[5] According to witnesses, Tedford got on the bus and was still aboard at the last stop before arriving in Bennington. UVM Archives and The Landscape Change Program. Enigmatic situationsarent contained to the past, things reportedly continue to happen here to this day. But there are several people who arent all that enthusiastic about its menacing repute and Bennington Triangle folklore mostly because theyre not a fan of ghosts, curses and the bad, inflatedoutlookit brings to the area. 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. Its even more interesting to think about that a town with such a galvanizing and unique history was actually so tiny in stature. She and several other family members were camping in the woods near Glastenbury Mountain. 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. For now, these giant piles of stones offer no explanations. A $5,000 reward was even offered! In 1992, local author and folklorist Joseph Citro coined the term "The Bennington Triangle" to describe the area, and the designation not only stuck, it grew immensely in popularity. GLASTENBURY -- A team of paranormal investigators hiked into Glastenbury over the weekend to survey the area known as the "Bennington Triangle.". This is what we do know. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please, We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by, Health Department: Opioid-related deaths in Vermont up for third straight year, Vermont Governor Phil Scott says: 'I will veto the Affordable Heat Act', Booktopia Returns to Northshire Bookstore, Burlington man charged in Arlington assault, Support our journalism. Bennington Triangle Vortexes in Vermont Vortex Map Time is also a pattern. Then, seven months later, on May 12, 1951, her body was found near Somerset Reservoir, in an area that had previously been extensively searched. The Bennington Triangle (Podcast Episode 2022) - IMDb Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. During a five-year span, beginning in 1945, people began to disappear regularly. What he first thought was a homeless man stumbling around in a snowsuit, turned into an alleged bigfoot sightingupon a closer look. Even coast guard planes were brought in. 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. At some point during the hunt, Herrick and his cousin, Henry, were separated. The population of Glastenbury dwindled down to almost nothing, which later got the attention of Ripleys Believe It Or Not in the 1930s when they learned that all 3 members of the Mattison Family were the entire town, and held every office. But all was useless. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty, but also one of great danger. "If we find something (that) could be very impressive, if we don't find something, I think that tells us something entirely different about the location," Smith said. The rest is up for debate. 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. The case remains unsolved. Vanishing point: Mysteries converge in the 'Bennington Triangle' Green Mountain Whittlin's, 1950, Stock, R.D. Andy ArthurGrout Pond and Glastenbury Mountain, at the heart of the Bennington Triangle. Even the bus driver had no explanation! However, thebarren mountains stripped of all their trees, were very prone to flooding and soil erosion. More lines for faults, colors for bodies of water, forest land and types of climates. 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.". Farmers built them long ago while clearing their pastures, or several passing hikers on the Long Trail built them, to act as beacons in bad weather. Depending on who you ask, there is a pattern there. She was an experienced woodsman and was completely familiar with the area. That would explain why the bloodhounds lost his scent. About a half mile from camp, she slipped and fell into a stream. For the discerning horror fan, we cover the most chilling cases throughout history. It was said that there were pigs at the dumphis family were caretakers for. Archival Banner reports also served to whet the appetite of Smith and his team. Or, what was left of her. Alien abduction is another hypothesis. "Real paranormal activity seems fairly rare," said Smith in the days leading up to the investigation. An odd footnote to all of this; the body ofFreida Langerdid eventually appear, seven months after she had vanished. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated August 2022. The case remains open to this day. Carl was reportedly squeezed to death, his lung was found to be punctured by his own ribs. Welden, a sophomore at Bennington College, had set out for a hike on the Long Trail. Dubbed as such by author Joseph A. Citro, the Bennington Triangle is a loosely-defined area that encompasses the ghost town of Glastenbury, once a small logging community centered on the eponymous mountain in southwestern Vermont. Of course, Wentworths grants doubled as a lucrative endeavor, as he made sure to set aside some acreage for himself. Be the first to contribute! 4 hikersdiddisappear, and peoplehaveclaimed to see weird things in the woods. To all of my amazing fans and supporters, I am truly grateful and humbled by all of the support and donations through out the years that have kept Obscure Vermont up and running. The mysterious, supposed "triangle," nicknamed the "Bennington Triangle," is centered around Glastenbury Mountain in Vermont. Maybe its because maps provide some sort of order, putting everything where it needs to be. Whoever he was, he was eventually ran out of town and faded into obscurity. After all, the region does havegreat triggers for spook stories. