Gates: On this episode of "expedition x"...
Oh, yeah! All right!
Gates: ...Phil and jess investigate the legend
Of a demonic creature in the pine barrens of new jersey.
Man: That lure, the story, everything behind it.
It's something out of a nightmare.
Gates: Said to have been terrorizing the region for 300 years,
All of a sudden this god-awful screech, and I just froze.
I was scared to death.
Gates: Could it be a predator unknown to modern science?
That was terrifying.
-What was it? -I have no idea.
Gates: The mere product of tall tales
And paralyzing fear?
Can all these people be wrong?
There's something out there.
Or is it something demonic?
It's over here in the trees.
You should get back here. I'm a little scared.
Heading your way.
Aaaah! [bleep] [bleep]
"devil in the forest."
My name is josh gates.
In my travels, I've experienced strange things
That defy logic and made me question everything.
Oh, my god.
Now, I've put together a team to investigate
The stranger side of the unknown.
Let's go!
Gates: Phil torres is a scientist
Who hunts for rational explanations.
Jessica chobot's paranormal research
Has made her a true believer.
Phil, do you see that?
I just saw something run across.
Gates: Together, we're searching for answers...
Torres: What is that?
Gates: ...To the world's most extraordinary mysteries.
This is "expedition x."
-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com
Captions paid for by discovery communications
Ok, so as we kick off a new case here,
I want to start by showing you a photo.
-What do you think? -Chobot: Eww!
Torres: That is weird. -Yeah.
-And very dead. -And very gross.
Correct on all counts. Weird, dead and gross.
This is referred to as the montauk monster.
It's something that washed ashore
In montauk, long island, in 2008.
And it's what people refer to as a cryptid,
An unidentified, unknown animal.
In this case, biologists were able to determine
That this particular cryptid is, in fact,
The bloated, decomposing carcass of a raccoon.
See? Science for the win! Now we're talking.
"science for the win."
Well, today's case might be a little harder
For science to figure out,
And it's actually not far from long island.
It is, in fact, a cryptid that we're talking about,
One of the most hotly contested cryptid stories
In american history,
Something that people are still having terrifying experiences
With in the wilds of new jersey.
The cast of the "jersey shore"?
Even scarier, jess.
No!
The jersey devil.
Gates: The legend goes that in 1735,
In a heavily forested area
Known today as the pine barrens of new jersey,
A woman named jane leeds learns
That she is pregnant with her 13th child
And becomes incensed that her husband is never around
To help raise their kids.
In some versions, mother leeds is a witch.
In others, simply a stressed-out mom.
Regardless, in her anger, it is said
That she raises her fists to the heavens
And proclaims, "let this one be a devil."
[ baby cries, jane screams ]
According to the story, mother leeds gets her wish,
Although born looking human,
The child soon develops ghastly demonic features,
A large horse-like head, cloven hooves,
And huge leathery wings.
After savagely attacking its siblings,
The devil disappears into the expansive forest,
And some claim it takes refuge in an abandoned inn
Deep in the woods.
As crazy as the legend sounds,
What is undeniable is the number of eyewitness sightings,
People who swear they've encountered the monster.
The most infamous reports occur in January 1909,
When south jersey residents find cloven hoofprints in the snow
That cross fields, fences, rooftops,
And end in a bloody mess of dead livestock.
Panic begins to spread as others profess
To witness the devil face to face,
Inciting mass hysteria in the region.
Over a century later,
There are still frequent reports
Of a grotesque flying creature
Prowling the pines of south jersey.
Just a few weeks ago, a local woodsman reports
A new shocking encounter.
Then a local farmer finds cloven hoofprints
And blood trails crisscrossing his property.
Another eyewitness describes an animal
Resembling a kind of winged llama
Running through the trees and taking flight.
Skeptics believe the creature may be a large predatory bird
Or a deer afflicted with mange.
There's even some who believe it's a mutant bat.
But true believers insist a monster inhabits the barrens.
So is the jersey devil truly an unholy abomination
Or simply a series of misidentified animals
That spawned a legend that won't die?
Ok, so phil, thoughts?
Come on! I mean, you lost me at flying llama.
I can't even begin to tell you
How biologically impossible this thing is.
For something the size of a horse
To be flying through the trees,
It would need wings bigger than this room.
Just can't see it happening.
Not a totally unexpected response from phil.
-Mm-hmm. -And let's be honest,
The origin story of this cryptid is really fantastical. Right?
But we do have all these sightings.
So, jess, jersey devil, yes or no?
Llama jersey devil, no.
