By Tim Binnall
One of cryptozoology's stranger cases is having a moment in the sun thanks to a new museum exhibit that celebrates the bizarre 'Dover Demon' mystery of Massachusetts. Over the course of two evenings in April of 1977, three separate teenagers in the town of Dover reported seeing a strange, seemingly bipedal creature with a bulbous head and spindly limbs lurking along the side of different roads in the community. Initially investigated by legendary cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, who coined the name 'Dover Demon,' the case spawned international headlines and has long since intrigued students of high strangeness due to the unique nature of the oddity that almost defies categorization within the realm of the weird.
Nearly fifty years after the sightings that put the community on the proverbial cryptozoological map, the Dover Historical Society's Sawin Museum has reportedly unveiled a new exhibit on the town's resident mystery creature. The display looks back at the furor surrounding the curious case as it unfolded and celebrates how, despite only being seen for two days in April of 1977, the Dover Demon has become an unlikely fixture in paranormal and pop culture lore. As for what the anomalous interloper could have been, historical society director Liz Fallon mused, "some people say alien, some people say cryptid, some people say it was a hoax. We say it's up to you to figure out."
To that end, detailing some of the more curious aspects of the case that have led to it being particularly confounding to researchers, she noted that there was "a reported UFO sighting in Medfield, which is just a town over" on the evening before the sightings, which has led some to suggest that the creature was an otherworldly visitor. Fallon also indicated that, five years prior to the famous 1977 sightings, someone in the neighboring town of Sherborn reported seeing something that "looked very much like the description of the Dover Demon." Remarkably, she also suggested that the creature may still lurk in the community, revealing that "some people in town I talk to say they've seen" the baffling being that is now deservedly receiving a renewed fifteen minutes of fame.