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Hi, listeners, it's Vanessa. Before we get into today's episode, I want to tell you about another show I think you'll love. Hidden history with Dr. Harini Bhat. Every Monday, Dr. Bhatt goes where history gets mysterious. Vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena, and events that science still can't fully explain. Dr. Bot treats these moments like open case files. Not myth myths, not superstition. Just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. Hidden History drops every Monday. Follow now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, so you never miss a mystery.
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This is crime house.
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Just 20 miles from Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims first stepped off the Mayflower and into the New World lies the city of Bridgewater. It's one of the oldest and strangest cities in America. But to many people, the name Bridgewater doesn't just refer to the city. It refers to the entire area around it known as the Bridgewater Triangle. Think of it as an inland Bermuda Triangle, a place where the paranormal is, well, normal, where cryptids, UFOs, and ghost encounters are a dime a dozen. Retired police officer Allen Alvis spent years working at the southern edge of the Bridgewater Triangle in Freetown, Massachusetts. When asked for his opinion on the triangle, he said, quote, the Bridgewater Triangle is real. The most unexplained things happen here, and you can feel it in that state Force Forest. I dare anybody to go into that state forest at midnight or in the dark and tell me if you don't sense something that you don't sense anywhere else. End quote. And Alvis isn't the only one who feels this way. Hundreds of people have come forward with their own paranormal encounters. And after today's episode, I think even the most skeptical listeners will agree. There's something out there in the Bridgewater Triangle, and it isn't happy. From UFO cults and mass suicides to secret CIA experiments, presidential assassinations, and murderous doctors, these aren't just theories. They're real stories that blur the line between fact and fiction. I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is Conspiracy, Cults and Crimes, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'll explore the real people at the center of the world's most shocking events and nefarious organizations. And remember, these Monday episodes will also be on YouTube with full video. You can find them every Saturday. Just search for conspiracy theories, cults and crimes, and be sure to like and subscribe. These cases are wild, and I want to hear what you think at the end of each episode. Leave a comment Wherever you listen, be sure to rate, review and follow conspiracy theories, cults and crimes to continue building this community together. And for ad free access to all three episodes, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts Today I'm talking about the Bridgewater Triangle. Like the Bermuda Triangle, this is an area in eastern Massachusetts where weird doesn't even begin to cover it. Some encounters are paranormal in nature, ghosts who haunt the land they once called home, the bizarre cryptids and strange lights that seem to come from outer space. Others point to something even more sinister and more human giant crosses, pentagram graffiti, and even animal sacrifices. So what's real and what's legend? In the case of the Bridgewater Triangle, that line is blurrier than ever. All that and more coming up.
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The Bridgewater Triangle is made up of three cities. Abington to the north, Freetown to the south, and Rehoboth to the east, and Bridgewater. The city right in the center was the first inland settlement established by the Pilgrims all the way back in 1656. The whole region is steeped in colonial history, and a lot of people think the strange events of The Bridgetown Triangle are a product of that dark past. Because just one generation after that first Thanksgiving, where the Wampanoag people and the Pilgrims formed an uneasy alliance, a war broke out between them. It became the deadliest conflict per capita in American history. And the land itself was never the same. The first hint of trouble began when the children of those original Pilgrims and the Native people who'd helped them survive took the reins from their parents. A man named Massasoe was the leader of the Wampanoag people. But by the time he passed away and his sons took over, things had gotten very tense with the English. The colonists were constantly pushing further into Wampanoag land, buying territory or outright stealing it. On top of all that, their farm animals were destroying Native crops. Eventually, Native people started killing the livestock in retaliation. Things got even more heated when Massasoe's heir, his oldest son, died under mysterious circumstances in 1662. Many believed he'd been poisoned by the English. Either way, his younger brother, Metacomet took over as the Wampanoag's leader. Sources suggest that Metacomet actually went by Philip, a nickname his father's English friends had given him as a child. So that's what we'll call him too. Though as tensions grew, the English started calling him King Philip. They said he carried himself like royalty and he didn't like invaders on his land. Rumors that Philip would eventually turn on the English had been swirling pretty much since he came into power in 1662. And in 1675, those rumors boiled over when an English informant in Philip's so called court