The Dover Demon is a bizarre North American cryptid spotted on just two nights in April 1977 in Dover, Massachusetts (a small town, not even 2,000 residents at the time). Or was it?
The alleged encounters were quick, happening within a 2-mile radius, but wow, did they leave an impression. Since then, there’s been no solid evidence—no photos, no further sightings—but people are still talking about it. It’s just one of those stories that never quite goes away, right?
Well, this is where things start to get interesting. Dover’s actually in a pretty interesting spot. If you zoom out a bit, it’s close to other areas in New England known for… weirdness.
Back in the 1970s, there were tons of reports of unidentified creatures, UFOs, and just plain strange stuff all over New England. So, I think the Dover Demon sightings could be part of something bigger—some kind of larger pattern of mysterious activity around here.
In this article:
Dover Demon Sightings
So, how did the Dover Demon become the talk of the town? Well, it all started on the night of April 21, 1977. (I think it actually started way before that, but I’ll discuss this theory later.)
Within just 24 hours, three local teenagers saw something out there—something that didn’t match anything they’d seen before. And, what makes their stories compelling is how consistent they all were. Despite these kids not having the chance to compare notes.
The First Sighting: Bill Bartlett’s Encounter
The very first sighting happened just after 10:30 PM on April 21. Seventeen-year-old Bill Bartlett was traveling along Farm Street with two friends, Mike Mazzocco and Andy Brodie.
The guys were just doing their thing—Bill driving, his friends in the car, probably talking about something completely mundane—when suddenly, Bill noticed movement along a stone wall. His car headlights flashed on it for a second, and that’s when he saw it. A creature that looked entirely out of place.
Bill described it later as having a giant, watermelon-shaped head. It didn’t have a nose, a mouth, or ears—just these big glowing orange eyes that stood out against its pale, hairless skin. The thing was clinging to the stone wall, its long, spindly fingers gripping it almost like an insect.
The strange sighting shook Bill up, that’s for sure. He later drew a sketch of the monster he allegedly saw. On this sketch, he wrote: “I, Bill Bartlett, swear on a stack of Bibles that I saw this creature.”
Bill was genuinely shaken up. He didn’t sleep well for days afterward, and the experience clearly left its mark.
The Second Encounter: John Baxter’s Experience
Just a few hours later, around midnight, there was another sighting. This time, it was John Baxter, a 15-year-old who had just left his girlfriend’s house and was walking along Miller Hill Road. He spotted something about 30 feet away from him, and at first, he thought it was a kid. But when he got closer, he realized it wasn’t. Far from it.
Related: Hillbilly Beast of Kentucky: A Bigfoot-like Cryptid with a Dark Twist?
A strange creature dashed into the woods with this weird, unsettling gait. Being curious—or brave—John decided to follow it for a bit. He stopped at the edge of a shallow gully, and there, across the ravine, he saw it again.
It was clinging to a tree, and those limbs were so sinewy and thin, wrapped around the trunk like it belonged there. The head looked different, too—almost like a figure-eight. The whole thing was just too much, and that’s when fear kicked in. John turned and ran until he managed to flag down a passing car.
Abby Brabham’s Sighting
Another encounter happened the next night, on April 22, just around midnight. This time, it was Abby Brabham, another 15-year-old, and her boyfriend, Will Taintor.
They were driving along Springdale Avenue when Abby saw something standing near a tree. She described it as having those glowing green eyes, standing upright in the darkness. Her description lined up so well with what Bill and John had seen earlier.
After these three sightings, each of the teens made sketches of what they saw, and all of them drew something strikingly similar—oval-shaped heads, long limbs, glowing eyes.
Loren Coleman, who’s pretty much a legend in cryptozoology, personally talked to all three of them. He found them credible, and he noted just how deeply these encounters had affected each one of them.
Mark Sennott’s Encounter
As I mentioned before, I don’t believe Bill Bartlett was the first to ever encounter the cryptid. Bartlett’s sighting wasn’t the first strange one in Dover.
Not many know about this, but back in 1972, a guy named Mark Sennott and some of his friends said they saw a small creature with glowing eyes near Channing Pond, which is right on Springdale Avenue.
They even called it a “demon.”
Now, this sighting didn’t get much attention at the time—just an isolated incident that people brushed off. But this possible sighting of the Dover Demon is hugely relevant to me.
Why? Because it happened right in the same town, close to the later 1977 Dover Demon sightings. It feels like too much of a coincidence to just ignore.
What Does the Dover Demon Look Like?
The Dover Demon is a weird American cryptid, no question about it.
The few witnesses described the cryptid as a small (around 3 to 4 feet tall) monster with that oversized egg-shaped head that just looks wrong on its wiry body. It’s got glowing eyes—orange in some accounts, green in one—and that’s pretty much it for facial features. No mouth, no nose, no ears.
Its limbs were described as long and spindly, almost spider-like, with tendril-like fingers. When it moved, witnesses said it was like watching an insect or maybe even a primate—something just off enough to make you really uncomfortable.
Basically, this creature doesn’t easily fit into any folklore that people are familiar with. I mean, compare it to Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil—those cryptids have connections to myths, but not this one. Still, some believe it may share similarities to other cryptids.
