I wonder if Jack the Ripper was actually Spring Heeled Jack on one of his sprees?

They both seemed to fancy women. Neither was caught.
Maybe SHJ did kill people, but it was covered up by claims a human did it because authorities knew what SHJ was, and didn't want the public to know?



[edit on 11/2/09 by NuclearPaul]

I don't think the Rooftop Madman was like the Mothman, because Mothman was supposed to be more hunched over, and The Rooftop Madman and Spring heeled Jack stood up straight and tall

I have always considered Spring Heeled Jack to be somewhat more than just a madman.
There is NO EVIDENCE whatsoever, that this creature either had or used Springs in his heels. The Term Spring-Heeled-Jack was coined to explain how the creature could evade capture by leaping HUGE distances, often over high walls or onto rooftops.
The actual evidence that was presented, and reported at the time, mainly took the form of a tall, thin, "man", in tight fitting dark "oilskin" suit and cape, with burning/glowing red eyes, pointed ears and chin, horns, metallic claws, the ability to emit blue flames from it's mouth, following or accosting young women, and leaping into trees/over walls/onto rooftops.
Does this actually sound like a "man"?
When looking at the evidence, you have to take into consideration, that the people who encountered (and reported on) this character, were from Victorian London. Anything out of the ordinary, had to be rationalised, anything unknown had to be described in familiar terms.
If you saw an unknown "beast", you could have been ridiculed, or worse still, branded a heretic. So, I think that the people who encountered this being, described (as much as possible) what they were expected to describe... A man. A madman, In a cloak.
Not a fiery eyed, sharp clawed, fire spewing, winged, unknown creature.
The actual descriptions of the characteristics of this "man" sound much more like the New Jersey Devil, or Monkey Man of Delhi to me.
Inhuman devilish features, long face, pointed ears, horns, red "fiery" eyes, ability to produce blue flames, etc. Couldn't the "cloak" actually be folded wings? Like NJD. It would certainly explain the "leaping" ability, problem was... if you described being attacked by a winged creature back then, you would have been thought of a being a lunatic!
The sightings continued for many many years. And curiously, over the years they drifted north.
The last one that I'm aware of was in the 1980's, in Liverpool I think?
I'd love to find out more!
G

Originally posted by Creepy

has anyone who was brought up in England ever heard the story of spring heeled jack while growing up? im curious about the locals perspective....

Well, I live in London, and I first heard about Spring Heeled Jack when I was 8 or 9. My dad gave me a poster of an old penny dreadful-type print about SHJ. It's not something that's particulary well known any more, at least not amongst people I know. I think there's a tendency for people to laugh when they hear the story too, given that it's one of the wackier folklore characters. For me though, the timeline and geography of the attacks that's most interesting. As the above poster stated, the attacks moved north. And this wasn't something that started on the playground and got out of hand, it was reported in The Times! People were issuing statements about it. There were victims. Quite a few of them. And the idea that this was a hoax doesn't ring true for me - first of all, the sheer gymnastics alone would be difficult enough (impossible?) for one person to master, but we have attacks spanning what, 80 years? Are we seriously suggesting that Spring Heeled shoes were passed down, father to son, as well as the appropriate training needed to escape large angry crowds on said heels? Not to mention the tendency toward attacking women, and spitting flame. So if it's a hoax, it's a generational one. Either that or it was a pensioner leap-frogging around, attacking northerners.

As for what it actually was, it's pure speculation. I personally think it was some kind of demon. Not in the religious sense, but something from a different plane of existence.

Originally posted by Gordi The Drummer

The last one that I'm aware of was in the 1980's, in Liverpool I think? I'd love to find out more!

I wasn't aware of a sighting from the 1980's, you have any more detail on that? Funny thing - I'm originally from Liverpool, and I was aware that the last sightings of SHJ occurred there (though it was 1904 as I understood it), which obviously peaked my curiosity as a child. Well, I've lived in London for several years now, and recently I did some reading up on the subject (which eventually lead me here), and I realised that on top of the Liverpool connection I've manged to live in several areas where Jack was sighted. Lewisham, Blackheath, Peckham, Camberwell. Forrest Hill too, at one point. Yeah, I found that quite synchronistic.




[edit on 18-5-2010 by Scalvador]

[edit on 18-5-2010 by Scalvador]

Originally posted by Gordi The Drummer
The last one that I'm aware of was in the 1980's, in Liverpool I think?
I'd love to find out more!
G

I haven't heard of Springheel Jack for years. I remember reading about how one night two ladies opened the door to him and he had a box on his chest that emitted some gas and they passed out. That made me think of some of the older alien sightings. Wasn't he also a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case?

I do know there was a sighting of some sort of demon man in Scotland around 1995-6, or thereabouts. SHJ popped into mind when I heard it. Some men in a van went to a warehouse one night and this thing was on the roof and jumped down from a good height as if it were a couple of feet. One of the witnesses was severely traumatised, said it was a demon, or devil. Sorry no more info on that.

If you think about it, Springheel Jack sounds suspiciously like a deranged chimney sweep. It strikes me as possible that a tall, lanky sweep bounding about the rooftops at dusk might account for some of the more earnest sightings. With the sexual tension of the Victorian era, "hysterical" women may have embellished their encounters. At least, this has always been my suspicion concerning the origin and development of what is clearly an urban legend.