Numerous eyewitnesses, including the driver, later confirmed that Tedford had been in his seat as late as the last stop before Bennington. But some information did arise. Her remains were in such gruesome condition that no cause of death could ever be determined. Rivers was an experienced outdoorsman who was familiar with the local area. Bennington Triangle, Wilderness Disappearances, Vermont The "Bennington Triangle" is a name given by paranormal author Joseph A. Citro to denote an area of southwestern Vermont within which as many as ten people have disappeared between 1920 and 1950. Wikimedia CommonsPaula Welden disappeared around Glastenbury Mountain in December 1946. Rural scene outside Bennington, Vermont by Carol Highsmith. However, when they were just a few hundred yards from their campsite, Langer slipped and fell into a stream, soaking her clothes and shoes. Because of his job, he was completely familiar with the woods. Or just the opposite. 8 year oldPaul Jepsonwas waiting for his mother in his familys pickup at the dump they were caretakers for. Only about two weeks later, 53-year-old Frieda Langer, an experienced hiker and survivalist familiar with the area, went missing on the Somerset area of the Long Trail bordering east Glastenbury. Be the first to contribute! Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Theyve always helped me make sense of my thoughts and ideas, and even draw ideas from things that havent been categorized or plotted yet. The documentary film will revolve around Glastenbury Mountain, the surrounding area, and its history of unusual events, Smith said. Its name sake comes from its largest mountain, and the ghost town that used to be there which also borethe same name. In the very top left corner, in small print, was the word Fayville, plotted on a dotted line that seemed to be a secondary road, meandering its way from Shaftsbury deep into the hills, and ending in the middle of nowhere. Rivers got a bit ahead of the group, and vanished completely. anabundanceofsheep 6 yr. ago. But there are human things at work here as well, and those have been documented. Smith said that his group, founded in 2004, had never found "actual legitimate activity that, for lack of a better word, defies explanation." However, bobcat and lynx are not known to be aggressive to humans, and mountain lions have not been credibly sighted since before 1940. Or maybe not. People needed to get up into town, and lumber and charcoal needed to get down. The mysterious, supposed "triangle," nicknamed the "Bennington Triangle," is centered around Glastenbury Mountain in Vermont. Top Mysteries writes "In Southern Vermont, northeast of Bennington lies a vast, beautiful, yet mysterious area of backcountry. Pauls disappearance made him the third to go missing in roughly the same area. The theories and enthusiasm have quicklyescalated and havecontinued to morph and stoke the fire. Whatever the reason, the area is famous for its strangephenomena. In 1867, there was an alleged wild man sighting, where a mysteriousmisanthropic specter would venture down from the woods (some accounts say he lived in a cave in Somerset) pull back his coat, and expose himself to unsuspecting women in Glastenburyand nearby Bennington. Im personally awe struck that such a plethora of incidents are all linked to a single area. Bennington Triangle / Glastenbury, VT - Documentary (Part 1 of 2) MSG 802 209K views 12 years ago Etan Patz Went Missing, Our Scariest Fears || True Crime Recaps Podcast True Crime Recaps. The railroad switched over tousingmore reliable trolley cars instead of traditional rail cars, because they were stronger and more reliable, especially given the elevation they would have to climb. As he led the group back to their camp, he got ahead of them and never returned to camp. Somewhere between the last stop and Bennington, he vanished. Lines to convey topography, more lines to convey boundaries between rock layers, towns, states and countries. AKAs submission guide. The episode, title "Unnatural World" told the stories about the reportedly missing persons in a five-year span, and local lore of the "Bennington Monster", a Bigfoot-like creature that supposedly roams these wooded areas. The mystery remains unsolved to this day. The area is said to be cursed, according to Native American lore. Some say he returned to Glastenbury, and others claim that he still remains hiding on the slopes to this very day. Andy ArthurVermont Route 7, north of Glastenbury. Ranker.com A 74-year-old local hunting guide, Rivers led a party of four hunters around the area of Hell Hollow in the southwest woods of Glastenbury before he was suddenly lost. An extensive search was conducted, which included the posting of a $5,000 reward and help from the FBI, but no evidence of her was ever found. And if you know about Glastenbury, there seems to be a sense of pride that comes with your knowledge of this obscure area, if not something that conjures a romantic notion of fantasy. The search was finally called off. A few homes, a meetinghouse and a crude one room schoolhouse were also built for the few kids who grew up there. While hunting with his brother and family friend, they heard the blast of a rifle, followed by him crying out Ive been shot!. But regardless, his disappearance still remains a mystery. TRUE HORROR: The Strange Ways People Go Missing In The Bennington Triangle On Long Trail. "In actuality most of the things reported there my group really doesn't deal with," Smith said. Chance of rain 80%. In Joseph Citros Passing Strange, (which was another heavy source for this article) he further mentioned aBurlington Free Pressarticle dated October 25, 1981 reported that a trio of hunters disappeared somewhere near Glastenbury, and not surprisingly, that too remainsunsolved. "[6], On October 12, 1950, Paul Jepson, aged 8, had accompanied his mother in a truck. