161 strange-creature, sea-serpent, wild-man and mystery-airship reports from 258 American newspapers, 1839 to 1909. Each one is summarised in plain English and links to the original page at the Library of Congress.
1840s1850s1870s1910s1920s
The 1830s 2
The Hillsborough Recorder.Hillsborough, N.C. · April 11, 1839 · Page 1
A wild man of the woods brought back from the Mississippi
St. Peters (Minnesota) River, upper Mississippi approx. · April 1839
A Boston paper reported that a lumber company agent had returned from the St. Peters River on the upper Mississippi with a living wild man of the woods and two small cubs. The story ran in papers from North Carolina to Vermont.
Probably a hoax or tall tale A classic newspaper tall tale of its day; no such captive was ever exhibited.
Herald of the Times.Newport, R.I. · Aug. 29, 1839 · Page 4
The sea serpent returns to the Atlantic coast
Newport, Rhode Island · Aug. 1839
The Newport Herald of the Times said the sea serpent had been reported again along the coast, in Frenchman's Bay, off Nahant and as far south as Cape May. The editor admitted he had been sceptical, but was shaken when an old friend said he had seen it himself.
Illinois River bottoms, fourteen miles west of Jerseyville approx. · Nov. 1868
Hunters in the Illinois River bottoms west of Jerseyville said they caught and killed a monster they could not decide was an animal or a reptile. It had a back like a skunk's and a rough brown belly.
The Gallipolis Bulletin reported a wild man in the woods near town: naked, covered in hair, very tall and with bulging eyes. Some older boys first saw him behind Carrell's Hill, and later he chased women along the Chillicothe road. The story was reprinted as far away as Vermont.
The Daily Dispatch.Richmond · Feb. 9, 1869 · Page 4
A strange animal caught near Farmville
Farmville, Virginia · Feb. 5, 1869
Two men near Farmville captured an animal no one there had seen before: about three feet long, slim and brown, with a small head, black eyes, long ears, a sharp nose and a long tail.
The Wheeling Daily Register.Wheeling, W. Va. · March 15, 1869 · Page 1
Cries from the Hurricane near Uniontown
The Hurricane, southwest of Uniontown, Kentucky approx. · March 1869
The Uniontown Appeal said a family living near a tract of storm-felled forest called the Hurricane had for months heard cries like a child in distress coming from the timber. After long watching, the father finally saw a strange hairy creature there.
“a sight that made him creep”
Nashville Union and American.Nashville, Tenn. · March 14, 1869 · Page 1
A 90-pound frog from a Tennessee cave
Indian Camp Spring, four miles south of Columbia, Tennessee approx. · March 10, 1869
A letter to the Columbia Herald, vouched for by a local man, said a giant frog weighing 90 pounds had been caught in a cave near Indian Camp Spring.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Has every mark of a frontier tall tale.
The Charleston Daily News.Charleston, S.C. · July 31, 1869 · Page 1
A porgy fisherman's serpent in Newark Bay
Newark Bay at Saltersville (Bayonne), New Jersey approx. · July 1869
The Newark Courier vouched for James Andrews, a sober porgy fisherman from Saltersville on Newark Bay, who said he had seen the sea serpent. His neighbours generally believed him.
The Evening Telegraph.Philadelphia · Aug. 31, 1869 · Page 1
A gorilla at large in Kansas
Arcadia, Crawford County, Kansas · Aug. 15, 1869
A letter from Arcadia to the St. Louis Democrat said a wild man or gorilla had been seen at different times by nearly everyone in the valley, and occasionally across the line in Missouri, and had several times come close to houses. The story inspired Mark Twain's satirical "interview" with the wild man, which papers reprinted for months.
“It is nothing less than the discovery of a wild man or gorilla.”
The Elko Independent said miners and prospectors had long passed on a Paiute story of a monster snake in Pyramid Lake, and that local Native people would not go near the water. The paper then gave a new account from men who said they had glimpsed it.
The Wheeling Daily Register.Wheeling, W. Va. · Dec. 13, 1869 · Page 1
A wild man's den on the Big Sioux
Big Sioux River, Dakota side, northwest of Sioux City approx. · Nov. 1869
The Sioux City Times said a farmer hauling firewood on the Big Sioux saw what he took for a wild man bolt from a hollow log and outrun him into the woods. A mounted party found his den in a rock crevice lined with brush and animal skins. Reprints claimed he was a Frenchman who had fled into the wilds after a murder.
The Scottish Bride meets the serpent and its young
Reported on arrival at Delaware Bay (sighting at sea) approx. · Nov. 23, 1869
Captain Allen of the bark Scottish Bride, arriving from Bordeaux, said he had passed the great sea serpent at sea, and that a smaller serpent swam with it. The New York Sun ran his description and it was copied from Minnesota to Nevada.
“The Sea Serpent still lives, and has an heir”
Probably a hoax or tall tale The Sun's account was written with a wink.
Nashville Union and American.Nashville, Tenn. · Dec. 17, 1869 · Page 1
A seven-foot bird screams in the treetops
Near Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky · Dec. 1869
Boys out fox hunting near James Peoples' place outside Stanford heard unearthly screams from the treetops, along with what sounded like clanking chains, and fled. Papers later reported that a remarkable seven-foot bird had been captured there.
Middle Auxvasse Creek, Callaway County, Missouri approx. · Dec. 1883
David Newsom wrote to the Fulton Gazette that his son Robert, riding alone one clear night near the Middle Auxvasse Creek, saw the countryside grow brighter until his mule stopped, part of a run of mysterious lights reported in the area.
Delaware Gazette and State JournalJan. 31, 1884 · Page 2
A grave-robbing beast near Fostoria
Perry Township, Wood County, Ohio approx. · Jan. 1884
People in Perry Township, Wood County, were alarmed when an unknown animal burrowed into graves in the township cemetery, leaving claw marks and fur. Weeks later papers said the animal had been captured.
Savannah Morning News.Savannah · March 3, 1884 · Page 1
A sea monster bites an oar off Staten Island
Eltingville, Staten Island, New York · Feb. 29, 1884
Eltingville was in an uproar after Constable Elbert Poillon said a sea serpent attacked his boat and crunched an oar. He described it as long as a shooting gallery, with a head like a powder keg. An oyster planter partly backed him up.
Sacramento Daily Record-union.Sacramento · July 2, 1884 · Page 1
Six young men see the serpent off Grape Island
Between Grape Island and Hog Island, Essex County, Massachusetts approx. · June 11, 1884
The Georgetown Advocate said six young men sailing from Grape Island toward Hog Island saw something in the water they first took for seals chasing each other, then decided was the annual sea serpent.
Savannah Morning News.Savannah · Aug. 17, 1884 · Page 2
Jacko, the British Columbia gorilla
Near Tunnel No. 4, above Yale, British Columbia · June 30, 1884
American papers reprinted a story from Victoria's British Colonist: railway men near Tunnel No. 4, about twenty miles above Yale on the Fraser River, chased and captured a strange creature on the rock bluffs, half man and half beast. It became the famous Jacko story.
“Description of a Strange Creature Captured Near Yale.”
Probably a hoax or tall tale Rival British Columbia papers soon reported that no such creature could be found, and most historians treat the story as a newspaper hoax.
