The Jersey Devil
The Jersey Devil resides in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, where over the last 200 years it has been sighted by numerous residents and visitors to the area, according to the lore. Some legends regarding it are clearly the creation of superstitious minds, while others have been reported by people of sterling reputation and demonstrated clear thinking. US Navy Captain Stephen Decatur reported having seen it, or something like it. Joseph Bonaparte, whose younger brother was Napoleon I of France, was living in the United States in 1820 when he reported encountering the creature on his estate.
It has been described as resembling both a bird and an animal, but neither more in favor of the other. It is generally described as having wings similar to a bat, with an elongated body standing on two legs, and hooves. Some have embellished the description by adding a forked tail.
In 1909 there were a flurry of sightings in the third week of January, not only in the Pine Barrens but throughout the state, neighboring Pennsylvania (where police claimed to have shot at it), Maryland and Delaware. Many of these sightings were later established to be hoaxes. Others have since ascribed them to mass hysteria, fed in part by the sheer number of newspaper reports of sightings during the period.
Some believe that the New Jersey Devil is nothing more than a large bird indigenous to the region called the Sandhill Crane, which can appear, especially in the gloom, with some of the attributes of the described Devil (minus the forked tail, although tail feathers could appear).
There have been several hoaxes regarding the Jersey Devil, including fake footprints, touched-up photographs, and mock-up devils constructed from various animal bodies and combinations. No physical evidence has ever been found which can be definitively linked to the creature, and relatively few sightings have been confirmed by more than one person. Likely a myth which dates to pre-revolutionary days, the Jersey Devil exists on the ice in Newark, when the New Jersey Devils take on NHL opponents.