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. "Bennington Triangle" is a phrase coined by American author Joseph A. Citro to denote an area of southwestern Vermont within which a number of people went missing between 1945 and 1950. But at the end of the day, everything is relative. So what are they? Speculations abound, adding many more layers to this fabled regions already weighted and transgressive reputation. Depending on who you ask, there is a pattern there. While camping in Goddard Shelter, his friends reported that there were nights that he would sit up in his sleep and laugh uncontrollably, and other nights when he would wake up screaming. See also Trivia | Goofs | Crazy Credits | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks Many triangles exist on Earth, Places where the planet . After an unsuccessful initial search, many still believed that this knowledgeable woodsman would be able to survive and soon surface in town. "The viral nature of the story illustrates how the community grows," he said. Even today, hunters will tell you that because of the disorienting winds, its very easy to get lost in the woods. He had been squeezed to death. Join us as we discuss what may have happened to Middie Rivers, Paula Jean Weldon, James Tedford, Paul Jephson. An odd footnote to all of this; the body ofFreida Langerdid eventually appear, seven months after she had vanished. As Author David Paulides tells in hisbook Missing 411,37 year oldCarl Herrickwent hunting in the woods of West Townshend, about 10 miles northeast of Glastenbury. Rivers disappeared along the Long Trail Road area and Vermont Route 9. Join us every week for a new scary story.BECOME A MEMBER FOR EXTRA REWARDS!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCD4-G3Aokt2sM7TYQV2HmA/joinEMAIL [email protected] MUSIC \"Ice Demon\", \"Crypto\" and \"Undaunted\" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic\"Haunted\", \"Introduction to Terror\" and \"Kingdoms of the World\" used by kind permission of CO.AG https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA . I still have no explanation to this day. The following year saw arguably the most infamous missing persons case in Vermont history: the disappearance of Paula Welden. Even the bus driver had no explanation! Another reason they avoided the place. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. Much like its counterparts, a portion of Vermont's green wilderness gained a reputation. Vermont folklorist and author Joseph Citro coined the term "Bennington Triangle" in 1992 on public radio and has since used it as inspiration for a novel, as well in his books on folklore. Those who know me know that Im a huge cartography buff. That story immediately blew up and was even picked up by local news stations. Due to the bodys decomposition, no cause of death could be determined. The stretch of woodlands aroundGlastenbury Mountain includes the towns ofBennington, Woodford, and Shaftsbury, as well as the ghost towns of Somerset and Glastenbury. But neither her husband nor her cousin ever saw her again. Police and a group of volunteers combed the area for hours. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Dooling, Michael C. Clueless in New England: The Unsolved Disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith and Katherine Hull. Maps tell us how things in this world relate to one another, they take data and turn it into something tangible, something understandable, and maybe something that provokes thought or feelings. Paul had mentioned that he had aninexplicable yen to go into the mountains lately. Myself and a few friends departed in his pickup truck and drove up the bumpy forest road into a strange clearing in the middle of the hills. The Bennington Triangle (Podcast Episode 2022) - Quotes - IMDb All Edit The Bennington Triangle (2022 Podcast Episode) Quotes It looks like we don't have any Quotes for this title yet. 2/27/2023. Yeah, a lot of planes and ships go missing there, but only at the same rate that they go missing in the rest of the world. After he implausibly vanished into thin air while inside a moving vehicle, baffled passengers noted that Tedfords luggage and an open bus timetable remained on his seat. New England seems to have a fair share of them. Do curses and monsters really claim their victims? There were no signs of him having walked or crawled to his final resting place, no clues at all. They wanted Glastenbury to stand out from other summer resorts. I suppose its all subjective. Because of this, the state of Vermont disorgonized the town in 1937, the first time the state ever did such an act, and the area was reclaimed bythe wilderness. Andy ArthurGrout Pond and Glastenbury Mountain, at the heart of the Bennington Triangle. And perhaps one of the most arcane disappearance took place on November 11, 1943. Passing Strange: True Tales of New England Hauntings and Horrors, 1996, Citro, Joseph A. and Sceurman, Mark. He soon hollered back to the passengers and asked for their