The Milan ExchangeMilan, Gibson County, Tenn. · July 19, 1884 · Page 5
A strange river monster chained on the Cumberland
Cumberland River at Nashville, Tennessee · July 1884
Two old fishermen caught a strange marine animal in the river above the Nashville waterworks and kept it staked and chained by the tail to the bank until it could be put on show near the square.
Road from Carson City to Genoa, Nevada approx. · Oct. 1884
A farmer on the Genoa road heard a strange noise in the air at midnight and saw what looked like a huge bird hovering over his ranch, giving off a buzzing sound. He fetched his shotgun.
The Detroit Post told of a mysterious light that people along the Lake Huron shore said appeared over the wreck of the steamer Marine City, which burned off Harrisville a few years earlier.
Also printed in 2 other papers
Madison Times, Tallulah, Madison Parish, La., Oct. 25, 1884, p. 1
Preston mountains near Stockport, Pennsylvania approx. · Oct. 1884
Lewis Williams set a fox trap in the mountains near Stockport and found an eagle had dragged it away. He tracked the bird down and had a fierce fight before he overpowered it.
Lake Michigan, later off Death's Door, Wisconsin approx. · Nov. 1884
A tug captain, Dick Brewer, said a large black monster surfaced ahead of his boat as he towed a mud scow past the Marine Hospital, setting off talk among sailors. Fishermen later reported it again off Death's Door.
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer.Wheeling, W. Va. · Dec. 11, 1884 · Page 1
A circus jaguar loose near Enon
Enon, Ohio · Dec. 9, 1884
When Barret's circus train was stopped by a burned railroad bridge near Enon, a jaguar escaped from its cage unnoticed. It ran across the countryside, stampeding and killing cattle, and the story ran in thirteen papers.
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer.Wheeling, W. Va. · Jan. 2, 1891 · Page 1
A strange creature prowls a Chicago suburb
A Chicago suburb, Illinois approx. · Dec. 1890
A Chicago suburb was in a fright after rumours of a bear or similar animal grew into the traditional wild man. Two young men described a thrilling encounter, and searches came up empty.
Mountain View, Passaic County, New Jersey approx. · Jan. 1891
The mountain hamlet of Mountain View in Passaic County was alarmed by a wild man in the woods who was said to live on grass. Hunting parties searched the woods in every direction.
Mexico Weekly LedgerMarch 19, 1891 · Page 1
A dragon on the Flat Rock derrick
Flat Rock, Mexico, Missouri approx. · March 1891
The Mexico Weekly Ledger reported great commotion in Flat Rock at midnight when an unearthly winged creature with a gorilla-like head, horns and long shaggy arms was said to have landed on top of a high derrick and switched its forked tail.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written as comedy by the local paper.
The Morning News.Savannah, Ga. · April 8, 1891 · Page 3
A gorilla in the hills around Vernon
Vernon, Indiana · April 1891
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported a gorilla-like creature in the rugged hills around Vernon, Indiana, near a cavern a local man claimed to have found years earlier. The paper wondered if it was Darwin's missing link.
“Perhaps This Is Darwin's Long-Sought Missing Link”
Wheeling Register.Wheeling, W. Va. · May 13, 1891 · Page 7
An old tale of an eight-foot hairy giant in Georgia
Rabun County, Georgia approx. · May 1891
A widely reprinted 1891 item retold an old account of hunters in the Rabun County mountains finding a being nearly eight feet tall, covered in hair, with a human face and huge ears like a donkey's.
Probably a hoax or tall tale A retold legend, not a contemporary sighting.
The Manning Times., Manning, Clarendon County, S.C., Dec. 29, 1909, p. 4
Fort Worth Gazette.Fort Worth, Tex. · May 15, 1891 · Page 2
A wild man caught on Salado Creek
Salado Creek near San Antonio, Texas approx. · May 1891
A farmer near San Antonio said that after a long chase he captured a wild man on Salado Creek, with a foot-long shaggy black beard, hair down his back and nails three inches long. The Ocala Banner said it revived an old Florida wild-man scare.
Also printed in 5 other papers
The Ocala Banner, Ocala, Marion County, Fla., May 22, 1891, p. 1
The Salt Lake Herald.Salt Lake City · May 10, 1891 · Page 12
The ten-cent wild man was a fake
Salt Lake City, Utah · May 1891
Local showmen in Salt Lake City exhibited a captured wild man for ten cents until Sheriff Burt tugged at his eyebrows and found they were glued on.
“The Eyebrows Were Stuck on the Wild Man.”
Probably a hoax or tall tale An exhibit fraud, exposed by the sheriff.
The Record-unionJune 27, 1891 · Page 5
The Capay Valley what-is-it
Mountains at the head of Capay Valley, Yolo County, California approx. · June 1891
For weeks, Yolo County papers ran yarns about a freak of nature in the mountains at the head of Capay Valley, nicknamed the What-is-It. Two more men then said they had followed the creature to its lair.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The Sacramento paper said the story may have been started deliberately.
Fairhaven Herald.Fairhaven, Wash. · June 26, 1891 · Page 4
The beacon keeper fights a sea monster
Greenport breakwater, Long Island, New York · June 1891
Captain Edward Reeve, who rowed out each evening to light the beacon on the Greenport breakwater and was known as a sober, reliable man, told the New York World he had fought off a sea monster from his skiff.
A St. Louis Republic story said reputable citizens in a Fresno County farming district swore they had seen and hunted two dragons with fifteen-foot wings and featherless bodies, which seized fowls with three snaps of their jaws.
“Winged Monsters That Devour Fowls with Three Snaps of Their Jaws”
Probably a hoax or tall tale Has all the marks of a newspaper tall tale.
Evening Star., Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 1891, p. 10
Arizona Weekly CitizenAug. 22, 1891 · Page 3
A seven-headed serpent comes up the Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz River below Tucson, Arizona · Aug. 1891
The Arizona Weekly Citizen ran a comic account of a seven-headed sea serpent that came up the dry Santa Cruz River below Tucson, watched by frightened hundreds, and delivered a sermon and prophecy.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Pure newspaper comedy; the Santa Cruz is usually dry.
Southwest City was thrown into excitement when a man taken for a maniac came rushing through the streets, frightening everyone, and was captured after a hard struggle. Stranger stories about him followed.
Echo Lake near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan approx. · Sept. 8, 1891
A dispatch from Sault Ste. Marie said a Chippewa guide setting out from his home on Echo Lake saw an enormous bald eagle circling, and the paper reported that the bird killed his baby daughter, who had been left outside the door.
New-York TribuneSept. 24, 1891 · Page 2
Gloucester fishermen meet a serpent on the Flemish Cap
Reported at Gloucester; seen on the Flemish Cap fishing bank · Sept. 25, 1891
Gloucester fishermen back from the distant Flemish Cap bank said a sea serpent over 80 feet long, resembling a giant squid, appeared while they were hauling their trawls, and that a marine monster wrecked trawl lines and overturned dories.
Eden Township hills near Haywards and Dublin, California · Nov. 1891
Hunters and farmers in the hills of Eden Township near Haywards and Dublin had glimpsed a creature that ran like a deer. A Haywards constable finally caught him, a man who had been living wild and eating quail, and brought him to the county jail.
