WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.839 Hello, friends, and welcome to another episode. In this video, 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:07.400 we invite you to join us for a trip down 3 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.800 thee strange rabbit hole that some refer to as the 4 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:19.079 Bennington Triangle. The area known as the Bennington Triangle, which 5 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:22.519 surrounds Glastonbury Mountain in the New England state of Vermont, 6 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:28.600 as a long strange history of bizarre occurrences. This includes 7 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.439 UFO sightings, big Foot encounters, eerie lights and sounds, and 8 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:37.439 the triangle also happens to be the location of several 9 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:43.399 unsolved disappearances during the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties. If 10 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.280 that isn't odd enough, According to Native American lore, the 11 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:52.920 area's heavily cursed. The Native American tribes of New England 12 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:55.840 have always known something was off for the area and 13 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:59.679 tend to steer clear of it at all costs. One 14 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.600 two particularly chilling legend from the Algonquin tribe cautions of 15 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:06.680 the existence of what are described as evil rocks in 16 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:10.280 the mountains, which have the ability to spring open and 17 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.560 devour those unfortunate enough to step upon them. Now, this 18 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.560 is rather interesting, considering how people have vanished without a 19 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:24.599 trace from within the triangle. New England author Joseph A. 20 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:27.680 Citro is the person considered to have coined the term 21 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:32.359 Bennington Triangle in nineteen ninety two while doing a radio 22 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:36.519 broadcast about paranormal and other unusual activity in the area. 23 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.400 According to Citro's findings, he states that the area has 24 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:46.359 similar characteristics with the equally strange Bridgewater Triangle in the 25 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:50.359 bordering state of Massachusetts, which has been written about extensively 26 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:57.599 by cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman. The Bennington Triangle is centered around 27 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.439 the heavily wooded forest of Glastonbury Mountain and also includes 28 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.840 the small towns of Bennington, Woodford, and Shaftesbury, and also 29 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.719 the abandoned or ghost towns of Somerset and Glastonbury. Over 30 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:15.319 the last two hundred years, there have been many encounters 31 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.879 with and sightings of a big foot like crypton in 32 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:23.439 the area surrounding Glastonbury Mountain. The locals, as well as 33 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:27.759 paranormal and cryptosiological investigators, refer to this unknown creature as 34 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:33.919 the Bennington Monster. The earliest recorded sightings of the beast 35 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.599 occurred in the early eighteen hundreds, when a stagecoach loaded 36 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.879 with passengers was forced to stop its journey due to 37 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:45.719 a heavily washed out section of the stage road. The 38 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:49.680 driver the stagecoach observed that there were very large footprints 39 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.479 in the mud which were way too large to belong 40 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.800 to any human. While the perplexed driver was pondering these prints, 41 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.199 the stage coach was suddenly attacked by a large creature. 42 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.280 It was strong enough to flip the stagecoach over onto 43 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:09.159 its side. The terrified passengers stated that they observed a 44 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.520 frightening pair of large eyes peering into the overturned coach 45 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:15.560 at them, before whatever the creature was screamed and then 46 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:20.199 ran off to disappear in the surrounding woods. The passengers 47 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.319 would later describe the monster as a large, hairy, black 48 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:29.400 creature well over six feet in height. The area has 49 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:32.560 long been rife with tales of people suddenly going missing 50 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:36.879 within the area of the triangle. One of the oddest 51 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:40.159 disappearances was that of a man named Carol Herrick in 52 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:44.439 nineteen forty three. Eric disappeared while on a hunting trip 53 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.719 just a few miles northeast of the abandoned town of Glastonbury. 54 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.199 Although his body was found three days later, it was 55 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:55.800 observed to be surrounded by dozens of footprints too large 56 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.680 for a normal person. It was also determined that Carol 57 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:06.360 appeared to have been squeezed to death. Then, beginning in 58 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:10.240 nineteen forty five and continuing for the next five years, 59 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:14.240 people began to go mysteriously missing from the area with 60 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:20.000 an alarming regularity. A man named Middy Rivers, a seventy 61 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.639 four year old hunting guide very familiar with the area, 62 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:28.160 went missing on November twelfth, nineteen forty five. Rivers, who 63 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:30.879 had led many hunting parties in the area over decades, 64 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.759 was taking a group of four hunters to the oddly 65 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:38.120 named Hell Hollow area, which is located within the southwest 66 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:43.439 forest of Blastombury. While leading the hunting party back to camp, 67 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.120 he somehow got ahead of the other four and, for 68 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:51.879 reasons unknown, never returned to the camp site. At first, 69 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:54.759 the other hunters were not overly concerned, as they knew 70 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.759 Middy to be an expert woodsman and knowledgeable guide. When 71 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:02.519 Rivers still had failed returned the next day, the authorities 72 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:06.360 were contacted and an extensive search was held, comprising as 73 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:09.360 many as three hundred worried locals, as well as a 74 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.519 number of US Army soldiers who had been dispatched from 75 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:18.759 nearby Fort Devons in Massachusetts. They searched through the deep 76 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:22.519 woods for eight straight days, but the only possible evidence 77 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.839 found was an AMMO cartridge for the same type rifle 78 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.560 that Rivers was known to be carrying. The cartridge was 79 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.560 found in a shallow stream, and there was no evidence 80 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:37.240 of any foul play or animal attack nearby. Although they 81 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.199 had no luck with the extensive search effort, many of 82 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.920 Mitty's friends and those local to the area were sure, 83 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.720 with the man's knowledge of the woods and survival skills, 84 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:51.079 he would eventually return. However, this never came to be, 85 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:54.680 and no trace of the missing guide has ever been found. 