Fact or Fiction?

After researching the Jersey Devil, I have concluded that I myself believe this to be a myth. The stories are all very interesting, but without any hard evidence, it is just too hard to believe that something like this exists. It is easy to mistake the common deer, or any other creature in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens as a mythical devil creature when there have been stories past on from generation to generation of a local monster. In the end, I conclude that this is just Jersey folklore meant for fun stories and to scare the locals when a raccoon goes through their trash or tears up their yard.

Evidence of the Jersey Devil

Without hard evidence, such as pictures or videos, it is hard to determine fully whether or not something is fact or fiction. It is exceptionally hard with the Jersey Devil, because no physical evidence has ever been found of him. The best accounts of the devil come from people who have had close encounters with the creature himself, or just witnessed the devil's hellish doings. One account comes from a councilmen in Trenton, New Jersey, in which he says one night he was woken by the sound of flapping wings outside of his bedroom window, but when he went outside there was nothing but hoof prints left where the sound was coming from. All throughout the 20th century tales of the creature have been told, like in 1927 a cab driver in Salem got a flat tire, and while trying to fix it the devil flew out of the forest and on top of his car. The man then says that the creature shook his car violently, so he fled the scene, leaving his cab and his jack behind. The most abundant evidence there is comes from the year 1909 when the devil was sighted over hundered times in one week, spanning his trip from Philidelphia to New York! Although many stories are told from local New Jersey residents, there are no actual documents, pictures, or legitimate sources of evidence for the Jersey Devil.

Sources:
"Stories Through the Years", 1996-2002, http://www.elktownship.com/myth.html
"Unknown Creatures", http://www.unknown-creatures.com/jersey-devil.html

Although recent sightings have occured, almost all of the encounters and stories of the Jersey Devil come from the 1800-1900's. It all started shortly after the birth of the devil, of course all of  the encounters happening in regions of New Jersey. The story of the devil had spread all across the pine barrens, and men, women, and children were all too frightened of the beast to even go out at night. around 1740 the pine barrens residents asked a local minister to give the devil an exorcism, but the man said that it would take up to 100 years. In 1840 the devil returned to the region snatching sheep and small dogs, even sometimes children, and people all around were locking their doors and hanging lamps outside as to keep the monster away. One of the most known sightings of the Jersey Devil is in 1909 when thousands of people witnessed the devil or his footprints, causing schools to shut down and factories close. Time after time again, endless accounts of the devil being seen, people were terrified of the devil from his encounters with town folk. That same year, the Philadelphia zoo offered ten thousand dollars to anyone who could capture the Jersey Devil, but no one would take up the offer. When the end of 1909 came around, the accounts of sightings started to wither away, and eventually, the jersey devil vanished. He was spotted a few more times in the next 100 years, but nothing as wild and disastrous as his visits in 1909.

sources:
 Perticaro, Anthony, "The Jersey Devil of Pine Barrens", http://www.strangemag.com/jerseydevil1.html
Taylor, Troy, "The Jersey Devil, Legend or Truth?", 2002, http://www.prairieghosts.com/jerseydevil.html

Good Ol' Jersey Devil

According to myth, the Jersey Devil's story starts off with a woman around three hundred years ago. This woman lived in the Pinelands of Jersey, and one night prayed for her thirteenth child to become a devil. When the child was born it transformed into a monster twice the size of a man, with gigantic wings, cloven feet, and talons for hands. The devil proceeded to kill the midwife of the mother, and flew off only to come back to terrorize local town folk and travelers alike. Many other variations of the story come about, according to the theshadowlands.net 1995 article "The Jersey Devil" by Dave Juliano, Mrs. Leeds, who was the mother of the Jersey devil, was actually a witch residing in Burlington, NJ with her husband who was actually the devil. The child was then born with wings, a tail, a horse-like head, and claws. Since the birth of this creature, it has been supposedly spotted by over two thousand witnesses, and terrorized villages and towns, shutting down schools and factories. I myself will have to take a further look into the Jersey Devil, and see if I can find some answers on if this creature is really existent.

Sources:
Juliano, Dave, "The Jersey Devil", 1995, http://theshadowlands.net/jd.htm

Taylor, Troy, "The Jersey Devil, Legend or Truth?", 2002, http://www.prairieghosts.com/jerseydevil.html

Your Kidding me Right?

Deep in the pinelands of New Jersey there lies a terrible creature known as the Jersey Devil, or so people say. Many variations of the beast's story have been told, but in my perspective each one of them is false. I've decided to take it upon myself to track down this Jersey Devil, and find out once and for all if this is fact or fiction, but who are we kidding? With a story as ridiculous as the devil's, I should have no problem busting this oh so fictitious myth.