Also printed in 2 other papers
The Diamond Drill, Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich., Dec. 19, 1891, p. 12
The Indianapolis Journal.Indianapolis · Nov. 27, 1891 · Page 3
Hunters catch the wild man of the Okaw
Beck's Creek near Vandalia, Illinois · Nov. 25, 1891
For two weeks, people along Beck's Creek in Loudon Township were worried by a supposed wild man who roamed the Okaw River bottoms living on young pigs and calves. A party of hunters finally captured him.
The Sun.New York · Dec. 6, 1891 · Page 5
The Lake Kenosia serpent is captured
Lake Kenosia, Danbury, Connecticut · Dec. 4, 1891
Danbury announced that the famous Lake Kenosia serpent had been caught. Warren Baker, driving along the shore, saw what he took for a big tree limb across the road until his horse shied. The creature was said to be almost twenty feet long and covered with scales.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The Sun printed it in its usual playful style; no specimen was ever described by a scientist.
Mouth of Vannatters Creek near Hamlin, West Virginia approx. · Jan. 1896
Elias Midkiff of Hamlin asked the West Virginia historical society to send a taxidermist for a monster bird, unlike anything seen in the state, that W. W. Adkins had killed with five rifle bullets at the mouth of Vannatters Creek. The item was reprinted from Kansas to Oregon.
“a kind never seen before by anyone in West Virginia”
The Daily Morning Journal and CourierJan. 14, 1896 · Page 2
Tug crews pass a 75-foot serpent
Long Island Sound off Saybrook Point, Connecticut approx. · Jan. 12, 1896
Crews of the tugs Runyon and Aries, heading east past Saybrook Point, reported a sea serpent at least 75 feet long that stayed in sight for ten minutes before it disappeared.
Currituck Sound, North Carolina approx. · Jan. 25, 1896
A North Carolina paper reported, with plenty of jokes about President Cleveland's recent duck hunt, that a sea serpent had been found frozen to death off the Currituck coast.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written tongue in cheek.
The Morning News.Savannah, Ga. · March 29, 1896 · Page 9
The phantom goat of Hell Creek
Rocky Ford road, three miles west of New Albany, Mississippi approx. · March 1896
Travellers crossing the dark creek bottoms three miles west of New Albany told the same story: a monster white goat rearing up on its hind legs in the road, as if to attack horse and rider. The stream had been nicknamed Hell Creek.
“All the Mississippians Who Have Seen It Tell the Same Story.”
The Morning News.Savannah, Ga. · March 14, 1896 · Page 4
A giant wild man near Cape Flattery
Quillayute country near Cape Flattery, Washington approx. · March 1896
Lawrence F. Doyle, a Montana legislator, said that while crossing unexplored timber near Cape Flattery he closely watched a hatless wild man of unusually large size, with a heavy beard and a shock of long hair. He offered to swear affidavits. The item ran in papers from Georgia to Oregon.
“A sure enough wild man was seen in the Quillayute Mountains”
The Seattle Post-intelligencer.Seattle, Wash. Terr. · April 1, 1896 · Page 8
A 75-foot carcass on a Seattle dock
Seattle, Washington · March 31, 1896
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer described a midnight crowd staring at a huge bluish mass, said to be 75 feet long, that the sea had thrown up and that had sunk half a dock under its weight.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Printed on April 1; it reads like an April Fool's story.
The Abbeville Press and Banner.Abbeville, S.C. · April 22, 1896 · Page 6
A huge black eagle kills a calf
Near Warren (Warm) Springs, Virginia approx. · April 1896
Hall Revercomb said a huge black eagle had killed or maimed more than a dozen of his sheep. He set out to kill it after watching it swoop down and kill a calf.
New-York Tribune.New York · April 29, 1896 · Page 16
The wild man of the great swamp
Great swamp near Vineland and Waterford, New Jersey approx. · April 28, 1896
Farmers on the edge of a great swamp in South Jersey reported a tall wild man with a mass of hair and beard, wearing moccasins and carrying a club, who taunted searchers with cries. Residents of Waterford caught him a few days later; he escaped, was cornered again and locked up. He turned out to be a mentally ill man who had been living in the woods.
The Wichita Daily Eagle.Wichita, Kan. · May 5, 1896 · Page 6
Fishermen kill a horned sea monster
Off the New Jersey coast approx. · May 4, 1896
Captain Shannon and his crew fought a strange fish for two hours off the New Jersey coast and killed it: about 15 feet long and 500 pounds, with a horn on its nose, two rows of teeth and silvery armour-like scales. No fisherman there could say what it was.
“the like of which none of the fishermen had ever seen”
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier.New Haven, Conn. · May 13, 1896 · Page 3
The lighthouse keeper's serpent
Saybrook Point, Connecticut · May 10, 1896
John Skipworth, keeper of the new light at the end of the Saybrook jetty, said he watched a monstrous sea serpent playing on the surface of Long Island Sound one Sunday afternoon, and guessed it at hundreds of feet long. His wife and a ship's captain were said to back him up.
The Morning News.Savannah, Ga. · June 5, 1896 · Page 1
A monster snake in the woods near Denver, Indiana
Denver, Miami County, Indiana · May 30, 1896
Eric Gustin said that while driving home at dusk with his wife and another woman, their horse nearly collapsed with fright at a monster snake in the woods east of town. The story was reprinted for months, from Scranton to Idaho.
“This Snake May Be the Sea Serpent on a Land Voyage.”
The superintendent of Richard Gird's ranch caught a California vulture (condor) in the hills south of Chino after it had gorged on a dead cow and was too full to fly. The paper said it stood six feet tall, an inch or two taller than its captor.
“A bird of prey as tall as a man!”
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · June 28, 1896 · Page 28
Tacoma fishermen bring in a sea serpent
Hood Canal, Puget Sound, Washington approx. · June 27, 1896
Two Tacoma fishermen said they caught a live sea serpent in Puget Sound: smooth-skinned, spotted like a tiger, about 17 feet long by one account. Later reports spoke of two smaller ones from Hood Canal, eight and ten feet long, put on show in Tacoma. A Kansas paper ran the story under the headline that the monster was not a myth.
“Has a Bulldog's Head, a Tiger's Fangs, a Snake's Body”
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier.New Haven, Conn. · July 20, 1896 · Page 8
Two hundred people see a serpent off Lighthouse Point
Lighthouse Point, New Haven, Connecticut · July 19, 1896
On a Sunday afternoon, more than 200 people at Lighthouse Point in New Haven said a 100-foot sea serpent, about fourteen feet around, swam close past several pleasure boats and headed for deep water. The paper joked that the Sunday liquor laws ruled out the usual explanation.
“Have you seen the sea serpent?”
The Portland Daily PressJuly 21, 1896 · Page 2
Minot's wild man
Minot, Maine · July 20, 1896
Half a dozen people near Minot said they saw a ragged, heavily whiskered wild man close up in broad daylight before he vanished into the woods. Weeks later he appeared to a South Auburn farmer carrying a long butcher knife, and a woman from Aroostook County came forward thinking he might be her missing husband.
“Like all wild men he has more whiskers than clothes.”