86 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.839 The area from which Rivers vanished is near a Long 87 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:04.879 Trail Road and Vermont State Route nine. The very next year, 88 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.720 on Sunday, December one, nineteen forty six, an eighteen year 89 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:13.800 old college student named Paula Weldon went missing while hiking 90 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:19.319 in the same area around Long Trail Road, easily remembered 91 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.800 because she was wearing a bright red jacket. Several people 92 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.199 were called Singer that day, including a shop clerk in 93 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:29.920 Bennington who had provided her with directions, and also a 94 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:33.000 couple of elderly hikers who had been approximately three hundred 95 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.639 feet behind her on the trail for part of their hike. 96 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.040 The alarm was sounded when the college sophomore didn't show 97 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:42.920 up the next morning for her classes at Bennington College. 98 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.600 An extensive search was launched by local authorities and included 99 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.040 more than one thousand volunteer searchers. There were also searches 100 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.959 conducted from the air and with the assistance of the FBI, 101 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:03.680 and a five thousand dollars reward was off When interviewed, 102 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:06.959 the elderly couple who had observed Paula hiking just ahead 103 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.680 of them on the trail stated that after they watched 104 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.560 her turn a corner on the trail, she seemed to 105 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.199 have just vanished. Despite the extensive searches and the offer 106 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.639 of the five thousand dollars reward, no trace of paul 107 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:25.160 and Weldon has ever been found, and her fate remains unknown. 108 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.279 Exactly three years to the day of the disappearance of 109 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:35.639 Paula Weldon, a man named James Tedford suddenly vanished from 110 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:41.439 a bus on December one, nineteen forty nine. A military 111 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.279 veteran and resident of the local Bennington Soldiers' Home, Tedford 112 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:47.920 was returning by a bus from Saint Albans, where he 113 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:54.600 had been visiting relatives when he vanished. Based on eyewitness accounts, 114 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.839 Tedford and thirteen other passengers were on the bus at 115 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.000 the previous stop before the bus at arrived in Bennington, 116 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:04.600 but when the bus pulled into the station, he had 117 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:08.480 somehow disappeared. His bags were still on the luggage track 118 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:11.480 and a bus schedule was found lying open on his 119 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:17.680 now empty seat. The other passengers stated that they didn't 120 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:19.680 see Teedford get off the bus at any of the 121 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:22.759 previous stops, and he wasn't on the bus when it 122 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:28.680 pulled into Bennington. Authorities investigated the disappearance and were convinced 123 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.560 that no one had seen anything and there were no 124 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:36.799 suspicious incidents which had occurred during the bus trip. One 125 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:41.240 strange and interesting fact, it should be noted that Tedford's wife, Pearl, 126 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:47.120 had also vanished under mysterious circumstances a couple of years prior. Now, 127 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.159 there aren't many details about his early life, but in 128 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:54.080 nineteen forty Tadfrid was listed as a resident in Franklin, Vermont, 129 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:57.720 with his wife, Pearl, who was much younger, her age 130 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.360 being twenty eight while he was fifty six. The strangeness 131 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.399 began following Teedford's return to Vermont after the end of 132 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:07.679 his second round of military service near the end of 133 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:12.600 World War II. Upon his return, he found that Pearl 134 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.919 had vanished, no trace of her to be found, and 135 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.960 the house the couple had rented in Franklin, Vermont, was 136 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:24.000 found and being left abandoned. Tedford's family claimed no knowledge 137 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:27.120 as to the whereabouts of the missing wife, and stated 138 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:29.320 the last time they had seen her was as she 139 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.200 was on her way to the Amaco gas station in Franklin. 140 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:37.480 There was speculation among the locals that rather than having 141 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:40.960 met with foul play, she had understandably grown tired of 142 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.440 waiting for a much older husband to return from war 143 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:48.480 and had simply taken off. Whatever the cause, she was 144 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:51.960 never to be seen or heard from again. Tedford was 145 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.399 crushed and moved into the local home for soldiers, where 146 00:09:55.440 --> 00:10:01.000 he still lived when he vanished the next year. On 147 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.000 October twelfth, nineteen fifty an eight year old boy named 148 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.759 Paul Jepson was the next in the area to go missing. 