This Paranormal Life - #287 The Dover Demon - Weird Potato Alien of Massachusetts

Episode Date: November 1, 2022

Is it a baby? Is it a potato? Is it a demon? These are just some of the questions asked by several horny teenagers in the Dover region of Massachusetts in the spring of 1977. They were all faced by the same strange creature while wandering late at night, cross-corroborating an otherwise unbelievable event. The legend of the Dover Demon lives on to this day, begging the question - were the events of April 1977 truly paranormal or not? Time for Rory and Kit to investigate.Support us on Patreon.com/ThisParanormalLife to get access to weekly bonus episodes!Buy Official TPL Merch! - thisparanormallife.com/storeFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTubeJoin our Secret Society Facebook CommunityIntro music by www.purple-planet.comResearch by Amy GrisdaleEdited by Louis Blatherwick Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to upload my consciousness to a computer? Does pee work on any other injuries or is it just jellyfish? Answers to these questions and more on this episode of This Paranormal Life! Hello and welcome back to This Paranormal Life. This is the weekly comedy podcast where every Tuesday two paranormal investigators dive into a new paranormal case and decide by the end of the episode whether it's real or not. Oh yeah. As always you're joined by Rory Powers who's sitting across from me and me, Kit Greer-Molvena. How are you doing today Rory? Uh you know people might be able to tell from my voice I'm a little under the weather.

Jesus. I won't lie I'm not gonna dance around it. You kept that to yourself. Until you started reading those intro questions, I kind of forgot why I was here. I didn't remember. Astral projecting. I didn't remember why we were in this studio today. But it's for it's... To record the podcast. The podcast. Yeah, the paranormal podcast.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, dude. I'm burning up over here i'm like 100 degrees you're so ill this is such a bad idea it's gonna be fine i don't want to go i think we should cancel the recording to be honest i don't want to go into like the details of my symptoms or how this kind of came about but i was on a chat room on the internet over the weekend stop talking and i came across a guy who said he was a doctor. He had doctor in his username, so I assumed it was legit,

who said he had the cure. He had the cure. And I didn't know what the disease was, but if someone offers you the cure, you don't question a doctor. What chatroom was this? You just send him $200 and you take whatever turns up in the mail.

You abjectly don't do that. You absolutely do not. What chatroom? No one uses chat rooms anymore by the way where it wasn't like quite it wasn't like a chat room per se like exactly the world of warcraft it's a popular mmorpg you talk to a night elf in the game with but to be clear, not a doctor, just has the letters DR in their username in Warcraft. Now that I think about it, his name could have just been Drew, not Dr. Ooh, which is, that's worrying. That makes more sense. Yeah. But he's been sending me the cure in the mail and I've been taking it.

Weirdly, the cure is making me more ill. You did inverted commas with your hands when you said the cure so i don't think you even believe that it is what he says it is all i know is i'm getting sicker the more i take and the more i get sick the more i need the cure so now i'm stuck in this stop whatever it is stop taking what i i don't even i feel like i'm i'm a horse being led to water here. And at some point, I'm going to have to drink the reality of asking you what the cure actually is. Do I want to know?

I'll show you right now. I brought it with me. There you go. This is a box of Tylenol with all the packaging ripped off. How many of these have you taken? Just three. Okay, that's good. An hour?

For the last 14 days. But things are kind of a blur, so it's all like I'm just like I think I'm reaching a level of healthiness where like time or space or bodily functions just kind of don't mean anything anymore. We don't have time for this.

So before you lambast me for mispronouncing my words. Okay. I don't think that's a sickness. I think the Tylenol has destroyed your liver and your brain. Give me back the cure. Give me back the cure. I feel like my heart is racing and my memories are fading. You're dying.

You are dying. Your memories are fading. I're dying. You are dying. Your memories are fading. I'm calling Dr. Ooh. I'm calling him right now. I'm definitely not a doctor, but I'm going to go on record and say I'm more of a doctor than this guy. I'm just a little sick, guys. I'm a little under the weather. But as a paranormal investigator, you're under the weather 24-7, all right?

Being a paranormal investigator is a bit like being a pirate. There's no days off. Sure, yeah. You simply have to get the job done. So sorry, bud. Suck it up. Even when you're at home with your wife and kids, you're still a pirate. You're still sipping grog and singing sea shanties, even if it's just to put the little one to sleep.

And that's what it's like being a paranormal investigator. Even when you're sick, you're still on the edge, hunting and looking out for the world of the paranormal. Which is exactly what we're going to get back to today. Rory, we have a huge, I'm going to come out and say a huge cryptid case on our hands today, which we're going to get right into after some words from today's sponsors. All right, Rory, we are back in the studio and we are going to dive into today's case. I am so excited. The Tylenol though, please. The cure. I meant the cure. I'm used to know it's Tylenol. I'm just looking inside the box. I don't think these are all Tylenol, by the way. I don't

know what some of these pills are. A lot of these are Skittles that have just been emptied out into a Tylenol box. This story takes place in Dover, Massachusetts. It was early evening on April 21st, 1977, and 15-year-old Abby Braham was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Will's car. He was driving her home from a party. They left early because they'd had an argument. Abby sat in agonizing silence, hoping more than anything that Will would break it. Granted, it has been a few years since I was 15, but I can't really imagine or remember what a relationship argument at age 15 looks like. Heated, let me tell you, buddy. Hot and heavy. You're living those years of your life where you think you're in the OC, you know, where everything that's happening is the most important thing that's ever happened to anyone.

Right, you're the center of the friggin' universe. It's a good feeling. Nobody understands you quite like my chemical romance does. She didn't dare look at him. Instead, she focused on the passing trees and front yards. Eventually, he did break the silence. Look, I don't know what you're so mad about. Yeah, I was break the silence. They were getting near her street.

