On January 21, 2013, I appeared as a guest on Unknown Origins Radio with hosts Mark Johnson & Loren DePinto. The show concentrated on Bigfoot and cryptids...but there was a brief discussion on the Pine Barrens, NJ and the Jersey Devil. I was asked for my opinion of the creature and if I had received sighting reports related to the beast. Most of the reports I have received were confidential, though I have received reports of other phenomena in the Pine Barrens. There is a stigma attached to the Jersey Devil...people are wary of reporting sightings of this creature (though I think it may be more supernatural than flesh & blood). I'm not sure if the reluctance is because of the fear of ridicule or that the legend has some ominous bearing to it. Anyway, I'm going to offer a brief synopsis of the legend then add a few reports from the area.
According to the legend, Mrs. Jane Leeds came from a poor family who stretched out an existence in the Pine Barrens, a rugged place with vast forests, sandy soil and patches of swamp. In 1735, Mrs. Leeds discovered that she was pregnant with her 13th child. She complained to her friends and relatives that the “Devil can take the next one”, and he did. When the baby was born, he was simply described as a monster. He immediately took on a grotesque appearance and grew to more than 20 feet long, with a reptilian body, a horse’s head, bat wings and a long, forked tail. He thrashed about the Leeds home for a bit and then vanished up the chimney. The creature, or the 'Jersey Devil' as he was dubbed, began haunting the Pine Barrens.
As the legend spread, even grown men declined to venture out at night. It was said that the beast carried off large dogs, geese, cats, small livestock and even occasional children. The children were never seen again, but the animal remains were often found. The Devil was also said to dry up the milk of cows by breathing on them and to kill off the fish in the streams, threatening the livelihood of the entire region.
In 1740, the frightened residents begged a local minister to exorcize the creature and the stories stated that the exorcism would last 100 years, however the Devil returned to the Pine Barrens on at least two occasions before the century was over. It is said that naval hero Commodore Stephen Decatur visited the Hanover Iron Works in the Barrens in 1800 to test the plant’s cannonballs. One day on the firing range, he noticed a strange creature winging overhead. Taking aim, he fired at the monster and while some say that his shot struck it, the Devil continued on its path.
The second sighting took place a few years later and this time the Devil was seen by another respected witness. Joseph Bonaparte, the former king of Spain and the brother of Napoleon, leased a country house near Bordertown from 1816 to 1839. He reported seeing the Jersey Devil while hunting game one day in the Pine Barrens.
In 1840, as the minister warned, the Devil returned and brought terror to the region once again. It snatched sheep from their pens and preyed on children who lingered outside after sunset. People all across South Jersey locked their doors and hung a lantern on the doorstep, hoping to keep the creature away.
The stories continued to be told and the lore of the Devil was recalled throughout the 1800’s, although actual sightings of the creature were few. Then, in 1909, the Jersey Devil returned again and literally thousands of people spotted the monster or saw his footprints. It became so bad that schools closed and people refused to go outside.
A police officer named James Sackville spotted the monster while walking his beat one night. He was passing along a dark alley when a winged creature hopped into the street and let out a horrific scream. Sackville fired his revolver at the beast but it spread its wings and vanished into the air.
On January 19, 1909, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Evans were awakened in the early morning by the sound of a large animal on the roof of their shed. They described it as: “about three and a half feet high, with a face like a collie and a head like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long and its back legs were like those of a crane and it had horse’s hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them.”
One afternoon of that same week, a Mrs. J.H, White was taking clothes off her line when she noticed a strange creature huddled in the corner of her yard. She screamed and fainted and her husband rushed out the back door to find his wife on the ground and the Devil close by, “spurting flames”. She chased the monster with a clothesline prop and it leapt over the fence and vanished.
A short time later, the creature struck again. This time, it attacked a dog belonging to Mrs. Mary Sorbinski in south Camden. When she heard the cry of her pet in the darkness, she dashed outside and drove the Devil away with a broom. The creature fled, but not before tearing a chunk of flesh from the dog. Mrs. Sorbinski carried her wounded pet inside and immediately called the police.
By the time that patrolmen arrived, a crowd of more than 100 people were gathered at the house. The crowd was witness to the piercing screams that suddenly erupted from nearby. The police officers emptied their revolvers at the shadow that loomed against the night sky, but the Devil escaped once again.
Eyewitness accounts of the Devil filled the newspapers, as well as photos and reports of cloven footprints that had been found in yards, woods and parking lots. The Philadelphia Zoo offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Devil, but there were no takers.
Then, as suddenly as it had come, the Devil vanished again.
The creature did not return again until 1927. A cab driver was changing a tire one night while headed for Salem. He had just finished when his car began shaking violently. He looked up to see a gigantic, winged figure pounding on the roof of his car. The driver, leaving his jack and flat tire behind, jumped into the car and quickly drove away. He reported the encounter to the Salem police.
In August 1930, berry pickers at Leeds Point and Mays Landing reported seeing the Devil, crashing through the fields and devouring blueberries and cranberries. It was reported again two weeks later to the north and then it disappeared again.
In November 1951, a group of children were allegedly cornered by the Devil at the Duport Clubhouse in Gibbstown. The creature bounded away without hurting anyone but reports claimed that it was spotted by dozens of witnesses before finally vanishing again.