Plum Cove, Lanesville (Gloucester), Massachusetts · July 29, 1896
William Henry Sargent was hauling lobster pots off Lanesville when he saw a sea monster, rowed ashore in a fright and gathered a crowd. Everyone watching agreed it was about 80 feet long before it disappeared.
Alexandria Gazette.Alexandria, D.C. · July 31, 1896 · Page 2
A barge captain's serpent at Stratford Shoals
Stratford Shoals, mouth of the Housatonic, Connecticut approx. · July 30, 1896
Captain Ewing of South Amboy, towing coal barges up the Housatonic, told people at the Derby docks that he had seen a big sea serpent off Stratford Shoals. The paper vouched that he was an honest old salt who did not drink enough to affect his sight.
The Morning News.Savannah, Ga. · Aug. 2, 1896 · Page 12
High jinks at Lake Ripley
Lake Ripley, Wisconsin approx. · Aug. 1, 1896
A Chicago Tribune piece said the Lake Ripley serpent was snatching sheep, swallowing calves and chickens, cracking the winter ice and tossing the swimmers' diving floats around.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written as summer-resort comedy.
The Daily Morning Journal and CourierAug. 12, 1896 · Page 8
Anglers spot a serpent off Throgg's Neck
Off Throgg's Neck, Long Island Sound, New York approx. · Aug. 10, 1896
Two Whitestone anglers, Anthony Rick and Wesley Hunt, said a sea serpent went scurrying through the water off Throgg's Neck, apparently headed for New York. Days later other boaters described a green monster about fifty feet long in the Sound.
The Providence NewsProvidence · Aug. 17, 1896 · Page 3
The Provincetown sea serpent was a turtle
Off Provincetown, Massachusetts · Aug. 16, 1896
Captain Richard Horton of the fishing schooner Minnehaha was said to have captured the sea serpent off Provincetown. It turned out to be a large loggerhead turtle that put up a hard fight.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Explained at the time: a loggerhead turtle.
The Evening TimesAug. 21, 1896 · Page 3
A 49-foot serpent on the Carrabelle wharf
Carrabelle, Florida · Aug. 20, 1896
A dispatch from Carrabelle said a sea serpent 49 feet long, eel-shaped with a spoonbill head and forked tongue, was killed in the Gulf after towing the steamer Crescent City for an hour, and was lying on the town wharf. The story travelled to Washington, Savannah, Wichita and beyond.
Probably a hoax or tall tale No specimen was ever examined by a scientist; it has the marks of a newspaper tall tale.
Grant County Herald.Lancaster, Wis. · Aug. 27, 1896 · Page 1
A naked man running wild near Annaton
Annaton, Wisconsin · Aug. 22, 1896
Several people near Annaton in Grant County reported a man with no clothes running wild through the woods and brush along the roads. The sheriff went out to investigate.
A Watertown paper said fishermen had long reported a huge serpent or water beast in Rock Lake that broke their lines. A Chicago alderman said he had battled it and that it had feet and scales like an alligator, and an old resident claimed it once towed his boat for several rods.
The SunSept. 20, 1896 · Page 5
Rumours of a wild man on the Hudson
Irvington-on-Hudson, New York · Sept. 19, 1896
For weeks, women and children in Irvington-on-the-Hudson said a wild man in tattered clothes was lurking in the woods along Hartman Lane, near a railroad agent's house.
The San Francisco CallOct. 19, 1896 · Page 3
A horse-headed thing in the Columbia
Columbia River near Clifton, Clatsop County, Oregon · Oct. 17, 1896
Dominick Bule, a salmon fisherman at Clifton, said that at dusk a huge animal rose out of the Columbia twenty feet from his boat. It had a hairy, horse-like head and four tusks a foot long, and stared at him for about two minutes.
On a Tuesday evening, hundreds of people in Sacramento watched a brilliant white light drift over the east side of the city, rising and falling as it went. Some witnesses insisted they saw a dark body behind the light and heard voices aboard. This was the opening night of the great 1896-97 airship wave.
Sutro Heights, San Francisco, California approx. · Nov. 21, 1896
San Francisco mayor Adolph Sutro said employees at his Sutro Heights estate watched a dark mass with two lights come in over the ocean at about 500 feet, sweeping a searchlight-like beam, then turn north toward the city. Sutro said he believed an inventor had solved aerial navigation.
“these people would not try to tell me ghost stories”
San Francisco attorney George D. Collins told reporters that a wealthy client had built a working airship and flown it over Sacramento, and promised a public exhibition. Papers then named a dentist, Dr. E. H. Benjamin, as the secret inventor. Collins soon backed away from his story, and no airship or inventor was ever produced.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Collins retracted much of what he was quoted as saying, and the New-York Tribune called the whole affair one of the strangest hoaxes in the country.
Days after the first sighting, crowds in Sacramento again watched a large white light move quickly across the evening sky toward the southwest. One man driving a streetcar said his passengers made him stop so they could get out and stare.
A young San Jose man, Frank Everett, said he watched the airship pass high over the eastern part of the city at about 11 at night, moving toward Mount Hamilton and its observatory. Others on Santa Clara Street said they saw it too.
The San Francisco CallNov. 22, 1896 · Page 13
Streetcar riders see an airship shaped like a bird
Oakland, California · Nov. 23, 1896
Passengers on a streetcar near Oakland watched a light in the direction of Haywards and said they could make out the outline of a craft shaped like a huge bird, throwing a beam of light ahead of it. Oakland residents talked of little else and guessed the machine was hidden somewhere in Alameda County.
At about 6 p.m. the cry went up on Market Street that the airship's headlight was visible high over the city, and excited crowds gathered to watch. A professor who checked with his telescope said the supposed airship was an ordinary star.
Probably a hoax or tall tale A professor identified the light as a star.
The San Francisco CallNov. 25, 1896 · Page 2
Telephone workers watch a light head for Gilroy
San Jose, California · Nov. 24, 1896
Three employees of the Sunset Telephone company in San Jose reported a bright light moving rapidly across the sky at about 11 p.m., heading south toward Gilroy. Two nights later more San Jose residents described lights passing over the city.
Airship fever reached Santa Rosa when a bright light appeared at 7:30 p.m. and hundreds of people went out to watch. It seemed to move east, vanishing with a dull red glow and then reappearing, and some were ready to swear it had huge wings.
The San Francisco CallNov. 27, 1896 · Page 14
The airship crosses the Tehachapis
Los Angeles, California · Nov. 25, 1896
Los Angeles papers reported that the famous airship had apparently crossed the Tehachapi range, after a book dealer and two other residents described a moving light. Within days, people up late in the San Fernando Valley described strange lights near the hills on three nights running.
A Haywards man named Mohr said he watched the airship rise from a canyon near his place, fly toward San Francisco and come back, and believed it was kept near Lone Tree Cemetery. Three well-known Haywards citizens gave their own account of the same lights.
The San Francisco CallNov. 28, 1896 · Page 1
Coloured flashes near Mount Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington · Nov. 27, 1896
Several people in Tacoma said they saw the airship near Mount Tacoma (Mount Rainier), giving off flashes of different colours. They guessed the inventor had built a second machine, or had taken an evening spin up from California.
Lyon County Times.Silver City, Nev. · Nov. 28, 1896 · Page 3
Nevada men say they saw it weeks earlier
Silver City, Nevada · Nov. 28, 1896
After reading the California stories, two Silver City men said they had seen the same airship about six weeks before, though at the time they took it for a meteor or a comet.
