This is the most famous photo of Champ, the Lake Champlain monster. It was taken in 1977 by Sandra Mansi who was out with her family on the lake. As her sons waded in the water and she and her fiancé looked after them, Sandra noticed what she thought was a school of fish about 150 yards from the shore. After a little bit “the head and neck broke the surface of the water” and when her fiancé quickly ushered her sons out of the water, she snapped the photo with her camera.

Sandra estimated that the creature surfaced for four to seven minutes as they watched it. The original photo has been looked at by several experts and they can find no evidence of tampering with the photo to fake it. Some believe that the image merely shows a log in the water, but others believe this is solid proof that there is something in Lake Champlain.