Right before the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns began in March of 2020 I ventured into the fabled Bridgewater Triangle of Massachusetts with colleague Nash Hoover and his Chasing Legends crew who had traveled from Minnesota to investigate legends in the area. In fact it was a mere few days before Massachusetts declared a state of emergency. The timing was perhaps more than coincidental.
The fabled Bridgewater Triangle is a roughly 200 square mile radius area encompassing much of Southeastern Massachusetts. Some consider it to be one of the most concentrated areas of paranormal activity anywhere in the United States. Some consider an area filled with tall tales. It’s a place where Native American folklore and colonial American history clash in the wake of the bloody legacy of King Phillip’s war of the 1670’s.
While the name was coined by one of the godfathers of Cryptozoology, Loren Coleman in the 1970’s, the triangle is a place with something for everybody interested in the unknown, from UFO’s to ghostly hauntings to Cryptid creatures. Tales of a Wampanoag curse placed upon the entire region persist. Balls of fire and strange dancing lights have been seen coming from the Hockomock Swamp to giant UFO’s above the sky. Haunted places like large rocks, ledges, buildings, roads and paths are found within the triangle, along with ghostly Native American figures, ghost truckers, hitchhikers and more. Bigfoot has been seen many times in the area, as well as Thunderbirds, prehistoric looking giant birds, mystery big cats like black panthers, giant snakes and other creepy crawlies. Unique to the Triangle are the mischievous little goblin like creatures known as “Pukwudgies” of Wampanaog folklore are said to roam the area, seen even in the modern day.
The Freetown Fall-River State Forest at one end of the triangle lays claim to being the most haunted forest in America, for good reason. It’s the site of dozens of gruesome murders, suicides, mob executions, ritualistic ongoing satanic cult activity, to name a few. Just read through a few of the incidents that have taken place in or around the forest and you’ll see what I mean. It’s frankly disturbing to read about some of what has taken place there.
The Bridgewater Triangle is something I’ve explored in years past. I’ve been on treks through the area around the Hockomock swamp and elsewhere in wooded areas that are part of the triangle. In 2017 I made a short documentary called “Bigfoot in the Bridgewater Triangle”, all about local researcher Joseph DeAndrade, his alleged encounters and search for the mysterious beast within the triangle. But since then I hadn’t ventured too much into the area, aside from in passing driving through the area.
This would change in March of 2020. A couple months prior to March I received a message from an online acquaintance named Nash Hoover. I had been friends with him for some time on Facebook and was aware of a documentary series called “Chasing Legends”, where Nash and his crew would document and explore various Cryptid legends in the Midwest, as they were based out of Minnesota. Nash messaged me to inquire about the aforementioned “Pukwudgie” legend, hoping to look into it. To make a long story short we began planning the logistics to shoot an episode of Chasing Legends and that I would be a guest investigator for the episode. I connected Nash and crew with local investigators and authors who I felt were much more knowledgeable about the Pukwudgie story and the Bridgewater Triangle overall.
Without going into too many details we explored the area for a few days, conducted interviews, night investigations and had some fun times driving around in a rental jeep on the terrible back roads of the Freetown State Forest, among other adventures and mishaps. For me it was a return to the Bridgewater Triangle and some of the curiosities to be found there. More so however was working with a like-minded crew that cared about the subject at hand. It wasn’t a TV pilot or reality show that was more interested in ratings than in the actual Cryptid itself. It was also an opportunity to step out from behind the camera as an investigator as a new way to research for myself.
Since then I’ve teamed up with Nash and his crew as an Executive Producer and investigator on Season One of Chasing Legends, which I’m very excited for. With the Pukwudige episode already filmed, we have further plans to investigate other unique Cryptids across the United States, in a variety of different terrain, presenting different challenges both physically and logistically. Those include the Mongollon Monster of Northern Arizona’s Mongollon Rim, Champ in the massive Lake Champlain basin area and the Rougarou in south Louisiana’s inhospitable bayou's.
On May 26th we launched a Kickstarter campaign for additional funding for these future episodes and for a chance for those interested to get involved and have the season be interactive with our audiences. We raised our full amount in little over a week and have since announced stretch goals, which include a poster featuring the awesome Cryptids we’re looking into. Donations of any amount get your name in the credits of each episode, so any amount counts or simply help spead the word. Ultimately Chasing Legends is high quality Cryptozoology content created by those interested in Cryptids for those interested in Cryptids. As for the Bridgewater Triangle I’m sure this latest foray won’t be my last time looking into it’s many stories and tales…
Some behind the scenes photos from the Pukwudgie episode shoot.