Abby was still staring ahead, but she wasn't listening anymore. Something at the side of the road caught her eye. Something appeared to be squatting on the edge of the pavement. The headlights started to illuminate it, and Abby couldn't believe what she saw. It was a humanoid figure that appeared to be sitting back on its heels. Its head was enormously bulbous, and its body was emaciated. It was a light beige color all over, including four long spindly limbs. They barreled down the road towards it and its face was coming into focus.

Abby was horrified to see that it had no features aside from a pair of almond-shaped eyes. It seemed to be looking right back at her. She was terrified, thinking it might try and attack the car. Will, stop talking! Stop talking? What has gone into you tonight? I'm 16 years old, practically a grown man. You can't talk to me like that.

As much as she wanted to believe her eyes were playing tricks on her, there was no escaping the fact that they were a matter of feet from it at this point. She'd been frozen in terror since she first saw it, but the look in its eyes as they passed was too much to bear. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Will slammed on the brakes in shock. Don't

stop! Will? That's his Abby. Don't stop! What the f*** are you doing? Put in the gas! The one thing that you have in your favor is the fact that you're in motion. You have the solution to the problem already. You're traveling in a car very quickly.

Do not change that situation. Hard to explain mid-relationship argument, though, that he's like, you're just not communicating with me. What are we going to? And she's like, kill that thing. Just keep driving. Speed up, in fact, and kill that thing. I don't want to derail us because we're hitting on some important facts, but kill it. Kill that thing right there. That little beast thing. I do think we need to kill it. If you really care about me in this relationship, you're going to run over that

frog. Yeah, that's hard. Will doesn't know what's going on. Oh my god, what is it? Abby twisted round to look out the rear window. Didn't you see it? See what? Abby didn't reply. Instead, she was transfixed on the road behind. Will turned to look, wondering what could have spooked her so badly.

He couldn't see anything. It had been a long night, and at this point he just wanted to drop Abby off and head home. He turned to grab the wheel and glanced in the wing mirror to see if anyone was coming. And that's when he saw it. There, bathed in red brake lights, was a short, wizened figure crouched on the curb. What in the world? As he watched, the creature slowly rose to its feet. It stood for a few moments, watching the car. Just like Abby a minute beforehand, he felt like it was staring into his very soul. Then without warning, it suddenly darted across the road and disappeared into the hedges on the other side.

And with that, it was gone. Rory, I think we have a cryptid on our hands today. I mean, yeah. A lot of what you said matches a human being, a naked human. Featureless face, almond-shaped eyes, bulbous head, emaciated body. Okay, maybe not exactly a human. Granted, its color was light beige all over, so... Sitting on his heels, four limbs.

Naked white guy, I guess. But, no, this was maybe I didn't do a good enough job explaining it, but this thing was horrifying. Okay, okay. Now, that might have been the last Will and Abby saw of this creature, but it wasn't the last time it was seen that night.

Oh, shit! At 10.30pm, 17-year-old Bill Bartlett, Mike Mazzocca, and Andy Brody were driving north of Farm Street, a.k.a. the f***ing boy squad. This is the gruesome threesome,

the coolest guys in school. Mike Mazzocca, are you kidding me? It sounds like the cast of Stranger Things, like riding their bikes home. Also, Jesus Christ, I'm starting to think that there was no drivers

in this state over the age of 17. So far we've had 15 year olds, 16 year olds, and 17 year olds. Can you drive at 15 in America? I think the idea is Abby was 15 and her boyfriend was driving. Got it it who's 16 but i don't know what age you could drive back in the 70s it was probably a bit different i think back

in the 70s everyone was driving those cars from fucking wacky races and like flintstones cars that was just feet running on the ground with two giant wheels in the front and back. So they didn't really have licenses or seatbelts or airbags or speed limits or rules. It was kind of just like a f***ed up speed racer where everyone took whatever car that they could find that would go down motorways. That's right. And a fun prank that teenagers would play would be to go out with their dog sitting in the side carriage of their motorbike and swing around signs. So they point the wrong way. Yeah. Really mess with them. Paint fake tunnels on the side of solid walls. So drivers would just go straight into them.

You are right, though, is completely different time. I mean, I think back in 1977, if you were pulled over by the police and you weren't drunk, they issued you with a government bottle of whiskey to take the edge off your twitchy driving fingers. Yeah. Bill was driving and noticed an animal of some kind perched on an upcoming wall. It's weird. It didn't look like a dog or a cat, but once he thought about it, those were the only kind of animals that should be out and about in his neighborhood. He felt compelled to slow down to get a good look at it. As he took in this thing's appearance, he went through the same rollercoaster of emotion that Will and Abby felt. You think this is just a human roar? Get a load of this.

Its two large, round, glassy, lidless eyes were shining brightly like two orange marbles. The skin was hairless and peach-colored and appeared to have a rough texture like wet sandpaper. Ugh! It had long, tendril-like fingers that curved around the stone like a lizard. It stood up, startled

by the car's lights. It couldn't have been more than four feet tall. It had the torso of a baby, but by the car's lights. It couldn't have been more than four feet tall. It had the torso of a baby, but with long arms and legs. What the f***? This is like... A baby lizard? This cryptic description feels like that episode of Friends where Rachel gets the pages of the recipe book stuck together.

Right, yeah. It feels like we've got multiple paranormal cases all stuck together. Yeah. Bill only got a fleeting glimpse that his two passengers completely missed. And when he told them, they demanded he turned around so they could see it too. They wound down the windows. Hey, creature! Hey, creature! This is why teenagers don't last long in paranormal investigations.

Provoking the beasts. Always a bad idea. Never goes well. They have a death wish, apparently. Also, I don't know if you've seen the movie A Quiet Place, but this thing is worryingly close to one of these beasts. Like, even if you haven't seen that movie, I think it's like cryptid encounter 101 is don't yell its name no don't yet don't don't provoke it i mean the the monsters in a quiet place just didn't like sound not even the thing you were saying they weren't just pissed off

because people were making fun of them they just didn't like noise dragging your feet as you walked they would murder you so So if you're like, hey, hey, you little ugly f***ing son of a b***h, piece of s***, baby body,

long ass, dirty little... Alright, that's enough. Yeah, I come in peace, mother f***er, but I'll take you out. I'll choke you out right here and now.

