Massachusetts has a history of cryptids running loose in the wooded forests. The most exciting fact is that witnesses reported seeing a couple of these critters for only a short time.

Vast dense forests is a trademark of Massachusetts, and Bigfoot loves to hide in them. It’s not unusual for Bigfoot sightings, but there was a surprising report about a Thunderbird. Thunderbirds is a Native American folklore cryptid. In 1971, on hot a summer morning like at 2 AM. A Norton policeman was driving to his home in Easton when he saw a huge winged creature.

Sergeant Thomas Downy stated it had a wingspan 8 to 12 feet. He said it flew straight up and disappeared into the swamps. It was the only sighting, and nobody believed him.

Another short-lived sighting is the Beast of Truro. In September 1981, an unknown cat-like creature terrorized a local farm. It killed pets and livestock, starting with domestic cats. After mauling a couple of enormous 175-lb pigs, it too disappeared as a Massachusetts urban legend.

There has been much speculation about what the creature was. The description is similar to that of a Mountain Lion. However, wildlife experts say the Lion has been extinct in the East.

So, what was it?

The one short-lived cryptid sighting written about the most is the Dover Demon. In 1977, four different people saw a bright orange 4-foot creature. The first sighting was at a stone wall on Farm street. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the monster over the next twenty-five hours. Then it too disappeared into Massachusetts folklore. The image is provided by Pixabay.com.

The day the Dover Demon terrorized the community was April 1977. Witness Bill Bartlett claimed to have seen the monster highlighted in his Volkswagon’s headlights. Bartlett states that it had a watermelon head with two orange lidless eyes. He described the Dover Demon as having a long thin body. Completely hairless with long arms and legs.

Bartlett was only 17-years-old at the time. Authorities thought that it was a hoax because of his young age and it being so late at night. He was driving home at 10 PM when he saw it sitting on an aged broken stone wall.

Two hours later, another teenager John Baxter, age 15, claimed to see the monster only 15-feet away. Baxter was walking home from his girlfriend’s place along Miller Hill Road. He walked upon the creature as he passed a creek in a heavily wooded area.

Midnight the next day, Abby Brabham, also 15, was driving home with her boyfriend. She claims to have seen the monster sitting on Springdale Avenue. Springdale Avenue is also near water, and all sightings are near water.

All four sightings were in and around Dover, Massachusetts, which is how the monster got its name Dover Demon. The witnesses were all teenagers, and sightings stopped after 25 hours. Authorities weren’t too convinced the teens saw anything.

However, in 1978 Bartlett says he parked his car with his girlfriend. Since they were teens, we can imagine what they were doing while parked. Bartlett reported a thump on top of his car, and he says he saw a small figure fleeing. He doesn’t know what it was he saw and thinks it could have been a prank.

What are the odds of the same witness reporting two different sightings? I also noticed there was no report by his girlfriend. Was she too afraid to say anything, or did she not see anything? I’m kind of curious about that.

Then Loren Coleman of Portland, Maine, does his investigation. Readers will recognize his name from other articles. Coleman is a well-known Cryptozoologist and has investigated numerous cryptid reports.

Coleman led the original investigation into the Dover Demon. He was also the one who came up with its name. He states that in the area of Massachusetts, the sightings that occurred is not unusual. The site has a history of paranormal or supernatural events.

That area has three significant legends; the apparition of the devil on horseback for one. Then there are the tales of buried treasure and, of course, the Dover Demon.

It makes you wonder about the power that attracts paranormal energy. Coleman thinks there is a magnetic force that naturally attracts that kind of power. He also believes that the outcropping of rocks is Pooka stone. Pooka stone is a rock from fairy folklore thought to possesses magical energies. That energy, like a magnet, pulls similar power to its location.

It thought that since all the sightings stopped in 1977, the Dover Demon might be a prank. Except, in 1972, Mark Sennott of Sherborn claims that he saw something. He and his friends thought they saw a small creature at Channing Pond on Springdale Avenue. They saw it moving in the headlights, but they didn’t get a good look at it.

Sennott also stated that there was talk at Dover-Sherborn High School of strange things in the woods.

Was it the Dover Demon?

Massachusetts is known for strange sounds and things coming from the woods. The woods themselves hold mysterious and dark secrets from ancient lore.

The Dover Demon witnesses are all teens. An adult made not one sighting. Is it possible the sightings were a prank? That they all got together to create one massive joke?

Sennott said there was talk at the high school about unusual sightings. Again, all teens and no adults were commenting about these scary events.

It makes you wonder how true any of this information is. Yet, paranormal investigators state kids are more prone to seeing things. Because of their youth, it allows them to see phenomena that adults can’t or won’t.

Whatever the reason, the Dover Demon is still alive and well in Massachusetts. It isn’t the only cryptid to haunt the Massachusetts landscape. However, it is the most memorable of her cryptids, and maybe, just maybe, he’s just waiting to come out of hiding again. The picture used is a good rendition of the Dover Demon.