12. In 1909, The Navy Started A Mass Panic In the Pine Barrens
In 1909, members of the Navy were running drills at the Hanover Mill Works in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. A Navy Commander named Stephen Decatur claimed that they were practicing shooting cannons, when they spotted the Jersey Devil in the distance. They claimed that they even shot the creature with a cannonball. According to witnesses, they saw the cannonball come in direct contact with the Jersey Devil, and yet it was still alive.
When this story got out, people had no choice but to believe it must be true, because it was coming from Navy officials. The public went into an even deep state of panic. Over 1,000 people contact the police claiming that they saw The Jersey Devil, too. School was canceled in the towns surrounding the Pine Barrens.