Where are your parents? Where are your parents right now? But the beast did not reappear. Bill dropped his friends off, but was still shaken when he got home, emotional even. He went straight to his room and pulled out a sketchbook. He sketched everything. The watermelon-sized head, gangly limbs, empty eyes. Rory, would you like to see what he drew? I do, yeah. Specifically because I want to know if I think I could take this thing in a fight

if I had to I don't want to kick a baby in the stomach but if it's me or the baby whoa holy shit this thing is weird looking okay not human at all uh how do you even describe this thing? you can kind of see

what I was getting at right? maybe not, for some reason all the features in isolation don't sound that insane but when you see it you're like god damn that is a pretty unique looking cryptid you know when you like leave a potato in a drawer for too long and it kind of regrows roots

and like vines from it that's exactly what it looks like this is the final boss of potatoes left in cupboards. This is, it's a potato head attached to a potato body. And then all the limbs are just the roots growing out of it. They're basically locked onto the rocks and like kind of hooked around it. Low key, not a bad description. And you can kind of see what they mean about the kind of baby body.

Sure, I guess. Not really. What the f*** does that even mean? It just means it has a little small humanoid body, but then weirdly massive head and long limbs. Okay. Yeah. I suppose you can just say tiny.

You don't have to specify it has a baby's body. I mean, the image to the right when it's standing up, it does look like an alien baby. No point, no. None of this looks like a baby. It does, because babies have big heads. Okay. I don't want people to think that, because they're going to think it even looks, is the shape of a baby's head, which it isn't. All right. Agree to disagree. All I'm saying is one of us is a parent. One of us is a parent and the other isn't. So, you know, I know a thing or two about alien babies.

I mean, babies. Rory, what are you doing? If you're driving down the road and you see this. Keep driving. Speed up. There are very few things that will get me to stop my car. And that's not just because my car, little bastard, has weak brakes. Very weak brakes. Very weak brakes.

Very weak. That sounds illegal. I basically stop accelerating 17 minutes away from my home. And I've worked out that that essentially just drifts me into the driveway. That thing really cannot be stopped once it gets going. And if you're five minutes away from home, I guess you got to find a longer way home, brother. You better find some tall bushes real fast. I don't know, man.

You know, yes, this thing is weird looking, very strange looking. It doesn't look like it necessarily poses a threat. That's a great point. And the way it's crawling about on all fours this thing isn't standing on it's back legs it doesn't look like makes it seem like maybe it's not even intelligent life this is some

sort of like mindless beast cryptid no it rose up on it's back legs I'm pretty sure I said alright I'll take that back and yeah I mean you can see that are you seeing this on right beside the main image there is an image of it like smaller image of it standing up. Is this the one that the guy drew, the kid drew?

Yes. What does the text say? Skin? God knows. Something. It's very pixelated. Yeah. It's quite a low res image.

But yeah, I think as far as paranormal kind of encounter evidence goes, this is pretty nice to have. Like this is a good detailed diagram. Yeah, especially one done so recently from the sighting. Rory, this creature came to be known as the Dover Demon. Ooh, demon. But there is another chilling chapter to this tale. So far, all our witnesses have been in cars,

but 15-year-old pur per bastard john baxter met the creature on foot i don't want to i don't want to you know derail us too much too early on but uh calling this thing a demon is interesting because based on that picture i don't think it knows what heaven or hell is i don't think it knows what it is i don't think it has an agenda i think you are being weirdly down on this creature. It looks like an alien, first and foremost,

to be clear. I don't know. I'd say maybe 20% alien, 80% potato. Sure, from some kind of spud-based planet. Yeah. With an atmosphere

of butter and salt. It was midnight and John Baxter was walking home from his girlfriend's house. Where are the adults in this story, by the way? Where were they? Were they at war? What was happening? Like, I know you had to grow up fast back then,

but all these 15-year-olds driving to their long-term girlfriend's houses at midnight? Like, what the f*** were we doing at 15? Not this. Drinking, I think, mostly. I think mostly playing minigames on Pokemon Stadium on N64 and drinking Tesco cider. I mean, we were hanging out with a lot of kids that looked like this creature at the time, so. Like a spud boy?

Yeah, he got bullied. He got hella bullied. john took an ambling pace in spite of the late hour he'd been walking for half an hour at this point when he sees somebody approaching him they're so small he thought it must be a child he stopped walking immediately wanting to make sure this little kid got home safe. But as soon as he stopped, so did the figure. It was standing just behind the edge of the beam of the streetlamp overhead. Who's that? Is that you, little MG? Does Mama Butcher know you're out here?

John stepped forward, causing the figure to dart off the road to the left. It sprinted down a shallow gully enveloped by trees. He could hear it crashing through the undergrowth. Acting on instinct, he took off running after it. Why? Because he thinks it's a baby. Call the police. Don't chase babies into the woods.

Just in general, piece of life advice. We need a plastic bracelet that says that do not chase babies into the woods, just in case it is some kind of spud alien. He followed it down the slope, and when he emerged from the woods, he stopped at the edge of the water. On the opposite bank stood the weirdest creature John had ever seen. It was only around 30 feet away, and like in Bill Bartlett's sighting, its feet were molded around the rocks it stood on, and its weird long fingers were curled around a tree. To John, it looked a bit like a monkey,

but its head was shaped like a giant figure of eight. As before, it held John in its gaze. He stared back, but soon began to feel uneasy. The reality of what was happening suddenly hit him. The being before him was happening suddenly hit him. The being before him was unlike anything he'd seen or even heard of before. Panic surged in his chest, and he began to back away slowly.