opinions. The police during that time were not familiar with serial killers or how they operated, so even if it was the work of such a killer, the facts would have gone undocumented. When she did not return, Elsner made his way back to the campsite and discovered that Frieda Langer had not returned, and that nobody had seen her since they had left. But nothing adds up. [2] The speculation was that Rivers had leaned over and the cartridge had dropped out of his pocket into the water. His body was a distance away from where he was shot. The victims ages ranged between 8 and 74 and were evenly divided between men and women. Welden's disappearance was the inspiration for the 1951 novel Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson. Between 1945 and 1950, five people disappeared in the area surrounding Bennington, Vermont. University of New England/ Vermont Life, 1994, Citro, Joseph A. GLASTENBURY -- A team of paranormal investigators hiked into Glastenbury over the weekend to survey the area known as the "Bennington Triangle.". Because South Glastenbury sat at the confluent oftwo different branches of Bolles Brook, where the headwaters met and began their descent down the mountains, the small village became known as The Forks. Past investigations in Vermont by Crypto Paranormal Investigations have included a private residence in Burlington, a college dorm at Green Mountain College in Poultney, and Golden Brook Bridge in Stowe. But he never did. But by what? Last seen on Sunday, December 1, 1946, wearing easy-to-spot red and entering the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain, Welden never showed up for her Monday classes, spurring a massive search party of more than 1,000 people and a reward of $5,000. That love really perpetuatedwhen I was 10, when my mother bought me a DeLorme atlas of Vermont, and I became enthralledwithit, thoroughly memorizing every detail I could. However, thebarren mountains stripped of all their trees, were very prone to flooding and soil erosion. Triangles: Horrible to figure out using math, horrible to find in real life. The stage driver first noticed very large footprints in the mud that was too large to be a human. 2.88M subscribers The Bermuda Triangle is famous for strange happenings and disappearances in the ocean nestled between Florida and Bermuda. Local lore has it that Rivers disappeared near Bickford Hollow, the same place John Harbour was murdered. Hundreds of townsfolk joined the search, scanning the dump and the surrounding roads, even the mountains. Its 20 minutes long split up into two parts . ", The group has worked on the documentary over the past year, filming, conducting research, and interviewing local residents, including Tyler Resch, the Bennington Museum librarian who authored the 2008 book titled "Glastenbury: The History of A Vermont Ghost Town.". His party, being unfamiliar with the area, never thought to check. Then, seven months later, on May 12, 1951, her body was found near Somerset Reservoir, in an area that had previously been extensively searched. During a five-year span, beginning in 1945, people began to disappear regularly. The investigators brought a plethora of equipment, including infrared thermal imaging, night vision and full spectrum cameras, hypersensitive audio recorders with parabolic microphones, motion sensors, and other sensors measuring temperature, barometric pressure, and electromagnetic and gamma radiation. A veteran resident of the Bennington Soldiers Home, Tedford had been in St. Albans visiting relatives and returned home on a bus when he vanished. 400 students and faculty members assembled to help look for their missing classmate. Wikipedia, Legends, Ghosts, Myths and Mysteries Main Page, Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. But, in keeping with the eerie feeling of the Bennington Triangle, the boys father told the Albany Times Union that it was perhaps the lure of the mountains that pulled in his missing son, as the boy had talked of nothing else for days prior to the disappearance. Its worth mentioning that by the time James was actually reported missing, it was at least a week after the fact, when theBennington soldiers home finallydecided to call his relatives to figure out if he was actually coming back or not. Mostly occupied by the Green Mountain National Forest, this is a surprisingly large stretch of wilderness for Vermont. Many are quick to glamorize the region without being objective, only further propelling it into the blurred hazeof fact and embellishment. And yet, here she was. Followers of folklore and aficionados of the paranormal are likely familiar with the Bermuda Triangle and perhaps even southeastern Massachusetts Bridgewater Triangle. When she returned, her son was nowhere in sight. A perfect square, that yellow dotted line indicating it was the boundary of a town, with the word Glastenbury printed inside. Two local men went fishing on the Peters Branch one went upstream and the other went downstream. Like us on Facebook. So, is there truly something phenomenal about Glastenbury that has yet to be comprehensivelyexplained? But, he went on to say, "even the most active places aren't active every day.". Frantic,she called for help, and another search was launched. The only absolute truth about all of this is that people swear these things happened. Contact Zeke Wright at [email protected]. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated August 2022. But soon they did find something and this became the only known disappearance of the Bennington Triangle where a body has turned up. As for the others. Glastenbury Mountain and the surrounding area has long been considered one of Vermonts most haunted places. The Bennington Triangle, centered around Glastenbury Mountain in Vermont, has long been known for strange events, including UFO activity,bigfootsightings, strange lights and sounds, and the location where five people disappeared in the 1940s and 1950s. Others blame the Indian curse or the paranormal, stating the place is a window into the unexplained. She left her son unattended for about an hour while she fed some pigs. But one lesser-known relative of these areas holds more than its fair share of tantalizing mysteries: the Bennington Triangle of Vermont. His body was discovered three days later, surrounded by giant, mysterious footprints. The third person to disappear was on Columbus Day in 1950. Many, including Weldens father, criticized the authorities lack of sophisticated methods in handling the case, which actually served as the catalyst for the founding of the Vermont State Police seven months later. The Carrollton Press, 2010. The town of Glastenbury was charted in 1761 by land grabbing Benning Wentworth, governor of New Hampshire. A massive loggers boardinghouse, and company store the only store in town, were built to serve the village. His belongings were still in the luggage rack and an open bus timetable was on his vacant seat. But inside the square, there was nothing but contour lines, indicating several mountains and rugged wilderness. Apart from the towns fascinatingly unique story line, it may be the obscureand inexplicable events that allegedly happened on its slopes that has really given the town its considerable attention. Afterward, an extensive search was conducted, including more than 1,000 people searching, aircraft surveillance, posting a $5,000 reward, and help from the FBI. Chance of rain 100%.. The frightened passengers could only see a pair of eyes before the monster roared and ran into the forest. At this point, the horses were going wild, which was spooking the driver. [7] No cause of death could be determined because of the condition of her remains. A three-person team -- two investigators and a camerawoman -- struck out Friday morning from a pull-off on Route 9 to hike to the summit of Glastenbury Mountain. I loved getting to know the great stateI lived in. As the case dragged on without resolution, some suggested that Jepson met an early demise at the hands of his parents and was dinner for the pigs. No trace of Langer was found during the search. Shortly after, whatever had attacked them had became dubbed asThe Bennington Monster. Much time and money were invested into retransforming the town turning the brawny old loggers boarding house into a hotel and the former company store into a casino. Two weeks later, On October 28th, 53 year oldFreida Langerhad left her familys camp east of Glastenbury Mountain near the Somerset Reservoir to go hiking with her cousin. I dont really see a connection here to the other disappearances, but I guess because it happened around the same time frame and James did live in the area, it has just been lumped into the big picture. Over the next two weeks, five searches were conducted, involving aircraft, helicopters, and up to 300 searchers. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty, but also one of great danger. They had heard about the disappearances and shrugged it off asout of controltall tales. The next person to vanish is the most infamous of all the Bennington Triangle disappearances, the case most talked about. Tedford, a resident of the Bennington Soldiers' Home, had been in St. Albans visiting relatives and was accompanied to a local bus station, which was the last location where he was seen. She and several other family members were camping in the woods near Glastenbury Mountain. On December 1st, 1949, James E. Tetford had been visiting relatives in northern Vermont. Glastenbury was unincorporated by the state in 1937, its status as "ghost town" perhaps intensifying later missing persons reports. Even coast guard planes were brought in. Be the first to contribute! He was also said to brandisha revolver for intimidation. Many reports of UFO sightings and strange lights in the sky have been spotted over the Glastenbury wilderness over the last century. But in general we've found the overall story to be just so interesting that we really want to try to tell and explore, through a visual means, and document it.". But Monday came, and Paula didnt show up for her classes. I wanted to be tactful with how I approached it, balancing the resilient history, excellent folklore, and my own thoughts. After all, the region does havegreat triggers for spook stories. Then he vanished without a trace. While my love of maps inadvertently lead me to my interest of Glastenbury, their ability to organize information and draw conclusions was useless here. On April 4th, 1892, Fayville mill worker Henry McDowell went haywire and murdered John Crawley by bashing him in the head with either a piece of wood or a rock, depending on the story. The first disappearance occurred on November 12, 1945, when 74-year-old Middie Rivers disappeared while out hunting, in the vicinity of Long Trail Road and Vermont Route 9. With a profitable timberindustry came demands. The Indians of the