Speaker 1: Tonight's episode is brought to you by Minwist supporters Aaron,
Laura and Dave. Thank you for making the show possible.
Almost five decades ago, a small Massachusetts town was thrust
into the paranormal spotlight when several of its residents encountered
a terrifying creature they couldn't comprehend. It's a story that
has captured people's imaginations ever since and spurred numerous researchers
and news outlets to investigate the bizarre reports. But was
it merely a hoax or was it, in fact a
sinister creature that we have yet to explain, A creature
most famously known as the dover Daemon. The state of
Massachusetts has a rich history of unexplained phenomena, which involves
sightings of sasquatch, dog man, and even fayfolk. Seie witnesses
have even told stories of seeing gigantic prehistoric birds gliding
high above the trees. But for many folks, these tales
pale in comparison to a string of encounters that took
place during the nineteen seventies and brought notoriety to a
small and unsuspecting location within the Commonwealth incorporated in eighteen
thirty six and located just twenty five miles southwest of
downtown Boston. Since the small, idealic town of Dover, Massachusetts.
Nestled on the bank of the Charles River, Dover provides
a safe and serene escape from the hustle and bustle
of city life. The town offers its residents numerous recreational options,
as well as some of the most majestic landscapes the
East Coast has to offer. In many ways, Dover is
the quintessential small New England town. However, its excellent schools
and low crime rate earned exactly what put it on
the map. In fact, many would agree that it was
actually a young man by the name of William Bartlett who,
in the summer of nineteen seventy seven, would have a
first hand encounter with the unknown, an encounter that made
him question everything he thought he knew. This would be
the catalyst that brought Dover into the public eye and
turned this quiet Boston suburb into a worldwide icon for
enthusiasts of the unexplained. April twenty first, nineteen seventy seven,
ten thirty p m. A gentle southwesterly breeze envelops the
Dover countryside, bringing the already mild spring night down to
a comfortable sixty five degrees. William is driving his Volkswagon
north on Farm Street, a four mile stretch of country
road on the outskirts of Dover. William is accompanied by
his friends Andy Brody and Mike Mazaka, who he is
giving a ride back to their homes. This particular stretch
of roadway, like most others in the area, is surrounded
by beautiful rolling hills and dense, dark woodlands. The three
seventeen year olds are enjoying their evening drive and reminiscing
about their day. But as the boys continue on to
their destinations, they approach a bend in the road and
William sees something. Initially, he believes it to be a
dog or maybe a cat, off to the left hand
side of the road. However, something about the way it
moves along a low rock wall makes William uncomfortable, and
it causes him to look closer. This is when his
headlights begin to more fully illuminate the bizarre entity, revealing
several disturbing features. At this point, it becomes all too
clear that this is not a normal animal or at
least nothing that William has ever seen before. Whatever this
thing is, it has a body structure that doesn't make
any sense. It looks humanoid but appears to only be
about three to three and a half feet tall, and
it seems to be completely devoid of hair. Its arms, torso,
and even its legs are extremely thin, and William describes
the creature's skin as being light peach in color and
looking similar to the texture of wet sand paper. He
also describes it as having a baby's body with long
arms and legs. Even stranger is its large, misshapen head,
which clumsily sits upon its bony shoulders and houses two
massive orange eyes, which William says looks like two orange marbles.
Captivated by what he saw, William continues driving around the curve,
trying to focus his attention back on the road. It's
at this point that he loses sight of this mysterious
creature nervously mentions it to his friends, only to learn
that neither Andy or Mike had seen it. William would
later say this regarding his brief yet terrifying experience, I
really flew after I saw it. I took that corner
at forty five which is pretty fast. I said to
my friends, did you see that? And they said, NA,
describe it. I did, and they said go back, go back,
and I said, no way, no way. When you see
something like that, you don't want to stand around and
see what it's going to do. They finally did get
me to go back, and Mike was leaning out of
the window yelling, come on, creature, and I was saying,
will you cut that out? Andy was yelling, I want
to see you. Despite Andy and Mike's best and somewhat
audacious efforts, the strange miniature humanoid doesn't make a second appearance,
and the three boys eventually continue back into town. After
dropping his friends off, William decides to head home, but
he can't shake the unsettling image of what he saw.
