The Dover Demon
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 14.754 W 071° 17.912
19T E 310370 N 4679636
The well known story of the Dover Demon is still talked and written about thirty years later, the most famous of three unexplained mystery tales over several centuries.
Waymark Code: WM1JTY
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/22/2007
Views: 197
Note: The coordinates listed are approximate and should be regarded as "in the neighborhood of this spot." There are no signs or marks that identify the locations.
The Dover Demon was observed one week in April of 1977 on three separate occasions by teenagers in Dover. It's the classic 'B movie' setting where teenagers see some weird event and the adults don't believe them. Since then, the story has been probed by reporters and paranormal investigators, with no conclusions on what actually happened, and the observers adamantly sticking to what they saw.
On April 21, 1977, Bartlett, 17 years old, was driving along Farm Street at around 10 pm when he saw a creature on a stone wall. Two hours later, John Baxter, 15, was walking home from his girlfriend's house when he got within 15 feet of the creature along a creek in a heavily wooded area along Miller Hill Road (See the second coordinates for an approximate location - at the junction of Farm Road and Miller Hill Road).
At midnight the next night, Abby Barham, 15, was driving home with her boyfriend when she saw the creature along Springdale Avenue (see the main coordinates for the intersection where Farm, Springdale, Glen and Main meet together).
Baxter later drew a picture of the creature. Bartlett, too made a drawing, which also has the statement, "I, Bill Bartlett, swear on a stack of Bible's that I saw this creature."
All sightings were within a 2.5 mile radius, and were in the vicinity of water.
Loren Coleman, of Portland, ME, a well-known cryptozoologist, led the first investigations. It was he who coined the name "Dover Demon." They cross-examined the kids, but, though they had some differences in descriptions they didn't differ wildly, nor could they determine if the kids had collaborated in making up the story. They were average kids who were not known trouble makers.
Since then, there was a picture from Chile that has a rather dubious image of a creature that roughly looks like the creature in the drawings.
This month, I have seen a sign posted at various locations in Dover that states "Do you believe?" with a drawing of the demon and the years "1977-2007." Dover hasn't forgotten.
There have been other tales in that area over the centuries since Dover was first settled. One tale is of how a person saw his Satanic Magesty riding on horseback. Another is that treasure is buried (why, no one remembers) at Polka (or Pooka) Rock.
Most of the information is taken from an article by the Boston Globe on October 29, 2006. One of the quotes from the article: "It's a thing that's been following me for years...not the creature - the story. Sometimes I dread every Halloween getting calls about it."
Type: Bizarre Beasts
Referenced in (list books, websites and other media):
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/29/decades_later_the_dover_demon_still_haunts/ - This is a Boston Globe article written recently and includes comments from one of the witnesses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Demon - wikipedia entry.
Additional Coordinates: N 42° 14.443 W 071° 18.422
Website Reference: Not listed
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