149 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:11.679 Jepson was last seen in the cab of his mother's 150 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:14.519 pickup truck in Bennington, where she had left him to 151 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.799 play while she briefly tended to her pigs. When the 152 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:23.080 mother returned, she found that the boy was gone. She 153 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.639 quickly looked for him in the nearby immediate area with 154 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:29.519 no luck, after which she reported him missing, and soon 155 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:32.320 hundreds of volunteers had assembled to help search for the 156 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:36.440 missing boy. Tracking dogs were brought in to aid in 157 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.399 the search for the missing boy. The dogs were able 158 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.679 to pick up his scent and followed it towards Glastonbury Mountain. However, 159 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.759 when the scent was lost at a nearby crossroads, it 160 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.799 was thought that perhaps the boy had either been abducted 161 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:53.000 by a stranger or otherwise accepted a ride in a 162 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:59.000 passing automobile. Paul's father stated that oddly enough, the boy 163 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.399 had talked about visit the mountain almost NonStop for the 164 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:06.559 last week or so. The area around Glastonbury Mountain will 165 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:10.399 searched extensively for the next several days, but sadly, no 166 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:16.279 trace of Paul has ever been found. Then, sixteen days 167 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.759 after Paul Jepson's mysterious disappearance, a woman named Frida Langer 168 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:27.039 disappeared on October twenty eighth, nineteen fifty. Frida was camping 169 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:32.080 with several other family members in the forest near Glastonbury Mountain. Langer, 170 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.960 then aged fifty three, along with her cousin Herbert Elsner, 171 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.320 had ventured away from the family's woodland campsite to go 172 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:43.320 on a hike near the Somerset Reservoir. They had managed 173 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.759 to hike just a few hundred yards from their campsite 174 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.200 when Frida lost her footing and fell into a mountain stream, 175 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:53.440 completely soaking her shoes and clothing. Due to the chili 176 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:56.360 fall temperature in the mountains, Frita told her cousin to 177 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.440 wait while she ran back to their campsite to change 178 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:04.360 into some dry close. Her cousin stated that he waited 179 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:07.240 for what seemed like a sufficient amount of time, and 180 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.519 when Freda still hadn't returned, he decided to go back 181 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:14.240 to the camp to see if she was okay. However, 182 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.240 upon his return, he was shocked to learn that Freda 183 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:20.519 hadn't returned to the campsite at all. She had instead 184 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.200 apparently vanished in broad daylight in the distance of a 185 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:29.600 few hundred yards. Brita was reported missing, and over the 186 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:33.519 next several weeks, search parties with as many as four 187 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:39.519 hundred people, including concerned volunteers, law enforcement, firefighters, and military, 188 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.639 as well as some aircraft searched for her and came 189 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:49.240 up empty handed. Sadly, the search was eventually abandoned. Seven 190 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:54.279 months later. However, on May twelfth, nineteen fifty one, Frita's 191 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:58.759 body was discovered near Somerset Reservoir, strangely enough, in an 192 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:04.519 area that had been extensive searched many times previously. Advanced 193 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.279 decomposition of her remains meant that no cause of death 194 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:13.480 could be determined, and her case is still unsolved. And then, 195 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:17.600 just as strangely and suddenly as they had begun, the 196 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:22.279 string of disappearances stopped. Freedom Langer was the last person 197 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:25.919 to vanish mysteriously during this timeframe and the only missing 198 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:31.480 persons whose remains were found. Other than the geographic locations 199 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:35.159 and timeframe, no other connection has been discovered that tie 200 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.720 these cases to one another. Although some have speculated that 201 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:42.279 a serial killer may be responsible for these strange disappearances, 202 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.200 some blame the Native American curse or simply claim that 203 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.120 the paranormalists to blame, as there appears to be an 204 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:55.600 act of portal here into the unexplained. There's also the 205 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:59.279 theory that the area is very unstable due to the 206 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.519 unusually care chaotic and confusing wind and weather patterns on 207 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:06.039 the mountain, which can cause people to easily become disoriented 208 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:10.919 and then lost as a result. Regardless of what is 209 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:14.080 to be believed, the Bennington Triangle is known to be 210 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.879 home to strange and mysterious paranormal phenomena. As well as 211 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.720 the aforementioned Bigfoot encounters and the stirring of mysterious disappearances, 212 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.360 there are many many reports of strange broading orbs of light, 213 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:31.600 sightings of other bizarre forest creatures, and even the occasional 214 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:38.559 UFO siding. Well, there you have it, a small glipse 215 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.960 into the unknown courtesy of the enigma known as the 216 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:46.440 Bennington Triangle. I hope you've enjoyed these stories, and if 217 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:48.720 there are other strange areas you'd like for us to cover, 218 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.919 feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below, 219 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:58.000 and don't forget to please like, share, and subscribe for more. Also, 220 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.559 i'd like to say, if you enjoy true tales of 221 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:04.039 the paranormal, I invite you to visit my channel thirteen 222 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:07.639 Past Midnight, where I narrate strange encounters from my books 223 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.039 as well as some other unusual fare. In the meantime, 224 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:16.240 take care of yourselves and each other. I'm Steve Stockton, 225 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:18.399 and i'll talk to you next time.