As soon as the creature was out of sight, he turned and apparently didn't run, but he power walked away. I like the honesty there. And thumbed a lift for a passing couple who kindly drove him home. Weird choice, but I don't know. What do you think of that logic?

Is his idea like, it's like that thing of like, you can't run away from like a tiger or something because then it'll trigger its like kill instinct. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've got to just power walk or like back away slowly, maybe skip or something non-threatening. There's aliens like, if I see both of those feet lift off the ground for any amount of time, you're going down. just power walk or like back away slowly, maybe skip or something non-threatening. Just aliens. Like if I see both of those feet lift off the ground

for any amount of time, you're going down. Got to be careful as well going back to the main road and trying to thumb down a lift because now you're the sweaty baby that passengers are going to see. And they might not be so patient and they might not be so kind. Sure, your clothes have been tattered by the bushes.

You're ass naked, your skin looks like wet sandpaper. We didn't mention this motherfucker's potato head either. He's at the side of the road just sweating buckets, bulging eyes. He's so tired and delirious, he's goo-goo-ga-ga

at the side of the road. Forest baby! Forest baby! Ah! Kill it! Pfft. Oh man. guy at the side of the road forest baby forest baby ah kill it oh christ alive well hey it seems like at least in the sightings that all these people have had that this thing is not threatening it does not want to fight if anything it's scared of everyone else yeah and that's why i'm glad you brought that up earlier this thing at least according to bill bartlett's drawing it doesn't have like a threatening aura yeah it looks uh very strange definitely cryptid like but it doesn't have giant fangs and certainly judging by its behavior it has opted to run away on a couple

of occasions yeah i think we can pretty much rule out um some sort of intelligent life form because it doesn't seem to why do you think this thing is not intelligent you form because it doesn't seem to know. Why do you think this thing is not intelligent? You're like, it doesn't know what it is. It thinks it's a f***ing bean. All it does is go to main roads where humans are and then freak the f*** out when anyone goes near it. You can't be that smart.

Sasquatch, all he ever does is hide and runs away as soon as everybody sees him like he's not an alien he's he didn't come down in a spaceship he that's what I'm saying he's a cryptid he's a forest this thing's a cryptid too like I might have used the word he looks like an alien but I'm not saying yet yet that he is an alien I'm saying certainly seems to like trees and rocks I think we can rule out that it is an intelligent life form from another planet visiting earth is that safe to say oh we'll get to the theories later on i don't want to i don't want to rule anything out too early because we haven't seen the full scope of his behavior there's some pretty smart creatures that are cowardly namely

me right right but you're saying pretty conflict diverse He's intelligent, so at some point he has a craft, I guess, that he arrived in, or he can speak maybe telepathically to the other human beings. Something along the lines of the cliches we see with alien lifeforms coming to Earth. Maybe, maybe. But assuming they have rocks on other planets, he seems to know his way around rocks and trees. Cool. Maybe not even by choice, because he doesn't seem very comfortable to be in the woods maybe sorry i don't want to get off topic too early in the podcast or anything but and it's not like i haven't already thought

of all these things but like i mean it does he communicate telepathically like maybe we don't know okay you called him a cryptid by the way and then got really angry when I said that he wasn't an alien, which is strange. You said he was an idiot. You said he was an idiot. I didn't say that. You said he was a dumbass. I definitely didn't say that.

I just think I have a lot in common with this little forest baby. Okay, now it's all coming out. I just feel like anytime you criticize it, I feel the pain. Does that make sense? It shouldn't. It shouldn't make any sense because I don't know. You shouldn't have any relationship or feel like you have any similarities between this tiny little worm bug. 1997.

I got lost on a family holiday and found myself crouching at the side of the road, ass naked, six years old, fighting for my life. I know what it feels like. Okay. I don't think it's just because I ran into the bushes when the police tried to help me. Like, I was a baby. I don't know what was going on. You must have been six years old if it was 1997, which makes you not a baby. I don't know what was going on. You must have been six years old if it was 1997, which makes you not a baby.

I was a young lad. Is that so wrong? I was a lad. I lived in those woods for five years. Is a lad not allowed to run? Does that mean he's unintelligent? According to the police, yes, and Rory, but not me. Okay, I think if we're going to have

an unbiased approach to this case, you're going to have to find a way to separate your relationship to this creature. It's just so f***ing hard because I looked like him too back then. That's what the doctor wrote in my medical back then. Baby body, spindly limbs, almond eyes. Rory,

we clearly have a massive amount to unpack in the second half of this investigation into the Dover Demon. But first, here's a message from today's sponsors. So Rory, we have the Dover Demon. And we have you said it, a borderline Stranger Things cast of

teens in the same town who all saw the same thing and all reported what they saw. And it wasn't just Bill that drew sketches. Several of the kids did. Here's another sketch from John Baxter this time. Whoa, this is different but similar. You tell me that's not an alien. I was being coy, but it's a fucking alien. You said it was a cryptid.

I don't know what it is. Look, now the thing has managed to stand up on its back legs by essentially grasping onto a tree, but its hands are still like vines. It's hugging onto a tree, but its hands are still like vines. It's hugging onto a tree, hugging onto the rocks below it. Its head in this illustration is now so large that it doesn't look like its body could even support it because the rest of his body is stick thin. Yeah, it's almost like his biology doesn't match that of Earth's creatures but pretty interesting that this shape this

diagram this sketch matches perfectly what bill sketched too yeah had they talked about their sightings and before the the drawings or these two completely unrelated separate cases not to my knowledge as far as i know these people were uh unconnected from each other oh that always helps always helps uh also it means these are seen at very different times i believe one was early in the evening one was at 10 30 and then john baxter was half past midnight so this thing is is doing a tour of the city really this one night that it's here. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to say unintelligently, but yes, it was romping around

the forests and highways, obviously, getting borderline hit by cars every 30 seconds. Yeah. I've seen raccoons smarter than this. You need to let it go, motherfucker. All right? All right?