Jersey devil something, yes.
I mean, you've got so many compelling reports
From people that span centuries.
People are taking this seriously.
My instinct here says that this
Is just a case of misidentification.
There is this thing called insular gigantism,
Which is when an isolated population of animals,
Say, on an island, can become giant,
Like giant tortoises -- we see galapagos --
Or there used to be this giant eagle
That's now extinct. It can happen.
But we're talking about new jersey here, not an island.
So I don't know, maybe it could be some weird bigger population
Of owls or bats.
Always with the bats and owls.
Well, they fly at nights and they scare people.
All I'm saying is that people's descriptions of this thing
Are so unique that there's something there.
And people have been seeing something
For more than 300 years.
So I think instead of sitting around talking about it,
Let's get out there and investigate it.
Let's start by talking to people
That are having these current encounters.
Are they misidentifying something
Or could there be a real cryptid here? Sound good?
-Agreed. -I'm in.
Gates: My team drives 100 miles south of new york city
To one of the most remote and unpopulated areas
On the eastern seaboard,
Or exit 52 off the garden state parkway
For you jerseyites.
Torres: I'm seeing some pine trees, jess,
Which means we've made it to the pine barren forest.
Yeah.
The new jersey pine barrens,
Also known as the pines,
Is over a million acres of thick forest
That stretch over seven counties
And make up nearly a quarter of the state's entire landmass.
The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy,
Acidic, nutrient-starved soil,
But it still manages to support an impressive
900 different plants and hundreds of unique animals,
From bald eagles and bears to flying squirrels and tree frogs.
This place is amazing.
Yeah, maybe an ecosystem
That can support the jersey devil?
I mean, there's plenty of stuff thriving out here,
But home to jersey devil, I'm not so sure.
How is there no actual physical evidence of this thing
That people claim is real?
This is acres and acres and acres of woods
That have not been touched.
If you're going to live anywhere where you can hide,
And people would have a tough time to find you,
This is it right here.
Are there things we don't know about this area?
Yes, but I just can't see a giant jersey devil
Being able to hide out here without being seen.
Jess and phil arrive at a local watering hole
To meet with the most recent eyewitness
Who claims to have had a chilling encounter with,
Well, him.
-Oh, wow. -Yeah.
Ladies and gentlemen, the jersey devil.
Who knew that the jersey devil loves the gym?
Oh, that guy works out.
He is swoll.
Well, we found him. Let's go home.
Yeah, we got it. Cool.
Anyway, the team are meeting bruce powell...
Hi, it's bruce?
Yes. How you doing?
...A local woodsman who's been hunting
In the pine barrens for decades.
Bruce claims to have had a terrifying encounter
With what he believes was the jersey devil.
I had an experience that I can't really explain.
About three weeks ago, I was up a deer stand
And I was sitting there most of the day,
And got towards dark,
And all of a sudden this god-awful screech.
[ creature shrieking ]
I just froze.
I heard two steps and then one faint step, and that was it.
There's only two times in my life I've been scared,
And that was one time right there.
And it didn't sound like a deer or anything like that?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Deer make blowing noises. They'll snort.
They make all signals like that.
What about like cats in the area,
Like bobcats or anything?
I felt this. That's how big it was.
You see any footprints or anything?
I didn't even bother.
You just got out of there.
I got out of there and I never went back.
So there's something unknown in these woods.
Always has been.
♪♪
Torres: If there really is a large and mysterious animal
Living in the pines, we have to track it down.
And that starts with its last known location.
And to get there, we're heading down the mullica river,
A former trade route that once funneled
Millions of dollars of cargo into new jersey.
To look at it, you'd never know,
But there was a lot of money made here since the 1700s.
Schooners came all the way up here from jamaica with rum.
This is where they dropped everything off duty-free.
Rum was that important to the people here,
That they went all the way down to jamaica
To pick it up before coming?
Absolutely. As a matter of fact,
I'm going to take you to one where it was served.
It's also very close to where I had my experience
With the animal that made the noise that night.
This is a spot right here, and I grew up...
And I'll walk you back in.
Torres: Bruce's hunting stand is located miles into the forest.
These woods provide habitat
For the highly venomous timber rattlesnake,
Which is considered one of the most dangerous snakes
In the northeastern u.S., so we need to watch our step.
Follow me up here.
Chobot: As we venture deeper into the woods,
Bruce points out an important landmark
With historic ties to the jersey devil.
I'm going to show you what's left of the bodine tavern.
The last remnants of the foundation
Are underneath that tree. Grew right over top.