The Record-unionNov. 30, 1896 · Page 3
Pat Nunan's ride in the sky
Sacramento, California · Nov. 30, 1896
In a Sacramento saloon, a man named Pat Nunan entertained the stove-side crowd with a long account of being lured aboard the airship and taken for a ride. The paper printed it as a comic yarn.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Told and printed as a saloon yarn.
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · Dec. 2, 1896 · Page 14
Two lights over the Sierra foothills
Robinson's Ferry, Calaveras County, California approx. · Nov. 30, 1896
Around the time the airship was said to have flown south, people at Robinson's Ferry in Calaveras County reported two mysterious lights moving high over the mountains.
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · Dec. 2, 1896 · Page 14
An electrician's close-up view
Oakland, California · Dec. 1, 1896
Case Gibson, a young Oakland electrician and the son of a school superintendent, told reporters he had seen the airship at close range and gave a detailed description of it in flight. Students at Stanford also reported a light they took for the airship.
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · Dec. 3, 1896 · Page 1
Fishermen say they dined with the aeronauts
Beach north of Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California approx. · Dec. 2, 1896
Two Pacific Grove fishermen said an airship about sixty feet long and made of metal landed on the beach some fifteen miles north of town, and that they talked and ate with its three crewmen. The paper sent a correspondent to look for evidence.
Probably a hoax or tall tale No evidence of a landing was reported; it reads as a tall tale.
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · Dec. 5, 1896 · Page 2
A Fresno barkeeper meets the inventor
Fresno, California · Dec. 3, 1896
George Jennings, part owner of the bar at Fresno's Grand Central Hotel, said a stranger came in claiming to be the airship's inventor and told him the craft had been caught by an air current and was now somewhere in Fresno County.
The San Francisco Call.San Francisco · Dec. 4, 1896 · Page 1
A tin airship falls into a gulch
Stanford Heights, San Francisco, California approx. · Dec. 3, 1896
A San Francisco story, reprinted in Kansas, said a 40-foot airship of galvanised sheet steel sailed over Twin Peaks, lost control and plunged into a gulch near the Corbett road, bruising its two crewmen. Reporters described its twisted propeller.
Probably a hoax or tall tale A homemade contraption or a newspaper stunt; nothing like it flew in 1896.
Mysterious lights floated over Oakland and Alameda one night, one shooting up over Piedmont and drifting into the clouds, followed by others. A Washington paper reprinted the story under a joking headline about airships appearing in flocks.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The papers treated it as a joke; such lights were often paper fire balloons sent up by pranksters.
Doe Gully tunnel, B&O Railroad, near the Potomac approx. · Dec. 19, 1896
Railroad men reported a strange beast near Doe Gully tunnel on the Baltimore and Ohio line that killed a mountain farmer's sheep. A railroad official said he saw it come down to the river to drink. Seven hunters saw it but could not get a shot, and men went to the fields armed. Locals called it the catawampus.
“men go to and from their work in the fields armed”
Omaha Daily BeeFeb. 6, 1897 · Page 1
Prayer-meeting crowd hears voices from the sky
Inavale, Nebraska · Feb. 4, 1897
Inavale residents said the airship already reported near Hastings had been seen over their town several times. On a dark night, ten or twelve people coming home from prayer meeting described a cone-shaped craft thirty to forty feet long and said they heard voices. It was one of the first reports of the 1897 Midwestern wave.
“Thirty to Forty Feet Long and Conical in Shape”
The Topeka State Journal.Topeka, Kansas · March 1, 1897 · Page 3
Telegraph operators watch for the Kansas airship
Northern Kansas approx. · Feb. 28, 1897
From Atchison came word that the supposed Kansas airship had been seen in Nebraska, and that railroad telegraph operators across northern Kansas spent the night watching for it.
Courier DemocratLangdon, N.D. · March 11, 1897 · Page 2
A winged ship ablaze with light over Ellinwood
Ellinwood, Kansas · March 1897
Ellinwood citizens described an immense airship moving south at about forty miles an hour, with two huge wings or propellers on each side and a rudder at the back. It was lit from stem to stern and stayed in view for about ten minutes. The paper noted that Ellinwood was a dry town.
“The ship was one blaze of light from stem to stern”
The Topeka State Journal.Topeka, Kansas · March 19, 1897 · Page 2
A ball of fire crosses Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska · March 15, 1897
On a Monday night, large numbers of Omaha people saw a big light pass over the city in a way that suggested someone was steering it. A citizen of North Loup wrote in to say the light had come from his direction. The excitement lasted all week.
Kansas City Journal.Kansas City, Mo. · March 28, 1897 · Page 1
Scores of Belleville people see it under control
Belleville, Kansas · March 27, 1897
The airship sighted around Kansas and southern Nebraska for a month passed over Belleville several times in one week, and many residents watched it. They believed it was the same machine first reported in California and that someone was steering it.
The Topeka State Journal.Topeka, Kansas · March 29, 1897 · Page 1
Omaha sees it for the third time
Omaha, Nebraska · March 29, 1897
On a Sunday evening, reputable Omaha citizens watched the mysterious light for the third time, visible for about half an hour as it hovered over the city. Nearly every paper in the Midwest carried the dispatch.
The Islander., Friday Harbor, Wash., April 8, 1897, p. 1
The HeraldApril 2, 1897 · Page 2
Kansas City swears to the strange lights
Kansas City, Kansas · April 1, 1897
On April Fools' Day, many respectable citizens of Kansas City, Kansas, solemnly declared they had seen the strange lights at 8 p.m., and the papers printed an affidavit. Two nights later, thousands in Kansas City said the visitor came back.
“Notwithstanding that this is the first day of April”
The Evening Times.Washington, D.C. · April 5, 1897 · Page 4
A light hanging from a canoe-shaped bag
Nebraska and Kansas approx. · April 4, 1897
A widely reprinted Omaha dispatch said a light had floated over Nebraska for months and was being hotly debated. Some described it hanging from a canoe-shaped bag, and rumour credited a German inventor. The story ran in at least sixteen papers.
Richmond Dispatch.Richmond, Va. · April 8, 1897 · Page 6
A lighted object with rigging over Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina · April 7, 1897
Hundreds of people on Wilmington's streets and wharves watched a brilliant floating mass move rapidly west of the city. Many said they could see a network like rigging around it. It was one of the few East Coast reports during the 1897 wave.
Rock Island ArgusRock Island, Ill. · April 10, 1897 · Page 7
Chicago and Evanston stare at four lights
Evanston and Chicago, Illinois · April 9, 1897
On two nights, crowds in Chicago, Evanston and other lakeside towns watched a moving group of lights, white in front with green and smaller white lights on the sides. Evanston families gathered on Davis Field with telescopes and field glasses. Astronomers said the main light was a bright star.
“Men renowned for sobriety looked aloft through strong telescopes”
Every station agent from West Liberty to Cedar Rapids
Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern line, eastern Iowa approx. · April 9, 1897
Hundreds of people in eastern Iowa reported the airship, and dispatches said every telegraph operator and station agent on the railroad between West Liberty and Cedar Rapids had seen it.
