The Bridgewater Triangle
Map of the Bridgewater Triangle
The Bridgewater Triangle Area
Although not an 'official' Vile Vortex, the inland Bridgewater Triangle is likely one of the world's most concentrated areas of diverse paranormal reports.
Located just 30 miles south of Boston, this 200-mile square area has the Massachusetts towns of Abington, Freetown and Rehoboth at its angles. The town of Bridgewater is located nearly dead center within the triangle and the area also encompasses six other Massachusetts towns: Raynham, Taunton, Brockton, Mansfield, Norton and Easton.
Mysterious Landmarks
The Hockomock Swamp
The Hockomock Swamp, a 5000+ acre area lies within the western section of Bridgewater Triangle and is the hub of many paranormal reports. Also the site of an 8,000-year-old Native American burial ground, when archaeologists opened the graves of Grassy Island, the red ochre within the tombs bubbled and then mysteriously disappeared. Photographs taken of the excavation would not develop.
The swamp remains shrouded in superstition. Called, "the place where spirits dwell" by the Wampanoag Tribe of the Native American Algonquian nation, the Wampanoag avoided the Hockomock Swamp and the area remains a place filled with foreboding.
Dighton Rock
On the banks of the Tauntaon River, Dighton Rock lies across from the Grassy Island Burial Grounds of Hockomock Swamp. Numerous inscriptions of unknown origins are carved into the face of the rock. Although various speculations attribute them to Native Americans, Vikings, and even Phoenicians, their identity has never been specifically determined 3.
Profile Rock
Profile Rock is another Bridgewater Triangle landmark that has gained a paranormal reputation. Located in Freetown, from a nearby hill, the rock shows a clear portrait of a Native American face looking out from the stone. Long before Massachusetts colonists arrived, the Wampanoag people considered Profile Rock sacred. Local legends claim that Native American ghost dancers in warrior dress dance around Profile Rock.
Anawan Rock
Located in Hockomock Swamp along Route 44 in Rehoboth, Anawan Rock is named for Chief Anawan and is the site where Chief Anawan surrendered to the colonists, ending "King Phillip's War". Legend says that the angry spirits of Chief Anawan's warriors continue to haunt the area, starting spectral fires and "ghost dancing".
Bridgewater Triangle Phenomena
Paranormal researcher, Loren Coleman, who named the Bridgewater Triangle in the 1970, revived public attention to the many paranormal reports emanating from the area.
Aside from the number and diversity of paranormal reports, what is phenomenal about the Bridgewater Triangle is that the first report of paranormal activity was made over three centuries ago, in 1760.
At 10 am on May 10, 1760, a "sphere of fire" was reported to hover over New England and emit a light so bright that is cast shadows in the morning sun. Reportedly, the light was seen from both Bridgewater and Roxbury. Since then, the area has spawned a diversity of reports that include paranormal events that range from ghost dancers to UFOs to Cryptozoological sightings.
Bridgewater Triangle UFOs
The 1760 report is likely the first documented UFO report on the planet. However, it certainly wasn't the last UFO report to come out of the Bridgewater Triangle.
- Halloween 1908 marked another UFO sighting, documented in local newspapers.
- In 1968, five people claimed that they saw a strange ball of light floating among the trees in a wooded part of Rehoboth.
- In the 1970's, UFO sightings were frequently reported to occur in different areas of the Bridgewater Triangle1. In one 1976 report, two UFOs were seen landing along Route 44 near Taunton.
- In 1994, a Bridgewater Law Enforcement Officer reported seeing a triangular shaped craft with red and white lights.
- The town of Raynham frequently receives reports of glowing balls of light, floating over the ground at the local dog track.
Mysterious Creatures
Cryptozoological sightings are numerous and varied in the Bridgewater Triangle. In 1970, reports of a big-foot like, 7-foot tall hairy monster and its footprints instigated both the Bridgewater and Massachusetts State Police canine unit to conduct a search for a bear. However, neither man nor bear was ever found.
In 1978, paranormal researcher Joseph M. DeAndrade claims to have observed another such creature as it slowly walked into the brush of the Hockomock Swamp, about 200 yards from his location. He chronicled his sighting in his 1997 book,Passing Strange: True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors.
Not all of the creatures that allegedly inhabit the Bridgewater Triangle are land-bound. Since 1971, several sightings of phenomenally large, black birds, with wingspans that stretched from eight to twelve feet, have been reported as well. Coincidentally, the first of these reports originated from Bird Hill in Hockomock Swamp. In 1984, two of these avian creatures were allegedly seen fighting in mid-air.
Bridgewater Triangle Ghostly Specters
Besides the legends that tell of Native American ghost dancers, reports of several contemporary ghostly specters come from the Bridgewater Triangle.
- A mysterious redheaded hitchhiker haunts a stretch of Route 44 in Rehoboth.
- A ghostly phantom appears in Hockomock Swamp near Route 138.
- From Freetown, a ghostly trucker is rumored to speed along the winding Copicut Road, blaring his horn and threatening passing motorists.
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