Leave me, him alone. He's my brother. That's how I feel. That's how I feel about it. I'm going to say it. What's his name again? I've already forgotten. The Dover Demon. The Dover Demon. Okay. Okay. Rory, this is clearly on the stranger side of cryptid sightings, yet pretty consistent descriptions across the sightings so far. Yeah. Which we'd like to see now as we said always a little worrying if you don't have any sightings from reputable members of society uh these are these are drunken horny children uh well they're not drunken because they're below the legal drinking age didn't you say some of them were at a party they're coming home from a party

a party of celebrating the lord probably all right having a fight with his girlfriend about getting some or something? It was all... Well, that was a bit of artistic license on my part. I don't know what they were fighting about. It might have been about an interpretation of the Bible, for all we know. I'm just saying, I want to see a drawing from a fireman. From a five-star general who happened to be out at midnight. Sure, arguing with his girlfriend after a house party.

But I want to see it. I want to see a police officer, a a house party. But I want to see it. I want to see a police officer, a man of the law. I want to see a lawyer or a f***ing butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker. Interesting. So you're saying that the only people who are reputable in society are people with big jobs? Big jobs. Yeah. Okay.

I was trying to make you seem like a bad person, but you just accepted it. I doubled down. Yeah, you need to have a good job. You need to have a good job. Or else you're a piece of shit. Okay, it doesn't feel like I've won Rory over just yet, so I think we really need to dive into

what the Dover Demon is. So here's some theories about what this could be. All right, we can rule out one right off the bat. Some believe Dover Demon... Shut up. Some believe the Dover Demon... Shut up. Some believe the Dover Demon is a hybrid or mutated animal, potentially a lab-bred specimen that escaped from the clutches of scientists. In other words, a baby Demogorgon.

Ooh, okay. I like that one a lot. It would explain some of the animal-like qualities, right? They said it looked a bit like a monkey, a bit like a baby, etc. Yeah. I mean, hey, we have had a lot of cryptid cases in the past before where the creature turns out to be just a regular animal that is not in very good health. And speaking from the point of an animal that is in not very good health. I feel like if someone saw me right now on the side of the road, they would hit me. They wouldn't slow down.

Not even Dr. Ooh himself would pull over to give me more of the cure. He would simply see that I'm a lost cause at this point. The f***ing thing is, whenever my parents went looking for me back in 1997, they actually weirdly saw me at the side of the road, but were sure that couldn't be their little baby boy so they sped up and tried to swerve i was like no mama papa please stop the

car oh they clipped me and i rolled back down the hedge and was lost for another two days they saw you bud they knew it was you it just hurts to hear is all like i say say, it does match some animal-like qualities. And granted, we are painting in very broad brushstrokes here, but the US government at this time was up to all kinds of Cold War era shady bioweapon experimentation that you probably wouldn't get away with today. True. True. There could be a lab leak.

Now, theory number two, and I don't think even researcher Amy believes this one because she wrote, quote, I guess it could be a lab leak now theory number two and i don't think even researcher amy believes this one because she wrote quote i guess it could be a demon yeah which feels like a sentence that doesn't work no one has ever been that blasé about demons before like i told it just doesn't make any sense demon doesn't make any sense based on what it is what what it does, its description, its motivation, anything. It doesn't follow. Yeah. No. I get what you're saying.

That's my instinct, too, that it doesn't particularly have a demon vibe, doesn't have wings, horns, a staff on fire. Yeah. It's not even like otherworldly. It doesn't really seem like an entity of pure evil uh but researcher amy did point out a pretty interesting um concept that like if you look into kind of ancient descriptions of demons across you know jewish and christian texts and stuff not all of them were evil by the way it's like some of them were just creatures that weren't made by god is all this sounds like the devil doing pr. He's like,

they're not all evil. Some of them are actually pretty chill guys. Craig, he's got the horns. He's got a little pitchfork. He spits fire. We all spit fire sometimes. But he looked after my kid last Wednesday when me and the wife went out to dinner.

He's a solid guy. He likes gardening. but i didn't actually know that i didn't know that there were creatures that are i mean there are no good ones though right well no but they're just neutral they're just creatures it's one of these words it's like the meaning has changed over time it just means anything is not a human or an angel put it that way okay so they're not inherently bad they're just creatures yeah because it's like if you're called a demon and you're neutral you're you're neutral you're neutral but now and again you slap people it's like you're a demon you're not because you're

a demon you're on thin ice is what you are. Yeah. You know, you're basically on parole with an ankle tag. Like you're one of those prisoners who's like allowed to like walk around, but only between midday and 6 p.m. Then you got to get back the f***ing side. Yeah. Because if you're like on the other side, if you're an angel, but I don't know, you swear a lot. You're kind of, you're a weird angel,

but you're still a good person a good entity you can't can you be a neutral angel i don't know maybe maybe i have no idea i mean the devil used to be an angel but y'all ain't ready to have that conversation there you go our next theory however comes from the first nations people of canada Cree folklore contains tales about a trickster people known as Manigishi. They're short, with long, thin limbs, but jumbo heads. And they're descended from ancient humans, but have no noses or mouths. These things are most likely to be found in damp areas or near a body of water, especially between rocks and river rapids.

One of their favorite little tricks they do is to crawl out of the rocks of rivers and tip over canoes, killing people. I feel f***ing hell. That's not really a trick, is it? That's manslaughter. This one does feel like a... One of their little tricky wikis involves a switchblade and they'll just come at people in the night with a pokey poke it's like i'm stabbing and killing other humans and that's why all demons aren't that bad because just because they capsize the canoe they didn't actually kill anybody jesus i thought he was going to be on some like bart

simpson shit just like spray painting and pulling pranks on other people. Mooning the principal. Yeah, flipping canoes and drowning people is pretty intense. This one does feel like quite a good match though, right? Physically wise, yeah, yeah. The face, the features of it.