The Topeka State Journal.Topeka, Kansas · May 5, 1897 · Page 5
Topeka's airship was a kite
Topeka, Kansas · April 10, 1897
Several hundred Topekans had watched an airship in the western sky one Saturday night. Weeks later the paper revealed it was a government experimental kite with two lanterns hung on it, sent up by a Mr. Patten.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Explained: a kite carrying two lanterns.
Rock Island ArgusRock Island, Ill. · April 12, 1897 · Page 5
Following the Hennepin canal
South Moline, Illinois · April 11, 1897
A farmer named Karr living on the Rock River said he saw the airship following the Hennepin canal south of South Moline before dawn, heading west. The whole Moline police force swore they had seen it the night before.
Rock Island ArgusRock Island, Ill. · April 12, 1897 · Page 5
A snapshot of the airship at Rogers Park
Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois · April 11, 1897
Walter McCann of Rogers Park said he photographed the airship at 5:30 one morning and showed two negatives, with three witnesses saying they saw him take them. Papers pointed out that modern photography could fake almost anything.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The photograph was widely judged a fake at the time.
A dozen Red Cloud residents watched a large white light, some saying red and green too, travel northwest late on Monday night. Another account said the ship had landed in a field and that a party who reached the spot found a man's footprints.
The Saint Paul GlobeSt. Paul, Minn. · April 14, 1897 · Page 2
A star that stopped to rest over St. Paul
Marshall Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota · April 13, 1897
James Feeley, his family and other Marshall Avenue residents watched a light that looked like a star making a rapid trip and stopping now and then. Some thought they heard an order to cut away the anchor as it moved off.
A message said to have been dropped from the airship was found in a red stocking near Appleton. It named the craft Pegasus, and papers asked whether it was a canard.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Almost certainly a prank; the papers themselves suspected a canard.
The Daily Morning Journal and CourierApril 29, 1897 · Page 4
A rabbi's story of a landing near Beaumont
Near Beaumont, Texas · April 14, 1897
Rabbi A. Levy of Beaumont said the airship landed on a farm near his home one night, and that he went to the spot and heard what the travellers had told people there.
The San Francisco CallApril 16, 1897 · Page 2
A strange light over Tacoma again
Tacoma, Washington · April 15, 1897
Tacoma residents described a strange moving light in the night sky and took it for the airship that had been crossing the Midwest.
The Topeka State Journal.Topeka, Kansas · April 16, 1897 · Page 2
Over the capital, then a kite at Fort Myer
Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C. · April 15, 1897
Hundreds of people in Columbia Heights watched what they took for the airship one night, and one report joked that it seemed ready to anchor on the Washington Monument. A week later, a crowd that thought they saw it over the Potomac learned they were watching an official aeroplane kite flown from Fort Myer.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The second sighting was explained as an Army experimental kite.
Also printed in 1 other paper
Evening Star., Washington, D.C., April 22, 1897, p. 1
The San Francisco CallApril 17, 1897 · Page 2
Settling on a meadow near Birmingham, Iowa
Birmingham, Iowa · April 16, 1897
William Walters and others said an airship settled onto a meadow a mile from town in the morning. As they ran toward it, it rose gracefully when they were 100 yards away. They described two men in the car and a machine about 100 feet long and 20 feet wide.
The Austin Weekly StatesmanAustin, Tex. · April 22, 1897 · Page 5
An undertaker sees it fly down the beach
Galveston, Texas · April 17, 1897
Galveston undertaker Walter Norwood and his driver, Bob Tevis, said that at 3 a.m. under a bright moon they watched the airship follow the beach east, turn at the end of the island and follow the bay front. It was pointed at both ends, carried a headlight and looked like a big bird with regularly flapping wings.
“It looked like a great big bird, with wings flapping regularly”
April 20, 1897 · Page 1
A message from three men lost in the sky
Cripple Creek, Colorado · April 18, 1897
Cripple Creek said the airship passed over on Sunday, and a man found a note on his barn roof claiming to come from three occupants, two Bostonians and a Frenchman, who had lost control and were drifting without water.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The papers treated the dropped message as a joke.
The Evening TimesApril 20, 1897 · Page 4
A huge cylinder flashing red fire
Camden, New Jersey · April 19, 1897
Shortly before 5 o'clock, a crowd at Fourth and Market streets in Camden watched something in the western sky that looked like a huge cylinder flashing red fire, and many believed it was the airship.
The Times.Richmond, Va. · April 28, 1897 · Page 6
Alexander Hamilton's stolen heifer
Near Le Roy, Woodson County, Kansas approx. · April 19, 1897
Former legislator Alexander Hamilton swore that an airship hovered over his farm, roped a three-year-old heifer and carried it off, and that the hide was found miles away the next day. Papers from Kansas to Utah printed his story.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Called "the champion lie" at the time; Hamilton was later reported to have made it up as a joke with friends.
A mysterious light approached Sistersville from the northwest at about 9 p.m., stopped over Cochransville, Ohio, across the river and flashed red, white and green. Citizens signed an affidavit that they had seen it.
The Houston Daily Post.Houston, Tex. · April 28, 1897 · Page 6
The anchor at Merkel
Merkel, Texas · April 25, 1897
People coming home from church in Merkel said a heavy object on a rope was dragging along the ground until it caught on the railroad. Looking up, they saw the airship with lights shining from several windows. The anchor was said to be on display in town.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Generally treated as a tall tale.
The Evening Times.Washington, D.C. · April 26, 1897 · Page 3
A travelling salesman saw it four times
Wheeling, West Virginia · April 25, 1897
George A. Williams, a travelling salesman for a large cloak firm, told Wheeling reporters he had seen the airship four times on his travels and had no doubt about it.
The Evening TribunePawtucket, R.I. · June 4, 1897 · Page 3
Woodcutters fight a hairy wild man near Rome, Ohio
Near Rome, Ohio (exact Rome not given) approx. · May 1897
Weeks after a wild man frightened people near Rome, Ohio, two woodcutters, Charles Lukins and Bob Former, said they met him while cutting timber. After a hard struggle they drove the gorilla-like figure, which wore nothing but long curly hair, back into its retreat.
“He Wears Nothing but Hair, Which Is Long and Curly.”
Bull Bayou, near Hot Springs, Arkansas · May 7, 1897
Constable John Sumpter and deputy sheriff John McLemore swore an affidavit that near Bull Bayou at midnight they saw the airship land and talked with one of its crew, who said it had come down for water.
The Evening Times.Washington, D.C. · June 2, 1897 · Page 1
A white serpent off the New England coast
At sea between Gay Head and Winter Quarter lightship approx. · May 30, 1897
Officers and passengers of the Merchants and Miners steamer Gloucester, bound from Boston to Baltimore, said they saw a white sea serpent 40 to 45 feet long early one Sunday morning, off the coast near Gay Head.
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer.Wheeling, W. Va. · June 8, 1897 · Page 1
A wild woman who leaps fences like a deer
Near Elkins, Randolph County, West Virginia approx. · June 1897
Farmers near Elkins said a wild woman crossed their fields and was too fast to catch, leaping fences like a deer. At night they heard hideous noises like a dog's or fox's bark, and searchers from Elkins scoured the woods without finding her.
