Dover Demon
The Dover Demon is a cryptid reportedly sighted on April 21–22, 1977, in Dover, Massachusetts, a town approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Boston.[1] Similarities between the eyewitness descriptions and beings described in alleged close encounters have been noted.[2][3][4]
Alleged sightings
[edit]While driving along Farm Street in Dover, Massachusetts on April 21, 1977, seventeen-year-old William "Bill" Bartlett reported seeing an unknown being approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, which he claimed possessed glowing orange eyes, lacked a visible nose or mouth, and had a watermelon-shaped head. According to Bartlett, the figure was perched atop a broken stone wall. That same evening, 15-year-old John Baxter reported seeing something similar on Miller Hill Road. The following night, another 15-year-old, Abby Brabham, claimed to have encountered the being on Springdale Avenue.[5]
The three teenagers each produced sketches of what they claimed to have seen. Bartlett accompanied his drawing with the statement, "I, Bill Bartlett, swear on a stack of Bibles that I saw this creature."[5] A local news report noted that the locations of the alleged sightings, when plotted on a map, formed a straight line extending for more than 2 miles (3.2 km).[5] The sightings did not become public until the first half of May.[3] At the time, a local investigator of unexplained phenomena noted similarities to the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter of 1955.[3] Although none of the witnesses reported seeing a UFO, the sightings were investigated by the Mutual UFO Network and other associated organizations.[4]
Possible explanations
[edit]
Some explanations have proposed that what the witnesses may have actually seen was a foal or moose calf.[5][6] Skeptic Joe Nickell suggested that a snowy owl could account for the reported sightings.[a] He speculated that the owl's plumage may have reflected the yellow headlights of older automobiles, producing the peach-colored appearance described by Bartlett. Furthermore, the "long spindly arms" and fingers that were reported could have been the partially extended wings and splayed feathers at the wingtips of a snowy owl.[7] Skeptic Brian Dunning disagreed with the snowy owl explanation, stating: "Yes, granted, a person might look at a snowy owl in the right conditions and they could think they're seeing something that looks like what these teens drew. But if it happened to four people in town in just 24 hours, it must be a very compelling illusion. Yet the illusion never fooled anyone, ever, before or since."[2] Nevertheless, Dunning remained convinced that a prosaic explanation existed that could explain the sighting.[2]
Police told the Associated Press that the descriptions provided by the teenagers were "probably nothing more than a school vacation hoax".[8] Skeptic Ben Radford has suggested that popular culture may have influenced the sightings, noting that 1977 saw the release of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind,[6] although Brian Dunning disagreed, at least regarding the latter film, stating: "I discount this, as the movie was released a full eight months after the Dover Demon sightings."[2] Dunning went on to say:
Just to be clear, I'm not calling the kids liars. Nothing unusual having happened is simply our null hypothesis, our default assumption, in the lack of any compelling evidence to the contrary. The alternatives all range from illogical to completely implausible.[2]
In popular culture
[edit]In 2009, the Dover Demon was featured in an episode of the American horror television series Lost Tapes, which aired on Animal Planet.[9]
The Dover Demon appears as a character in an American comic book series that features various cryptids called Proof, in which the being is able to see into the future. Another similar comic book series called The Perhapanauts also features the Dover Demon.[10][11] Brief appearances can also be found in the comic books The Pound: Ghouls Night Out and Hack/Slash: Entry Wound.[12] A Dover Demon also appears in the webcomic Gunnerkrigg Court.[13]
The manga and anime series Dandadan features an alien character called a Dover Demon. Its appearance is significantly different from the original sightings, being a bipedal crustacean-like alien with the ability to transform into a stronger form resembling a mantis shrimp.[14]
See also
[edit]- Flatwoods monster (another sighting of an alleged humanoid proposed to have been a misidentified barn owl)
- Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter (another sighting of alleged humanoids proposed to have been misidentified great horned owls)
- Mothman (another sighting of an alleged humanoid in West Virginia, proposed to have been a misidentified barred owl)
- Grey alien
Notes
[edit]- ↑ One proposed explanation of the aforementioned Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter is a great horned owl.
References
[edit]- ↑ Lopez, Iván (29 April 2024). "Nearly half a century later, 'Dover Demon' mystery still puzzles enthusiasts". WGBH. Archived from the original on 13 April 2026.
In April of 1977, about 15 miles south of Boston, a very strange thing appeared at night that put the town of Dover on the map in the world of cryptozoology, the study and search for legendary creatures. Multiple teen drivers reported seeing an unidentifiable, alien-like creature with glowing eyes over the course of two days. ... on April 21, 1977, when he was driving down Farm Street in Dover...
- 1 2 3 4 5 Dunning, Brian (3 December 2024). "The Legend of the Dover Demon". Skeptoid (Podcast). No. 965. Archived from the original on 23 June 2026. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
... the creature drawn and described by the teens was a suspiciously close match for the alien creatures in that film.
- 1 2 3 "'Creature' reports worry Dover police chief". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. Holyoke, Massachusetts. AP. May 16, 1977. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 September 2026. Retrieved October 15, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
According ot Loren Coleman, a local author and investigator of unexplained phenomenon, the creature drawn by Bartlett is like a creature that attacked a Hopkinsville, Ky., farm family in 1955.
- 1 2 "What exactly was the 'Dover Demon?'". Milford Daily News. May 8, 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
... the case bares striking resemblance to many reports of such creatures at the sites of UFO activity.
- 1 2 3 4 Sullivan, Mark (29 October 2006). "Decades later, the Dover Demon still haunts". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 26, 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2014 – via Boston.com.
- 1 2 Radford, Benjamin (January 2023). "Deconstructing the Dover Demon". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 47, no. 1. Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 30 June 2023 – via skepticalinquirer.org.
- ↑ Nickell, Joe (July 2023). "Identifying the Enigmatic 'Dover Demon'". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 47, no. 4. Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 30 June 2023 – via skepticalinquirer.org.
- ↑ "Teeners report 'creature'". Bangor Daily News. AP. 16 May 1977. Archived from the original on 14 September 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ↑ "Lost Tapes" Dover Demon (TV Episode 2009) at IMDb
- ↑ The Perhapanauts #1, (April 1, 2008)
- ↑ The Perhapanauts: Second Chances #3, 4 (December 1, 2006-January 1, 2007)
- ↑ "Dover Demon (Character)". Comic Vine. Archived from the original on 20 February 2025.
- ↑ Siddell, Tom (26 November 2021). "Chapter 83: Page 4". Gunnerkrigg Court Archives. Archived from the original on 4 March 2026.
- ↑ Dandadan Volume 4