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Quotes submission guide. Those who know me know that Im a huge cartography buff. But by now, he would be an impossibly old man, which takes on an eerie resemblance to the tale of Doctor Benton coming from the mountains of New Hampshire. AKAs submission guide. Followers of folklore and aficionados of the paranormal are likely familiar with the Bermuda Triangle and perhaps even southeastern Massachusetts Bridgewater Triangle. Inside The Unsolved Disappearances Of The Bennington Triangle But what is it about maps that are so irresistible to me? Precisely what area is encompassed in this hypothetical "mystery triangle" is not clear, but it is purportedly centered on Glastenbury Mountain and would include some or most of the area of the towns immediately surrounding it, especially Bennington, Woodford, Shaftsbury, and Somerset. But inside the square, there was nothing but contour lines, indicating several mountains and rugged wilderness. These occurences include terrifying voices allegedly showing up on dead-air radio, sightings of mysterious figures, unexplained navigation mishaps, and planes that mysteriously crashed. During the journey, Langer slipped and fell into a stream. 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. But regardless, his disappearance still remains a mystery. 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. It was a wild town, sort of a last frontier in Vermont. The blows kept coming, until the whole thing tumbled over on its side. His body was discovered three days later, surrounded by giant, mysterious footprints. I wanted to be tactful with how I approached it, balancing the resilient history, excellent folklore, and my own thoughts. "When my group goes into a paranormal investigation we really go with the intent of trying to disprove. . Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Quotes submission guide. 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. Who knows for sure. Some speculate that Middie Rivers accidentally tumbled down awell while on his hunting trip. More. When she returned, the boy was gone. It was in an area that search parties knew they had combed thoroughly, near the flood gates of the Somerset Reservoir. Henry reported finding huge bear tracks around Carls body, but the official postmortem was baffling. The oldest legends about the Bennington Triangle came from Native Americans in the region, who believed Glastenbury Mountain was cursed. Rivers and Lauzon would separate here with Rivers telling Lauzon he'd "only be going a short distance" before he would join them at camp for lunch. A short time after the disappearance of the fisherman, someone found a human skull sitting on a tree stump near the brook. Halkias, Terry. More. But soon they did find something and this became the only known disappearance of the Bennington Triangle where a body has turned up. Its 20 minutes long split up into two parts . Bennington Triangle / Glastenbury, VT - Documentary (Part 1 of 2) [14:15] Short documentary I made a few years ago when I was taking a documentary course in college. Wearing a bright red jacket, several people had seen her go, including a store employee in Bennington who had given her directions and an elderly couple who were hiking about 100 yards behind her for a time. Just because a location is on the vortex map, does not prove there is a vortex there. His body was a distance away from where he was shot. This episode is sponsored by Best Fiends: www.bestfiends.com Yet even with a body, the case saw little resolution. They immediately turned around and searched for him, but it wasnt until 11 AM thenext morning when they found him, his legs protruding out from underneath a Cedar tree. Freda hadnt returned to the camp. After an unsuccessful initial search, many still believed that this knowledgeable woodsman would be able to survive and soon surface in town. Obscure Vermont is funded entirely on generous donations that you the wonderful viewers and supporters have made. Dave was considered a down to earth and smart guy, so this behavior had his friends extremely concerned, and disturbed. South Glastenbury became the heart of town, and the headquarters of the majority of the charcoaloperations, with 12 brick kilns erectedalong the cleared hillsides. 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. Many reports of UFO sightings and strange lights in the sky have been spotted over the Glastenbury wilderness over the last century. There was no concern until the college sophomore failed to attend her classes at Bennington College the next morning. Somewhere between the last stop and Bennington, he vanished. His belongings were still in the luggage rack and an open bus timetable was on his vacant seat. The Mysterious "Bennington Triangle" Disappearances She left her son unattended for about an hour while she fed some pigs. Did he receive human help, possibly by the shooter? According to Citri, the triangle, which according to Legends of America, extends in the region surrounding Glastenbury Mountain, and includes the cities of Bennington, Shaftesbury, Woodford, and