The Jersey Devil

I'm from New Jersey and there's always been a legend here that the Jersey Devil lives in the pine barrens here in South Jersey. There have been numerous sightings and alot of different theories of who "he" is and where he comes from.

I remember when we were younger we used to camp out alot in the pine barrens, we'd make a fire and sit around and tell stories about the Jersey Devil and every time we did, we would hear strange noises, pretty weird.

Does anyone know anything about this urban legend? I provided a few links in case you have never heard of it.

"The Jersey Devil, the supposed mythical creature of the New Jersey Pinelands, has haunted New Jersey and the surrounding areas for the past 260 years. This entity has been seen by over 2,000 witnesses over this period. It has terrorized towns and caused factories and schools to close down, yet many people believe that the Jersey Devil is a legend, a mythical beast, that originated from the folklore of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The following text will show there is evidence to support the existence of an animal or supernatural bring known as the Jersey Devil."

theshadowlands.net...


www.weirdnj.com...





[Edited on 30-8-2003 by ProudAmerican]

I saw a T.V. show a while back, I believe on Sci-Fi, where people actually went to the Pine Barrens to look for the Jersey Devil. There were a lot of weird howls and growls and things like that. The people looked freaked out. I think it was either animals or set-up.

But from what I gather, its an urban legend and only an urban legend. Nothing to get too riled up about.

I came from the bayou country, and we have a similar story about such a creature living in the swamps. I have been in the areas they mentioned, and have never had a close encounter or anything.

However, if you assume that this is possibly related to sasquatch/bigfoot, I personally believe there is a good chance that there may be something behind these stories.

I believe the leading theory behind at least the sasquatch theories is that it is a primordial hominid of some type. I believe this to be possible, as these creatures have exhibitted relatively advanced intelligence, and live in areas where it is possible to conceal populations large enough to maintain existence (see my post on the Loch Ness Monster thread for issues regarding a minimum population size for survival)
Hominids do not require as large a base population to hang in there, and do not require such a large food intake, therefore it would be far easier to keep thier presence concealed.

The jersey devil sells in Bavaria

www.bayernservice.de...

the bavarian mythical equivalent is called "Wolpertinger"

That link did nothing for me as I dont understand anything but English, but I dont think were talking about the same "creature".

Wasn't the Jersey Devil myth suposed to be the premise for the Blair Witch movie? I thought that's what the student film makers were in the forest trying to document.

Deep, I dont think thats the same thing. I think the Blair Witch supposedly took place in Maryland and most of the Jersey Devil sightings have been in the pine barrens of south Jersey.
www.blairwitch.com...

PA, thanks for clearing that confusion up for me, below is some information I've discovered about the JD's historical background.

The legend of the Jersey Devil dates back to about 1735, by most accounts, in Leeds Point, New Jersey. A Mrs. Leeds, the story goes, upon discovering that she was pregnant for an unlucky thirteenth time said that the child might just as well be a devil. Folklore says that this prophecy came true, and that Mrs. Leeds gave birth to a horrific creature with a horse's head and bats wings. Ever since, the legend goes, the creature has been haunting the pine barrens of New Jersey.

No one takes the legend seriously, of course, but the Jersey Devil has been blamed over the years for a number of mysterious livestock deaths and eerie cries in the darkness. And the first sighting in the 20th century occurred in 1909 when a Pennsylvania postmaster allegedly saw the glowing monster flying over the Delaware river. Less than a month later, the flying creature was spotted by a policeman in Burlington, New Jersey. A few days later, a woman in Philadelphia claimed to have seen a similar monster in her backyard. And that evening it was seen by two more police officers in Salem, New Jersey, and the next night by a fisherman. Note their collective descriptions compared to chupacabras:

a ram-like head with curled horns
long, thin wings (other accounts reported short wings)
four short legs, the hind ones being longer than the forelegs
walks on its back legs and holds up two short front legs with paws on them
glowing eyes
a head like a dog and face like a horse
alligator-like skin
able to breathe fire
about three feet high (some described it as much larger)
hoof-like feet one witness described it as looking like a winged kangaroo another called in monkey-like.

There are distinct differences in the descriptions, but there are also many interesting similarities.

Although the Jersey Devil is alleged to have been seen over the years, none are taken as seriously by researchers as the 1909 sightings.

It's sometimes called the "Leeds Devil" as well, so you may want to use that in your searching, in addition to the Jersey Devil. It was not the basis of the Blair Witch...but was the inspiration in a sense....

Ok, how bad is this that I found a topic four pages back. I know this is a sort of dead topic, but, I always like the "beast" stuff. I found this site that has some good info and even a strange description from a "witness".

Jersey Devil

Yep, that description is a few posts up, hehe...

Supposedly, it was the seventh son, of a seventh son, born all deformed, etc. and made the house reek of sulphur when it was born (killing his mother Mrs Leeds, according to folklore). As the legend goes, the creature has been sighted several times since...and is blamed for numerous livestock deaths. Some have even tied it to the Mothman legends. Deepwater's information above is the most thorough so far in the thread, and is accurate according to what I know of the legend....

I recall a TV special on it a while back in which a team went to investigate these happenings. While on a path in the woods one of the female investigators was walking a little faster then the rest of the crew. Suddenly she screamed and when the rest of the team caught up to her she was frozen with fear. To this day she refuses to discuss what she saw that night. Like I said I heard about this a long time ago so I do not know all the details.

I've lived in New Jersey for all 16 years of my life (15 years in Burlington County, Fort Dix area...the heart of the pine barrens) and not once did I have a close encounter with the Jersey Devil. I've read stories about it, and my dad even has a folder with documents about it, but to me this is another urban legend. Every city, state, country, etc has one.

What really gives this away as an urban legend to me is how the Jersey Devil supposedly came about. Something about a lady having 13 kids and she damned the 13th one as a devil child and thats exactly how it came out. This seems more of a "be careful what you wish for" story rather then truth.

Existance of Jersey Devil Rating - 2/10

Ah but remember Cutwolf that the truth is often stranger then fiction.

~Yea I've heard about it ProudAmerican. I even recall watching an x-files episode relating to the subject yet the ending was a little strange. Yea from what I've read, it resembles a gray in more then one way. Usually short, small beady eyes, but a large head with a skinny body and large hands with talons. Another details the strange creature as having the head and upper/lower torso of a horse, lizard tail, wings, claws, and all sorts of strange things. Kinda like the egyptian sphinx except a larger mix of animals.

~Peace and Love to you.
Jeff

I've heard the whole Jersey Devil story several times, and those links are pretty good. I'm going to go ahead and say that until i see more tape of the Jersey Devil (like recordings, and some video maybe) I'm not convinced

*I believe that there is no known video footage of the jersey devil to date. Someone correct me if im wrong and can prove it of course.


~Regards
Jeff.

I don't know of any either, just an awful lot of sightings.

I've heard the story a few times and have read a lot about it but I'm not convinced. I'd like to go to Jersey sometime and look for it. Just for fun.

I think I saw the same programe and I thought it looked a bunch of kids with over active imaginations. The camera angles killed any sense of authenticity.