em>the one captured on eight mm film, was admitted to be a fraud by the person who allegedly filmed it.<\/p>\n