Is the Jersey Devil real? 1 in 6 New Jerseyans think it is
Have you seen something strange in the woods?
It might have been the Jersey Devil, or at least that’s what some New Jerseyans believe.
In a new poll done by Fairleigh Dickinson University, 16% of respondents in the Garden State said they believe the Jersey Devil might be real. And while the legend of the hoofed, winged creature has been historically tied to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens region, it now belongs to the whole state’s folklore, says the study.
In fact, respondents from the Pine Barrens — a region comprising most of Ocean, Burlington and Atlantic counties — are less likely to believe in the Jersey Devil than respondents from North Jersey and other parts of the state.
“Almost every part of the country has its own regional monsters,” said Dan Cassino, the director of the poll. “Even in the 21st century, belief in those creatures persists."
What is a Jersey Devil?
For centuries, the Jersey Devil has been believed to be a flying creature living in South Jersey’s pine woods. Some accounts link the Jersey Devil back to the Lenape indigenous people, who would describe a creature bearing a resemblance to the Jersey Devil, Cassino said.
The modern version of the legend says that the devil was the child of a woman called Jane Leeds. According to the tale, Jane already had 12 kids and was upset at being pregnant again. After cursing her 13th child, the baby turned into the Jersey Devil and flew into the woods.
There are no historical records that Jane Leeds ever existed, Cassino said.
Others believe the legend stemmed from Daniel Leeds, the publisher of an almanac that featured a creature resembling the Jersey Devil on its cover.
“Across the United States, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of these regional cryptids. And they are mostly tied to wilderness areas,” Cassino said.
“The woods for thousands of years have been a site where people see things that aren’t necessarily there; are scared by what’s in the woods. And they put a name to those fears. Around here, the name we put to it is the Jersey Devil,” he added.
New Jersey newspapers would publish sighting reports about the Jersey Devil. However, Cassino said that the most recent report he knows of dates to 1956.
During the 1950s, talks about the Jersey Devil became less common, and formal written reports of it became nonexistent. Possibly, because at that time, the aliens took over the attention.
“I don’t think it is a coincidence that people stopped reporting the Jersey Devil in the '50s because a lot of the space that was taken up by the Jersey Devil and by monsters that lived in the woods got replaced in the 1950s and '60s with aliens,” he said.
The survey polled 813 randomly selected adults from across the state. While 58% of respondents said the Jersey Devil is "not at all" likely to be real, New Jerseyans aren't necessarily opposed to the occult, as 44% of respondents think ghosts could be real.
“I think that the world is always stranger than we think it is," Cassino said when asked if he believed in the Jersey Devil.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: FDU poll: 1 in 6 believe in New Jersey Devil myth