Moments later, he arrives at his house and immediately his
father knows that something isn't quite right. This is when
William decides to tell his father exactly what he encountered,
and would later produce a drawing of the odd creature
that he witnessed. Now you might say that William Bartlett's
encounter is easily explained as a misidentification or even a hoax,
but this is where the story gets even stranger. Enter
fifteen year old Dover resident John Baxter. Later that same night,
at around twelve a m. And approximately two miles southwest
of downtown Dover, John Baxter was getting ready to head
home after visiting his girlfriend Kathy Cronin. John was already
a bit apprehensive, as he should have been home a
couple of hours earlier, and he wasn't looking forward to
the reprimanding that he would undoubtedly receive, not to mention
the dark, empty streets that he would have to travel
at such a late hour of the night. Reluctantly, the
young couple's say goodbyes, and John makes his way to
the end of Cathy's driveway, eventually stepping out on to
the south end of Miller Hill Road to begin his
lonely walk home. Miller Hill is a quiet, heavily forested
residential street that dead ends to the north at Farm Street.
This was a familiar route that John had taken many
times before, but on this particular night, his journey would
prove to be anything but ordinary. Heading north on Miller Hill,
he makes his way down the dark and desolate road,
with only the occasional street lamp to guide his way
as the cloudy sky is now covering the moonlight. Although
hesitant to get home, John knows that he needs to hurry,
so for the next few minutes he anxiously travels down
the narrow lane, quietly passing the occasional houses nearby. But
then John notices something coming towards him in the darkness
and walking from the direction in which he is traveling.
It appears to be another person, but he can't make
out the details as it continues to draw closer, though,
John can tell that the silhouette is smaller than an
average adult, so he assumes it's a small child. Unfortunately, though,
the closest street lamp is a good distance away and
offers little help in illuminating this unknown figure. As the
two continue to approach one another, their pace is slow,
and it's then that John believes this could be one
of his friends named MG, who also lives on Miller
Hill Road. As this thought enters John's mind, he calls out, MG,
is that you, but the figure doesn't respond. It simply
stops walking and remains motionless. Unsettled by the entity's reaction,
John stops walking as well, trying desperately to make out
the slightest detail. He then nervously asks who is that,
while simultaneously taking a step forward in the hopes of
seeing the shadowy figure more clearly. It's at this very moment,
and without warning, that the mysterious entity abruptly turns to
its right John's life, and then runs down into a
heavily wooded gully and up the other side. John can
clearly hear the sound of frantic footsteps as the being
runs through the dry leaves. Both confused and curious, John
decides to investigate further and immediately follows the entity into
the woods, sprinting down the shallow gully, up the embankment,
and heading deeper into the treeline. Hearing twigs snapping in
the nearby brush, he pauses to inspect the dark forest
in front of him, but although the woodlands have now
grown silent, John knows that he is most definitely not alone.
Straining to make out anything in the inky blackness, Baxter's
eyes eventually begin to adjust, and he then notices an
odd silhouette looming approximately thirty yards away. As his mind races,
the clouds above him begin to part, gradually illuminating the
forest floor and revealing more details of the small humanoid.
John can now clearly see that this is definitely not
his friend. In fact, it's not even human, and it
has unnatural features the chill Baxter to his core. This
bizarre creature stands motionless, with its feet molded upon a
large rock, its body appearing thin, emaciated, and in many
ways resembling that of a primate. However, John would later
describe its head as looking like a figure eight that
was dark in color and much too large for its body.
As he stands frozen trying to make sense of what
he's seeing, the creature silently stares back at John with large,
emotionless eyes that seem to emit or reflect some type
of light. At this point, the curiosity that initially filled
Baxter's mind begins to fade, and in its place, an
unimaginable fear takes hold. The creature's stare begins to feel menacing,
and without thinking, John starts to slowly back away out
of the woodline and up the slope leading to the
edge of the road. With no sign of the creature
following him, John quickly walks north toward the intersection of
Miller Hill Road and Farm street, and eventually encounters two
local residents who happen to be driving by. As the
couple approached John, they come to a stop and ask
him if he needs help. John begins to answer them,
but his distress and confusion becomes obvious, and they offer
him a ride home. John gladly accepts, eager to put
as much distance as possible between himself and this bizarre encounter.
