Hello Friends!
Welcome to another episode. In this video,
we invite you to join us for a trip down the
strange - strange - rabbit hole that some refer to as the Bennington Triangle.
The area known as the Bennington Triangle which surrounds Glastonbury Mountain
in the New England state of Vermont, has a long strange history of bizarre occurrences
this includes UFO sightings, Bigfoot encounters, Eerie lights and sounds.
The triangle also happens to be the location of several Unsolved Disappearances during the 1940's and 1950's.
If that is not enough, according to Native American lore the area is heavily cursed.
The Native American tribes of New England have always known something was off with the area
and tend to steer clear of it at all costs.
One particularly chilling legend from the Algonquin Tribe
cautions of the existence of water described as evil rocks in the mountains which have the
ability to spring open and devour those unfortunate enough to step upon them.
Now this is rather interesting,
considering how people have vanished without a trace from within the triangle.
New England author Joseph Citro is the person considered to have coined the term
Bennington Triangle in 1992 while doing a radio broadcast about paranormal and other unusual activity in the area.
According to Citroe's findings, he states that the area has similar characteristics
with the equally strange Bridgewater Triangle in the bordering state of Massachusetts which
has been written about extensively by cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman.
The Bennington Triangle is centered around the heavily wooded forest of Glastonbury Mountain
and also includes the small towns of Bennington Woodford and Shaftesbury
and also the abandoned or ghost towns of Somerset and Glastonbury.
Over the last 200 years there have been many encounters with
and sightings of a bigfoot like krypton in the area surrounding Glastonbury Mountain.
The locals as well as paranormal and cryptozoological investigators refer
to this unknown creature as the Bennington Monster.
The earliest recorded sightings of the beast occurred in the early 1800's
when a stagecoach loaded with passengers was forced to stop its journey
due to a heavily washed out section of the stage road the driver the stagecoach observed
that there were very large footprints in the mud which were way too large to belong to any human.
While the perplexed driver was pondering these prints the stagecoach was suddenly attacked by
a large creature that was strong enough to flip the stagecoach over onto its side
the terrified passengers stated that they observed a frightening pair of large
eyes peering into the overturned coach at them before whatever the creature was
screamed and then ran off to disappear in the surrounding woods the passengers would
later describe the monster as a large hairy black creature well over six feet in height
the area has long been rife with tales of people suddenly
going missing within the area of the triangle
one of the oddest disappearances was that of a man named carol herrick in 1943 eric disappeared while
on a hunting trip just a few miles northeast of the abandoned town of glastonbury although his
body was found three days later it was observed to be surrounded by dozens of footprints too large
for a normal person it was also determined that carroll appeared to have been squeezed to death
then beginning in 1945 and continuing for the next five years people began to go mysteriously missing
from the area with an alarming regularity a man named mitty rivers 74 year old hunting guide very
familiar with the area went missing on november 12 1945. rivers who had led many hunting parties in
the area over decades was taking a group of four hunters to the oddly named hell hollow area which
is located within the southwest forest lassenbury while leading the hunting party back to camp
he somehow got ahead of the other four and for reasons unknown never returned to the campsite
at first the other hunters were not overly concerned as they knew many
to be an expert woodsman and knowledgeable guide
when rivers still had failed to return the next day the authorities were contacted and
an extensive search was held comprising as many as 300 worried locals as well as a number of
u.s army soldiers who had been dispatched from nearby fort devons in massachusetts
they searched through the deep woods for eight straight days
but the only possible evidence found was an ammo cartridge for the same type rifle that rivers was
known to be carrying the cartridge was found in a shallow stream and there was no evidence
of any foul play or animal attack nearby although they had no luck with the extensive search effort
many of many's friends and those local to the area were sure with the man's
knowledge of the woods and survival skills he would eventually return
however this never came to be and no trace of the missing guide has ever been found
the area from which rivers vanished is near long trail road in vermont state route 9.
