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The teenagers all drew sketches of the alleged creature. Bartlett wrote on his sketch, "I, Bill
Bartlett, swear on a stack of Bibles that I saw this creature." According to a local news report, "the locations of the sightings, plotted on a map, lay in a straight line over 2 miles ". The sightings
117:, which would have reflected in the yellow headlights of older cars as the peach color described by Bartlett. In addition, the "long spindly arms" and fingers of the supposed creature could be the partially opened wings and the splayed feathers at the wingtips of a snowy owl.
51:
17-year-old
William "Bill" Bartlett claimed that while driving on April 21, 1977, he saw a creature "about 4 feet tall with glowing orange eyes and no nose or mouth in a watermelon-shaped head" on top of a broken stone wall on Farm Street in
56:. 15-year-old John Baxter reported seeing a similar creature on Miller Hill Road the same evening. Another 15-year-old, Abby Brabham, claimed to have seen the creature the following night on Springdale Avenue.
255:
155:, which features various other creatures. In the comic, it is a creature able to see into the future. It appears in another similar comic book series called
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were not made public until the first half of May. At that time, a local "investigator of unexplained phenomenon" noted similarities to creatures in the
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has suggested the sighting may have been influenced by the pop culture of the time, as 1977 was a year for "big-headed client-type creatures".
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that creatures reported by the teenagers "were probably nothing more than a school vacation hoax." Skeptic
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In 2009, the Dover Demon was featured in an episode of the
American horror television series
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The Dover Demon appears as a character in the
American comic book series
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161:. The Dover Demon also made brief appearances in the comic books
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were released in 1977, although after the alleged sightings.
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of 1955. Even though none of the witnesses reported seeing a
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39:, a town about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of downtown
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It has been suggested that the creature may have been a
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Alleged creature sighted in Dover, Massachusetts, USA
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23:Bill Bartlett's original sketch of the Dover Demon
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191:One proposed explanation of the aforementioned
68:, the sightings were also investigated by the
295:"'Creature' reports worry Dover police chief"
256:"Decades later, the Dover Demon still haunts"
169:. A Dover Demon also appears in the webcomic
35:reportedly sighted on April 21–22, 1977, in
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458:"Lost Tapes" Dover Demon (TV Episode 2009)
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396:"Identifying the Enigmatic 'Dover Demon'"
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571:History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
494:#3, 4 (December 1, 2006-January 1, 2007)
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331:"What exactly was the 'Dover Demon?'"
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109:believes the creature was likely a
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414:– via skepticalinquirer.org.
382:– via skepticalinquirer.org.
361:Radford, Benjamin (January 2023).
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254:Sullivan, Mark (29 October 2006).
217:Close Encounters of the Third Kind
14:
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418:
492:The Perhapanauts: Second Chances
364:"Deconstructing the Dover Demon"
551:Alleged extraterrestrial beings
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224:List of American films of 1977
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556:American legendary creatures
403:. Vol. 47, no. 4.
371:. Vol. 47, no. 1.
193:Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter
62:Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter
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426:"Teeners report 'creature'"
319:– via newspapers.com.
300:Holyoke Transcript-Telegram
163:The Pound: Ghouls Night Out
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597:
581:Supernatural urban legends
527:Gunnerkrigg Court Archives
393:Nickell, Joe (July 2023).
505:"Dover Demon (Character)"
311:. May 16, 1977. p. 1
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167:Hack/Slash: Entry Wound
72:and associated groups.
576:Massachusetts folklore
561:American urban legends
305:Holyoke, Massachusetts
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546:1977 in Massachusetts
113:, based on size and
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76:Possible explanations
22:
566:Dover, Massachusetts
523:"Chapter 83: Page 4"
268:on February 26, 2007
54:Dover, Massachusetts
37:Dover, Massachusetts
482:#1, (April 1, 2008)
405:Center for Inquiry
401:Skeptical Inquirer
373:Center for Inquiry
369:Skeptical Inquirer
336:Milford Daily News
132:In popular culture
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70:Mutual UFO Network
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431:Bangor Daily News
172:Gunnerkrigg Court
142:, which aired on
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480:The Perhapanauts
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264:. Archived from
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197:great horned owl
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158:The Perhapanauts
122:Associated Press
120:Police told the
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438:. 16 May 1977
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339:. May 8, 2005
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440:. Retrieved
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408:. Retrieved
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313:. Retrieved
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276:– via
270:. Retrieved
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343:October 15,
315:October 15,
126:Ben Radford
107:Joe Nickell
29:Dover Demon
540:Categories
509:Comic Vine
278:Boston.com
235:References
139:Lost Tapes
222:See also
211:Star Wars
111:snowy owl
86:snowy owl
47:Sightings
442:10 March
33:creature
410:30 June
378:30 June
272:7 March
115:plumage
104:Skeptic
465:
100:calf.
41:Boston
208:Both
195:is a
179:Notes
152:Proof
98:moose
96:or a
31:is a
463:IMDb
444:2014
412:2023
380:2023
345:2023
317:2023
274:2014
214:and
165:and
94:foal
27:The
461:at
66:UFO
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436:AP
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353:^
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309:AP
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286:^
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242:^
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84:A
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