was killed in retaliation, three Native men accused of his murder were executed on June 8 based on very shaky testimony. The Wampanoag responded by raiding Swansea, a settlement just south of Freetown in Rehoboth. Those raids turned into full blown battles. And just like that, the conflict known as King Philip's War was on. By the fall of 1675, several other local tribes had joined the Wampanoag and and things escalated fast. The English inflicted devastating casualties. The Native Americans burned settlements to the ground, trying to destroy the infrastructure that was swallowing their land. The fighting spread across all of New England, into Connecticut, Rhode island, and all the way up through Maine. And it wasn't just about land. The war was also fueled by disease, plague and faith. The Puritans believed God was punishing them for their sins, but that only made them more determined to win and prove themselves in the eyes of the Lord. Especially because they believed the Native people were devil worshippers who deserved to be eliminated. That wasn't true, of course, but the Puritans couldn't understand why. The Wampanoag didn't just celebrate their creator God. They also honored their God of death, a deity named Habamok. The Puritans didn't understand that he was also the God of healing and said to grant special abilities in battle. Young warriors who earned his favor were said to become invincible, untouchable by bullets or arrows. Habomak would even appear to people in physical form, usually in swamps or forests. He'd disguise himself as enemy warriors. Lions, deer, eagles, and most often, snakes. Remember this detail. It'll be important later. As the war raged on, both sides prayed to their respective gods for victory. But King Philip also had two key generals fighting by his side. The first was Anawan, an old soldier who'd served alongside his father. The second was a man named Tispaquin, Philip's most ruthless and effective war leader. He was a shaman from a neighboring tribe who claimed to commune with Habamock. Because of that, he said neither bullets nor arrows could touch him in battle. The English also had some brutal commanders on their side, including the so called Indian killer, Benjamin Church. The but the most ruthless of the bunch was probably Samuel Mosley, a privateer who led an army of former pirates. And he would play a pivotal role in the single most devastating battle of the war. It all started with the Narragansett, a large and powerful tribe in the region. The English were terrified that if they joined King Philip, it could tip the whole war in his favor. So the English decided to strike first before the Narragansett could even enter the fight. On December 19, 1675, Benjamin Church and Samuel Mosley led an attack on a large winter fortress in Narragansett. Except it wasn't really a fort. It was an encampment where the Narragansett people were spending the winter. But there weren't any soldiers inside. There were only families. The English commanders didn't care. They attacked the fort. And after a long battle, many of the native people retreated back inside. But. But Mosley wasn't finished yet. He had the whole thing torched to the ground. When it was over, 200 to 300 English soldiers were dead and 500 to 600 Narragansett people had been slaughtered. After that, both sides were desperate for the fighting to come to an end. King Philip pulled his forces into the Hockamak Swamp. The name is an ode to the God Habamok. It means place where the spirits dwell. The swamp sits Just west of Bridgewater. It's massive, nearly 10 square miles, and it's still there today. The terrain gave Philip a huge advantage. He used the unfamiliar landscape to wage guerrilla warfare against the English and wear them down. But after months of fighting, the English tried a different approach. They still had the upper hand. And In June of 1676, they offered amnesty to any native people who surrendered. Some of the tribes who joined Philip's cause took the deal. Then, on July 20, Benjamin Church led a successful raid on Philip's camp in Bridgewater. Philip managed to escape, but the English captured his wife and his son and sold them both into slavery. Afterwards, Philip fled south, back to the Swansea area where the war had started. He was broken. His troops were scattered. His resources gained, gone. And soon he wouldn't even have his people's loyalty. That summer, a deserter from Philip's army traded his leader's location for amnesty. The English tracked Philip to Bristol, rhode Island. On August 12, Benjamin Church and a small group of soldiers ambushed him. It was over fast. A soldier named John Alderman shot Philip through the heart. But the English still weren't satisfied. Church's men dismembered Philip's body. They kept some parts as trophies and left the rest hanging from nearby trees. With such a brutal death, it's not surprising that Philip's ghost is said to haunt the area. But according to locals, he doesn't haunt Bristol. He haunts the Hockamak Swamp. They say his spirit still wanders near a cave where he made his last stand before the war turned against him for good. And Philip's not the only ghost who's said to linger on the land because the war wasn't over yet and things were about to get even bloodier.
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Such an ordinary thing to walk home from high school. Her name was Mickey Costanzo. Just 16, she didn't have far to go. Seemed to perfectly safe. Until it wasn't. What happened to Mickey? I'm Keith Morrison and this is five Miles From Home, an allnew podcast from Dateline. Search five Miles from Home to start listening now.
