Bridgewater Triangle

The Bridgewater Triangle is an area of about 200 square miles (520 km2) within southeastern Massachusetts in the United States,[1] claimed to be a site of alleged paranormal phenomena, ranging from UFOs to poltergeists, orbs, balls of fire and other spectral phenomena, various bigfoot-like sightings, giant snakes and "thunderbirds."

A map of the Bridgewater Triangle

Location

Specific boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle were first defined by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman (who coined the term) in the 1970s, and then in his book Mysterious America.[2] He wrote that the Bridgewater Triangle encompasses the towns of Abington, Rehoboth and Freetown at the points of the triangle, and Brockton, Whitman, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Bridgewater, Middleboro, Dighton, Berkley, Raynham, Norton, Easton, Lakeville, Seekonk, and Taunton inside the triangle. Similar claims have been made about an area in neighboring Vermont called the Bennington Triangle.

Historic places and landmarks
A 1902 postcard photo showing Profile Rock
  • Hockomock Swamp - Central to the area is Hockomock Swamp, which means "the place where spirits dwell."[3]
  • Dighton Rock - Also found within the boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle is the Dighton Rock.
  • Freetown-Fall River State Forest - The Freetown-Fall River 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 number of suicides.[4]
  • Profile Rock - The supposed site of where Wampanoag historical figure Anawan received the lost wampum belt from Philip, legend has it the ghost of a man can be seen sitting on the rock with his legs crossed or with outstretched arms. Located within the Freetown-Fall River State Forest.[5]
  • Solitude Stone - An inscribed stone located near Forest Street in West Bridgewater which was found near a missing person's body. Also known as "suicide stone," the rock was found with the inscription: "All ye, who in future days, Walk by Nunckatessett stream Love not him who hummed his lay Cheerful to the parting beam, But the beauty that he wooed."[6]

Paranormal claims

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, and animal mutilations.

  • Bigfoot sightings: There have been several reported sightings of a bigfoot-like creature in the triangle, usually near the Hockomock swamp.
  • Thunderbird sightings: Giant birds or pterodactyl-like flying creature with wingspans 8–12 feet are claimed to have been seen in Hockomock Swamp and neighboring Taunton, including a report by Norton Police Sergeant Thomas Downy.[7]
  • 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. [4]
  • Native American 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.[8] A revered object of the Wampanoag people, a belt known as the wampum belt, was lost during King Philip's War. Legend says that the area owes its paranormal unrest to the fact that this belt was lost from the Native people.[5]

See also

References
  1. Bridgewater Historical tidbits Archived 2007-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Muscato, Ross A. (October 30, 2005). "Tales from the swamp". The Boston Globe.
  4. NewStandard: 11/1/98
  5. Balzano, Christopher; Weisberg, Tim (2012). Haunted Objects. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. pp. 33–34.
  6. J., Vieira, Michael (2017-04-10). New England rocks : historic geological wonders. Conway, J. North (Jack North). Charleston, SC. pp. 66–67. ISBN 9781439660348. OCLC 993647007.
  7. http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2006/10/25/news/news/news06.txt. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. "Archived Document". Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2010-11-07.

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