the very next year on sunday december 1st 1946 an 18 year old college student named paula weldon
went missing while hiking in the same area around long trail road easily remembered
because she was wearing a bright red jacket several people were called seeing her that day
including a shop clerk in bennington who had provided her with directions and also a couple of
elderly hikers who had been approximately 300 feet behind her on the trail for part of their hike
the alarm was sounded when the college sophomore didn't show up the next morning for her classes
at bennington college an extensive search was launched by local authorities and included more
than one thousand volunteer searchers there are also searches conducted from the air
and with the assistance of the fbi and a five thousand dollar reward was offered
when interviewed the elderly couple who observed paula hiking just ahead of them on the trail
stated that after they watched her turn a corner on the trail she seemed to have
just vanished despite the extensive searches and the offer the five thousand dollar reward
no trace of paul and weldon has ever been found and her fate remains unknown
exactly three years to the day of the disappearance of paula weldon
a man named james tedford suddenly vanished from a bus on december 1st 1949
a military veteran and resident of the local bennington soldiers home tedford
was returning via bus from saint albans where he'd been visiting relatives when he vanished
based on eyewitness accounts tedford and 13 other passengers were on the bus at the previous stop
before the bus had arrived in bennington
when the bus pulled into the station he'd somehow disappeared his bags were still in
the luggage rack and a bus schedule was found lying open on his now empty seat
the other passengers stated that they didn't see tedford get off the bus
at any of the previous stops and he wasn't on the bus when it pulled into bennington
authorities investigated the disappearance and were convinced that no one had seen anything
and there were no suspicious incidents which had occurred during the bus trip
one strange and interesting fact it should be noted that tedford's wife pearl had also
vanished under mysterious circumstances a couple of years prior now there aren't many details about
his early life but in 1940 tedford was listed as a resident in franklin vermont with his
wife pearl who was much younger her age being 28 while he was 56. the strangeness began following
tedford's return to vermont after the end of his second round of military service near the end
of world war ii upon his return he found that pearl had vanished no trace of her to be found
and the house the couple had rented in franklin vermont was found to have been left abandoned
tedford's family claimed no knowledge as to the whereabouts of the missing wife and stated the
last time they had seen her was as she was on her way to the amaco gas station in franklin
there was speculation among the locals that rather than having met with foul play
she had understandably grown tired of waiting for her much older husband to return from war
and had simply taken off whatever the cause she was never to be seen or heard from again
tedford was crushed and moved into the local home for soldiers where he still lived when he vanished
the next year on october 12 1950 an eight-year-old boy named paul jepson was the next in the area to
go missing jepson was last seen in the cab of his mother's pickup truck in bennington
where she'd left him to play while she briefly tended to her pigs
when the mother returned she found that the boy was gone
she quickly looked for him in the nearby immediate area with no luck after which she reported him
missing and soon hundreds of volunteers had assembled to help search for the missing boy
tracking dogs were brought in to aid in the search for the missing boy
the dogs were able to pick up his scent and followed it towards glastonbury mountain
however when the scent was lost at a nearby crossroads it was thought that perhaps the
boy had either been abducted by a stranger or otherwise accepted a ride in a passing automobile
paul's father stated that oddly enough the boy had talked about visiting the mountain
almost non-stop for the last week or so the area around glastonbury mountain was
searched extensively for the next several days but sadly no trace of paul has ever been found
then 16 days after paul jepsen's mysterious disappearance
a woman named freda langer disappeared on october 28 1950
frida was camping with several other family members in the forest near glastonbury mountain
langer then aged 53 along with her cousin herbert elsner had ventured away from the
family's woodland campsite to go on a hike near the somerset reservoir
they had managed to hike just a few hundred yards from their campsite when frida lost
her footing and fell into a mountain stream completely soaking her shoes and clothing
due to the chilly fall temperature in the mountains frida told her
cousin to wait while she ran back to their campsite to change into some dry clothes
her cousin stated that he waited for what seemed like a sufficient amount of time
and when frida still hadn't returned he decided to go back to the camp to see if she was okay
however upon his return he was shocked to learn that frida hadn't returned to the campsite at all
she had instead apparently vanished in broad daylight in the distance of a few hundred yards
freda was reported missing and over the next several weeks
search parties with as many as 400 people including concerned volunteers law enforcement
firefighters and military as well as some aircraft searched for her and came up empty-handed
sadly the search was eventually abandoned
seven months later however on may 12 1951 frida's body was discovered near somerset reservoir
strangely enough in an area that had been extensively searched many times previously
advanced decomposition of her remains meant that no cause of death could be determined
and her case is still unsolved
and then just as strangely and suddenly as they had begun the string of disappearances stopped
frida langer was the last person to vanish mysteriously during this time frame and the
only missing persons whose remains were found other than the geographic locations and time frame
no other connection has been discovered that tie these cases to one another although some
have speculated that a serial killer may be responsible for these strange disappearances
some blame the native american curse or simply claim that the paranormal is to blame
as there appears to be an active portal here into the unexplained there's also the theory that
the area is very unstable due to the unusually chaotic and confusing wind and weather patterns
on the mountain which can cause people to easily become disoriented and then lost as a result
regardless of what is to be believed the bennington triangle is known to be home to strange
and mysterious paranormal phenomena as well as the aforementioned bigfoot encounters and the stirring
of mysterious disappearances there are many many reports of strange floating orbs of light
sightings of other bizarre forest creatures and even the occasional ufo sighting
well there you have it a small glimpse into the unknown courtesy of the enigma known as
the bennington triangle i hope you've enjoyed these stories and if there are other strange
areas you'd like for us to cover feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below
and don't forget to please like share and subscribe for more
also i'd like to say if you enjoy true tales of the paranormal i invite you to visit my channel 13
past midnight where i narrate strange encounters from my books as well as some other unusual fare
in the meantime take care of yourselves and each other
i'm steve stockton and i'll talk to you next time
you