See the stone sticking out? -Oh, I do see it. Yeah.
That's the corner.
A lot of people congregated around here
And there was a lot of jersey devil sightings here.
Gates: The bodine tavern opened its doors in 1769.
Not long after, sightings of the creature perched on its roof
Became so common that in the early 1800s
They began printing images of the devil on their cider jugs.
And these sightings weren't just the results of locals
Pickling themselves in rum.
Even after the tavern closed,
The abandoned structure remained a hot spot
For many years.
Chobot: From where we're standing,
Where did you have your experience?
Right down that path through here,
Very near an old fire tower that's out there pretty far.
Awesome. All right. So that's where we got to go.
That's where you're going.
Where we're going.
I'm staying here. Ok.
All right. All right, be careful walking down there now.
All righty.
Torres: Bruce has agreed to pick us up in his boat
At first light tomorrow morning.
Our plan is to spend the night in these woods
Looking for any sign of whatever he encountered.
I believe the jersey devil is not a devil at all,
But a misidentified animal.
And like every flesh and blood creature,
It will require specific environmental features
To sustain itself.
If we can find and gain access
To the fire tower bruce mentioned,
I might be able to figure out
Where an animal like this is most likely to call home.
Look at that? Are you seeing that?
Oh, yeah! There's the fire tower.
♪♪
Wow.
Yeah.
Well, should we get up there?
Yeah, I mean, it says no trespassing,
But I think we're going to have to trespass on this one,
We'll just trespass a little.
A little bit. Make it fast.
The door's open, so...
Kind of an open invitation right there.
Oh, it's tall!
Torres: This 10-story fire tower was built
By the new jersey forest fire service
To help with the early detection of brush fires.
Wildfires have helped shape the pine barrens
For thousands of years.
These fires can create large clearings
Which give rise to edible plants,
Which attract herbivores,
Making the edge of those clearings ideal
For predators to hunt for prey.
Ooh, we are high.
I wish these heights didn't make me throw up,
Or else this would be fantastic.
That's why I'm above you, so you don't puke on me.
Based on folklore, the jersey devil is a carnivore,
Which makes this vantage point perfect
For scouting this neck of the woods.
-Hey, jess. -What?
You could stop by the base of these stairs.
The floor feels a little unstable for two up here.
Yeah, that's fine.
All right. Wow. It is an amazing view.
Oh, yeah?
I mean, it is just green pine trees all the way
In every direction to the horizon.
We got our work cut out for us, jess.
Based on reports, there's a good chance
That the so-called jersey devil
Lives somewhere between the bodine tavern and this tower,
But finding him in this -- that's a needle in a haystack.
You see anything worthwhile?
No jersey devil yet.
♪♪
Hang on, I think I'm seeing something over here.
Yeah, what?
It looks like there's some sort of clearing
Or a sinkhole or maybe even a cave.
Where should I be looking?
If the sun is 12:00... Yeah.
...Look at around 10:30.
Ok, no, I think I see it.
From your perspective, does it look like a place
Where a creature would live?
Yeah, I mean, in an area that is completely uniform
With pine trees, anything that --
[ creature shrieks ]
What the [bleep] was that?
Gates: Jess and phil are investigating recent sightings
Of the jersey devil, the legendary monster
Whose story has been synonymous with new jersey's pine barrens
For 285 years.
Chobot: Where did you have your experience?
Powell: Right down that path. Very near an old fire tower.
So that's where we got to go.
That's where you're going.
It looks like there's some sort of clearing
Or sinkhole or maybe even a cave.
Does it look like a place where a creature would live?
Yeah. I mean, anything that --
[ creature shrieks ]
What the [bleep] was that?
Jess, you heard that, yeah?
Yeah, I did. What was it?
I have no idea.
As it's getting sundown, a lot of birds start to call
When they go to roost for the night, so.
So that didn't sound like a bird.
[ sighs ] there's about 300 species
That can be found here, jess.
Do any of those 300 species of bird growl?
I actually have no clue.
It sounded like it came from near that area.
Am I crazy?
Torres: If a large flesh and blood creature
Made that sound, there has to be evidence of it.
Tracks, hair, feathers, scat -- something.
And based on our eyewitness's sighting,
The clearing we saw from the fire tower
Could be prime habitat.
♪♪
Chobot: You see anything down that way?
Torres: I don't see anything.
♪♪
Wait, wait, wait.
Hmm? What?
Wow!
Oh, check this out.
Torres: Are you kidding me?
Look at the size of this thing.
♪♪
It's some sort of building.
