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Bridgewater Triangle

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The Bridgewater Triangle is an area of about 200 square miles (520 km2) within southeastern Massachusetts in the United States.[1] Since colonial times the area has been a site of alleged paranormal phenomena, ranging from UFO and "black helicopter" sightings (including many with multiple points of corroboration including police and a local news team), to poltergeists and orbs, balls of fire and other spectral phenomena, various "bigfoot" sightings, giant snakes and "thunderbirds", as well as the mutilation of cattle and other livestock.

Although known for centuries[2] as an area of unusual and unexplained activity, the specific boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle were first defined by paranormal researcher Loren Coleman in his book Mysterious America.[3] The Triangle encompasses the towns of Abington, Rehoboth and Freetown at the points of the triangle, and Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Middleboro, Dighton, Berkley, Raynham, Easton, Lakeville, and Taunton inside the triangle. A similar but lesser-known area exists in neighboring Vermont called the Bennington Triangle.

Central to the area is the mysterious and largely untouched Hockomock Swamp, which means "the place where spirits dwell",[4] and which was called "The Devil's Swamp"[5] by early settlers. The Triangle also contains several Indian burial grounds, as well as significant sites used by both natives and colonists during King Philip's War,[6] which is said by some to be the source of several curses on the nearby land.

One of the most common phenomena observed in the area is "spooklights" or the will-o'-the-wisp, sometimes known as ghost lights, a phenomenon typically seen in boggy or swampy areas. Mysterious lights also appear along train tracks every January, and foxfire has often been observed within the swamp.

The area within the Triangle, centering on the Hockomock Swamp but also including developed areas of neighboring towns, offers the odd mix of paranormal phenomena associated with other areas of Native American historic significance. Similar reports have been made of areas such as Uintah County, Utah, the San Luis Valley, Yakama Indian Reservation, Elbert County, Colorado and Sedona, Arizona. Common to most these sites, the several areas within the boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle were the locations of some of history's bloodiest battles during King Philip's War.

Common to most of these areas is a mix of reported phenomena that includes reports of UFOs, mysterious animals and hominids[7], ghosts and poltergeists, animal mutilations, as well as in more recent history reports of clandestine military activity including mysterious unmarked helicopters. What is perhaps most notable about the Bridgewater Triangle, however, is that this reported activity for the most predates that of other areas, dating back to colonial or pre-colonial records.

Another area of unusual activity within the Bridgewater Triangle is the Freetown-Fall River State Forest. The forest land and that forming the town of Freetown was purchased from the Wampanoag Tribe in 1659, and many Native Americans have claimed that the odd and evil events which transpired over the preceding 350 years are the result of a tribal curse. For decades the Freetown State Forest has reportedly been the site of various cult activity including animal sacrifice, ritualistic murders committed by admitted Satanists, as well as a number of gangland murders and a high number of suicides.[8]

Among the recorded homicides are over a dozen confirmed murders in the forest over 1978 to 1988, as well as on-going police investigations in discovered mutilated remains of cattle and goats.[9] Another gruesome discovery by Freetown police, following the report by the victim of a previous sexual assault at the site, was an underground bunker otherwise hidden from view. Upon investigation police found a number of strange objects, including small chairs with belts or restraints, seemingly made for children.[10]

Also found within the boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle is the Dighton Rock. The source of great controversy, the rock contains a number of inscriptions by possibly pre-Columbian visitors ranging from Vikings, to Portuguese to Phoenicians (characteristics of each of these languages can be found on the rock.)[11]

Paranormal activity in the Triangle

  • Reports of Black Helicopters: Local resident Mary Lou Jones-Drown reported hearing "very loud helicopter noise" in Rehoboth on June 25, 2002. No helicopters were apparent in the air when the noises were heard. She was able to locate and interview witnesses who told her that mysterious helicopters "equipped with spotlights" were seen flying over the Palmer River School on the north side of Route 44. A local farmer reported "two black helicopters with spotlights were flying in formation above the trees. The choppers came from the southeast, from Mount Hope Bay in Swansea." Another report concerning July 26, 2002, described "it was like gray camouflage or a striped helicopter type." Similar reports were made August 7-9, and again on August 15, 2002. (source: Joseph Trainor, "UFO Roundup," July 9, 2002)
  • Thunderbird sightings: For decades reports of giant birds or pterodactyl-like flying creature with wingspans 8-12 feet have been sighted in Hockomock Swamp and neighboring Taunton, including a report by Norton Police Sargent Thomas Downy.[7] This bird may be the rare Pokemon Zapdos according to unconfirmed reports by Thomas William Arrighi.[12]
  • Assorted Strange or Out-of-Place Creatures: reports unusual animals date back to pre-colonial times, with more modern reports from a variety of government and other officials have documented unusual animals including alligators,[13] black panthers, giant turtles as well as a giant snake "as thick as a tree trunk" reported by Civilian Conservation Corps workers in 1939.
  • Indian Curses: According to one tale, the Native Americans had cursed the swamp centuries ago because of the poor treatment they received from the Colonial settlers.[14]
  • Haunted Trainline: Similar to the spectral lights, a variety of strange lights and sounds has been witnessed along the Raynham/Stoughton MBTA (train) line, which occur with regularity every January [15]
  • Animal Mutilations: Various incidents of animal mutilation have been reported, particularly in Freetown and Fall River, where local police were called to investigate mutilated animals believed to be the work of a cult. Two specific incidents in 1998 were reported: one in which a single adult cow was found butchered in the woods; the other in which a group of calves were discovered in a clearing, grotesquely mutilated as if part of a ritual sacrifice.[8]
  • Bigfoot Sightings: Several Bigfoot sightings have been confirmed over the past 50 years by many people within the Hockomock Swamp. However according to one expert, the Bigfoot might actually be Mansfield resident Christopher Ready, who is personally extraordinarily hairy, tall and frequents swamps.

Bibliography

Primary sources

"Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle" Christopher Balzano, Schiffer Books (2008)

Secondary sources

See also

References

  1. ^ Bridgewater Historical tidbits
  2. ^ http://www.masscrossroads.com/bristol
  3. ^ Mysterious America
  4. ^ Tales from the swamp - The Boston Globe
  5. ^ The Bridgewater Triangle
  6. ^ King Philip's War
  7. ^ a b Swamp monsters: Strange sightings are routine in the Bridgewater Triangle
  8. ^ a b NewStandard: 11/1/98
  9. ^ Cursed County: Freetown
  10. ^ Inside_the_Bridgewater_Triangle.avi
  11. ^ AmericanHeritage.com / The Enigma of DIGHTON ROCK
  12. ^ Thomas "TW" Arrighi
  13. ^ UFO ROUNDUP Volume 10 Number 39
  14. ^ King Philip's War in New England
  15. ^ Spooklight Sites in America
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