Spring Heeled Jack : Ailen Vistor Or Victorian Fairy Tale?

I am very much into Victorian History and am currently reading up on the subject at the moment. Victorian England is an interesting study. As a writer i am finding it useful for some of my fan fiction! However Whilst enjoying my reading i suddenly remembered Spring Heeled Jack. This is the "entity" that caused commotion in Victorian London when it would be seen leaping roofs over several nights. Some reports indicate he actually flew over roofs! Here is a Wiki article about this being

Wiki Info On Spring Heeled Jack

What are your thoughts on this? Was he a stranded ailen visitor, a prankster or just an old victorian urban myth?

I'd say you have to look at Jack in the context of the times. I believe the earliest reports were from the 1830s? This coincided with the first truly *modern cities*, where people were no longer in touch with the land. For the first time people's lives were no longer governed by the changing seasons, the phases of the moon for practical day to day purposes. In fact many factories made the wearing of a watch a sacking offense. Hence, the tradition of giving those who retire after long service a watch. it is as if you are returning them control over time on their own behalf.

In the context of such a huge swing in people's daily lives from country to city the narrative for stories was bound to take on that which reflected the Urban landscape and the rise of technology that governs our lives today. Maybe he was nothing more than the bogey man brought up to date by a need to establish some sort of tradition in cities. A figure to threaten misbehaving children with that made sense in the context of the ever expanding sprawling mass of London and other cities.

Instead of witchcraft and riding aboard brooms, there were now springs in the heels and he was reported as shooting fire from his eyes. Whether such a character ever really existed is impossible to say. There is a definite air of the *trixter* about his ways that's for sure. In that sense it could be argued, yes indeed, he existed, those sort of creatures/spirits/ whatever you might want to call them seem to be with us no matter how sophisticated we become. Always there with us and yet untouchable, always seemingly mocking our advances with something sublimely silly and yet quite scary to many. After all aren't the descriptions of some UFOs wholly silly at first sight and yet, the implications are unsettling?

Spring Heeled Jack was described by people claiming to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an "oilskin".

Novadays that would be no "Jack", being an alien it would have more zeta-reticulian name . Tight fitting white garment like an oilskin? I'd say someone was being abducted, they had no room and they just threw one of their guys out, he was an annoying twat anyway .

For those with a taste for Forteana it's hard to miss running across the legend of Spring Heeled Jack at some point. A very provocative and intriguing character and it is was fun to revisit the case a little through your wiki link.

The story reminds me somewhat of the modern-day Mothman. More eerie than your run-of-the-mill Loch Ness Monster...and even Sasquatch imo.

But as far as guesses, you only gave us two options: Alien or Fairy Tale. I propose a third possibility: Demon perhaps?

Originally posted by Wirral Bagpuss

What are your thoughts on this? Was he a stranded ailen visitor, a prankster or just an old victorian urban myth?

I tend to lean to the urban myth probability. As most would agree, most of these urban myths (indeed, all mythology) typically have some basis, however small or disassociated, upon which to grew. In this case, perhaps some Victorian cat burglar slipping from one roof to another or the like. After small town gossip spreads the tale, any small happening, unexplained to the viewer, easily becomes an act of the current legend and seems to proliferate. Later, of course, as today, the pranksters must also get into the act, further complicating things. Overly simplified, I know, but my personal view of this particular legend.

Alien visitor, Demon? Way down on my list.

On a side note to your writing, I once considered a short SF piece treating Spring Heel as the Ripper, but let it drop after a bit of research showed it was not as original as I had hoped.

Thanks for posting this, brought back many memories in that Spring Heeled Jack was one of the first things i learnt about as a kid getting into all this stuff.

I recall drawings of witnesses that showed hoof type prints in the snow. As an adult i came to the conclusion that it was some kind of deer, however the tracks appeared to be in sets of two, like a deer walking on its hind legs.

Yeh i know that sounds bizzare but thats the best i could think of.

Very similar to the mothman subject like some have said, and just like the thing that hit the side of my car in a pitch black German forest.

CX.

I had this comic book when I was a kid!

It creeped me out. Spring Heeled Jack FTW!!!!!

maybe he was doing par cour....this topic is interesting...i was reading a book at my work the other day..kids book about mysteries and such ( i work with children at a treatment home) anyway they described interesting sightings from the past...not ancient sightings but from the 1600 to the 1800s...very interesting...i should post them up as these would have been made during a time where there were no planes ,ballons, cgi etc. actually maybe we should look into sighting from the past as any sighting of that time would proabbly be more legit becasue they wouldnt be able to be explained as normal everyday objects...what you guys think?

This thread caught my eye because i remember hearing the story myself as a child. Also about a week ago i saw a video of an apparent alien caught on night vision camera, fleeing and jumping over a fence. The height this E.T jumps i,d say looks about 15 foot high, and if this creatures for real, and i must say the video looks very real, maybe these things were visiting back in the days when the locals could only attribute E.T as being some kind of mythical creature. And then of course there,s the old saying... In every myth there,s usually a grain of truth

I think SHJ's an interesting story. It's interesting because it's much like the Chupacabras story in as much as there appears to be many witnesses, anecdotal evidence and even injured victims, but nothing concrete. It made headlines back in the day, which begs the question that people have seen something that's not normal or regular, but what?

You could chalk it up to an elaborate prank, drugs or even mental illness today, but back then there was still the belief and fear of vampires, werewolves etc., basically things that many people don't take seriously these days and rightfully so. A dimensional shifting entity or alien is even on the cards. Personally, i think there is something to this story.

THIS GUY is or was a New York Times author/historian and has an interesting article that goes into a bit of detail, it's long, but worth a look.

are springheel jack the jersey devil owlman and the mothman one and the same creature? they are all described a man sized with wings and glowing red eyes