several ghost towns, has an unusual, and potentially dangerous, energy. Several different types of information can be conveyed at the same time, melding several different ideas into a united idea. "The Bennington Evening Banner 15 Nov 1945, page 6", "Roberta Stone: Looking back on unexplained disappearances", "Shirley Jackson's Horror Novel 'Hangsaman' Was Inspired By A Real-Life Disappearance", https://myfavoritemurder.com/374-emotional-money-booth/, https://www.newspapers.com/image/546693113/?clipping_id=104849254&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjU0NjY5MzExMywiaWF0IjoxNjgyNjE5Nzk1LCJleHAiOjE2ODI3MDYxOTV9.hz0oka1yVAIPB7gg6JAeppW89PKb-117nKVX3xYNeUQ, https://www.newspapers.com/image/546693137/?clipping_id=104849333&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjU0NjY5MzEzNywiaWF0IjoxNjgyNjE5Nzk2LCJleHAiOjE2ODI3MDYxOTZ9.O7NFQcyn--K2wxX6c_0KNoFMUA-x51ye-s2i-H893n8, Glastenbury? Even today, hunters will tell you that because of the disorienting winds, its very easy to get lost in the woods. Rivers was an experienced outdoorsman who was familiar with the local area. GLASTENBURY -- A team of paranormal investigators hiked into Glastenbury over the weekend to survey the area known as the "Bennington Triangle." Provided that they ever make it out safely, the group will use the experience along with any found phenomena in a hourlong documentary that will explore Glastenbury's rich and varied folklore. Its name sake comes from its largest mountain, and the ghost town that used to be there which also borethe same name. . At the bottoms, under layers of decaying leaves and dirt were iron bands, old horseshoes, and other various relics that hinted at human habitation once being way up here. In the next few weeks, several search parties, which included some 400 people comprised of police, volunteers, firefighters, soldiers, and aircraft, searched for her and turned up nothing. She decided to hike the short half mile back to camp, change her clothes and catch back up. Either way, the timing couldn't be more opportune. As you all know I spend countless hours researching, writing, and traveling to produce and sustain this blog. 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. 8 year oldPaul Jepsonwas waiting for his mother in his familys pickup at the dump they were caretakers for. 2/27/2023. Bloodhounds were also brought in to search for the boy, which picked up his scent and followed it toward Glastenbury Mountain, but it was lost at a nearby crossroads, suggesting a possible abduction by a motorist. [8], The Bennington Triangle was featured as one of the haunted locations in the paranormal TV series Most Terrifying Places in America which aired on the Travel Channel in 2018. Welden was an 18-year-old student at Bennington College who decided to hike a leg of the Long Trail during Thanksgiving break when most of her peers had returned home for the holiday. A vague detail described the brazen creature as roughly 8 feet tall and hairy, before it shambled back into the woods. There were unfamiliar footprints in the mud just ahead of him. 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. Even after this exhaustive search, many locals believed that the knowledgeable woodsman would be able to survive and would soon resurface in town. 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. Despite the large turnout, numerous aircraft utilized, and variety of assisting law enforcement departments, no clues to her fate were ever discovered. They implemented a double check system, where as soon as one group finished searching an area, another group would search the same area. You won't find it on the map, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bennington_Triangle&oldid=1152029161, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015, Articles with dead external links from October 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from June 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Adams, Mary Gavel "The Bennington Monster." One day, Rivers led four hunters up onto the mountain. As 3pm had come and gone, the rest of the hunting party would begin searching before getting authorities. What it means, is that someone suggested the location and . The college called the sheriffs department. When I was finished, the only conclusion I could draw is that there is no conclusion. They could have fallen down an old well, or gotten lost and frozen to death, perhaps taking shelter in one of the numerous caves on the mountain which few people ever venture near. The legendaryBridgewater Trianglein Massachusetts which has similar phenomena, and the summit of Mount Washington are two of the most notable. Abandoned at the end of the 19th century after the end of the logging boom, the greater Glastenbury area is now mostly untouched, pristine wilderness and is considered remote even by Vermont standards. As reported by Obscure Vermont, Glastenbury Mountain is one of 12 mountains in the range, with a maximum altitude of 3,747 feet.. Revelator Network reports the region surrounding Glastenbury Mountain was home to the Abenaki tribe, which was part of the . What You Need To Know About The Mysterious Bennington Triangle - Grunge Most notably,a flying silo shaped anomaly was see over the skies of Bennington by Don Pratt in 1984, which seems to be the go-to example for extraterrestrial sightings in the area.