PORT HENRY – A Vermont legislator has proposed creating an “X-Files” type task force that would look into not just UFOs, but the existence of Champ, the Lake Champlain monster.
Vermont Rep. Troy Headrick (I-Burlington) has introduced bill H.654 to form a state task force to evaluate reports of unidentified aerospace and underwater objects, assess airspace safety risks, and coordinate with federal agencies and researchers to draft future policies that deal with the phenomena.
Currently in the Vermont House of Representatives Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee, the bill is likely to come up for a vote sometime this session.
“For the cryptids fans in the room, there’s an underwater provision to this as well, so if we want to investigate Champ, we can do that,” Headrick told the committee. “As policymakers, I think we have an obligation to remain attentive” to such phenomena.
The task force would be comprised of members from Vermont public safety and transportation agencies, lawmakers and experts in the field.
One of those experts is Katy Elizabeth, director of the Champ Search group of Port Henry.
“If this proposal was something about biological underwater phenomenon about an unknown biological aquatic species in Lake Champlain, I would love to get involved and help in the study,” she said by email.
The bill also covers UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena, and drones.
“The proliferation of drone use, this is where I see the need for data,” Headrick told the committee.
He said drones are starting to be seen everywhere and are delivering packages and groceries in some urban areas as their use becomes more widespread. Drones bring with them safety concerns as they proliferate, he said.
Elizabeth said New York and Vermont each have laws protecting the Champ species.
“The scientific study and collected data by my research of the Champ phenomenon was recognized so much in Port Henry, New York, that a law, which I proposed in 2018, was passed unanimously by New York State Legislature,” she said.
“I am hoping that the Champ protection law in Vermont, HR 19, which was passed in April 1982, protecting Champ from any willful act resulting in death, injury or harassment, will be updated like the New York protection law was in 2018. It seems with this new interest in unknown phenomenon by the state of Vermont, that may be a possibility.”
Most Vermont Champ sightings have been in Button Bay in the town of Panton, Vermont, while New York-side sightings have been concentrated in Bulwagga Bay in the Town of Moriah’s Port Henry hamlet.
Elizabeth said she’ll be back in Port Henry this summer to continue her long search for the Lake Champlain creature aboard her research vessel, the Kelpie III.
“As far as the interest in the Champ animals in Lake Champlain, if the legislature in the state of Vermont was interested in the phenomenon and the scientific study from a biological aspect, which I have been doing for the last 14 years, it would be a start as far as bringing more public awareness that the lake holds an endangered, uncatalogued species,” she said. “We need to do our due diligence to ensure the lake is protected as well for future generations.”
Champ has been sighted in Lake Champlain for hundreds of years, but no definitive proof of the creature’s existence has emerged. Some believe it’s a prehistoric throwback like a plesiosaur, while others says it’s a very large sturgeon.