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King Philip was dead and the English were well on their way to victory. But Benjamin Church still had unfinished business. Philip's two generals, Tispoquin and Anna Wan, were still out there. Tyspiquin was a nightmare on the battlefield. So Church decided not to face him head on. Instead, he kidnapped Tispoquin's family. Then he sent word surrender and they'll be spared. Tyspiquin may have believed that he couldn't be harmed, but his family didn't have the same protection, so he turned himself in. Meanwhile, Annawan was still at large. He'd retreated deep into what's now Rehoboth State Forest. I know what you're wondering. Yes, it is within the Bridgewater triangle. And on August 28, 1676, Church finally tracked him down. Anawan was camped at the base of a series of boulders, a spot we now call Anawan Rock. Church crept up on his son, held a hatchet to his throat, and Anawan surrendered. But then something unexpected happened. Instead of more bloodshed, Church and Anawan sat down together. All their men joined them, and they shared a meal. Church promised that Anawan's soldiers would be treated with mercy. As for Anawan himself, his fate was up to the colonial government. But Church promised to fight for his life. He wasn't sure if Anawan believed him. And later that night, after everyone else had fallen asleep, it was just the two of them. some point, Anoan got up and disappeared into the woods. When he came back, he was carrying something. King Philip's most sacred possessions. The most important of these was a massive, ancient wampum belt. It was made of tiny beads carved from quog shells. These belts were heirlooms passed down through generations of leaders. Each generation would add new designs, recording the most important events of their people's history. Anawan handed the belt to Church. Since he'd defeated Philip in battle, he'd earned it. After that, the two soldiers sat together and traded war stories late into the night. Church later sent the wampum belt on a ship back to England, and somewhere along the way, it vanished. But we'll get back to that later. After capturing Anawan, Church was called to Boston. King Philip's war was officially over, although skirmishes were still flaring up in Maine and New Hampshire. But when Church returned to the Bridgewater area, he got devastating news. Both Anawan and Tispaquin had been killed and beheaded in his absence. By the time King Philip's war was over, some 600 colonists out of about 80,000 had died. The death toll among Native Americans was closer to 5,000, with another 1,000 sold into slavery. But that only tells part of the story. Between disease and the English practice of capturing native people and selling them as slaves, somewhere between 60 and 80% of the local native population was either dead or displaced. That kind of devastation leaves a mark, and in this area, many believe it's still there. Just beneath the surface. In Rehoboth, people hear voices speaking Algonquin, the language of the Wampanoag. People in the woods. Others have seen phantom fires burning in the forest, especially near Anawan Rock. A local ghost hunter named Luan Joylee even claims she saw Anawan himself. She was investigating near the rock when the apparition of an older native man appeared right in front of her. And this idea that rocks and geological formations serve as sort of anchor points for the supernatural comes up again and again throughout the triangle. There's King Philip's Cave up in Hockamak. Down in Freetown, there's Profile Rock, which supposedly bears a resemblance to Massasoe. It's a major hotspot for ghost lights and spirit sightings. And at the very bottom of the triangle between Rehoboth and Freetown, there's a rock whose mysteries go back even further, further than the war. It's called Dighton Rock. This 40 ton sandstone boulder is roughly 4ft by 11ft and is thought to be the oldest inscribed rock in North America. It used to sit partially submerged in the Taunton river, but it was moved to a small museum on the shore to preserve it. And it's absolutely covered in carvings. Some of the markings are clearly human faces, but beyond that, the shapes, symbols and scribblings are wide open to interpretation. Colonists first took an interest in the rock back in 1680, and people have been arguing about what the inscriptions mean ever since. Some think they were made by early explorers. Others say Native Americans or maybe both. That one group was inspired to leave their mark where the other already had. The theories get wilder from there. In the 1700s, people thought pirates used the rock to mark buried treasure, so they started digging up the surrounding land. Some believe the markings are Phoenician, from an ancient Mediterranean civilization known for seafaring some 3,000 years ago. Others point to 9th century Viking explorers. There's even a theory that a famous early 16th century Portuguese explorer named Miguel Corte Real, who vanished at sea, left the markings. Some people think they can see his signature carved into the stone. And honestly, it's about as convincing as any other interpretation. A few researchers even believe the numbers 1511 are inscribed just a few years after Corte Real disappeared. I'd love to hear what you all think about Dighton Rock. We've posted pictures of it up on our social media. Take a look and let us know in the comments. What do you see? Right across the river from Dighton Rock, there's another mysterious place. A small peat island in the Taunton