I wanted to get an image of what one of these looks like, but unfortunately it seems like the Dover Demon has really put this creature on the map of the Internet. So now when you look up this thing, you kind of just get pictures of the Dover Demon. Of the Dover Demon, okay. But it just shows you that this is a real possibility. And God knows, in recent episodes, we've seen a lot of ancient North American, Native American creatures coming up as being real possible candidates. We always bring it up,

but the Ogopogo on the bonus episode was a huge one. And the sea beast of Lake Koshkonong. Let's not just say, oh, your case. You look so angry. Your case about the Ogopogo. Your eyes narrowed.

I did a very similar case. I did a very similar case on a similar creature and it was pretty convincing as well. Just because the lake he lived in was seven feet in depth. Yeah, it was a little suspicious. It was a borderline puddle, sure. He was a little trickster too. He used to drown people and then shit in their mouths.

Not really a trick, but something pretty gross. All right, we're getting really close to the truth here. But of course, we would be remiss if we did not talk about the elephant in the room. The next theory. Wet sandpaper skin, creepy limbs, featureless face aside from almond-shaped eyes. Tell me that's not a description of an alien grey. Tell me that's not a description of an alien grey. I need you right now to give me any type of information to back up that claim.

He was studying the humans. He was trying to check out the humans and see what they were up to. It's a potato. It's a potato with spaghetti legs and arms. It's not studying humans. It basically fell down a hill into the woods, scrambled away. It can't even stand on its own two legs. This is my parents in 1997

pleading with the police that I am not their son. And they're like, I assure you, we've taken his fingerprints. It's your son. It's a potato. We're not taking him back. All right.

Just, we're going to have to move on from that one then because i have a lot more to talk about here about how it is an alien but i feel a lot of like animosity about that concept i came at you hard there i'm ready i'll hear you out i do want to hear all the theories so so please proceed conclusions all right there was nothing no i i was hoping to gloss over it, but you know as well as I do, on this show,

we do have to talk about other theories that are less paranormal and more grounded in science. Yeah. Now, skeptics of this case have proposed that the young people of Dover, Massachusetts actually saw an animal that right.

That right? An animal that night. It's all an animal. That right? That right? An animal that night. It's all an animal. That right? That right, boys? That right. Specifically, a moose calf. Now, this sounds insane,

but I have a photo of a moose calf here, and I'm gonna see what you think. Okay. I don't think I've ever seen a baby moose before. A mice? Uh, okay. you think okay i don't think i've ever seen a baby moose before a mice uh okay this wasn't as weird as i thought it was gonna be i maybe thought baby meese were really up looking or maybe had potato heads or something but it does just kind of look like a little cow like a fluffy cow it's a bit weirder than that though isn't it i mean it i will say

it's got a giant head pretty small body and then quite long legs especially back legs i think it's just the head kind of throws you it's quite big i mean if you saw that you wouldn't think you wouldn't stop your car and scream it just looks like an animal like a furry animal if it was night though you can barely see and it stands up in its hind legs i don't think a moose would do that maybe i'm wrong but it is true you know there's a couple problems here massachusetts doesn't have a ton of moose so that's a problem this like a moose isn't wrapping its hooves around a rock or a tree either so That's a really good point. It doesn't exactly add up. Maybe the most alarming piece of paranormal evidence in all of this

is that Dover, Mass. is just 25 miles outside the Bridgewater Triangle. Whoa. Now, we talked about it very recently, that that particular patch of Massachusetts is an absolute hotbed of paranormal activity. Yeah, yeah. Including... Cyan!

Countless UFO sightings! Okay. Tons and tons of them. Look, I'm not saying this thing isn't from another planet. I'm just saying... You're saying it didn't pilot a Millennium Falcon 12 light years? Yeah.

I think this son of a bitch was maybe the pet that they brought on the voyage to keep them entertained. And it f***ing jumped out the window in fear like a puppy as soon as they touched down into the woods.

So you're saying it is an alien. All right. But Rory, that fateful night in 1977 that we focused on actually wasn't the only time anyone saw the Dover Demon. And it wasn't only ever seen by 12-year-olds, it turns out. Here we go.

Because five years later, in 1972, local man Mark Sennett swore that he saw a similar creature in the woods. He said, We saw a small, weird creature deep in the woods, moving at the edge of the pond. We could see it moving in our headlights. We didn't know what we were looking at. Now, it wasn't until 2007 when cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman interviewed Mark and all the other witnesses to try and crack this case. He was fascinated by Bill Bartlett's sketch in particular.

As paranormal investigators, we're lucky that one of the witnesses to the Dover demon was someone with allegedly a photographic memory and clearly enough artistic ability to produce a pretty vivid depiction that we saw despite the sighting only lasting about seven seconds wow to this day the legend of the dover demon lives on despite not really being seen since and at the i mean we gotta go here the international cryptozoology museum in portland maine oh my god they have a statue of it with a little piece of information about it let me show you whoa they've done a pretty good job of of recreating what this thing looks like i've never even heard of this museum before what a cool idea yeah it's it's really great i agree this sculpture is quite accurate

to the sketches including capturing the beige skin which makes you realize it's really not human colored skin yeah because it's yellow um yeah it looks like the insides of a pumpkin yes all right i just need you to stop comparing it to vegetables. I have to compare it to something. I show Rory a picture of E.T. He's like, it's like a gourd. It's like a courgette. And Rory, that takes us up to the present day.

