The Jersey Devil (Pilot)

There’s a massive forest in New Jersey that shouldn’t exist.

For over 250 years, people have been seeing something in it—wings, hooves, and a scream that doesn’t sound right.

In this episode, we break down the Jersey Devil… from its origin in the 1700s to the week in 1909 when sightings exploded and entire towns started shutting down.

Come get weird with us!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

There are places that just don't feel right. Not because of what you see, but because of what you don't. No sound, no movement, just quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you feel like something's watching you. In South Jersey, there's a forest like that. Over a million acres. And for more than 250 years, people have been saying the same thing. There's something in there. And they call it the Jersey Devil. This is Fifty States of Weird, where every episode we go state by state digging into the strangest legends, the creepiest stories, and the things people still can't explain. I'm your host, and today we're in New Jersey. Alright, so we're in Jersey today. And I know everyone loves to make fun of Jersey. Whatever, I get it. But this one, this one's actually legit. There's a part of South Jersey called the Pine Barrens. It's over a million acres of just woods. No houses, no people, just trees. Which honestly makes zero sense for New Jersey, especially if you've been there. Like, how has that not been turned into a strip mall yet? Anyway. For 250 years, people have been saying the same thing. Something is out there. And they call it the Jersey Double. So here's the deal with the pine barons. It's not just woods, it's weird woods. The soil is terrible. The water is acidic. People tried to live there and it just really didn't work. So they built towns, factories, all that. And then they just left. Now you have these random ruins in the middle of nowhere. Which is already not a great start. Because when people leave places like that, they don't leave because everything's going well.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

And the other thing people say about that area is it gets quiet. Like too quiet.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Alright. So the origin story. This is where it gets weird, even for this show. There's this woman, Mother Leeds, right? Supposedly had 12 kids already. 12. That's just insane. And she's pregnant again with her 13th child. And she basically snaps one day and says, Let this one be the devil. Which again is not something that you would normally say. Anyway, that night, storm hits. Baby's born. Everything's normal for like a second. And then it's not. The kid starts changing. Body twists, contorts, bones crack. Then it turns into this thing. It has wings, hooves, claws, and then it just flies out through the chimney. But okay, all right, weird.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

And that's it. That's the Jersey Double.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

All right, this is where it stops being just a story. The year 1909. One week. And everything just spirals. It starts small, a couple sightings here and there, people hearing things, seeing something move in a distance, in the woods, through their window, nothing too crazy. But then overnight, it's everywhere. We're talking hundreds of reports, maybe more, across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware. The thing that's weird is it's the same description everywhere. Wings, hooves, long neck, and then that sound. That sound comes up a lot. Then the tracks show up. Hoof prints in the snow. But not where you'd expect. Not just on the ground, on rooftops. Across rooftops. Something would land, walked, and then took off again. And then they'd just stop. No exit, no explanation, no trace. They would track the prince, follow them as far as they can, and then they've got nothing. No animal, no person, no pattern. And then the sightings started happening during the day, which makes it harder to write off. Because now it's not just the shadows and imaginations. People are seeing it with their own eyes in broad daylight. Trolley drivers report it flying over their cars. Factory workers say it's on the rooftops, just watching. Families are seeing it in their yards. There's even reports of it attacking a trolley. Like actually going after the trolley. And again, this is all in newspapers, real reports happening in real time. Schools get shut down, parents keep kids home, businesses are closing early. Not because they know what it is, but because too many people are seeing something. And this actually might be my favorite part. The Philadelphia Zoo ends up offering a reward, which is bold, considering no one knows what they're catching.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

And then just as fast as it started, it stops. No explanation, no capture, no nothing. No more creature. So what was it or what is it?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Let's run it. First one, misidentified animal. People say it could have been a crane or a deer or something like that. And I guess on paper, sure. I could see, you know, cranes being big in a weird shape, making creepy sounds, having a weird posture. I get it. But they don't have hooves. Okay. They are birds. They don't have hooves. And they're not walking across rooftops and then just vanishing. Same with deer. You can explain a lot with a deer in bad lighting, especially if you slap some antlers on it. But you can't explain wings or flight or tracks that just stop. So maybe a couple of sightings, but not all of them. Next, mass hysteria. A few reports hit the newspapers, people start looking for it. Now everyone's seeing something. That happens. And in 1909, newspapers were everything. There's no phones, no internet, no text messaging anybody. If it's printed, people believed it. That could explain why it spread so fast. Why everyone suddenly has a story. But it doesn't explain the physical stuff, the tracks, multiple people seeing the same thing at the same time. The mass hysteria explains fear. But it doesn't fully explain evidence. Then you've got the Leeds family theory. Not well liked into astrology, and in that time, publishing stuff people didn't agree with. They were the outsiders of the area. And when people don't like you, rumors start. Stories start. Those stories get bigger. They get weirder. And over time, a person can become a legend. And a legend can become a monster. Honestly, I think this one probably makes the most sense. You weird people out enough because you know you're not like them. It can happen. I get it. Then there's another piece, too. The place itself, the pine barrens, are disorienting. Everything looks the same. Sound travels weird. You can get turned around fast. And when your brain doesn't understand something, it fills in the gaps. You hear a sound, you give it a shape. Doesn't mean it's right. Or something's actually out there. Not exactly what the story says. Maybe not some winged demon, but something. People keep catching glimpses of it. Because when enough people see something, even if they're wrong about what it is, it usually means something happened. The question is, what? And yeah, people still report stuff. Not huge waves like 1909, but just enough. Reports of sounds. Movement. That feeling like something's watching you. And then the big one. How everything just goes quiet.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Completely quiet. And then something breaks in.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, nope. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just a story that got out of control. Or too many people saw something for there to be absolutely nothing. Either way, I'm not testing it out. You will not catch me out there at night.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

No shot. No shot. On our next episode, we're heading to another state, and somehow it gets much, much worse.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Thanks for listening. Stay weird.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

Take care.