There are a huge number of different traces that, for various reasons, are classified as unexplained. We attribute only hoof-like tracks to this phenomenon, since in all cases of their appearance, common signs are distinguished, different from other phenomena in which the appearance of unusual tracks appears.
Hoof-like footprints in many cultures are traditionally associated with evil spirits. Different peoples consider the source of their origin to be devils, demons, the devil, as well as witches with hooves instead of feet, damned, etc.
Thus, the phenomenon of "devil's footprints" will be considered hoof-like signs that have appeared on various surfaces that have certain signs of deviation from the norm (rate of occurrence, distance between prints, etc.)
The stories about "devil's footprints" are rooted in ancient times. The very first mention can be considered 929. In Japan, on the territory of the imperial palace, "devil's footprints" were observed.
The earliest written mention that we could find dates back to 1205. According to Ralph Kogeschell (who also described strange phenomena in his era), a 13th century writer, on July 19, 1205, strange hoof prints appeared after a severe thunderstorm.
The most famous incident is considered to be the incident called "Devil's Footprints in Devon", which may have taken place in February 1855 near the Aix estuary in South Devon. A brief description of this fact: On the night of February 7-8, 1855, at 1.00 or 2.00, after a heavy snowfall, hoof-like signs appeared on the snow. These tracks, most of which were about 4 inches long and about three inches wide, spaced eight to sixteen inches apart and following approximately the same straight (albeit slightly deviated) direction, were found in more than thirty locations throughout Devon and partly in Dorset. It was estimated that the total length of the route along which they met was between 40 and 100 miles. Houses, rivers, haystacks, fences and other obstacles did not stop himWho left these footprints: They have been found on rooftops, walls up to 14 feet high, and even at the entrance and exit of small four-inch-diameter sewers. The footprints were so named because some people believed they were Satan's footprints, as they were supposedly made with cloven hooves. Many theories have been put forward to explain this incident, and many aspects of it, as well as credibility in general, were questioned even at that time; nevertheless, this event caused a rather serious (albeit short-term and quickly forgotten) mass hysteria. Many theories have been put forward to explain this incident, and many aspects of it, as well as credibility in general, were questioned even at that time; nevertheless, this event caused a rather serious (albeit short-term and quickly forgotten) mass hysteria. Many theories have been put forward to explain this incident, and many aspects of it, as well as credibility in general, were questioned even at that time; nevertheless, this event caused a rather serious (albeit short-term and quickly forgotten) mass hysteria.
There are very few primary sources for this event. The only known documents are documents found after the publication in 1950 of an article about the incident by the Devonshire Historical Society, which asked for help in finding additional information. After that, a collection of articles and letters from the 1850s Vicar Ellcombe was discovered, among which there is a letter to him from his friend Vicar McGraw, containing his letter to the newspaper The Illustrated London News with the note "Not for print" and with a drawing of footprints allegedly made from nature, and in the same place were found indications of other newspaper articles telling about this event; they also identified the identity of the first correspondent to tell about the tracks: he turned out to be the future curator of one of Exter's museums, who at that time was 19 years old.
In total, there are four relatively reliable sources about the event, which are not far from him in time: letters from Ellacomb, a letter from McGraw, a report from Exter, and a certain letter from an anonymous author to one of the newspapers, in which he suggests that the tracks were left by otters. All subsequent articles, including those mentioned above, as well as the 1890 article by Busk, where he cited eyewitness accounts, reprinted in 1922, appeared much later than the events, so they should be treated with caution.
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There are several other similar incidents reported in other parts of the world, although none were of the same magnitude as the Devon incident.
James Clark Ross wrote that during the Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843 on Kerguelen Island in 1840, he discovered strange horseshoe-shaped footprints - first on the ground, on the snow, and then on a rock where there was no snow. The tracks looked like the tracks of a horse or a donkey, but the expedition did not have such animals either on the island itself.
Fifteen years before the Devonian events, in 1840, The Times wrote that in Scotland, in Glen Orchy, on March 14, strange footprints, similar to prints of cloven hooves, were found at a distance of 12 miles. The one who left them was, judging by the depth of the tracks, large (about the size of a large foal) and limping at the same time.
The Illustrated London News in March 1855 published an article by a newspaper correspondent in Heidelberg, who, referring to an "authoritative Polish doctor of medicine," reported that on Sandy Hill in the Kingdom of Poland, on the border with Galicia, such traces were found in the snow (and sometimes in the sand) every year, and the locals believe they are abandoned by a supernatural being.
1886: New Zealand.
1909: New Jersey, USA, beaches near Gloucester.
1945: Belgium.
1950: Devonshire (beach) again.
1952: Scotland.
1954: Brazil.
In the fall of 1957, an article by paranormal researcher Eric Dingwall titled "The Devil Walks Again" appeared in Tomorrow magazine. It, in particular, cited the story of 26-year-old Colin Wilson (later a famous writer) about how in the summer of 1950, on one of the deserted sea beaches of Devonshire, he saw on a smooth and dense surface of wet sand, compacted by sea waves, strange prints similar to on the hoof tracks.
1974: the slopes of Etna, Sicily.
1976: Alps near Nice and near Lake Siljan (Norway).
2000 (January 23): Cleveland, Ohio.
On March 12, 2009, reports appeared in the press that, as if at night in Devon, the same tracks appeared again, photographs were even published, but official science did not give any comments on this matter. [1]
This can also include various urban legends and stories about a woman with hooves. They do not have any specific geographic location. There are very similar references to people with hooves in almost the entire territory of modern Russia and neighboring countries. Distantly similar urban legends are already known in almost all parts of the world.