A widely reprinted item said a great golden eagle swooped on Mrs. Jane Mortenson as she bent over in her garden near Honey Creek, sank its talons into her back and tried to lift her, and that she died of the shock the next day.
The Portland Daily Press.Portland, Me. · June 5, 1897 · Page 7
The steamer Shark meets a 100-foot serpent
Off Pumpkin Rock, near Boothbay Harbor, Maine · June 4, 1897
Captain Handy McKown's fishing steamer Shark, returning from herring fishing near Pumpkin Rock, passed an immense sea serpent 80 to 100 feet long with a head four feet across, swimming with part of its neck out of the water.
Barbour County Index.Medicine Lodge, Kan. · July 7, 1897 · Page 1
A wild man caught asleep in the Nebraska pines
Pine forests of Dawes and Sioux counties, Nebraska approx. · July 1897
A wild man who had haunted the pine forests of Dawes and Sioux counties was captured while asleep. He seemed to know nothing when the insanity board examined him.
A white serpent with a horse's head off Block Island
Block Island, Rhode Island · July 3, 1897
Block Island sailors and fishermen reported a white sea serpent with a horse-like head and great brown eyes. The New York Sun noted that three separate sources had described a white serpent that season.
“Its Head Is Like That of a Horse and It Has Great Brown Eyes”
The Sun.New York · July 12, 1897 · Page 1
Joe Downey's Lake Michigan serpent
Lake Michigan beach, North Chicago, Illinois · July 8, 1897
Joe Downey of North Chicago said his family was on the beach at dusk when two men in bathing suits ran past yelling about something in Lake Michigan. They then saw the creature themselves. Chicago papers called it Joe Downey's sea serpent.
The Providence NewsProvidence · July 22, 1897 · Page 8
A flat head beside the boat off Salem
Off Salem, Massachusetts · July 18, 1897
Two summer visitors fishing near a buoy off Salem said a large flat head rose out of the water next to their boat, followed by a long body.
Freeland TribuneFreeland, Pa. · Aug. 30, 1897 · Page 3
A girl saves her cousin from an eagle
Near Germania, Potter County, Pennsylvania · Aug. 1897
A Pennsylvania paper said Bertha Moore fought off an eagle that went for her small cousin, Elsie Talsen, while they walked on a mountainside near Germania.
Also printed in 1 other paper
The Banner-Democrat., Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La., Oct. 2, 1897, p. 4
The Indianapolis Journal.Indianapolis · Aug. 2, 1897 · Page 5
A sea serpent in Lake Wawasee
Lake Wawasee, Indiana · Aug. 1, 1897
Hotel guests and cottagers at Lake Wawasee said they had seen and heard a serpent in the lake. The Indianapolis Journal joked that the resort could now rank with the seaside attractions.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written half in jest as resort publicity.
Tombstone ProspectorAug. 7, 1897 · Page 3
A mysterious light over Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona · Aug. 6, 1897
At about 9:30 one night, people in Tombstone noticed a mysterious light in the sky. The Prospector said it did not want to start another flying-machine theory, but recorded the mystery anyway.
The Daily Morning Journal and Courier.New Haven, Conn. · Aug. 11, 1897 · Page 3
A Sunday school superintendent sees it dance
Long Island Sound, Connecticut approx. · Aug. 7, 1897
Three Hartford men fishing on Long Island Sound, one of them a Sunday school superintendent, said an all-black sea serpent passed their boat, writhed about and then vanished. The paper reported it in a teasing tone.
The Sun.New York · Aug. 12, 1897 · Page 1
The wild man of the White Plains road
Between Mount Vernon, Bronxville and White Plains, New York · Aug. 11, 1897
Cyclists on the road between Mount Vernon and White Plains reported a wild man who burst out of the woods to stop travellers, and a lawyer said he met him at the foot of a hill. Weeks later the Bronxville wild man was back, chasing passers-by and frightening women and girls in the Masterton woods.
Marine Hospital grounds, Staten Island, New York · Aug. 22, 1897
A sober old waterman named Lindsey and his dog said they saw a strange light moving across the Marine Hospital lawns between Stapleton and Clifton on Staten Island, and heard sounds with it.
The Evening TimesNov. 17, 1897 · Page 1
Two sea serpents at once off Greenport
North of Greenport, Long Island, New York · Nov. 16, 1897
C. Edwards Stauson, a Greenport drug clerk, came back from a morning's fishing on Long Island Sound with no fish and a story of two sea serpents, each about fifty feet long, swimming together north of Greenport.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The papers ran it as a fish story.
The Saint Paul GlobeSt. Paul, Minn. · Dec. 7, 1897 · Page 2
A locomotive engineer's light in the sky
Eastern Minnesota railway, between Duluth and St. Paul approx. · Dec. 6, 1897
John J. Hussey, engineer of the day train down from Duluth on the Eastern Minnesota, reported a strange light in the heavens that people supposed was an airship, months after the main wave had ended.
Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties, New Jersey approx. · Jan. 19, 1909
A Philadelphia dispatch reported clear two-legged, hoof-like tracks in the crust of the snow, which had turned scores of towns in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties into places where women and children were afraid to go out after dark. The writer said he had meant to make fun of the Leeds Devil but found the fear too real.
“the footprints of a two-legged beast or bird, shod with steel”
The Star and Newark Advertiser.Newark, N.J. · Jan. 21, 1909 · Page 1
A red neck through the dining-room window
Vineland, New Jersey · Jan. 20, 1909
A Vineland correspondent wrote that Moses Carter was reading in his dining room when the creature smashed the window and pushed in a long, bright red neck, with eyes like arc lamps and a three-pronged tongue. The story was played for thrills.
“It had eyes the size of arc lamps”
Probably a hoax or tall tale Told with obvious exaggeration; treat it as a tall tale.
New-York Tribune.New York · Jan. 22, 1909 · Page 4
Tracks at Groveville, Trenton and Mount Holly
Trenton and Mount Holly, New Jersey · Jan. 21, 1909
Harry Clymer of Groveville found hoof prints in his back yard, and Clarence Williams saw similar tracks in Trenton's City Park. Both said they looked like a small horse's, but in pairs with gaps that suggested great leaps. At Mount Holly an elderly citizen, William Cronk, said the Leeds Devil had landed in his back yard.
From Burlington came word that the creature, now nicknamed the flying hoof and given horse's legs and enormous wings, was still being reported by sober citizens. A New Yorker claimed it had escaped from his shop, and the National Museum's bat expert said he had seen worse things between midnight and sunrise.
Smyrna TimesJan. 27, 1909 · Page 1
The devil shot in a Smyrna stable yard
Smyrna, Delaware · Jan. 23, 1909
After Jersey Devil tracks were found in the snow in two Mount Vernon Street yards, a stable driver in Smyrna was persuaded the creature was in the transportation company's yard and shot it. The Smyrna Times reported it as a joke played on him.
Probably a hoax or tall tale A practical joke, as the paper itself said.
The Yale ExpositorJan. 29, 1909 · Page 6
A wild man on Prospect Hill
Prospect Hill, Taunton, Massachusetts · Jan. 28, 1909
Scores of residents in north Taunton asked the police to investigate a wild man who roamed the edge of the woods near Prospect Hill and appeared by the roads. Mothers kept their children indoors.
