springheel jack

I came across some accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack in various books I used to read about unsolved mysteries, as a kid.

My own conclusion was to put him in the extraterrestrial/UFO catagory, (as in, a Close Encounter of the Third Kind by witnesses) due to his usual description of a bowl over his head, which sounded to me to be something like an oxygen mask. His jumping also implied control over gravity.

reply to post by snowgirl


wow thanks for that "jack is back"!

i forget the name now but some years ago i read a book and i remember it said that shj left a trail of footprints in the snow heading across towards liverpool so shj and the jersey devil were around at the same time as each other.

Originally posted by redkite
i forget the name now but some years ago i read a book and i remember it said that shj left a trail of footprints in the snow heading across towards liverpool so shj and the jersey devil were around at the same time as each other.

i think your referring to "the jersey devil" of new jersey,usa and "the devils hoofprints" from england in 1855,both seperate entities from springheel jack...The Devils Footprints > www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk...

reply to post by OneEleven


Woah! Easy on the anti-gaming, sheesh...

I too first heard of this name through that game, and I read many many books! Of course, I am sure that won't be enough. After all, I play *gasp* video games!!!!

Anyway, thank you OPer for bringing this to my attention. Now I have some more books to read, if I could just put down this control....oh wait I am typing.

it was the devils hoofprints i was referring too i got mixed up with the dates sorry i'll have to try and find that book again.

reply to post by redkite


yes it would seem the devils footprints were reported about the same time but the big difference was that the footprints were in very rural areas whereas jack usually stuck to urban areas

i think the majority of jersey devil reports were a bit later just before ww1

has anyone heard of perak the spring man of prague? very similar to our friend jack

www.forteantimes.com...

It seems that Spring-heeled Jack may have returned.

Up until recently, the last sighting of him - or an entity similar to him - was in 1986. In Herefordshire, not far from the Welsh border, a travelling salesman named Marshall claimed to have had an encounter with a similar entity in 1986. The man leaped in enormous, inhuman bounds, passed Marshall on the road, and slapped his cheek. He wore what the salesman described as a black ski-suit, and Marshall noted that he had an elongated chin.

However, an entity very much similar to Spring-heeled Jack - it may even be him (or it, or even, I suppose, her) - was spotted just last month. On Velentine's Day, Scott Martin and his family were travelling home by taxi from Stoneleigh, Surrey - just south of London - at about 10.30pm, when they saw a "dark figure with no features" run across the road in front of them, before climbing over a 15ft roadside bank in "seconds", near Nescot College on the Ewell bypass. The family later likened the figure to the legendary Spring Heeled Jack.

Here's what the Surrey Comet reported:

Terrified Banstead family confronted by 'dark figure' on bypass

Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Epsom
By Lauren May

A taxi ride home on Valentine's night turned into a nightmare when a family were confronted by a terrifying apparition that looked and moved like the legendary Spring Heeled Jack.

Scott Martin and his family were travelling home by taxi from Stoneleigh on Tuesday, February 14, at about 10.30pm when they saw a mysterious ‘dark figure with no features’ dart across the road in front of them before leaping 15ft over a roadside bank as they approached Nescot College on the Ewell bypass.

Spooked by their seemingly supernatural experience the couple’s four-year-old son, Sonny, was too scared to sleep on his own that night, while the petrified taxi driver admitted he didn’t want to drive back alone.

Mr Martin, 40, the manager of a building company who lives in Blue Cedars in Banstead, said: "We were driving down the Ewell bypass and saw a man on the other side of the road. We didn't pay much attention until he started crossing over to our side of the road, the next thing he jumped over the centre fencing in the road and ran across our two lanes. On the side of our road is a bank easily 15ft in height and this figure crossed our road, climbed this bank and was gone from sight all in about two seconds. All four of us were baffled and voiced our sighting straight away with the same detail. A dark figure with no real features, but fast in movement with an ease of hurdling obstacles I've never seen. My last image was of him going through the bushes at the top of the bank. I'm not usually one to be freaked by these sightings but the cab driver was petrified. He didn't want to drive back alone. I am honestly baffled by this sighting and we are intrigued by it because it was so real but so strange."

His wife Sacha, 37, who is an accountant added: "It was more that someone was trying to cross the road of a dual carriageway that was weird. My little boy was really freaked out."

The family has since likened the figure to the legendary Spring Heeled Jack - a mysterious dark figure reported to be responsible for a string of attacks in the 1800s and known for his ability to leap great heights first sighted in Wandsworth in 1837.

Mary Stevens was walking home along Lavender Hill when a tall figure leapt out grabbing her and firmly kissing her before releasing her with a loud laugh, leaping high into the air and disappearing.

Sightings continued across Victorian London, others describing Jack’s red flaming eyes and claws, so much so that in 1938 the Lord Mayor of London declared him a public nuisance leading one vigilante group to attempt to capture him, albeit unsuccessfully.

However there had been no reported sightings in Epsom and Ewell, the last sighting recorded in Herefordshire in 1986.

Mr Martin added: "It was something we all saw and it wasn’t imagination. I’m quite a sensible man but I have never seen anything move that quickly across the road and not been startled by the fact that we were driving toward him. It's the first time we have ever seen anything like this. If it was a burglar it is the fastest I had ever seen anyone run. That's the only other explanation. But it was just too quick."

Both Surrey Police and Nescot College confirmed they had received no reports of unusual incidents or sightings in the area that night.

www.surreycomet.co.uk...

Originally posted by petrus4
I came across some accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack in various books I used to read about unsolved mysteries, as a kid.

My own conclusion was to put him in the extraterrestrial/UFO catagory, (as in, a Close Encounter of the Third Kind by witnesses) due to his usual description of a bowl over his head, which sounded to me to be something like an oxygen mask. His jumping also implied control over gravity.

It would be nice to locate a book or find an on-line site that has documented some details about as many sightings and encounters with "jack" that can be found and see if there were any accounts of weird lights or strange flying machines seen shortly before,during or after he showed up and find out if there were any reports of poltergeist activity as well,like those that were reported during "moth man" sightings and encounters and "jack" was seen many,many times,not just a few and he arrived upon the paranormal stage in 1837,long before the dawn of the modern ufo age and also many decades before the great mystery airship sightings in america during the 1870-90's...

there is an update on the feb 14 shj sighting

www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk...

reply to post by dashdespatch
Spring heel jack was also seen many times in the usa,as early as july 1880 in kentucky,in cape cod,mass. near where i live between 1938-1945 and elsewhere > www.mysterymag.com...

reply to post by blocula


thanks a bit more of the puzzle did you read the next page about monkey man in india very similar reports
could shj be a whole race of people or maybe a a race of aliens