Flap: Waterford Township, New Jersey, May–Aug 1899
4 reports · 4 separate documents
Other Flying (1), Other Humanoid (1), Other / Unknown (1), Water Monster (1).
In the 10 years either side we have 7 other reports within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- May 1899 Witness reports a winged monster with bat-like features was scoured for in the woods and swamps about Waterford.
Other Flying · Waterford Township, New Jersey - Jul 14, 1899 Two men in separate settlements reported seeing Leeds' Devil at about the same time, with one witness describing it as having bright hair.
Other Humanoid · Vincentown, New Jersey - Jul 1899 Witness reports a little girl saw a huge anaconda in a springhouse drinking milk and eating butter.
Other / Unknown · Castle Valley, Pennsylvania - Aug 1899 Witness reports a supposed sea serpent sighted by a ship in the Atlantic, moving along the surface for twenty minutes with its head aloft.
Water Monster · Ocean Heights, New Jersey
Sources: Newspaper (4).
How we find flaps
- Plain rules, no model: reports within 37 miles and about four months of each other are grouped, and a group counts only when it is at least 5 times what that place usually sees over the 10 years either side.
- A flap needs at least 3 reports from at least 3 separate documents: one article listing six sightings is one telling.
- Copies are not confirmations: a story reprinted in thirty papers counts once.
- Investigator logs (BFRO, NAWAC, the Loch Ness Register) are left out, because a busy field season looks just like a flap.
- Only reports placed to a town or county and dated to the month are used. A flap is a burst of reports, not proof of a creature: panics, hoaxes and newspaper fashions make flaps too.