A Milton correspondent said the New Jersey visitor was surely the same devil that came to Sussex County near the Drawbridge about 34 years earlier. That one had a single shod foot and left tracks in the snow around a farmer's haystacks.
Early one morning a Paterson police sergeant wired headquarters that the devil-bat had been found. The reserves were rushed to West Paterson, where officers and a dozen citizens hunted through the woods behind a sanitarium after hair-raising shrieks were heard near an old mill. A streetcar motorman described the thing.
Northern Johnson County, Missouri approx. · Feb. 1909
For weeks, a mysterious man carrying an axe and a gun camped in barns and haystacks across northern Johnson County. He burrowed a den in one farmer's hay loft and frightened people near Valley City.
The Washington HeraldFeb. 4, 1909 · Page 8
An eagle tries to carry off a girl
Pitcairn, New York · Feb. 1, 1909
Josiah Olmtree, a farmer on the edge of the Adirondacks, said a huge eagle that had been raiding his sheep's feed swooped on his eight-year-old daughter in the yard, and he barely saved her.
Ninth and Arch Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Feb. 5, 1909
Papers reported that a Philadelphia showman named Hope had spread rumours of the beast to promote a so-called Australian vampire on show at the Ninth and Arch Museum, and that the sightings everywhere were imaginary.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Reported at the time as a museum publicity stunt.
Los Angeles HeraldFeb. 18, 1909 · Page 1
Long Beach fishermen meet a 40-foot serpent
Off Long Beach, California · Feb. 17, 1909
Guy Griffith, James Harvey and three other fishermen in the launch Reta said that some miles off the coast they saw a sea serpent 40 feet long, with a brown head as big as a small barrel, eyes like a man's fist and a large dorsal fin, swinging its head like a snake. Papers noted that Long Beach was a dry town.
Back River, off Twin Oaks Shore, Maryland approx. · March 1909
A deputy sheriff and a wrestler known as Americus said a giant crane attacked their boat after midnight while they were fishing on Back River, just as the deputy was landing a big eel. They fought it off.
Evening JournalMarch 31, 1909 · Page 3
Arbutus hunters meet a hoofed thing
Woods three miles west of Seaford, Delaware approx. · March 28, 1909
Five young Seaford men out picking arbutus in the woods west of town said a queer, dog-like animal about two feet tall, with large hoofs, came out of a brush pile. Papers called it the Jersey Devil.
The Washington HeraldMay 6, 1909 · Page 1
Captain Doughty captures the devil
Atlantic City, New Jersey · May 5, 1909
Captain George Doughty was said to have overpowered the Jersey Devil just outside Atlantic City after it attacked him. It turned out to be a huge bird of unknown species, with claws like a vulture's, feathers like an albatross's and a parrot's beak, and it was put on exhibition.
Armed men searched the hills and swamps around Spring Valley for the Jersey devil bird, or bombat, described as having an immense head, a small hairy body and arms with web-like skin. Locals refused to believe the Atlantic City capture.
Los Angeles Herald.Los Angeles · June 4, 1909 · Page 8
The airship over the Salton Sea was a mirage
Salton Sea, Imperial Valley, California · June 3, 1909
At twilight, people in Imperial and Brawley watched for an aeroplane seen the night before cruising over the Salton Sea, and some guessed at a secret aircraft factory in the San Jacinto wilds. Within days, papers reported it had been a mirage.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Explained at the time as a mirage.
Crittenden Record=press.Marion, Ky. · July 15, 1909 · Page 7
Northbridge hunts its ghost light
Northbridge, Massachusetts · July 1909
For several nights at about the same hour, a light ranging from the size of a bulb to a bushel basket appeared on a high ledge near Northbridge, climbing trees and hills and then vanishing into a pond. Treated as a joke at first, it frightened scores of children, and the whole village turned out to hunt it.
Greenwood Lake, New Jersey and New York approx. · July 9, 1909
Three Montclair men back from Greenwood Lake said a queer amphibious creature with a horn and a sponge-like tail speared a bass, soaked them and tried to climb into their boat. One showed a slashed wrist as proof.
Daily Capital JournalSalem, Oregon · Aug. 13, 1909 · Page 5
San Francisco Bay's airship was Venus and Jupiter
San Francisco Bay area, California · Aug. 12, 1909
For two days, Bay Area residents reported an airship's lights swinging across the sky a few hundred feet up. Astronomer R. Tracy Crawford of the University of California said the two lights were Venus and Jupiter.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Explained by an astronomer: the planets Venus and Jupiter.
The Silver State News.Winnemucca, Nev. · Aug. 31, 1909 · Page 1
The Walker Lake monster
Walker Lake, Nevada approx. · Aug. 31, 1909
Visitors to Walker Lake had long reported a monster serpent or prehistoric beast in the desert lake, and several mining men claimed to have seen it. A new account came via a Reno police captain's brother, mining at Lucky Boy. A Tonopah paper headlined it as Reno booze at work.
Probably a hoax or tall tale The paper's headline blamed the drink.
In October, a Burlington story said the carcass of the Jersey Devil had been found fresh in the woods. Reprints in at least a dozen papers described it as a blend of sea serpent, kangaroo, bobcat and "Jersey lightning" (applejack).
Probably a hoax or tall tale Written as a joke; one paper said it was a small kangaroo.
The Marion Daily MirrorMarion, Ohio · Nov. 2, 1909 · Page 6
Bowdoinham's ghost house and phantom light
Bowdoinham, Maine · Nov. 1909
A widely reprinted Maine item said Bowdoinham had a house where the chairs gathered in groups at midnight, a cane that tapped from room to room by itself, a phantom light and a mystic woodchuck.
Probably a hoax or tall tale Local ghost lore, written for fun.
The Bridgeport Evening FarmerDec. 13, 1909 · Page 8
A Worcester man says he flew to New York by night
Worcester, Massachusetts · Dec. 12, 1909
Wallace E. Tillinghast, a Worcester manufacturing executive, told reporters he had secretly built a three-seat monoplane, flown it at night to New York, circled the Statue of Liberty at 4,000 feet and returned via Boston. He refused to show the machine. His claim set off a wave of night-light sightings across New England.
Probably a hoax or tall tale No such aircraft was ever produced; historians treat the claim as a hoax.
The Washington Times.Washington · Dec. 21, 1909 · Page 6
An immigration officer sees lights over Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor, Massachusetts · Dec. 20, 1909
Arthur W. Hoe of the US immigration station, woken by whistles in Boston Harbor, said he saw the dark frame of an aircraft with lights fly against the wind past him, heard the whir of an engine and watched the lights recede.
The San Francisco CallDec. 23, 1909 · Page 1
Thousands watch an airship circle Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts · Dec. 22, 1909
Shortly before 6 p.m., a light appeared over Worcester, hovered, left and came back to circle the city four times, sweeping a powerful searchlight over the crowds. Thousands filled the streets. Tillinghast was out of town, and the story ran in more than forty papers.
“sweeping the heavens with a searchlight of tremendous power”
Central Massachusetts and northeast Connecticut approx. · Dec. 23, 1909
After the Tillinghast story, people along the route from Webster to Danielson, Connecticut, and as far as Boston Common said they too had seen mysterious lights crossing the night sky.
Encounter Atlas