Creature Feature Friday: The Jersey Devil
With centuries of sightings, screams in the night, and even school closings, one famous cryptid has forever changed the landscape of the woods of New Jersey — this week’s Creature Feature Friday is none other than the Jersey Devil!
1) The Leeds Family Curse: The tale of the Jersey Devil is rooted in the 1700s, specifically tied to the legend of Mother Leeds. As the story goes, she was a woman living in the Pine Barrens who found herself pregnant for the 13th time. Frustrated and overwhelmed, she supposedly cursed the unborn child, declaring that it would be the devil. On a stormy night in 1735, Mother Leeds gave birth—only for the child to transform into a grotesque creature with hooves, bat-like wings, a goat’s head, and a forked tail. After it was born, the beast screeched, flew up the chimney, and disappeared into the wilderness, where it’s said to roam to this day.
2) The Jersey Devil Takes Flight: As you can imagine, a story like this doesn’t stay quiet for long. By the 1800s, sightings of the Jersey Devil started rolling in from all over southern New Jersey. One of the earliest recorded encounters happened in 1820, when Commodore Stephen Decatur, a naval hero, reportedly saw a strange, winged creature flying near the Pine Barrens while he was testing cannonballs at a local firing range. He fired at the beast, but the shots had no effect, and it flew off into the distance. Another early claim came from Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, who said he encountered the creature while hunting in 1829 near Bordentown, New Jersey. Each sighting added to the mystique and fear surrounding the creature.
3) The Jersey Devil Terrorizes the East Coast: The most infamous outbreak of sightings happened in January 1909. For a full week, reports of the Jersey Devil surged across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Strange hoof prints were found in the snow, leading up to rooftops and vanishing without a trace. Eyewitnesses claimed to see a flying creature with glowing eyes, and it reportedly attacked a trolley car in Haddon Heights and even tried to steal chickens from a local farm. Schools were closed, and people were afraid to leave their homes. It became such a media sensation that police were called in, but no concrete evidence was ever found. The 1909 sightings cemented the Jersey Devil as a cryptid of legend, with newspapers and word of mouth spreading the fear.
Image from Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, 1909.
4) Encounters That Keep the Legend Alive: The Jersey Devil hasn’t disappeared from modern-day sightings either. Over the decades, there have been sporadic reports of strange creatures in the Pine Barrens. In 1972, a man named Robert Mullica claimed to see the creature while driving late at night near Leeds Point (Mother Leeds’ supposed hometown). Mullica described the figure as a tall, shadowy creature with red, glowing eyes that disappeared into the woods. Then in 2015, an alleged photograph of the Jersey Devil went viral when a man in Galloway Township, NJ, captured an image of a flying creature with hooves and wings on his phone. Though skeptics were quick to call it a hoax, the photo revived interest in the cryptid for a new generation.
5) Explanations and Theories: As with most cryptids, theories about what the Jersey Devil could be are endless. Some researchers believe it could be a misidentified animal, such as a large crane or a deer seen under unusual conditions. Others suggest it’s nothing more than a myth born out of colonial-era superstition and fear. Skeptics point to the possibility of mass hysteria, particularly during the panic of 1909 — at the height of which, an opportunistic businessman attached wings to a kangaroo, painted it green, and displayed it to the public as the captured Jersey Devil. But for those who live near the Pine Barrens, the Jersey Devil is more than just a story (or a kangaroo) — it’s an eerie possibility that’s never quite gone away.
Much like other famous cryptids, the Jersey Devil remains a mystery, but its story continues to intrigue locals and enthusiasts from around the world. Whether it's a creature born (quite literally) from colonial curses or an urban legend that has endured for over centuries, the Pine Barrens would never be the same without its accursed mascot.
For more Jersey Devil stories, check out Episode 65: The Mysterious Pine Barrens and Episode 697: Jersey Devil's Vortex (Members).