Yeah.
I mean, it just keeps going.
Look, there's another wall.
You know what? This is probably
The best structure for shelter around,
And it's been around for hundreds of years.
Yeah. So I could definitely see
The wildlife around here using this
As essentially a sanctuary or a home base.
I think we should set up here.
We got great visibility of the sky,
And it's perfect for the low light camera,
So if the jersey devil flies over, we'll catch it.
And we've got the ruins. That's a pretty high point.
-Yeah. -Maybe he'll perch over there.
Good visibility of the treeline.
I think I'm gonna go all around the periphery.
I have the thermal-imaging camera.
I'll shine it up in trees.
If I get a heat signature of an animal
Running around out there, flying around up there,
Maybe it'll give us a clue
As to what it is that people are seeing,
What they think is the jersey devil.
I also have the foxpro
I can send out some calls and see if we can draw something.
That's a good idea. We just got to remember, though,
Whatever people are seeing out here,
It scared the heck out of them. We got to be extra careful.
Well, yeah, we're calling the jersey devil.
Of course I'm going to be careful.
I want to get my head ripped off.
All right. Good luck here.
-Okay. -I'm heading out.
-You're walking? -Yeah.
♪♪
Chobot: I'm using a specialized low-light camera
Capable of magnifying low levels of ambient light.
Anything that streaks across the sky
Or lands near this structure,
Even if I can't see it with my own eyes,
This camera will image it.
Right.
I'm gonna take out the thermal imager.
This thermal imager can identify heat sources
In complete darkness
By measuring the heat radiating off an object
Or living thing.
Where you at, devil?
[ creature screeches ]
Did you hear that?
There's something up here.
Come on, what was it?
Oh! Look at that.
♪♪
I just saw some bats flying by.
To see it fly across the night sky with the thermal was amazing
Because they're really hard to see with just a flashlight,
But this thing, they are lighting up.
Amazing!
Ok, I've got the night vision camera set up,
And I'm ready to send out call for the foxpro.
All right. What are you going to send out first?
I'm going to try and see
If doing the rodent call brings anything in.
All right. Go for it. I'm ready.
I'll let you know if I hear it from here.
Chobot: The foxpro is an incredibly loud
High-definition speaker
Capable of reproducing a thousand different animal calls.
With a range of about 10 miles,
This thing is like ringing the dinner bell.
[ rodent squeaking ]
Come on.
[ squeaking continues ]
You seeing anything?
No, nothing yet. I'm thinking we do
A whitetail deer distress call.
Let's see if that brings anything in.
All right. I got my eyes on the sky here.
[ deer squalling ]
That's a terrifying noise she's calling out.
Torres: We can only guess how to curate a menu
For the so-called jersey devil.
While a rodent call might draw on predatory birds,
This wounded deer call could attract something bigger
That you don't want to tangle with in the dark,
Like a 400-pound black bear.
[ squalling continues ]
Jess...The woods just got super quiet around here.
Yeah, I noticed. It's quiet over here, too.
That tells me
Something is either here
Or something could be headed this way.
Oh!
[bleep]
Jess, I just had something flying overhead.
Ok, I'm looking. I thought I heard something.
What was that?
[ branches rustling ]
[ screams ] [bleep]
[ branches rustling ]
[ screams ] [bleep]
[bleep] [bleep]
[bleep]
What's up with jess? Come on!
So what happened?
Something [bleep] flew right over me.
What the heck?
I'm going to check the thermal camera.
Maybe it's still here.
♪♪
Nothing.
Torres: Whatever flew above jess's head
Seems to be gone now.
Kind of sounded like it went back here.
Is this where you had the low-light camera?
I put it over here.
[ speaking indistinctly ]
Maybe let's try to cut... This area.
Yeah. See? Right there. Check that out.
There. You see it? Wow.
Right there. That was like a wing.
Go back with the time.
That's a wing.
It does look like a wing.
If there are mosquitoes flying around you,
Bats are known to fly right by you to pick those up.
It was definitely large, larger than a bat.
Whatever just scared you, that could be the thing
That people are calling the jersey devil.
And we have something on tape.
So I think we should just keep this thing rolling,
Do a few more calls, just see what happens.
[ animal growls ] -chobot: For the next hour,
We continue sending out more virtual calls,
But things stay quiet.
The footage we manage to capture is a frustrating near-miss
Of whatever the hell flew over my head,
And whatever it was, I'm certain it was no bat
Because, while I couldn't see it,
I could definitely tell it was something extremely large.