For example, in the Voronezh region the Verkhnyaya Khava and the Kashirsky region are famous for the appearance of "women with hooves". At the same time, the cases and stories of Upper Khava no longer describe the appearance of traces, but of the "woman" herself. The case that occurred in the Kashirsky region in 1997 is more likely similar to the Devonian one.
The hypotheses about the origin of the "devil's footprints" are similar to the hypotheses explaining the footprints from the Devon incident.
Researcher Mike Dash, who collected materials about this event over the years, has summarized all the primary and secondary sources he found in the article "The Devil's Hoofmarks: Source Material on the Great Devon Mystery of 1855" ("Traces of the Devil: Materials for studying the Great Mystery of Devon 1855 "), First published in Fortean Studies in 1994. He, without denying the reality of the fact as such, came to the conclusion that there was not and could not be any one "source" of the origin of the tracks: some of them were almost certainly a hoax, some were left by quite ordinary four-legged animals - for example, donkeys or horses, and some - mice. At the same time, he admitted that this could not explain all the reports of footprints (especially those that were allegedly found in cities), and that "the mystery remains."
They can be conditionally divided into mystical, natural and mystification.
Natural
- Balloon. Author Jeffrey Househall speculated that an experimental balloon, mistakenly fired from Devonport, left the tracks through links at the ends of its mooring lines. The source of the story was a local resident, Major Carter, whose grandfather was working in Devonport at the time. Carter said the incident was hushed up because the balloon destroyed several conservatories, greenhouses, and windows before it sank to the ground in Honton. Although this version can explain the shape of the tracks, it seems highly doubtful that the ball could follow such a strict trajectory for a long time without catching the ropes on a tree or other object.
- Jumping mice. Mike Dash, mentioned in his article, points out that at least some of the tracks, especially those found on the roofs of houses, could well have been left by forest mice, which, due to the unusually cold weather, rushed into the cities. The footprint left in the snow after a mouse jump is similar to a forked hoof due to the movement of the mouse during the jump. Dash claims that the theory of the "mouse factor" appeared in The Illustrated London News back in March 1855 (because an article about this event, despite the request of the vicar, was still published, the first time - on February 13). It was noticed that in some places the tracks seemed to be interrupted after all, which was explained by the attack on the mice by birds of prey (for example, owls), and supposedly even corpses of mice were sometimes found next to the tracks. The mouse could also easily climb walls and even crawl through pipes. In this way,to date, the version of forest mice is the only one that could at least partially explain this event from the point of view of science.
- Mass hysteria. In addition, it was often assumed that this whole story was the result of a sudden mass hysteria caused by the comparison of various traces of different origins (which could well have been left by cattle, badgers, otters, and so on) and their presentation as a single whole. This also includes the version of the origin of traces from known living beings.
Kangaroo. In a letter to The Illustrated London News, Vicar McGrove wrote that there were rumors that a kangaroo had escaped from a private menagerie in Sidmouth. However, there are no sources of information on the reliability of this event, how a kangaroo could have crossed the estuary is not clear, and McGrove himself wrote then that he himself invented a story about a kangaroo in order to calm and distract his flock, who believed that their land had really visited Devil.
Mystical
- One-legged. According to one of the versions, expressed by an unknown person, traces were left by an animal called one-legged - it was reportedly first seen in 1001 on the island of Labrador by a certain Viking Björf Heriolsen; the animal had only one leg, but moved with extraordinary speed. However, in the newspaper that published this version, it was said that one could rather believe that the Devil really left traces than believe in the existence of a one-legged person.
- Jack the jumper. The story of the Devil's Footprints has also been associated with Jack the Jumper, a character in the English urban legend of the time. But even if we assume that Jack the Jumper actually existed, then this version seems very doubtful. Firstly, Jack did not appear in Devon at the time. Secondly, the description of the footprints of the "real" Jack exists, and according to it they are not similar to those found in Devon.
The Spring-Heeled Jack is a character in Victorian English folklore, a humanoid creature notable primarily for its ability to jump of astonishing heights. The earliest reports of Jack the Jumper appearing in London date from 1837. Later, its appearance was recorded in many places in England - especially in London itself, its suburbs, Liverpool, Sheffield, Midlands (central England) and even Scotland. The "peak" of messages was in the 1850s-1880s; despite the fact that a number of reports of meetings with Jack from England and even other countries came in the XX century, the last date of his appearance is considered to be 1904.
There are many theories about the nature and personality of Jack the Jumper, but none of them is scientifically proven and does not give affirmative answers to all questions related to Jack's "activity". Thus, its history remains unexplained until now, science does not know about the device with which a person could make jumps like Jack, and the fact of his real existence is disputed by a significant number of historians. The urban legend of Jack the Jumper was incredibly popular in England in the second half of the 19th century - primarily because of his unusual appearance, aggressive eccentric behavior (Jack often attacked people) and the aforementioned ability to make incredible jumps in height, up to that,that Jack became the hero of several works of European "tabloid literature" of the XIX-XX centuries.
Jack the Jumper's story is significant in two ways. Firstly, his image had a huge impact on the "comic book culture" of the 20th century, and it was his attire that became the prototype of the "superhero (or super villain) costume." Secondly, this is the only "reasonable mystical creature" in the history of mankind, whose "case" was discussed at the level of a state institution, which came to recognize its reality.
Hoax
There are many versions of hoax methods. For example, that traces could have been left by some "unknown hot metal object."