Squatchdetective
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 Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: 2007 - Jersey Devil seen by officer near Bridgeton |
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The Pine Barrens along Route 49 in southern New Jersey is home to a cryptid seen and described by many over the years. Earlier this year, a police officer saw a creature matching its description but it disappeared by the time he stopped and got out of his car.
Simulated image of the Jersey Devil posted by the Pinelands Alliance organization
| Quote: | Jersey Devil: Big, Bad, Here
By CANDY GRANDE
For the Courier-Post
When Mrs. Leeds of Smithville gave birth to her 13th child, the one she cursed, she watched it mutate from a beautiful baby boy into a hideous monster. The monster had a long face that resembled a horse, long dark wings, hoof-like extremities, a tail, yellow eyes and long claws. It let out a horrific scream, escaped through the roof and went out into the night, ready to terrorize those who entered his realm -- the Pine Barrens.
This local legend of the Jersey Devil is known for fascinating many, including Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman -- authors of "Weird N.J." and "Weird U.S." books. The two recently paired with author and radio personality Randy Fairbanks to write a children's series known as "The Weird Club." The series' first guest of honor is none other than their beloved, and frightening, Jersey Devil.
"He's our homey! He's not only the "Weird N.J.' mascot, but also an honest-to-God cryptozoological anomaly, completely unique to the Garden State," says Moran, who lives in Essex County with his wife and two daughters. "Where else are you going to find a beast with the head of a horse, the antlers of a deer, the body of a kangaroo, the wings of a bat, cloven hooves and a reptilian tail? Something that ugly can only come from the wilds of New Jersey."
Moran and Sceurman say they receive dozens of letters from people who claim to have seen the Jersey Devil. And, says Moran, even though the eyewitness reports come from all over the state, the detailed descriptions of the beast are similar.
The most recent sighting, says Sceurman, happened this year along Route 49 in Bridgeton.
A police officer slowed down because he saw a large animal on the side of the road, says Sceurman, who also lives in Essex County with his wife and daughter. The animal was covered in brown fur, and started to rise into a vertical position and flap its wings. The police officer got out of his car to try to find it, but the beast vanished.
"The police officer, as well as many of these other people who report these incredible sightings to us, have no reason to make these stories up," says Sceurman.
Fairbanks, who spent about a year researching, writing and editing the children's book, grew up next to the Pine Barrens and was always familiar with the legend of the Jersey Devil.
"The Jersey Devil is such a great monster," says Fairbanks, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "He is a weird melding of different animals and he's a giant size. I find this interesting and frightening. And the concept of a woman giving birth to a cursed baby is terrifying."
Fairbanks' parents still live close to the Pine Barrens, and writing the book has had an effect on him when he visits them.
"When I take walks through the woods I feel the possibility of the Jersey Devil," says Fairbanks. "It makes the Pine Barrens a very magical place."
There are other scary New Jersey legends, such as the Atco ghost and the Big Foot tale in Stanhope, but the Jersey Devil is the state's oldest piece of folklore, says Moran.
"He just might be an actual flesh-and-blood animal of yet unknown species," says Moran. "It's a great story even if it is only a legend; it's a great story if it actually exists. I'd love to see a real, live one captured some day." |
SOURCE: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/NEWS01/310180001/1004/LIVING
NOTES: Posted by escAPEe
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