I'm just so pissed that it didn't just land
On the top of that ledge
So that we could get a picture of it.
I don't think it's going to be that easy, jess.
Torres: At the end of a long night, I'm certain of two things.
One, something scared the crap out of jess,
And two, there are bats all over these woods.
I recorded some of them on my thermal camera.
I have to believe that is what jess encountered out here,
Though she's convinced it was much larger
Than any bat native to this area.
♪♪
So as a new day dawns, we meet up with bruce,
Who takes us back to civilization
So we can each scare up some new leads.
Powell: All right, back to the marina we go. Hold on.
Gates: Bruce claimed to have heard a monstrous call
In the woods, and based on last night,
Jess believes there could be a large winged cryptid
That inhabits the pines.
After hitting the phones all day,
Jess has managed to track down another eyewitness
That believes she actually saw the jersey devil
With her own two eyes.
Meanwhile, phil heads to the new jersey wildlife conservation
And education center to follow up on his theory
That the legendary jersey devil
Is nothing more than some kind of misidentified bat.
Hey, you must be phil.
Yes. Judging by all the bats I'm seeing here,
I'm guessing I'm in the right place.
You're in the right place, you're in the bat cave.
Joe d'angeli, the director and curator of the center,
Has been studying bats for over 25 years
And is one of the foremost experts on native bat species
In the pine barrens.
I am sure new jersey is actually looking into the jersey devil.
Anybody in new jersey has to be familiar with the jersey devil,
Especially if you work with bats.
Yeah, and when people say that there's like
A 10 foot horse-headed jersey devil flying around?
No, there's no bats there that big, obviously.
But, you know, everything and anything
Could be overexaggerated,
Especially with bats, because they're
One of the animals that you love or you're afraid of.
So the jersey devil, that lure, the story,
Everything behind it, it's mysterious enough,
And then add in the bat factor --
Of course, it's almost something out of a nightmare.
Torres: The legend of the devil that inhabits these pine barrens
Has inspired fear in this region for centuries,
And scientists have found that fear itself
Can distort our perceptions
In 2016, researchers discovered
That people with a fear of spiders,
In this case tarantulas,
Actually estimated that they were three times larger
Than they really were.
So if a person sees a large bat
Flying overhead in the pine barrens,
It's possible that a fearful response could actually
Transform that same bat into a giant winged monster.
Now, speaking of bats, do you have anything
That's large enough
That could be mistaken for the jersey devil?
I think we might have something you'd like to see.
Ok.
Chobot: While phil hangs with the batman,
I'm speaking with eyewitness megan zalinka,
Who just days ago had what she says was
A face-to-face encounter with the jersey devil,
And whatever she saw,
It could be the same large creature
That swooped past me in the woods the other night.
So tell me what happened.
My mom was driving and I was in the passenger seat.
We were going home, and I kind of like glanced up
And crouching on the eaves of the house
Was like something huge looking directly at me.
And then we passed it.
I glanced behind and yelled at my mom to turn around.
But by then it was already gone.
What gave you the idea that this thing was so big?
They had a chimney on the roof.
It was probably twice the size of the chimney.
Torres: Back at the bat cave,
I'm having a close encounter of my own,
So, these, phil...
Whoa!
...Are our big, big bats.
Yeah, that is huge!
These are the flying foxes.
These are some of the biggest bats in the world.
Wow!
You can really see when they extend their front arm
How giant they would be when they're in flight.
This is definitely mega of the mega bat family.
Yeah. Ok, now we're talking.
Ok, you're ok. You're ok.
Wow! Beautiful.
Huge animal. Yeah, I said you're beautiful.
And that face, that's not what you expect from a bat.
No, most people would not think of a bat as cute or cuddly.
Yeah. And you can imagine if people
In the 1700s here in new jersey,
Like, if they saw this flying around,
They would just think it's a devil.
Yeah. I mean their latin name monstrosus
Basically signifies that this is something monstrous.
Wow.
Torres: While the flying fox is living proof
That bats definitely come in size extra large,
There's just one problem.
This is a warm climate species
And simply not able to survive the harsh winters here.
So this sanctuary is the only place in new jersey
Where you'll find them.
Sorry, flying fox, but you are not
The jersey devil.
Is there any possibility that we could still
Be looking at some unusual bat?
It's a little bit bigger than people are used to here.
That could explain the sightings today.
Gates: My team is investigating the jersey devil,
And phil is going batty over a new winged suspect,
Torres: If they saw this flying around,
They would just think it's a devil.
Is there any possibility
That we could still be looking at some unusual bat?