River. This is the same river that flows north into the Hockamak Swamp. It's called Grassy island and the legend surrounding it is deeply unsettling. The story goes like this. Grassy island was a grave site, part of an archaeological area over 8,000 years ago. During early digs, scientists opened the graves and found bur bodies entombed with red ochre, a natural pigment found in the area. But when the graves were exposed to air, something bizarre happened. The ochre started bubbling, then vanished completely. On top of that, any photos the archaeologists took that day wouldn't develop as if they'd tried to photograph something they weren't supposed to see. Now, it turns out this is mostly legend. The story seems to have gotten tangled up with accounts from other nearby sites. But Grassy island does have its share of real mystery. Coastal Massachusetts has one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric human artifacts in the region. Arrowheads, pottery, and ceremonial sites. But on Grassy island specifically, remains were only found in one spot. In 1927, a psychology professor and amateur archaeologist named Edmund Delabar discovered a compact circular patch of bar bone fragments buried in the peat. It was about a foot wide and an inch or two thick, almost like a disc. A later, more formal study found the bones had likely been burned. And while most appeared to be animal, researchers couldn't rule out that some were human. But that still doesn't explain why those bone fragments were the only remains on the island, or why they were arranged in a circle. There's another archaeological site nearby, a bit further north up the Taunton River. It's right near where the Bridgewater Penitentiary and Mental Hospital stand. Today it's called the Titicat site, and it's 8,600 years old. Researchers have unearthed over 6,000 artifacts there, along with 26 burial sites. There's no record of red ochre mysteriously evaporating from these graves. But though red ochre and graphite deposits are scattered throughout the area. But the artifacts themselves are fascinating. Alongside arrowheads, axes, and whale bone jewelry, researchers found two carved stones with drawings that are still recognizable thousands of years later. One depicts a large snake hovering above circles and boats. The other shows a snake surrounded by flames. Remember, the Wampanoag people worshiped a God named Habomak. One of his most common forms was a snake. And in more modern times, sightings of giant, unexplained snakes have been one of the most consistent features of the Bridgewater Triangle, especially in Hockamak Swamp. In 1939, road workers allegedly spotted an enormous black snake slithering through the swamp that was said to be as much big as a stove pipe. That one's hard to verify, but in 1970, an eight foot long boa constrictor was run over by a car near Brockton. That one made the papers. Habamock was also said to take the form of a mountain lion or an eagle. And both have been seen in the swamp too. People have reported seeing mountain lions, which are supposed to be long gone from that area, and even black panthers, which which have never officially existed there at all. And when it comes to strange eagles, one story in particular stands out. In 1971, legend has it that a police sergeant named Thomas Downey was driving through Mansfield, just west of Hockamak Swamp. He was near a place called Bird Hill when he looked up and saw a massive creature in the sky. He said the wingspan was around 12ft wide and its body alone was about 6ft wide. After Downey told his co workers, they started calling him Birdman. He's barely spoken about it since, which is why it's pretty much impossible to verify his account. But there are plenty of other sightings with a lot more evidence behind them. A few Years later, in 1976, the town of Abington made headlines all over the country when an enormous dog started terrorizing the community. After the animal killed and partially ate two Shetland ponies, the police fielded hundreds of calls and schools shut down. Thankfully, it never attacked any people and eventually the sightings just stopped. But the people of Bridgewater Triangle still weren't safe. Anywhere you find strange creature sightings, you're going to find Bigfoot, reports. The Bridgewater Triangle is no exception and apparently Hockamak Swamp has them all. From classic tall hairy humanoids to small orange apes that witnesses compared to orangutans. But one series of sightings from 1969 to 1970 really stands out. In late 1969, students at Bridgewater State University saw something large and hairy walking upright near campus. Police figured it was a black bear, since they do live in the area. Then a few months later, in April of nineteen nineteen seventy, a man named Barry Horton spotted a seven foot tall hairy two legged creature. It was dark and he was driving, so he didn't get a great look. But once word got out, the calls started pouring in. On April 8, Bridgewater police organized a hunting party. They scoured the woods along the edge of Hockamak. They didn't find anything, but one officer claimed to have had a very close encounter. And whatever this was, it did not seem like a bear. He said that while he was out alone on patrol, something approached his car and lifted it off the ground. He said it was too dark. To see what it was. But years later, another officer came forward and said it was just a prank. He and a few buddies had lifted the car themselves. Of course, this supposedly happened while most of the search