Authored by Noah Voss 2006
W-Files.com Online since 1997
The Bridgewater Triangle
Massachusetts
 Caption: The Bridgewater Triangle, approximate region of oddities. |
I had done my homework before tonight and was looking forward to all the Bridgewater Triangle had to throw at me. Everything. No, really. This area in the southeastern portion of Massachusetts has been home to Bigfoot sightings, giant serpents, black panthers, Indian curses, ghosts, cult ritualistic practices, hauntings, unexplained murders, very unexplained suicides, even ancient and unknown remains of a civilization that may still hold evidence that will require our history books to be re-written. So yeah, I was pretty excited to see how the night would play out. Right off the bat, I had trouble getting in contact with the curator of the Dighton Rock museum that was going to educate me on the ancient relics found in the area. Even if I wasn't going to be able to learn more about the Dighton Rock discovery, I could take comfort in spending time in the land of the Wampanoag. If that isn't familiar, perhaps you might recognize their more famous member Squanto. He may have been the only thing that saved the last 20 some pilgrims from their second year of dwindling numbers. Of course, as I always say, time is a limited resource, and residential expert Chris of Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads had a scheduling conflict at the last minute. I was once again - on my own.
No big deal, I had a list of places that I wanted to be sure to make time for. There were many to choose from in an area covering 200 square miles. First on my drive, geographically speaking, was Hockomock Swamp. It looked quite large on my atlas, but alas, it seemed that urban development made it less marshy and more neighborhood than in days past. The indigenous people in the area had named this 6,000-acre area Hockomock. Reportedly meaning "place where spirits dwell." Cool right? Despite its size, it did take some extra driving to find some rural surroundings. Once wet wilderness was found, I could easily imagine running into a skunk ape, or mysterious glowing orbs of light. I didn't experience them, but others have reported just those things here. Back in the truck and down the road, I pass a cemetery that I have to check out. It is perfectly nestled in the woods on three sides. The cemetery backs up to the swamp in the rear and is minutely discrete. I park down the street on a rough road, hoping to remain discrete myself. Walking back down the narrow shoulder, I notice the cemetery is anything but recent. I walk through admiring the stones some more than one hundred years old. I am watched by nervous neighbors notifying each other to my mysterious presence. It is times such as these it helps to have a large professional video camera on your shoulder coupled with a photographer's coat. Costumes or in some cases, my natural wardrobe has kept me from being hassled more times than I can count, I'm sure of it. No mysterious orbs or creatures make themselves known to me but not for the lack of my creating opportunities for them too.
 Caption:
Eerie creature like tree deep in the forests of the Bridgewater
Triangle. |
Back on the road again in this whirlwind legend trip, my next stop is just outside the small town of Norton. It was here in 1992 that Norton Police Sargent Downy watched a creature swoop through a clearing, much like the one now in front of me. He reported the giant bird had a wingspan of 10-12 feet. These thunderbird sightings have been reported here in recent times as far back as 1971 and rumored to have been well known by the natives of this land for centuries. Eventually, I made my way down a road that had numerous reports of UFOs and black helicopters starting in 2002. Of course, local researchers have turned up UFO reports dating back as far as 1760. In 1979 two professionals from WHDH local news station reported witnessing a UFO oozing a green substance. Later, in 1997, a Bridgewater officer said he watched a UFO make unbelievable moves in the night sky. "Oozing UFOs," that's bad-ass! I will be keeping my eyes on the sky as often as possible, I thought to myself. It had gone from day to dark by this time. I was off to find dinner inside The Bridgewater Triangle.
That wasn't hard to do since the triangle encompasses entire towns. No new leads found with dinner, just a quick bite to eat. It was interesting to see the ordinary, unassuming east coast towns in the middle of what paranormal researchers consider a hot spot of unexplained activity. The cities and villages on the surface appeared to be much like any other. The woods surrounding them, however, were thick. The only eerie observation I could make was how quick one could lose sight of the town walking in any direction into the forest.
I wonder if there is anything more sinister
or at least unusual to any of these places if one had the time to dig
deeper. Tonight though, I didn't have time to stay and interview
anyone else. I still had another hour's drive in the opposite
direction of my hotel. That would land me in the southernmost part
of The Bridgewater Triangle.
This final destination brings me to what I'm
warned is the most dangerous area of my adventure. Numerous mysterious
suicides, unexplained murders, and even a few that have cult overtones,
so say the police. Of course, there are the countless ghost
stories and Bigfoot sightings, but lets sadly look at the suicides for a
moment. The mysterious part comes into play when researchers
looked at the cases and noted three unusual variables associated with
each. The first was the people that were not alone at the time of
their demise. The second was the people who had no history of
mental illness. The third unusual characteristic was that the
people were thought by all who knew them to be well adjusted, and
generally happy. I'm told of one popular hiking trail that leads
near a cliff. Known as simply "the ledge" to locals, it is a
popular area for outdoorsman and hangout for kids. It also has
garnered notoriety as a regular suicide point.
I thought it would be a good experiment to
find the cliff and stand on the edge. See if I walked back or
flew. Maybe it was lucky for me that I wasn't able to reach the
said cliff. The state parks were locked up tight, and an
expedition like that would require specialty gear I wasn't able to pack
or at least a trusted tour guide. I say trusted tour guide
because, well, here is just one fun factoid I turned up about the
forests now surrounding me. This one was on Wikipedia.org,
"Another gruesome discovery by Freetown police, following the report by
the victim of a previous sexual assault at the site, was an underground
bunker otherwise hidden from view. Upon investigation, police found
several strange objects, including small chairs with belts or
restraints, seemingly made for children." Another intriguing note
I found during my research beforehand was murderous.
Supposedly more than a dozen murders took
place between 1979 and 1988 in these same forests I now stand.
That's not all this places history has to offer. Reports of
mutilated cattle and goats circulate through these woods with
explanations of a Native American curse over 300 years old to modern-day
sacrificing Satanist cults. I have not applied the time nor money
to verify these factoids. With all the dangerous history, the way
I figure it at this point, walking into the unknown alone, may be safer
than walking in announced and with a stranger. Parking in a few
different pull-offs from the countryside roads, I was able to take a few
short hikes under the moon. The woods were incredibly dense and
full of the customary creatures one might expect. Nothing I
wouldn't have.
 Caption: Noah 'Winchester' Voss explores the unknown with what his Dodge Challenger can carry. |
I keep my eyes on the sky nearly as much as the road the rest of the drive. I'm watching for anything out of the ordinary that might just be commonplace for The Bridgewater Triangle. One last stop - petrol for the car and caffeine for me should be just enough fuel to get me a little further on down the road. Brain now buzzing with the new energy and anticipation for my next hunt in The Bridgewater Triangle.
Until next time, remember, adventures come to the adventuresome!
Noah Voss