It's a little bit bigger than people are used to here.
That could explain the sightings today.
Sure. I mean, anything is possible.
They're very resilient animals.
They can find ways of finding different types of food.
They are excellent at adapting.
Is it possible that some kind of large unidentified
Or mutant bat species has managed to adapt
And has yet to be discovered in the vast pine barrens?
The eyewitness that jess has been interviewing
Is convinced what she saw was more like a bat out of hell.
Chobot: So that winged monster you saw,
Were you able to glean any details from it
At all of what it looked like?
Its eyes were red and glowing. You could see the wings.
They were like a bat because I didn't see any feathers
Or anything like that.
And then the wings were pointed at the top.
You know like a gargoyle sits like with its arms
In front of its like legs
When it sits on top of like the cathedral.
It kind of reminded me of that.
Were you freaking out?
I was. I feel like it could really tear you apart.
And this area that you were driving through,
Is it a suburban area? Is it nearby any woods?
It's right. Like in the middle of the pinelands.
Ok, so we could have taken off and gone anywhere
And be hidden right away.
Yeah.
Interesting,
Chobot: According to megan,
The large creature she saw had the wings of a bat,
So I can see why people like phil
Might jump on the batwagon.
But the fact is, bats don't have glowing red eyes.
And as far as we know, in this state,
They don't even come close
To the size of the creature she witnessed.
So phil and I meet back up, and we're at a crossroads.
We're hoping josh can point us in the right direction.
Jess and phil, how are ya?
Good. How are you?
I'm great. How's the investigation?
It's been pretty crazy.
I actually had a possible encounter with the jersey devil.
Wait, what?
Yeah, we were out by these ruins.
I was sending out these deer distress calls,
And right then something swooped down past my face.
[ screams ] [bleep] [bleep]
Did you get a good look at it?
No, but I do think we got something
Worth checking out on camera.
Phil, what do you make of this?
Just absolutely encountered something.
I just don't know quite what it was.
Now, my theory, based on what we've seen out here,
Is that the jersey devil could be a bat.
Maybe there's some kind of non-native species
Or migrant species that shows up
In new jersey every once in a while
And kind of those people off and swoops jess's head.
I would like to disagree.
This thing that flew over me felt huge.
Not like just one tiny little bat swinging on by.
It was significant.
Phil, last time I checked, there are no huge,
Monster-sized bats in new jersey. Right?
I got to say, that is correct.
But nature has a way of surprising us all the time.
I mean, sure, could be anything.
Could be a mutant bat for all we know.
But let's say you are right. Let me see if I can wrangle
Some tech for you guys to send out there
To help you in identifying the species that are out there.
-Great. -Sounds good.
Good luck out there.
And remember, if something swoops down to attack,
You just keep filming.
-Will do. -We're on it.
Torres: As a biologist, I know that every big animal
Needs three things to survive -- shelter, food and water.
Shelter and food are everywhere you look.
But a water source that reaches
The deep interior of the pine barrens,
That can only be the mullica river.
Our plan is to navigate to its most remote area
Where we'll deploy some very cool new tech we got from josh.
And in jersey, there's only one way to travel on the water.
Cue the drum and bass.
♪♪
All right!
These babies came with a coupon
For a free spray tan and a slice of pizza.
Now this is how you get around the pine barrens.
♪♪
Let's go here!
Through that little wood thing?
-Yeah. -Sun's going down.
I don't know if we can make it through this.
-We're so close. -All right.
Chobot: These jet-skis aren't just for the gym tan laundry crowd,
Their flat bottom hulls make them the only viable way
To travel deep into the shallow inlets
That we need to get through.
Hey, here's a good spot.
I like it.
After an hour of navigating a maze of small tributaries,
We find the ideal spot to set up camp.
[ insects chirping ]
Ok, well,
If my hypothesis is correct
And the jersey devil is actually some sort of bat,
I'm trying to do everything I can to attract it to us.
-Ok. -So here's the plan.
Large bats essentially eat one of two things,
One of them being insects.
So we got this really bright light shining over the stream.
It's already bringing in tons of bugs.
My hope is that the bats will see their food source
And come in, get a meal and we'll be able to spot them.
-Ok. -Other thing
That large bats like to eat is fruit.
When I lived in the amazon,
We would have big bushels of bananas hanging by our base
And every single morning,
There'd be big chunks taken out of it by bats.
So I'm going to hang this up in a tree
And, you know, who knows, maybe it'll bring in something.
Ok.
And this is where josh's tech comes in.
