Flap: Bladenboro, North Carolina, Jan–Feb 1954
3 reports · 3 separate documents
Vampire (2), Other Canine (1).
In the 10 years either side we have no other reports within 37 miles of here.
The reports, in order
- Jan 8, 1954 Authorities in Bladenboro are hunting a mysterious creature that has killed dogs and drained their bodies of blood.
Vampire · Bladenboro, North Carolina - Jan 1954 Police Chief Roy Fores reported that officers and armed citizens were hunting a vampire beast that had killed at least three dogs and left their corpses…
Vampire · Bladenboro, North Carolina - Feb 1954 Witness reports that stories of a strange vampire beast loose in the swamps have not been verified.
Other Canine · Bladen County, North Carolina
Sources: Newspaper (3).
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.