Our century, of course, is technically very advanced and scientifically grounded ahead - the digital future. But even he can not always explain the strange and mysterious phenomena that hundreds of people become eyewitnesses.
Interesting hooves
In the winter of 1885, the inhabitants of the English town of Exmouth were unpleasantly surprised by what they saw. In the fresh snow, well lit by the bright morning sun, small hooves were clearly imprinted.
Not a single animal known in these parts could leave such traces. They were somewhat like donkeys. But the amazing thing was that the tracks stretched in an even straight line.
The nature of the prints indicated that they were left by a creature that walks on two legs! In the fresh, fluffy snow, every footprint was icy, as if the hooves were hot.
The most curious decided to walk on the trail and find out where it leads. It was then that everyone became uncomfortable. Smooth footprints crossed high fences, stacks of hay, they were found in the drainage chute under the roof and on the cornice of the second floor. At the same time, the stride length always remained unchanged - about twenty centimeters.
The most stubborn trackers nevertheless went further, making sure that the tracks crossed land and water, and the entire path of the mysterious creature was almost 160 kilometers. They broke off in Bikton - one of the districts of the city of Totnes.
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Guesses, guesses
Of course, the population needed to be reassured. Since the local residents in full force gathered only in the church, the pastors and took up this matter.
The Reverend J. M. Musgrave reassured the parishioners and claimed that strange footprints were left by a kangaroo that escaped from the menagerie. But the holy father could not explain how a thermophilic animal in one night in a severe frost was able to wave 160 kilometers by land and water.
Others believed that these were the tracks of an otter, a lame hare, and so on and so forth. Strange traces and all sorts of guesses for a long time excited the minds of the inhabitants of Exmouth, but over time everything was forgotten.
These events are still finding those who would like to deal with the mysterious traces. The fact is that from time to time there are eyewitness notes, old newspaper articles that allow building new versions of what happened.
So the daughter of a pastor from the town of Dowlish wrote a book that was published in the middle of the 19th century. In her memoirs, the woman wrote about that night: "I still remember these ominous footprints." As a child, the pastor's daughter then thought that the tracks were left by a giant cat and always checked whether the door was locked at night.
Has the creature returned?
The English paranormal researcher Eric Dingwall published in 1957 the story of a young man, Colin Wilson (future writer). Wilson said that in the summer of 1950, on a beach in Devonshire, he saw strange hoofprints on the wet sand.
They were fresh and very crisp. There were about 180 centimeters between the very deep prints. Obviously, the owner of the hooves has grown tremendously over the years. Wilson himself weighed over 80 kg, but his tracks did not cut into the sand. The hoof tracks started at the water, but did not go back. The freshness of the trail left no doubt.
Wilson had the impression that the owner of the tracks was looking for something. Traces strayed along the roofs of houses, along the backyards. As if their owner has no idea how people live.
Sensation from Antarctica
The famous British polar explorer James Ross wrote in his diaries in May 1840 that when landing on the island of the Antarctic Kerguelen archipelago, sailors were extremely surprised to see hoofprints in the snow.
The tracks led to a snow-free space - a rocky hill. There they were lost. But no hoofed animals were found in these places.
Already in the 20th century, it became clear that a certain Clark Perry was on the Ross expedition. An old daguerreotype depicts him with a strange spherical object in his hands. After leaving the fleet, he settled in Teignmouth, about 10 kilometers from Exmouth.
Clark's diary provided a picture of his life. A strange metal ball was brought by him from Kerguelen. It turned out that Ross did not take notes and kept silent about the strange find: two metal balls. One was whole, and the other was smashed to pieces.
The most interesting thing is that from the broken ball straight to the rocky hill went perfectly even hoof tracks. Clark believed that the balls fell from the sky. And during his stay on the island it seemed to him that someone was constantly watching the expedition.
What happened to Clark Perry
After signing off ashore, Clark did not tell anyone about the balls that he took with him and kept in a chest in the basement of a house in Teignmouth. 13 years have passed. On February 3, 1855, Perry had a good drink with his friends and told them about balloons.
The company wanted to take a look at the find. We went down to the basement and unanimously decided that the whole ball needed to be opened. After several blows with a heavy hammer, the ball cracked. Clark got scared and kicked out his friends.
The next day, he noticed that the crack had widened and realized that the ball was about to crack. For several days, Clark did not take notes. The latter was taken on February 7, 1855. It reveals that Clark decided to throw the balloon into the sea.
Clark's relatives said that he died on the night of February 8-9 in Bickton. Where the mysterious footprints ended. So what, the creature was looking for Clark Perry and killed him? There were no other deaths in Devonshire that night.
Perhaps the creature needed to remove the witness to the mystery of the mysterious balls? It is interesting that in the press at different times there were reports of mysterious footprints - hooves belonging to a two-legged creature. In 1839 in Scotland, in 1855 in Poland, in 1945 in Belgium, in 1954 in Brazil.
All these sources are not connected, therefore, mysterious traces are a mystery that science cannot yet explain.