The mystical creature has been the object of folklore and tales for over 260 years and there have been over 2000 reported sightings in that time. The stories vary and are often conflicting, however they persist to this day with many paranormal investigators in a constant quest to search for proof of its existence.
What is it?
Depending on who you talk to, the Jersey devil is a misshapen child born to a Mrs. Shrouds of Leeds Point New Jersey. Born deformed due to a wish that the mother made while pregnant, that the next child be the devil, the child was birthed and hidden from the public. Then on a stormy night, the child escaped out of the chimney of its home and flew away on the wing flaps that were on its arms. The child would never be seen again by its mother.
A different version of the story is that the child was born from a young girl that fell in love and became pregnant by a British soldier during the Revolutionary War. Cursed by the people of Leeds Point, she gave birth to a child that was the devil. Perhaps the most well known story is takes place in 1735 when a New Jersey Pine Barren resident by known as "Mother Leeds" became pregnant for the 13th time. Poverty stricken and married to an alcoholic that did little to provide for his family, Mrs. Leeds proclaimed in a fit of despair, "let this one be a devil". A few months later, on what most reports say was a stormy night, she went into labor and the child was apparently normal at birth. In a matter of minutes after birth, though, the child began to take on a change and it was this point that the mother became mindful of the previous statement she had made earlier in her pregnancy. The child began growing at a rapid rate, developing claws, and bat like wings. The eyes became red and soon the baby was no longer an infant but a dangerous snarling devil creature that attacked many in its family. Killing its other family members and the attending midwives. Those managing to survive the attack have been the ones to relate the origins of the story, that many have come to know as the legend of the Jersey Devil.
What does it look like?
Descriptions of what the Jersey Devil looks like also vary somewhat. One witness report states that the Jersey Devil was around three and a half feet tall, with the head of a collie dogs and the face of a horse. Long necked, winged and with horse hooves for feet. Often said to have red eyes. Whether you believe in this legend or not, there are many that claim that there is in fact, something in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Could the desperate words of an exhausted and overwhelmed mother, have summoned the spawn of the devil to be born?
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