Like I say, it more or less has not been seen since. But the legend lives on and still, the identity of the beast is truly unknown. We have to come to a conclusion at the end of every episode of This Paranormal Life. Whether our case is paranormal or not, what do you think about the Dover

demon? This might be the littlest amount we know about a creature we've ever investigated on this podcast and i don't mean that in a negative way to say that that the investigation is bad or anything because we've covered everything we've covered all the sightings we've covered the witnesses and the amount of times it's been seen what he looks like how he behaves etc there's just nothing out there like even other cryptids i feel like we we can

talk about the reasons that they're there the things they're doing you know cryptids often like attack people or appear in certain places this thing doesn't even attack anyone it just runs away uh it doesn't seem to be out for any reason or have any kind of agenda. There's no photographs or prints taken from any of the scenes. It's just like a weird phenomenon. You know, I totally agree. And it makes our jobs very difficult to try and say that this is proven to be paranormal. But yet, isn't that the ultimate cryptid sighting? Isn't that the ultimate realistic cryptid or alien sighting?

Which is like, they come and then they're gone. Because we've had cryptids many times that, you know, they turn up in the 1700s and then they turn up again in 2005 and it's supposed to be the same beast or whatever. And it's evidence of a really amazing deep legend in that local culture this is almost weirder because it it ain't really part of a legend okay maybe a canadian legend but we're not in canada there is something slightly believable about the idea that something just if it came from another dimension or planet, it just appeared and then dipped.

Yeah, but it's weirdly like, I don't know. It's so grounded and real that it doesn't seem like there's anything crazy or paranormal going on. It just feels like a little monster running around in the woods. But that's what a cryptid is. Just an unidentified, never-before-seen creature. Which is weird that we don't have more evidence or like any prints

left behind uh yeah it's a hard story it is and you know we do have some great witnesses in the sense that we have a handful of people who've seen it over just a couple of years mostly all in one night seeing the same thing describing the same thing drawing the same thing but you know as you say in the scheme of things when you bear down into what the actual encounters were they were several seconds long and that's all we have to go on yeah which isn't a lot so it's a yes for me this week yeah come on dude oh f**k it uh we've talked ourselves into a corner i guess it just know, based on lack of evidence, essentially has to be a no this week

for the case of the Dover demon. But I've been joking. That's all jokes, right? That I told you that I revealed too much about my past. About you being lost in the woods and your parents not wanting to pick you up even when the police found you. Yeah, it's a fun little joke that I told.

Sure. But come on, there's something lo little joke that I told. Sure, but- But come on, there's something lovable about this little scamp. He's like a Pikmin or something. Why do you like him so much? I don't understand why you like him so much. Why do you hate him? He's misunderstood, like me. All right, we got to move on.

This is like when we did that episode on the hoedag, and I just loved him for some reason, and you were like, I don't understand why you love him so much why you keep talking about him i was like i don't know i just love him this little like dynamite proof piggy thing yeah yeah yeah ah it was amazing great episode go listen to the hoedag if you haven't yet so uh you know this one clearly splits opinion guys whether you like it or not. Hope you enjoy the episode nonetheless of this investigation. But guys, if you enjoyed this investigation into a little weird f***ing cryptid,

and you cannot wait until next week to see what we're going to talk about next, we had a blast on last month's bonus episode, the latest bonus episode, talking all about Gremlins. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, Kit. What's a bonus episode? Well, Rory, since we started this show in 2017, every single month we've made a new bonus episode, a full-length paranormal investigation into a new case that is only for our subscribers over at patreon.com forward slash this paranormal life. Now, there is between 50 or 60 of these over there.

That's not even mentioning the After Party, which is our other weekly podcast going behind the scenes of this paranormal life. We're not even getting into all that. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Kate. What's a podcast? Right. You've been into the Tylenol again. Good call, man. Give me the box back. I need the cure. Give me that freaking thing. Give me the cure back. Right. You, you've been into the Tylenol again. Good call, man. Give me the box back.

I need the cure. Give me that fricking thing. Give me the cure back. Sorry. My memories are fading. But the bonus episode. I feel like I'm in fricking back to the future and every decision I make is the wrong one and the pictures of my loved ones I have in my wallet are fading into darkness.

You're dependent on drugs, sir. I also, I'm starting to look like dark brown my hair is gray my skin is wrinkled and i'm wearing lab coat is not helping it's not helping uh it was a fantastic bonus episode investigated by rory across the table from me here he probably doesn't remember a damn thing about it but i can vouch for him that it was a great case really setting the scene of like World War II America and these strange creatures which were trying to sabotage the war effort. A very immersive case.

Yeah, world wars, paranormal creatures. You're going to want to check out that episode. In fact, you know what? F*** it. Why don't we play a clip from that episode right now on the pod? Great idea. So he completed his pre-flight checks and clambered into the cockpit, ready for takeoff. Once he was in the air, the testing began.

After a series of perfectly executed maneuvers, Wigner was satisfied. Check's all clear. She's feeling good to me. No problems up here. I'll take her down. But suddenly, the plane jerked to the left. It was like the controls had briefly been yanked from his grasp. Just as Captain Wigner was trying to figure out what happened, the plane's engines suddenly died. Holy shit. Now, I was going to suggest given the time period, he may simply have been drinking at the wheel. But the engines dying?

That's not explainable by whiskey. Pretty strange, huh? And bear in mind, this is a plane that has four separate engines. And all of them have suddenly failed. Blast! The damn engines have failed! All four of them! All four of them at the same time somehow! Captain Witner quickly steered the plane towards a nearby airfield as it plummeted towards the ground. Mayday! Mayday! Multiple engine failure! Requesting permission to land at RAF Skellingthorpe with priority! F*** it! Not requesting anymore.

It's just happening. Get out of the f***ing way. Permission granted, Captain. Good luck. Any ideas to the cause of the failure? No clue. This is the same guy just putting on two different microphones talking to himself. Golly gee, Captain.

You're sure looking strapping today. Why, thank you, Ground Control. Ground Control deems up. Dude, you have to stop talking to yourself like that. They're going to think you're crazy. You can't keep calling yourself Ground Control.