In the hours that followed his terrifying experience, John Baxter
would draw a picture of the small humanoid that he witnessed,
and although neither of the two boys had spoken about
their ordeals, John sketch would depict a hideous creature that
was almost identical to the entity that William Bartlett had
drawn that very same night. Before I continue, please consider
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Please stay tuned and I'll be right back. After these
brief messages. The following evening, at around midnight, a friend
of William Bartlett, eighteen year old Will Tainter, was driving
his girlfriend, Abby Brabam back to her house. Their route
took them through the country down Springdale Avenue, a quiet
road that runs between downtown Dover to the east and
connects with Farm Street about three fourths of a mile
to the west. The couple had just left the nearby
party and were still upset over an argument they had
a few minutes earlier. Neither of them knew exactly what
to say, which caused an awkward silence to fill the
car and leave both of them on edge. As the
events of the evening continue to replay in her mind,
Abby quietly stares off into the distance, and this is
when something pulls her attention to the side of the road.
It looks like some type of animal that's hunched over
or squatting, but something about it captivates her, and as
they draw closer, Abby realizes that it appears to be
watching them approach. At this point, will hasn't noticed the
odd creature that's drawing Abby's attention, as he too was
still distracted by their earlier disagreement. As their headlights begin
to more fully illuminate the roadside ahead and this unknown
shape gets even closer, Abby shrieks in horror, snapping Will
out of his days. At this moment, it becomes all
too clear that what she initially thought was an animal
is something altogether different, and as they pass it, she
points towards the side of the road and yells at
Will to look confused. Will's first reaction is to step
on the brakes, and with Abbey now frantically screaming and
pointing toward the rear of the car, he looks at
his driver's side mirror and sees something small standing on
two legs. With the only light source coming from the
car's break lights, it's difficult for him to tell what
he's looking at, but he knows it's definitely not an animal,
and he would later describe the strange creature as having
tan colored skin and an oversized head. It all happened
so fast that he wasn't able to see any additional details,
but Abby, on the other hand, had seen enough to
know that whatever it was, they needed to get as
far away from it as possible. For a brief moment,
they pause to observe the odd creature as it lingers
motionless in the road behind them, knowing full well they
should leave, and for several seconds it appears to be
just as interested in them, But then, without warning, it
abruptly dashes across the road and out of sight. This
understandably startles the young couple, and Abby, still hysterical, yells
at Will to get them out of there, to which
he happily obliges. They continued driving the rest of their
way home without incident, forgetting all about their initial quarrel
and eager to put this terrifying night behind them. Eventually,
all three sightings were reported to the police, and during
the investigation, all four witnesses were asked separately to draw
the creature that they saw. Every drawing showed similarities, with
the most major exception being that Abby Brabham insisted that
the creature's eyes were green. William Bartlett, however, noted on
his drawing that the creature's eyes were orange, and he
said that he would swear on a stack of bibles
that this was the creature he saw. On April twenty eighth,
prominent cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman, who was living in the neighboring
town of Needham, visits the Dover Country Store, where a
store employee, Melody Friar, tells him about Bartlett's sighting and
the sketch. She promises to get Coleman a copy and
two days later provide d him with two drawings. The
next day, Coleman interviews Bartlett. On May third, he questions
Baxter and Brabham, and on the fifth he talks to Tainter.
After the interviews, Coleman asks Walter Webb of the Aerial
Phenomena Research Organization, Joseph Nyman of the Mutual Uphone Network,
and Ed Fogg of the New England UFO Study Group
to join the investigation. Although none of the witnesses had
reported seeing a UFO in connection with the Dover dmon
the eufologists were struck by the creature's apparent resemblance to
humanoid beings, which are sometimes associated with the UFOs. After
an extensive investigation, all four of the investigators concluded that
while it was possible that it could have been a hoax,
they did not believe this was the case. There was
nothing in the witness's backgrounds to suggest they might be pranksters,
and more to suggest that they were honest, upright individuals.
