The Dark Reputation of the Fabled Bridgewater Triangle

Bridgewater Triangle encompasses 200 square miles within southeastern Massachusetts and is situated between the towns of Rehoboth, Abington, and Freetown, it includes the Hockomock Swamp Wildlife Management Area and the Freetown-Fall River State Forest which is referred to by some as the most haunted forest in the United States.

The term Bridgewater Triangle is attributed to folklorist and cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman from his 1970s book, Mysterious America.

In the article, Coleman identifies Rehoboth in the southwest, Abington in the north, and Freetown in the southeast as the three points of the Triangle — meaning hundreds of thousands of people live inside it.

According to Wikipedia, the Bridgewater Triangle is known for strange phenomena, UFO and Big Foot sightings as well as unexplained orbs of lights. These spooky sightings have been reported from colonial times all the way to the present. In 1974, the then governor Ronald Regan is also said to have noticed unexplained lights within the forest while flying over it in a Cessna.

The Bridgewater Triangle is home to the Freetown State Forest where several macabre incidents have occurred including several deaths and satanic cult activity. According to an article, wires were once found crisscrossed across the trees in an apparent effort to decapitate the unwary off road biker.

The article talks about "The Ledge" or 80 foot quarry known as Assonet Ledge where visitors are said to experience unexplainable dread. Numerous ghost sightings have been reported there.

Additionally, some claim that the troll-like creatures called Pukwedgies inhabit the forest and are known to lure the people who wander into the forest to fall off cliffs to their deaths.

Another area that is claimed to be a hotspot of paranormal activity is the Hockomock Swamp. While the Natives in the area gave it its name meaning "place where the spirits dwell." the early settlers in the area dubbed the area as the "Devil's swamp" on account of many ghosts and mysterious creature sightings, paranormal activity, and even UFOs. Perhaps the dark energy that exists there can be attributed to the bloodshed that occurred during the clash between the Natives and the early settler leading to many lives lost on both sides.

The article also talks about 40-ton boulder known as Dighton Rock that is a permanent occupant of the Freetown State Forest: "Numerous and mysterious petroglyphs, drawings of figures, geometric shapes, and alleged cryptic writing cover the boulder, none of which can be comprehensively identified and have unknown origins." Another article further describes the Dighton Rock as follows: "The rock was written about as long ago as 1680. No one is sure what language or culture the markings on the rock came from, though historians have proposed everything from indigenous American language to ancient Phoenician. In 1963, during construction of a coffer dam, state officials removed the rock from the river for preservation. It was installed in a museum in a nearby park where it can still be visited today."

In an interview with boston.com, a student of the paranormal by the name of Chris Pittman suggests the reason for these supernatural and paranormal sightings may be because of a gravitational anomaly. This is what Christopher Balzano, who runs Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads had to say in another interview: 'Some say that the wounded and pained spirits of the Wampanoag are the reason for the paranormal in the swamp. That is part of the explanation, but I would go further. I think the vortex was in place in the swamp before the settlers, and before the Native Americans. That vortex contributed to the inhumanity of the war between the Wampanoag and the English, and it fosters pain and evil in that area to this day."

The Bridgewater Triangle area continues to be a popular destination for those interested in the paranormal.

A version of this article appeared on NewsBreak