Oh, we have fun. Love those bonus episodes. Remember to head on over to patreon.com forward slash thisparanormallife for bonus episodes and a ton of other rewards exclusive to patrons. Whoa. And at the end of every episode, we do like to round out by thanking those patrons who are on the shout out tier.

Let's get into it. So very special. Thank you to Andy Adrade. Andy loves his candy. Toffee apples. Nom floss, just bags of sugar poured into his mouth. Doesn't have any teeth left. Unfortunately not, but he's got a pair of those cool metal teeth that the Jaws used in the James Bond movies. So that's kind of cool. It's almost like rapper grills.

Thanks to Christina Wallers. Christina Wallers always hollas. When she needs like help or something or just like hyping up the crowd or like what's up. Just to check in. Just to check in in the evenings. Just be like, yo, what you up to? Holla, it's Christina. Right.

It's really the new generation's honey, I'm home, right? Yeah, yeah. Holla, I'm home, right? Yeah, yeah. Holla, I'm home. Thanks to Dallas R. I know about Dallas, Texas. I don't know what Dallas R, Texas is. Ooh. Seems like some kind of maybe underground secret facility in Dallas.

Dallas R. Right, right. Or Dallas being very possessive over the state they're in. They're like, Dallas, it's R, Texas. Not yours. You should sell that to their tourist board. That sounds good.

It's R, Texas. Maybe get the guy from EA Sports to do it. It's a game. Thanks, of course, to John Engadol. John's gone oh Jesus did he end it all Jesus man he's gone to the shops

why are you taking it to a dark place bro I don't know I thought sorry I left a bit of a pause I was going to ask you if you wanted anything oh yeah like

just a bag of chips or something we'll be good no he's dead he's dead he died at the shops. Thanks to Andrew Nadelka. Andrew Nadelka is a great helper.

If you just need any kind of assistance of any kind, you know, legal advice, how to stay out of prison, how to not get arrested when you've committed a crime. So he's a lawyer? He's, I wouldn't say, kind of a, how would you say, like black market lawyer? Not a lawyer then, not a real lawyer. Like more of like a... A criminal?

He's sort of more like a problem solver. I guess that does more sum it up, yes. Okay, no one go to him for any advice, legal or otherwise. He can get you a gun, 24 hours notice. Thanks to Caitlyn Dewispot. They call her Faitlyn Caitlyn, because using her crystal ball, she can tell you what will happen in your future. Oh, wild. Can she tell me?

She could if you asked, yes. Okay, Caitlyn, I'm assuming you're out there listening to your crystal ball. Can you tell me? She could if you asked. Yes. Okay. Caitlin, I'm assuming you're out there listening to your crystal ball. Can you tell me what's going to happen? Do you want me to answer for her? I mean, I'm not her. So it's like, well, I don't have the fucking ball. What do you want me to say?

Why did you bring it up, Len? It's worth talking about. She can tell the future. She can tell you what's going to happen. I can't do shit. Can she text her? I can't do shit. I can't do shit. I'm very ill. I can't see my past

let alone my future, mate. Caitlyn, I need you to see my past and my future. Thanks to Lexi Wolfgang. I told Caitlyn to read my future and the ball broke. That's worrying, right? The ball cracked.

Lexi, are you some sort of paranormal cryptid beast because let me tell you the commune could do with a wolf gang could it it honestly could we have you know i'm not gonna say deserters or um traitors we would never be so crass as to say that. Or anything like that. But we have some people who have left the commune not via the proper channels. And some sort of gang of wolves, I just feel like, circling the perimeter would just make everyone think twice about doing things the easy way. A.K.A. hitting me and sneaking past while I'm unconscious. How often has that happened? Many, many times. I used to be a healthy man.

I'm starting to think the pills aren't the problem. Thanks to Ivana. Ivana asked you a question. Ivana, do you have any formal wolf training? That's not a thing. It's one thing to get the gang here but i don't know how to talk to animals i don't know how to speak their language uh there is no you can't speak their language so ivana if you i don't know if you possess any sort of doctor

doolittle capabilities to talk with the animals walk with the animals just let us know let us know sure she she doesn't the interview process is being thrown into a pack of wolves but we can talk about the logistics of that when you get here thanks to charlie sainsbury gnarly charlie likes nothing more than to kick back at the weekend doing the gnarliest of activities surfing skating climbing, paragliding, hang gliding, surf gliding. I don't know if that is a thing. Charlie, we've got an even gnarlier activity for you. How would you like to be chucked in with a pit of wolves?

Pretty f***ing gnarly. We'll give you a skateboard if you think it'll help. And if you live, you got a new job. It's a win-win. Thanks to Zeruel Demon Core. You know, a Demon Core would be a good... I don't know what that is, but it sounds like it might be a good accompaniment to a Wolfgang.

Yeah, and let me tell you, some of those wolves are just on rampage now. The training did not go well, so if a Demon Core has to come in to whip them back into line, that could happen. Thanks to Matt Rainwater. Wow, we are in luck. Please come this way, Matt Rainwater. Wow, we are in luck. Please come this way, Matt Rainwater.

We are. We've talked at length about our issues here in the commune, which we're not going to get into. But Mr. Rainwater is very much needed. Can you make it Rainwater? Because that would be great. I don't even need Sprite or Dr. Pepper or anything. Thanks to Mariev Carpentier-Fortin. Sorry if I'm getting it wrong, Marie-Eve.

There is, of course, a chance that these wolves, that their language will be French or Quebecois. So we would love you to interview for this position. Yeah. The Demon Corps definitely speak French. A hundred percent. There's no doubt about it. Okay.

So there we go. Please come on board. Thank you so much to everyone who we shouted out today. We're going to be back with more shout outs, of course, at the end of next week's episode. We'll be back on Tuesday with a brand new paranormal tale. Make sure and check out that bonus episode if you haven't heard it already over on patreon.com

forward slash this paranormal life. Otherwise, see you next week, guys. Do you remember where I live? I need someone to walk me home tonight. I'm calling 999.