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Description
Despite its relative fame in cryptozoology, there isn’t much to the Dover Demon of Dover, Massachusetts. Seen by teenagers only three times over the course of two nights in April 1977, it was described as a gangly creature with glowing orange or green eyes and a large head. The most popular idea is that it was an extraterrestrial, due to its similar appearance to the classic Grey Aliens of abduction lore (which are themselves a product of popular culture). Only slightly less preposterous is the suggestion that it may have been some sort of semi-aquatic primate; cryptozoologists have attempted to link it to the Mannegishi, a trickster spirit associated with rivers in Cree folklore, as well as other mythological water imps from around the United States, such as the Puckwudgie. There is no reason to connect any of these beings with each other; it’s simply an attempt to make the Dover Demon seem more credible by giving it history.

The fact is that, if the stories weren’t completely made up, the creature was almost certainly a normal animal that was misidentified. Based on the gangly legs and large head, it’s been suggested that it may have been a foal or a moose calf (the timing is somewhat problematic for the latter, though not impossible). As promising as these suggestions may be, truth is that we can’t really know for sure at this late date. What we can say for sure is that, if the witnesses were being truthful, then they were almost certainly mistaken, as any teenager briefly seeing a strange animal in the dark would be.

Description
Despite its relative fame in cryptozoology, there isn’t much to the Dover Demon of Dover, Massachusetts. Seen by teenagers only three times over the course of two nights in April 1977, it was described as a gangly creature with glowing orange or green eyes and a large head. The most popular idea is that it was an extraterrestrial, due to its similar appearance to the classic Grey Aliens of abduction lore (which are themselves a product of popular culture). Only slightly less preposterous is the suggestion that it may have been some sort of semi-aquatic primate; cryptozoologists have attempted to link it to the Mannegishi, a trickster spirit associated with rivers in Cree folklore, as well as other mythological water imps from around the United States, such as the Puckwudgie. There is no reason to connect any of these beings with each other; it’s simply an attempt to make the Dover Demon seem more credible by giving it history.

The fact is that, if the stories weren’t completely made up, the creature was almost certainly a normal animal that was misidentified. Based on the gangly legs and large head, it’s been suggested that it may have been a foal or a moose calf (the timing is somewhat problematic for the latter, though not impossible). As promising as these suggestions may be, truth is that we can’t really know for sure at this late date. What we can say for sure is that, if the witnesses were being truthful, then they were almost certainly mistaken, as any teenager briefly seeing a strange animal in the dark would be.