This sentiment was also shared by many other Dover residents
who knew the teams well. Walter Webb would also go
on to say this none of the four was on
drugs or drinking at the time of his or her sightings.
So far as we were able to determine, none of
the principles in this affair made any attempt to go
to the newspapers or the police to publicize their claims. Instead,
the sightings gradually leaked out. Finally, the teenager's own parents,
the high school principal, the science instructor, and other adults
in Dover whose comments were solicited did not believe the
Dover Demon was a fabrication, implying the youths did indeed
see something. Lauren Coleman would also add that the area
in which the Dover Demon was cited already had a
history of unexplained activity. In the same area, you had
three major legends going on, including a sighting of the
devil on horseback in the sixteen hundreds, stories of Buried Treasure,
and then the Dover Demon. I think it certainly says
something it's almost as if there are certain areas that
collect sightings, almost in a magnetic way. In two thousand
and six, William Bartlett was interviewed by Mark Sullivan of
The Boston Globe in an article titled Decades Later, The
Dover Demon Still Haunts. In it, Bartlett describes how he
continues to stick to his story, even to his own detriment.
He is quoted as saying, in a lot of ways,
it's kind of embarrassing to me. I definitely saw something.
It was definitely weird. I didn't make it up. Sometimes
I wish I had. During that same interview, Bartlett also
describes another incident that happened a year later. He said
that while sitting in a parked car with his girlfriend,
the two heard a thump. When Bartlett looked to see
if he could find the source of the noise, he
saw a small figure that was leaving. He said it
was possibly just a prank, but he didn't know for sure.
In the same article, Sullivan also mentioned that in nineteen
seventy two, just five years before Bartlett's sighting, a man
by the name of Mark Sennett swore that he saw
a creature with glowing or reflective eyes lurking in the
woods near Springdale Avenue, the very same road where Abby
Brabham and Will Tainter Head there encounter. We saw a
small figure deep in the woods, moving at the edge
of the pond. We could see it moving in the headlights,
but we didn't know what it was. So what was
the Dover Demon? Well, we really don't know. Many skeptics
actually believe that it was a baby moose. However, many
disagree with this theory and point out that it was
the wrong time of year for a moose that's small
to be wandering around, not to mention that Massachusetts isn't
typically a moose's natural habitat. In response to this, it
has alternatively been suggested that the Dover Demon could have
actually been an orange furred calf, a fall, a monkey,
or even a dog. Alternatively, some believers say that the
the Dover Demon was some type of mutated animal or
an escaped experiment, though where the animal might have escaped
from is generally not expanded upon. Then there's the obvious
et explanation, no doubt, due to the fact that the
Dover Demon is generally described as looking similar to a
gray alien. However, many have pointed out that there were
no reported UFO sidings in the area at that time,
but whether or not this invalidates the whole alien theory
is yet to be determined. This coming April will mark
forty nine years since the Dover Demon stocked the forests
and country roads surrounding Dover, Massachusetts, and it would seem
that we're no closer to solving this mystery today than
we were almost five decades ago. Maybe it's because it
was just a well planned hoax, all orchestrated by four
teenagers that were just looking to bring a little excitement
to an otherwise quiet town. Or maybe there truly was
something unexplainable lurking on the outskirts of Dover, And if so,
where did it go? Or is it possibly still dwelling
somewhere in the Commonwealth. If it is, perhaps someone listening
has more information regarding the demon of Dover, Massachusetts. Perhaps
that someone is you. I hope you enjoyed tonight's episode,
and if you'd like to submit your experience or learn
more about supporting what I do, you can find all
my contact and support information in the show notes and
as always at Paranormal Mysteries Podcast. Dot com until next time,
Thank you so much for listening, and please remember don't
wait for the unknown to come to you, get out
there and find it. Suspect and some as s