party was deep in the woods. So who really knows what went down that night? But Bigfoot isn't the only strange humanoid people have reported seeing in the area. One of the most mysterious creatures associated with the Bridgewater Triangle is something called a pukwudgie. The pukwudgie is said to come from Wampanoag mythology. They're described as small humanoid creatures with gray skin and oversized facial features, sort of like hairy goblins. In terms of their behavior, they're a lot like fairies from European folklore. Mischievous, unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous. In 1990, a man named Bill Russo claimed to see one near Raynham, just south of Bridgewater. Bill worked second shift, and every night when he got home around midnight, he'd take his dog for a walk. One night while he was out, he heard a high pitched voice. Voice call out from the woods. The words were garbled, unintelligible. Bill froze. And then something stepped out of the trees. It was small and hairy with big wide eyes. It held out its hand toward Bill, and that's when he realized what it was saying. We want you. Bill ran, and he says he's never seen anything like it since. Now, the puck was is widely known as a Wampanoag legend, but the sources making that claim never seem to trace the pukwudgie back to the Wampanoag people themselves. So while the stories are certainly creepy, the pukwudgie may be more of a modern Internet legend, similar to the not deer or the Fresno nightcrawler, newer creatures that get falsely attributed to Native American traditions. But there's another phenomenon in Bridgewater that's a lot harder. Harder to write off. Because where there are cryptids and strange creatures, there's bound to be UFO encounters, too. If you've ever wondered what diseases, medieval pee tests and cocktails have in common, you're in the right place.
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On our show, this podcast, Will Kill youl. We explore the wild world of diseases, their history, biology, and impact. Today, vaccines are, in part a victim of their own success. They have been so effective in preventing disease and death that we take them for granted.
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New episodes drop every Tuesday on the exactly right network.
- [28:36]
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Listen to this podcast will kill you on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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When it comes to extraterrestrial sightings in the Bridgewater Triangle. Both Native Americans and early colonists claimed they saw unexplained lights from hovering over the Hockamak Swamp. And in the early days of the town of Bridgewater's founding, colonial settlers described entire days where the sky would turn an inexplicable shade of yellow. In more recent times, the sightings have gotten a lot more specific. On Halloween night of 1908, two undertakers named Philip Prophet and John Flynn were traveling to Bridgewater. Past midnight. Around 4. At 4am, a bright light appeared in the sky above them. It hovered, dipped low toward the ground, then vanished, heading east toward Plymouth. That same night, similar sightings were reported all over the area. Decades later, in 1979, near a dog racing track in Raynham, two radio station employees had a much closer encounter. On the night of March 23rd, Jerry Lopes and Steve Spraja were driving near the track when they saw a bright light in the sky. They pulled over and that's when a UFO passed directly over their heads. It was shaped like a square with a triangle at the front. They compared it to a baseball diamond. Steve was an Air Force veteran, and he said he'd never seen anything like it. In the days that followed, local papers ran stories from other witnesses who described the exact same same craft. So we've got the ghosts, we've got the cryptids, the UFOs, but now let's bring things back down to earth and talk about the part of the triangle we've only touched on so far. Freetown. Freetown sits at the southern tip of the triangle, not far from Swansea, where King Philip's war kicked off. And it's surrounded by the Freetown Fall River State forest, a massive 5,000acre stretch of wilderness. Retired police sergeant Allen Alvis, the same officer we heard from at the top of the episode, has spoken extensively about what he's seen in those woods. From the early 70s through the early 90s, Alvis and other Freetown officers would regularly encounter evidence of satanic activity. Rocks spray painted with pentagrams and upside down crosses. Animals that appeared to have been killed by people, drained of blood and left behind. But the most disturbing thing Alvis ever found was in 1978. On November 11, two local kids called the police station. They said they'd found a human body in the woods, a body without a head. When Alvis and other officers rushed to the scene, they found the decomposing remains of 15 year old Mary Lou Aruda. She'd been missing since September 8th when she vanished while riding her bike through town. Now, her body was tied upright to a tree with her neck and hands bound to the trunk. Forensics investigators later determined that her head hadn't been cut off. It had fallen away as the body decomposed. That was already horrifying. But just days later, while Mary Lou's remains were still being processed, a hunter came to Alvis with something else else. He'd found a giant cross in the woods. Albus went to see it for himself and found the cross was about 10ft tall. Near