The Devil's hoofprints..
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"The mysterious footprints, which appeared overnight in heavy snowfall in Southern Devon in 1855, have never been adequately explained. According to contemporary reports, they stretched for over a hundred miles, and went through solid walls and haystacks, appearing on the other side as though there was no barrier. The extent of the footprints may have been exaggerated at the time, and they may have been the result of freak atmospheric conditions. But in truth the footprints - if that is what they were - still remain a complete mystery.
On the night of the 8th of February 1855, heavy snowfall blanketed the countryside and small villages of Southern Devon. The last snow is thought to have fallen around midnight, and between this time and around 6.00am the following morning, something (or some things) left a myriad of tracks in the snow, stretching for a hundred miles or more, from the River Exe, to Totnes on the river Dart.
The early risers were the first to find them, strange hoof-shaped prints in straight lines, passing over rooftops, through walls and covering huge areas of land. A set of the prints were even supposed to have bridged a two mile span of the river Exe, continuing on the other side as if the creature had walked over the water.
It soon became clear that the phenomenon was widespread, and some of the more scientifically minded examined the prints in detail. One naturalist sketched some of the marks, and measured the distance between them, it was found to be eight and a half inches. This spacing seemed to be consistant wherever the tracks were measured. It was also noted that the way in which they were set out, one in front of the other, suggested a biped rather than a creature walking on four legs.
Some clergymen suggested that the prints belonged to the Devil, who was roaming the countryside in search of sinners (a great ploy to fill the churches), while others rejected the idea as superstition. It is true that a feeling of unease had spread through some of the population, who watched carefully to see if the strange footprints would return. They did not and after a couple of days the news spread out of Devon and made the national press. The phenomena sparked correspondence in some of the leading papers including the Times and the Illustrated news." -
"This brought more accounts to light, and led to a plethora of speculation by eminent scientists and lay men alike.
It seems that most of the Southern villages of Devon, from Totnes to Topsham, had been inundated with the prints in all manner of absurdities. Some stopped abruptly and continued after a large break, others stopped at walls as high as 14 feet, only to continue on the other side, leaving untouched snow on the top of the wall. Some were even said to have travelled through narrow apertures such as drainpipes.
The papers picked up that some kangaroos had escaped from a private Zoo belonging to a Mr Fische at Sidmouth, but the tracks description bears no resemblance to the tracks a kangaroo would leave. Sir Richard Owen, the eminent Biologist, suggested that the tracks were made by badgers, roaming the countryside in search of food. He explained the strange shape of the prints as the result of freeze-thaw action. This explanation only holds as much ground as the other theories given at the time, these included roaming racoons, rats, swans, otters and the theory that a hot air balloon passed over head trailing a rope. These could explain some of the tracks made that night, but certainly not all of them, unless all of the above were to blame in separate occurrences.
There are similar scattered cases from other parts of the world and also one written account in Britain. According to Ralph of Coggeshall, (who also recorded strange arial phenomena during his era) a writer from the 13th Century, on the 19th of July 1205 strange hoof print appeared after a violent electrical storm. In mid July these tracks would only be visible in the soft earth, and the electrical storm suggests some kind of natural phenomenon as yet unknown. " -
"The track appeared more like that of a biped than a quadruped, and the steps were generally eight inches in advance of each other. The impressions of the feet closely resembled that of a donkey's shoe, and measured from an inch and a half to (in some instances) tow and a half inches across. Here and there it appeared as if cloven, but in the generality of the steps the shoe was continuous, and, from the snow in the center remaining entire, merely showing the outer crest of the foot, it must have been convex [concave?]."
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"One of the most believable theories came from Geoffrey Household who edited a book that contained all of the newspaper correspondence collected concerning the incident.
I think that Devenport Dockyard released, by accident, some sort of experimental balloon, and trailed 2 shackles on the end of ropes. The impressions left in the snow by these shackles went up the sides of houses, over haystacks, etc. A major Carter, a local man, tells me that his grandfather worked at Devenport at the time, and that the whole thing was hushed up because the balloon destroyed a number of conservatories, greenhouses, windows, etc. He says the balloon finally came down in Honiton.
But even this theory is difficult to prove. If a wondering balloon were responsible for the tracks, how do we explain the fact that the tracks covered much of the territory scrambling all over the place. A balloon would indeed tend to follow a much straighter path. Besides, the tracks followed a North to South path and not surprisingly, the prevailing winds at that time were from East to West..." -
pictures?
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Tried searching ard bro..Originally posted by NeonTetra:pictures?
couldn't find any...
If anyone has found some, pls post them here...
or let me know the webby address..thanks
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forget wad state the devil also quite popular ard...tv got show b4 the crew went find them...forget wad state in USA......
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remeber liao...Jersey Devil
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Yah brother..Originally posted by duotiga83:remeber liao...Jersey Devil
Very popular this Jersey Devil
Also got a game on him on the PS -
is said to have different version of the origins...Originally posted by PaJeRoMiNi Ver 1.0:Yah brother..
Very popular this Jersey Devil
Also got a game on him on the PS
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watch a video in australia about the Jersey Devil where 2 ex-producers of the famous show "Beyond Belief" went to find the Jersey Devil. One died, one was never found, 2 guys went with them, one died, the only one who survived came back and was charged with murder but he hanged himself in jail. Large amounts of blood of the guy who is still missing is found at the scene where the other 2 was killed, but they never found the body.
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saw some interview b4 saying that it look like the pegasus from mobil gas stationOriginally posted by duotiga83:remeber liao...Jersey Devil -
Originally posted by gasband:watch a video in australia about the Jersey Devil where 2 ex-producers of the famous show "Beyond Belief" went to find the Jersey Devil. One died, one was never found, 2 guys went with them, one died, the only one who survived came back and was charged with murder but he hanged himself in jail. Large amounts of blood of the guy who is still missing is found at the scene where the other 2 was killed, but they never found the body.
Could this be the work of the Jersey Devil?
Or maybe a wild beast? -
This is a photo of a cow, taken in the 1960's in Winslow, NJ. The carcass was found hanging from the wires of a telephone pole.
Works of the Jersey Devil? -
Pix of the Jersey Devil?!
"On the 19th the Jersey Devil made his longest appearance of the week. At 2:30 am, Mr & Mrs. Nelson Evans of Gloucester were awakened by a strange noise. They watched the devil from their window for 10 minutes. Mr. Evans described the creature they saw: "
"It was about three feet and half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn't use the front legs at all while we were watching. My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the window and say, 'Shoo', and it turned around barked at me, and flew away"
Here are some photos taken by a woman...
"These amazing photos were sent to us by Rose Scadari of the Central Jersey Spirit Squadron at [email protected]. I scanned them from the photographs myself. These are not jpg files which may be faked in a paint program, but from the actual photographs I have in my possession.
According to her letter, these photos were taken at a crossroads one night. They were taken in farming community which had a background in the War of 1776."
Shockingly similiar to the Jersey Devil described by the Evans?!