This is a echolocation high frequency sound sensor.
I can plug this thing directly into my phone.
And when it listens, it can not only detect bats,
But it can also tell me what species is flying overhead.
Ok. That actually is really cool.
Right? This is like my favorite toy ever.
That's a good one.
And I'll be listening tonight, too,
With the parabolic mic.
Because I've used this in the jungle to record bird calls,
Frog calls, that sort of thing.
Those things are powerful.
Have you used one of these before?
-Yeah. -For what?
Bigfoot.
Of course you have.
I heard him, too.
Of course you did. I'll tell you what.
Between the high tech and the low tech,
We got to get something tonight.
Yeah. All right.
If anything happens, walkie me.
All right, let's listen to some bats.
♪♪
[ beep ]
Look at that. Check that out.
Even though I'm not seeing any bats flying by,
This thing is detecting them.
There, just happened again. This says little brown bat.
So there's some bat flying around.
Ok, this looks like a good place to start.
This parabolic microphone
Can detect even the faintest of sounds up to 500 feet away.
I am hearing so much stuff on this thing.
♪♪
[ beep ]
Huh, it's detecting a bat,
But it's saying "no matches found."
[ beep ] see? Look at that.
That means they can't I.D. What it just heard.
Could just be an anomaly
Or it could be something weird flying around here.
Oh, just happened again.
I better get a camera set up on this treeline.
These anomalous readings only strengthen my theory
That a large unidentified bat species
Could be responsible for jersey devil sightings.
So I'm deploying the same special low light camera
That we used the other night.
Hopefully this time we'll get a complete picture of the creature
That has been terrorizing this land for over 300 years
And put this legend to rest once and for all.
And recording.
See if we get anything.
What was that?
I heard some rustling through the trees,
Something that sounded like flapping,
Like something taking off.
♪♪
Let me see if I can get a closer look at what made that sound.
♪♪
[ beep ]
Whoa!
[ creature screeching ]
♪♪
Cryptozoological creatures have always captured our imaginations
And we'll pay hard-earned money
For the chance to get a look at them.
And throughout history, hucksters and showmen
Have taken note, such as p.T. Barnum,
The legendary promoter and founder
Of the barnum & bailey circus, the world famous spectacle
Dubbed "the greatest show on earth."
In the 1840s, barnum drew crowds with the promise
Of catching a glimpse of a real-life mermaid,
One of his most elaborate hoaxes.
Sure, it was really just the upper body of a monkey,
Sewed to the tail of a fish.
But hey, the fiji mermaid helped put barnum on the map.
Then in 1911, another group in philadelphia
Wanted to cash in on a famous creature
That was causing local hysteria,
The jersey devil. Maybe you've heard of it.
They painted green stripes on a kangaroo
And slapped some fake wings on its back.
Quite the cooked-up curiosity.
As to the creature that inspired it,
Well, that's the real mystery.
Phil, I got it. It's over here in the trees.
Ok, I'm gonna head your way.
Turn off your light. Turn off your light.
-What? -Turn off your light.
I don't want to scare it off.
What did you hear?
Something swoop in, land in these branches,
And just kind of rustle around a little bit.
How close do you think?
Pretty close. I'm gonna sneak up.
♪♪
Oh! [bleep]
Ok, we were close.
Ok.
♪♪
Holy...
What...Was that?
That there was something right here.
Do you see anything?
I'm not seeing anything.
Yeah, I'm not hearing anything either.
This is the one time I'm not going to tell you
That it could have been an owl because owls fly silently.
So you really wouldn't have picked it up.
So mad we didn't get visual on it.
Because if you see eyeshine,
That can tell you so much about it.
Whether it's a mammal, it's a bird, it's a bat,
Any of those things.
So what do we do?
Now that there's rain,
I feel like that's going to make it really hard
To pick out a singular sound.
Yeah, it's kind of all just like white noise at this point,
Just hitting all the raindrops.
So whatever it was here, we've probably spooked enough
That it's not going to come back.
I don't think we're going to get a second chance
To get close to it, but [bleep] were close.
So close.
I feel like we just almost snuck up on this thing.
Yeah.
Damn.
Torres: I can't say for certain what jess heard in the trees,
But what I do know is that my sensor detected
Some kind of bat flying around,
But it wasn't able to identify it.
Huh. It could be something weird flying around here.
So does that add weight to my theory
That the jersey devil is some kind of mysterious
Bat species that's come to inhabit these woods?
And if so, what is it and how did it get here?
We found historian and jersey devil expert tom hanson.
-Hi. -Hi. Welcome.
