Located in southeastern Massachusetts is a 200sq foot area known as the Bridgewater Triangle. This area got its name because of all of the strange happenings that occur within its boundaries. It a zone that is overloaded with the paranormal.
Here there is an abnormally high amount of poltergeist and other spirit activities within the local areas and in residents homes. One of the most haunted places is the Hockomock swamp. This area is believed to be cursed by the Native Americans that used to live here. It is also the site of a 8,000 year old Native American Burial ground. It is said that when archaelogists opened the graves, a red ochre bubbled up and then disappeared. No one was able to take photos of the site as none of the pictures developed. People now here mysterious voices and will smell smoke at random times. There have been reports of a bonfire on top of a large rock that will disappear when a person gets too close to it. People have also reported seeing ghostly figures dancing a ritualistic dance. Other famous ghosts in this area include a redheaded hitchhiker on Route 44 in Rehoboth, a spirit near the Hockomock swamp on route 138, and a ghostly truck driver from Freetown who will blare his horn angrily at other motorists and speed past them.
The Bridgewater triangle is also well known for its cryptids. A Bigfoot like creature has been seen throughout the area, usually near Hockomock swamp. In the 1970s reports of a 7ft tall creature, along with footprints prompted the police to search for a bear. Neither human being or bear was ever found in the area. Other than Bigfoot there have been reports of thunderbirds. These massive birds have a wingspan of 8-12 feet and have been spotted in Hockomock swamp and Taunton. Another mysterious report is that of a phantom dog. It was reported that a large dog with glowing red eyes was found killing two ponies. Supposedly the dog was as big as the two ponies were. There have also been reports of giant snakes in the area.
Other than ghosts and cryptids, the Bridgwater triangle is home to many UFO sightings. These sightings date back to 300 years when settlers in 1760 saw a glowing ball of light up in the sky. Other UFO sightings include Halloween of 1908 when UFO sightings made the local newspapers, in 1968 when five people claimed to have seen a strange ball of light floating among the trees in Rehoboth, A string of UFO sightings in the 1970’s, with one report in 1976 claiming that two UFOs were seen landing along route 44, in 1994 an officer saw a triangular shaped craft with red and white lights, and in modern times there are still frequent reports of glowing balls of light which float over the ground a the local dog track in Raynham.
As if the above were not enough, this area has been home to grisly murders (including an underground bunker with chains and bindings made for children), mysterious will-o-the wisp type lights, animal mutilations, satanic rituals, and mysterious black helicopters that patrol the skys.
Hello dear followers and others who may see this post. Since it is Friday 13th, I thought it would be nice to reach out and see if any of you had any spooky experiences you would like to share. These can be ghostly encounters, a meetup with a cryptid, or perhaps a creepy experience involving the living. Anything goes. We’d love to hear from you
During college, I worked as a ride operator at Knott’s Berry Farm, whose claim-to-fame is being America’s oldest themed amusement park, and being notoriously haunted, as many of the buildings in the aptly named “Ghost Town” were taken from actual abandoned towns throughout the Wild West.
Of course, I heard ghost stories from coworkers, but being a level-headed, scientific-minded person, I dismissed them. A trash barrel moved on its own? Must be a cockroach or something underneath. Queue chains swaying without anyone nearby? Perhaps it was a breeze that I just didn’t feel. Weird voices early in the morning before we opened the gates? Has to be odd acoustics.
I had a “scientific explanation” for everything I experienced … until one morning, when I had opening shift.
I honestly loved opening. You got there half an hour before anyone else. No workers, no crowds, only an occasional maintenance cart speeding by. Our job was to wipe down the morning dew and collect maintenance sheets, checking if a ride was down for the day or if it passed. This morning was chilly, a little foggy, absolutely perfect to me. I was collecting the sheets for Camp Snoopy A, which included the Flying Ace planes, the tugboat (back when Reflection Lake still existed), Snoopy’s Gr8 Sk8 (no longer exists, thank God, I hated that ride), and the Grand Sierra Railroad (kiddie train, best ride for an operator!)
Gr8 Sk8 had a metal ramp up to the ride loading area and control booth, and since it was tucked away in some shade, it collected a lot of dew, so I had to make sure the seats were dry.
While I was wiping them down, I heard a child’s giggle. Obviously, so early in the morning, this was worrisome. Had some child managed to hide out all night in the park? I called out and searched all around. I looked in the bushes and even under the ride, within the gears that lifted the ride back and forth.
Nothing.
I called out again, searched more, really listened hard for breathing, shifting shoes, anything. I shook my head and figured I needed more coffee.
I went down the ramp and began to head across the causeway to the train. Halfway across the road, I heard the metal ramp behind me vibrate.
LOUDLY.
No like a little pop from temperature change, but like a child was stomping down. As I spun back around, I could SEE the ramp shivering as a bombastic STOMP STOMP STOMP echoed through the park.
Then I heard the giggle again.
Okay … officially freaked out.
If this was a kid … I mean, maybe he was under the ramp? Hitting it? With his fists? I began to walk back, when I heard the train bell ringing.
Ooookay … not possible. That bell does not ring on its own, especially on a day with no wind. You have to really tug the cord hard to get it to ring, and the engineers were not due to arrive for another half hour.
I thought maybe … MAYBE … this was a maintenance person having some fun, or maybe it really was a kid playing around, so I cautiously approached the train station. I didn’t any workers, and the maintenance sheet was already filled out, but just to make sure, I checked the Employee Only room that the train engineers use to rest between rides. Sure enough, it was still locked, no one in there. I checked around the train, and the bell was still slightly swaying. I hadn’t just “imagined” that ring. I thoroughly checked EVERYTHING, still trying to tell myself it could have been a child, it HAD to have been something logical, corporeal.
I found nothing.
The train was the last ride to check, and I got out of there before I really did bump into anything unwanted. I decided to keep my experience to myself, rather than have the other employees think I was trying to prank them, as I had so often dismissed the stories of others. Still, later that day, when I rotated into the train, I told the engineer what had happened.
“Oh yeah. That’s the kid who likes to play around Camp Snoopy. He swings in the ferris wheel, too.”
This “kid” was well-known around the Camp Snoopy employees, although few spoke up about it, since the newbies all thought these were mere stories to spook them, and all the veterans knew all about it already. Besides, they were harmless acts. Just some “kid” having fun before the crowds poured in.
That was not the last time I came across something unknown. I did eventually see physical manifestations around Ghost Town, transparent people with hazy, blank faces dressed in 1800s miner outfits, and “The Pets,” a cat and dog ghost who chased each other around the Ghost Rider queue on slow days.
I hired into Knott’s Berry Farm scoffing at the idea of ghosts, and I left convinced that at least something paranormal existed in this world.
