Why are they always triangles? Have you ever wondered that, Does it have something to do with it being the minimal number of points to encompass and area? One point would just be a circle, but Does the Bermuda circle not have the same sinister tone? I think it would have to be more like a pear to make sense.
Two points
Two points would just make a line, I guess two points connected by out of this world events and disappearances could just be called a road. Copicut road and hell hollow road come to mind. But what else can you imagine, as an area, lying between two points as being an area to avoid because it sounds just too creepy. Appalachia almost fits that description, but you’d have to really expand your idea of what a line is. I can’t imagine trying to explain that, “You know, it’s the line between the Catskills of new York to the north east corner of Mississippi.” I can see Chris Farley saying that, gesturing to a map of the eastern united states. “not so much here, and not here, but right here.”
And four points? Were not describing a western state.
Triangle it is
Three points, that’s the sweet spot, Everyone in North America I’m sure has heard of the Bermuda triangle, and here in south eastern New England we’ve probably heard of the Bridgewater triangle, but did you know how many more there are?
In Australia there is the bass straight triangle, encompassing the waters that separate Victoria and Tasmania.
South of Tokyo is the Devils Sea, also known as the Dragons triangle.
Falkirk Triangle in Scotland is so famous for UFO, or is it UAP now? Either way, there’s so many unexplained sightings they call it the Roswell of Scotland.
And in 1977 an area in Wales became known as the Broad Haven triangle for their UFO activity. I don’t care, I’m calling them UFO’s because that’s what Mulder called them. David Duchovny forever.
All this to say that there is another triangle, that happens to be about a three hour drive for me, that was the location associated with five disappearances in five years, a mountain ghost town, sightings of a wild man, think big foot but only about five feet tall. And a legend of a rock, that moves around the mountain at night, and slowly devours unsuspecting travelers. Join me, as I prepare myself for a visit, to the Bennington Triangle.
What’s in a name
The name Bennington triangle is attributed to author Joseph A Citro who wrote about the legends, myths and the strange disappearances that happened In the area around Glastonbury mountain in southern Vermont. The “triangle” area is different depending on what source you find an image from, but ranges from the town of Bennington, to the unincorporated towns of Glastonbury and somerset, including Glastonbury mountain and the surrounding woodlands.
Now when I was looking at the maps trying to see where I could actually get to it seems like Glastonbury is only accessible by hiking trails, but somehow the 2020 census had the resident count as nine. I’d like to know exactly where these people are living in this unincorporated town. Most of what I’ve read lists Glastonbury as a no shit ghost town. I’m interested to understand why this discrepancy exists. It almost sounds like the word “Town” is used very loosely in Vermont.
One of the reasons mister Citro used the term Triangle in 1992 to describe the area in part was because of the strange disappearances in the area starting in 1943. Carl Herrick was on a hunting trip with his cousin Henry about ten miles north east of Glastonbury. The two men got separated and Carl did not return. Henry would find Carl’s remains three days later with bear prints in the area. But Carl didn’t die from being mauled by bear, Carl’s body was crushed and his broken ribs had punctured his lungs.
In 1945 an experienced hunter by the name of Middie Rivers was leading a hunting party through an area known as hell hollow. Now. I’m not going to tell you that you shouldn’t go hunting in a place called Hell Hollow, but if you go back to episode six you might see why I’d be wary. Anyway Middie got separated from the group and never made it back to camp, after an extensive search the only thing recovered was a shell that matched the rifle Middie was carrying. There was no way to know if it belonged to Middie Rivers though.
December 1946 18 year old Paula Weldon headed out for a hike on long trail towards the Glastonbury wilderness, hitchhiking and underdressed for the weather after nightfall she was seen by several hikers and a local man who dropped her off a mile and a half from the trail. She was wearing a bright red coat and was said to have disappeared on the trail roughly a hundred yards in front of a couple on the trail. An extensive search was conducted but nothing was ever found.
1949, James Tedford, a world War two veteran was returning to the veterans home in Bennington after visiting his family in St Albans. He was travelling by bus along with fourteen other passengers. When the bus arrived to the Bennington stop James was no longer aboard. His luggage still in the overhead rack and his personal effects still in his seat. The other passengers recall him being on the bus when it departed from the previous stop.
Columbus day 1950 8 year old Paul Jephson was with his mother when she went to do some work at the dump, because it was only supposed to take roughly an hour she told Paul to stay in the truck until she was done, but when she returned to the truck the boy was gone. Again an extensive search was launched to find the missing person in a red coat but nothing of young Paul was ever recovered.
In October of the same year Freida Langer was on a family camping trip near the somerset reservoir in the Bennington woods. Freida and her cousin Herbert decided to go for a hike and less than a mile in she accidentally fell into a stream, since they were so close to camp she decided to go back and change quickly and resume the hike. After waiting at the stream for her to return Herbert decided to head back to camp only to find that Freida had never made it back. In what must have felt like a case of déjà vu local authorities searched for several weeks without finding anything. But seven months later Freida body would be found in a field near the Somerset reservoir. Strangely it was out in the open, in a field that the authorities had searched more than once. By that time her remains were to badly decomposed to determine what had transpired.
So what happened to these people, It’s become a part of the local superstition that you shouldn’t wear red into the woods. It also sounds like you shouldn’t be too far from other people in the woods, It is the deep forest, Bears or cougars could be to blame. That would be the natural explanation, but what if it’s not natural. The first settlers to the area were told that Glastonbury Mountain was cursed, the only reason the natives went there was to bury the dead. They also had a legend of a man eating stone, that if you stepped on it unknowingly the rock would open up and devour you whole. And just to keep you on your toes the stone was said to roam the mountain at night, and that there was no way to predict where it would strike next.
For the past two centuries there’s also been reports of the Bennington monster, akin to bigfoot it was reported to have flipped over a carriage in the early 1800’s.
Of course it could just have well been a person, in 1892 a man employed at the sawmill in Glastonbury killed another man with a rock. The authorities captured him quickly but he eventually escaped from an asylum he was held at and was reported to be living in the woods near Bennington. But if he had survived into the mid 1900’s he would have been getting far along in age.
When I was looking into the lore and legends about the Bennington triangle there was one other piece of information that popped up, in an episode of PBS’ New England legends Jeff Belanger mentions a new York time article from October 17th 1897, it describes an encounter with a Wildman. Jeff acknowledges the article but doesn’t elaborate on it. I paused the video to read what was written and something caught my eye, a detail that I feel should have stood out more, part of a theme to the weird happenings and disappearances. It reads
A wild man of the mountains
Two young Vermont hunters terribly scared
Pownal VT oct 17th much excitement prevails among the sportsman of this vicinity over the story that a wild man was seen on Friday last by two young men while hunting in the mountains south of Williamstown. The young men describe the creature as being about five feet high, resembling a man in form and movement, but covered all over with bright red hair, and having a long straggling beard, and with very wild eyes.