Sightings continued here and there for years and then peaked once more in 1960 when bloodcurdling cries terrorized a group of people near Mays Landing. State officials tried to calm the nervous residents but no explanation could be found for the weird sounds. Policemen nailed signs and posters everywhere stating that the Jersey Devil was a hoax, but curiosity-seekers flooded into the area anyway. Harry Hunt, who owned the Hunt Brothers Circus, offered $100,000 for the capture of the beast, hoping to add it to his sideshow attractions. Needless to say, the monster was never snared.
The most recent sighting of the creature was said to have been in 1993 when a forest ranger named John Irwin was driving along the Mullica River in southern New Jersey. He was startled to find the road ahead of him blocked by the Jersey Devil. He described it as being about six-feet tall with horns and matted black fur. Could this have been the reported Jersey Devil - or some other creature altogether? Irwin stated that he and the creature stared at one another for several minutes before the monster finally turned and ran into the forest.
The lack of proof of the monster’s existence in these modern times leads many to believe the Devil was nothing more than a creation of New Jersey folklore.
If it was merely a myth, then how do we explain the sightings of the creature and the witness accounts from reliable persons like businessmen, police officers and even public officials? They are not easy to dismiss as hearsay or the result of heavy drinking. Could the Jersey Devil have been real after all? And if so, is it still out there in the remote regions of the Pine Barrens - just waiting to be found? - Weird N.J.: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
/ prairieghosts.com / americanfolklore.net
RECENT REPORTS
In Freehold, New Jersey, in 2007, a woman supposedly saw a huge creature with bat-like wings near her home. In August of the same year, a young man driving home near the border of Mount Laurel and Moorestown, New Jersey reported a similar sighting. He claimed that he spotted a "a creature resembling a gargoyle with enormous bat-like wings" perched in some trees near the road.
On January 23, 2008 the Jersey Devil was spotted again this time in Litchfield, Pennsylvania by a local resident that claims to have seen the creature come barreling out of the roof of his barn.
On January 19th, 2009, nearly 100 years after the frequent Jersey Devil sightings, a local New Jersey citizen from Swedesboro claimed to have seen the Jersey Devil. He was driving towards Woodstown at night and saw a large creature fly in front of his car. At first he thought it was a deer, so he slammed on the brakes, then he realized that the creature was flying and was much larger than a deer. The shape of the creature was unclear. The creature swiftly flew across the street and disappeared into the darkness of the woods.
In September 2009, a young man driving home on Interstate 80 near Parsippany, NJ claims spotting what he saw as "a black long-necked creature with a long tail" run across the road, and disappear into the darkness on the other side of the road. - The Jersey Devil
JERSEY DEVIL?
Location/Date: Near Trenton, New Jersey - March 4, 2002 - near midnight
Several witnesses were camping outside of town and late at night one of them was attempting to put out the bonfire when he heard the most awful and horrifying scream. It resembled that of an injured dog crossed with a scream of a woman. The witness dropped the flashlight and was joined by another witness.
Suddenly out of the woods a hideous and gruesome creature appeared. It did not look human, somewhat satyr-like in appearance and walked on two legs. It had a long tail like a dragon and wings like those unicorns in fantasy books. The beast took several steps towards the witnesses. One of them picked up and yelled at it and then shone his flashlight at it. The creature then turned towards the bushes and ran away from the area.
Source: Mystical Universe
NOTE: this report is similar to other 'Jersey Devil' reports though, Trenton is quite a distance from the Pine Barrens area where most sightings have been reported.
UFO MYSTERY IN THE PINE BARRENS
I received the following report in December 2009:
"I kept quiet about the following described incident for about 4 years and have decided to come forward, mostly because I heard that someone had a similar experience recently and is looking for answers."
"My mother and I were driving in south New Jersey in the middle of nowhere as we were in the process of moving to where we live now. The location was in the area of Shamong, NJ. It's out in the Pine Barrens notoriously known for the Jersey Devil. We were on Jackson Road which is deep in the middle of a thick forest with very few lights, though there is a raceway nearby. I wish I remembered the exact time and the date because I'm sure others had to have seen it since there was car in front of us and the raceway was packed with people. It was July and had to have been late in the evening as the sun was starting to set."
"So we are driving down the road we noticed a huge dark object flying from a very high distance to simply disappearing into the trees. The driver in front of us slammed on the brakes since it appeared that the object was going to crash into the road in front of us. My mother almost collided with them because she was looking at the object, but it traveled above and across the road. It was about the height of a typical two story home and flew straight into the woods. We were expecting to hear a loud crash, see an explosion, something.... but nothing happened."
"We sat there staring until a car approached from behind, so we left. We were both confused and since my mother fears things like this she just refuses to talk about the encounter. Also, Fort Dix and McGuire AFB aren't too far from that location. Did the military cover this up? But it looked mechanical and too big to be a drone or anything similar to that. The raceway was near there and the bleachers were facing the same direction as this object. Could there be an explanation or rational reason why this was never reported? I'm seeking answers." David J.
NOTE: was this a case of 'lost time'? David does seem confused on the time and date. I sent David an email for some followup information. He states that his mother has a clear memory of the incident but refuses to talk about it. I asked him if it may have been anything natural, but he insists that the object was definitely manmade. There are military training flights in that area according to sources I have talked to. Again, David insists it was not a jet or military craft. This link from January 2012 is a video of a strange atmospheric sound eminating from the Pine Barrens...Lon
SUGGEST READING
Tales Of The Jersey Devil
Phantom of the Pines: More Tales of the Jersey Devil
The Pine Barrens
Ghost Towns And Other Quirky Places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
Voices in the Pines: True Stories from the New Jersey Pine Barrens