Take the Flatwoods Monster, sighted back in 1952 in West Virginia. It was also described as having an elongated head and glowing eyes, although it was a lot larger and seemed to have some kind of suit.
And then there’s the Mothman. We all know about the Mothman sightings that started decades ago and still happen today, right? The infamous creature was seen around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from 1966 to 1967. Mothman was a tall, winged humanoid with glowing red eyes.
Sure, it looked different, but both Mothman and the Dover Demon suddenly appeared in a small town, causing a lot of fear and confusion.
John Keel (who wrote extensively about the Mothman) noted that those sightings often coincided with UFO activity. Guess what? During the 1970s, New England also had a lot of UFO reports.
It’s hard not to think these things might be connected somehow—like different pieces of a much larger puzzle.
Similarities with Other Cryptids?
The Dover Demon isn’t just an American mystery. Its physical traits share some similarities with cryptids from around the world.
For example, in Madagascar, there’s a legend about the Kalanoro—small, humanoid creatures with long, clawed fingers and glowing eyes, often spotted near water or forests. Sound familiar?
And how about Japan’s Noppera-bō? The mysterious faceless ghosts—spirits without facial features (like the Dover Demon). As a side note, “spirits” doesn’t refer to the same type of ghosts we are familiar with. The ethereal ones. The ones we can’t typically see. In many Asian cultures, these spirits are actually physical beings.
What I think is really interesting is that these kinds of sightings seem to pop up all over the world. No definitive proof connects them, but it suggests that strange humanoid creatures with unusual features are more than a local phenomenon.
In fact, they might be part of a bigger global pattern. And considering the 1970s saw a spike in both cryptid sightings and UFO encounters across the United States, maybe the Dover Demon was part of that whole wave of weirdness.
Theories and Possible Scientific Explanations
People have come up with a lot of theories to explain the Dover Demon, but honestly, none of them are solid enough to close the case. Theories range from misidentified animals to extraterrestrial visitors, and each one has its own set of believers.
Misidentified Animals
At this point, the “misidentified animal” theory is a standard for cryptids.
Skeptics think the teenagers might have mistaken a local animal for something paranormal. Some say it could’ve been a young moose or even a calf, but those theories have some major holes.
Let’s take them one by one. The first possible explanation: a moose or foal. Well, for one, moose weren’t common in Massachusetts in the 1970s, especially around Dover.
Also, the sightings happened in April, when young moose wouldn’t be around. Plus, none of the witnesses mentioned anything like hooves or fur, which you’d expect if they’d seen a moose. Local skeptics brought this up at the time, but the details just don’t match.
Some also suggested an escaped exotic animal, maybe a primate. But again, no one reported missing pets, and the creature’s appearance didn’t really match any known primate species. Even the well-known skeptic Joe Nickell acknowledged that the evidence just wasn’t there to support this theory.
A Hoax or Prank?
Another idea is that the whole thing was a prank, maybe by local kids on school break.
This theory was first proposed by Police Chief Carl Sheridan, and it makes some sense—teenagers do like to have their fun. But Loren Coleman, who interviewed all three witnesses, didn’t think so.
He noted how shaken they all seemed, and how their stories lined up perfectly even though they hadn’t had a chance to share details. Plus, their emotional reactions were too real—like they were genuinely scared, not just putting on an act.
Extraterrestrial Origin
Then there’s the extraterrestrial theory, which makes sense to me. Or, at least, it makes more sense than the other two theories.
The glowing eyes, the weird gait, the otherworldly look—it all sounds a lot like the classic “gray” alien description. Walter Webb, a UFO researcher from the time, actually picked up on that and noted the similarities.
Loren Coleman has also suggested that it could be a cryptid we just don’t know about yet—a one-off species that might be incredibly rare or highly elusive.
Folkloric Connections: The Mannegishi
There’s also the theory that connects the Dover Demon to indigenous folklore.
The Cree people have legends of beings called Mannegishi—small, elongated humanoids that live in rocky areas and near water. That’s pretty much a copy-paste description of the mysterious Dover Demon. And of the Kalanoro.
Mark Hall, a cryptozoologist, was the one who brought up this connection, and I think he might be onto something.
Hall believed that the Mannegishi could be an example of an ancient archetype that has persisted across time, describing beings that resemble what we now call cryptids. He argued that the Dover Demon might be a modern manifestation of these old legends.
The physical similarities—small stature, elongated limbs, and glowing eyes—definitely overlap, and the proximity to water is another key detail.
These beings are similar to the Dover Demon, making you wonder if these encounters are tied to something older, rooted in deep cultural memories.
Could it be that the Dover Demon sightings are not just random incidents, but rather echoes of a much older presence that has been haunting the region for centuries?
Is the Dover Demon Real?
Here we are, more than forty years later, and the Dover Demon remains a mystery. Some people dismiss it as a hoax, others as a misidentification, but the witnesses have never backed down. Bill Bartlett, in particular, has always stuck to his story, even under scrutiny.
There haven’t been any more sightings, and without physical evidence, it’s hard to say for sure what really happened. Was it a cryptid? An alien visitor? A trick of the imagination? Who knows.
Until we can find more evidence, the Dover Demon will stay just that—a mystery that refuses to be solved. And maybe that’s part of what keeps us all fascinated by it.