area had long been wary of the area and avoided it. It was the kind of place where men out numbered the women, and the law often didnt exist. In 1894, the railroad re-billed itself as TheBennington-Woodford Electric Railroad and the town reinvented itself as a tourist destination, using the railroad as a way to bring tourists up into South Glastenbury. Though they combed through the vast wilderness for eight days, the only thing found was a rifle cartridge of the same type that Rivers used. His loaded gun sat neatly beside him, as if it was purposely put there. I was enthralled by the fact that this town apparently had nothing in it. But he escaped by hiding in a railroad car carrying a load of coal, never to be seen again. The Jephson family worked as caretakers for a nearby dump, and on October 12, 1950, young Paul had accompanied his mother to work. Regarding Tedford's disappearance, there's enough evidence to suggest he didnt "dematerialize, even though no trace of him was ever found. Who knows for sure. There were unfamiliar footprints in the mud just ahead of him. Nearly a year later in mid-October 1950, eight-year-old Paul Jepson went missing. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Quotes submission guide. The Bennington Triangle Unexplained Disappearances. Though Glastenbury townitself is a large area, it onlycontained 2 small settlements near the western border; the logging town of Fayville in the north, and later, the settlement of South Glastenbury. If you take these other accounts into consideration, this raises the number of disappearances from four to nine, which begs the question, what happened here? However, when the bus arrived in Bennington, he had seemingly vanished. FATE, July 1957. Time is also a pattern. Enigmatic situationsarent contained to the past, things reportedly continue to happen here to this day. UVM Archives and The Landscape Change Program, Glastenbury, History of a Vermont ghost town, UVM archives The Landscape Change Program, UVM Archives and the Landscape Change Program, Shunpiking to Lewis, Vermont. The only known similarities between the most well-documented cases in the Bennington Triangle are the close proximity of the disappearances, the time of day when most were last seen (between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.), and the time of year when most were last seen (the final three months of the year). [1] An extensive search was conducted, but the only evidence discovered was a single rifle cartridge that was found in a stream. But the railroad was still around, and they wanted money. The intriguing mysteries and unexplained events associated with the Bennington Triangle have caused many to speculate wildly about the possibility of nefarious and perhaps paranormal forces at work, a notion bolstered by alleged UFO and Bigfoot sightings in the region. The first to go missing was a 74-year-old hunting guide named Middie Rivers on November 12, 1945. Don't miss the big stories. But Im getting ahead of myself. Adding to the seemingly ever growing list of theories, this one might be the most plausible. He fled town, but was later apprehended in South Norwalk, Connecticut, where he made a full confession. His belongings were still in the luggage rack, and an open bus timetable was on his vacant seat. Several different types of information can be conveyed at the same time, melding several different ideas into a united idea. Then, the coach was attacked by a large creature who knocked the vehicle on its side. The work of the Bennington Monster? She told Elsner if he would wait, she would go back to the campsite, change clothes and catch up to him. To add to this,AuthorTyler Reschis one of those who thinks the area is widely exaggerated,and has created preposterous theoriescarried by inertia. What made them? However, he was babbling on about voices in his head that wouldnt leave him alone, and as a result, was sentenced inthe Vermont State Asylumin Waterbury. What sort of bear squeezes a human to death? The Bennington Triangle is a part of the world where strange tales of people vanishing from the face of the planet are in abundance. Maybe. For the discerning horror fan, we cover the most chilling cases throughout history. Did he receive human help, possibly by the shooter? Though many people who write about ghost towns robotically love to use descriptive terms such as hub or thriving, Glastenbury was really neither its peak population climbed to around241. They now knew that John had to have been moved. Some say the area is unstable due to wind patterns that are unusually chaotic and confusing, so people can easily get lost. To better understand the hysteria here, let me try to summarize the more colloquial regional portrait for you. More. "Because there are crazy claims. That day, a 68-year-old man named James E. Tedford boarded a bus to Bennington after visiting relatives in St. Albans, Vermont. From the paranormal to the supernatural, unsolved mysteries and strange deaths to cryptids, conspiracy theories and the most disturbing of true crimes, all told in a unique and creepy way. The rain hadnt washed them away yet, so they had to be fresh tracks the driver reckoned. And it came fast, so fast that none of us were aware of a change in weather until things got dangerous. Did he crawl there after being shot? His observations revealed that the tracks were widely spaced, suggesting that whatever had made them was tremendous in size.