it on the ground was a pair of shorts with a small amount of blood on them. Neither the cross nor the shorts appeared to have been in the woods for more than a week, so they didn't seem directly connected to Mary Lou's death. But the cross was found only about a mile from where her body had been tied to that tree. This discovery would complicate the court proceedings later on. A man named James Cater was eventually convicted for Mary Lou's murder, But a major part of his defense was arguing that a cult was actually behind her killing. That argument had teeth because shortly after Marilu's death in 1979 and 1983, women were killed in connection with the satanic cult in the city on the other side of the forest, Fall River. That's a story we'll get into later this week when we cover the Fall river cult murders. And the cross wasn't the only disturbing clue the Freetown police found in those woods. Throughout the 80s, evidence of occult rituals kept turning up. Officers found so many signs of ritualistic activity that they actually had to shut down a local pet cemetery because people kept digging up animal remains to use in their ceremonies. In the late 80s, there were also several grave robberies. The worst involved a mausoleum being broken into and the body inside being beheaded. Then in 1989, around a dozen calves were found slaughtered in the Freetown Fall River Forest. Alvis said it looked like every one of them had been drained of blood. After that, the evidence of rituals in the woods gradually tapered off. The peak of all this strange activity in the Bridgewater Triangle seemed to be between the 70s and the 90s. And the reason we know so much about what happened during that time is largely thanks to one man, Loren Coleman. Coleman is basically the Steve Irwin of cryptozoology. He's spent his entire career studying unknown animals, approaching things with a mix of genuine open mindedness and healthy skepticism. He's debunked hoaxes, but he's also willing to consider explanations that go beyond what mainstream science would accept. In the early 1970s, he moved to the Bridgewater region and couldn't believe the concentration of paranormal activity happening right around him. In 1983, Coleman published one of his most well known books, Mysterious America, and in it he gave this area its name, the Bridgewater Triangle. Since then, the Triangle has become embedded in pop culture. It's a staple of paranormal podcasts and books, and researchers from all over have made the trip out to Bridgewater, hoping to see something extraordinary for themselves. All that attention has also sparked a debate with one question at the why is the Bridgewater Triangle such a magnet for the paranormal? One popular theory is that it's all because of a curse that when King Philip's Wampum Belt, the Wampanoag's most sacred artifact, was lost, it cursed the land. Others think the sheer amount of bloodshed from the war was enough to haunt this place forever. But some people argue that whatever's going on in Bridgewater is even older than King Philip's War. After all, Dighton Rock predates the conflict. So do the Post Ice Age archaeological sites, which go back more than any 8,000 years. I'd love to get your take on this. Do you think King Philip's War is the reason this area is a paranormal hotspot? Or was the Bridgewater Triangle already some kind of window into the supernatural long before the war? Let us know in the comments, wherever you listen. The descendants of the the Wampanoag people still live in the Bridgewater area today. In fact, one of the last remaining reservations sits right along the border of the Freetown Fall River Forest. They've read about and studied what happened on their land all those years ago. And one Wampanoag woman named Paula Peters is determined to right one of the many wrongs of this painful history. In 2020, Paula rallied her community to create a new Wampum Belt. People contributed during powwows and social events, weaving together a belt that tells part of the modern Wampanoag story. Eventually, Paula brought the belt to a museum in southern England where King Philip's original belt may have ended up. Paula has been searching for any trace of it, and she hopes that raising awareness might eventually help someone find it. If that happens, one mystery of the Bridgewater Triangle may form finally be solved. But if the last few centuries are any indication, I bet more secrets will be waiting just around the corner. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes. Come back next time. We'll do decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world's most notorious cults, conspiracies and criminal acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to remember, rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free. We'll be back on Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Bethany Branson, Leah Roche, Kaylee Pine, and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening.
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On a quiet Saturday morning, five women walked into Elaine Bryant store and never came home. The man responsible for their deaths was heard and even described by the lone survivor. But despite nearly being caught, he vanished into thin air. In the years since, new technology, new investigators, and new questions have changed what's possible. But the families are still waiting for answers. The evidence is still there, and this case isn't cold. It's unfinished. Listen to Counterclock Season eight wherever you get your podcasts.