Does the Devil Travel by Night?

In the case of the Jersey Devil, a single line of hoofprints stretched across 30 towns in 1909. They went up the sides of walls, over rooftops - whatever happened, it left a lot of evidence and has never been explained to this day.

And it wasn't the first time.

On the evening of February 7-8, 1885, snow fell across Devonshire, England. The next morning, townsfolk were surprised to find "a vast number of foot-tracks" that some believed to be "the marks of Satan himself." The single line of hooved tracks stretched through the towns of Topsham, Lympstone, Exmouth, Teignmouth, and Dawlish and the account was "descanted on from the pulpit."

Just as in the case of the Jersey Devil some 24 years later, the tracks were found "in all kinds of inaccessible places," including rooftops and the tops of narrow walls, enclosed gardens and courtyards, and open fields. It caused a sensation "among all classes," and though the Times of London never carried another article on the matter, Unexplained author, Jerome Clark, uncovered more information in letters to the editor of Illustrated London News.

The tracks covered 100 zigzagged miles and were in the general shape of a horseshoe. Each track was exactly 8 ¹/₂" apart. The "evidence" was never investigated, certainly no photos exist, and no documentation has come to light suggesting anyone witnessed the creature.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008