...Who has not only studied the legend for over a decade,
But also believes he knows what the jersey devil really is.
And it might help explain the strange readings
I was getting on the bat detector.
History books actually show that there was a mother leeds
Who had 13 children, and her husband was daniel leeds,
Who this is all focused around.
He was a quaker, but he didn't get along with the quakers
Because he published the "american almanack,"
Which had some risque things in there
That the quakers didn't like. So they told him to stop.
Gates: Turns out daniel leeds refused.
Then in 1728, the leeds changed the cover of the almanac
To include the leeds family crest
That incorporates a strange creature with bat wings
That are eerily similar to descriptions
Of the jersey devil.
So he puts these bats that look like devils,
And that was a shot at the quakers.
And then ben franklin comes along.
Wait, benjamin franklin?
The benjamin franklin, the founding father
From philadelphia, and he was a quaker.
And he begins to say that the leeds family is...
Because they're in league with the devil.
So it seemed like there were just rumors around this town
That the leeds family was devil worshiping
With a bat on the family crest.
You combine those things.
Is that the formula to make a jersey devil?
Absolutely.
However, can all these people be wrong?
Wherever there's a little smoke, there's fire.
There's something out there. -What is it?
I think the jersey devil was what we call
The hammerhead bat.
-I'm not familiar with the bat. -I got to see this.
Torres: When we pull up pictures of the hammerheaded bat...
Look at that face. It is so bizarre looking.
Oh, my god.
The similarities are striking to the descriptions
Of the jersey devil.
Huge wings, huge bulbous head.
Looks kind of like a horse's head.
It's about this high
Gah! No!
Absolutely not.
If I saw that in a tree, I'd be like, what the [bleep]
Torres: The hammerheaded bat
Is one of the largest bats in the world,
With a wingspan of over three feet,
Males have elongated horse-like heads
That some have described as the spitting image of a devil.
They're nocturnal feeders and produce extremely loud
And terrifying calls.
But like other large mega bat species,
They are not native to the united states.
Problem is, these are bats from africa.
-Right? -So how do they get here?
So what they did was when all the sailing vessels
From the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s were bringing things over,
They were coming up from mullica river.
They would unload their goods,
And the bats would be inside the ships.
The bats would stow away.
Wow!
And then the bats would get loose in our area
And they would fly up and down looking for food.
Now, can you imagine a bat with three foot wings
Flying overhead, with a moon behind it?
In new jersey.
That would probably look like a devil to you.
Absolutely.
-Geez. -Wow.
Torres: We've used the historic mullica river
Ourselves to gain access to the remote part of the pine barrens,
Where both jess and a recent eyewitness
Had a strange encounter with a large, unidentified creature.
That waterway was a bustling trade route
With ships packed with cargo from all over the world.
And it's possible that may have included a strange
Winged creature from africa
That just so happens to look strikingly similar
To eyewitness descriptions of the jersey devil.
What do you think about the evidence we got?
New jersey surprised me.
I mean, you got a weird reading on the bat detector.
You heard weird noises.
We've seen stuff kind of flying by camera.
All that points to something unusual flying around here.
And I think it is entirely plausible
That the hammerheaded bat can be the jersey devil.
It holds up to science, it holds up to history,
And it matches the description so well.
I agree with you. I really like that theory.
Something's out here scaring people.
Yeah. I mean, scared us, too.
Gates: The monsters that lurk in the darkest corners
Of our minds often manifest themselves in the real world,
300 years ago,
A rumor was spread to demonize an entire family tree.
Combine that with the possibility
Of an undeniably strange winged creature hitching a ride
From an exotic corner of the world...
Well, perhaps
The team's suspicions are correct.
See? Right there. Check that out.
Did the mysterious wing they captured on camera
In the heart of the forest truly belong to a giant african bat?
It does look like a wing.
And was it the same unidentified creature
That phil's tech detected in the dead of night?
Could be something weird flying around here.
This bold new theory lines up
With descriptions of the monster.
And it is entirely possible that these bats may have provided
A powerful basis for the story of the devil.
But when it comes to the modern sightings,
It isn't entirely case closed.
Just like the flying fox, the hammerheaded bat
Would be unable to survive the winter here.
As dr. Ian malcolm from jurassic park
Once noted, though, "life finds a way."
Could these bats have somehow adapted to the climate,
Or is there something else here?
As long as people report terrifying encounters
In the pine barrens,
The legend of the jersey devil will continue to take flight.
For more information on "expedition x,"
Head to discovery.Com/expeditionx.