Who or what is Spring-Heeled Jack? This terrifying demonic figure has terrorised communities in Britain and the USA since the mid-19th century and has become part of local folklore in both countries. Descriptions vary slightly but all who have seen him agreed that he was a cloaked figure with claws or talons where his hands should be, his eyes burned bright red and he emitted flames from his mouth or chest. Strangest of all, he appeared to defy the laws of gravity with enormous leaps over high walls and buildings or into trees.
Spring-Heeled Jack: Earliest Sightings
His first reported appearance was in Clapham, London in 1837. Young Polly Adams was taking a short cut through Clapham churchyard on her way home one evening. Suddenly she was confronted by this leering cloaked figure that had leaped over a high wall. He had burning glowing eyes and “bird-like claws” instead of hands. He groped at her before fleeing as other people approached. Polly watched in dumbfounded terror as he hurled himself up and over another high wall and disappeared.
Another girl was attacked in the same place a year later and other witnesses came forward.
Lucy Scales claimed she was attacked in Limehouse and the creature tried to strangle Jane Alsop in her home before being beaten off by members of her family. They claimed he leaped into the air and soared off into the night sky.
Jane Alsop told London magistrates…"He was wearing a kind of helmet and a tight fitting white costume like an oilskin and he vomited blue and white flames."
The Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Cowan, became concerned and wrote of the attacks in a letter to the Press which increased the hysteria. Vigilantes began to roam the streets in search of the creature. On one occasion, they included the Duke of Wellington, then nearly 70, who led a party on horseback.
Spring-Heeled Jack: Territory Expanded
Jack’s field of operations widened and in the 1850s and 60s his attacks were reported from all over England, particularly in the Midlands. Even the army became involved and set traps after he terrified a soldier on guard duty and leaped onto his sentry box before disappearing. In Lincoln, he was confronted by a group of people, one of whom shot him. The bullet seemed to pass right through him and he laughed before soaring over walls and small buildings.
He, then, seemed to have moved to the USA and was seen in and around Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This time, the blue flames erupted from his mouth, rather than his chest.
One one occasion, a dog cornered him in Provincetown. The dog’s owner blasted the apparition with a shotgun. “The darned thing just laughed and jumped over my eight-foot fence in one leap”, the man told police.
In Houston, Texas, Jack was seen to leap into a pecan tree then “melted into the darkness”. There was a swooshing sound and a blue torpedo-shaped object was seen soaring above the rooftops.
Back in England, he was cornered by a mob in a Liverpool alley in 1904. As usual, he took to the air and disappeared.
Spring-Heeled Jack: Comeback in the ‘70s
Spring-Heeled Jack made a comeback in the 1970s, both in England and the USA. In Sheffield, South Yorkshire, he was almost trapped by armed police after complaints of attacks on women. A “red-eyed prowler” was also seen leaping between rooftops and walking up walls. The police were closing in when he vanished into thin air.
Possibly his last appearance was in 1986 in rural South Herefordshire. A former army officer named Marshall was astounded to see a figure leaping over hedgerows in a single bound. The figure landed alongside him and felled him with a slap to his face before making off. The red mark left by the blow lasted several hours.
Spring-Heeled Jack: A Mystery
So, to return to the original question. Who or what is Spring-Heeled Jack? There is too much documentation, too many witnesses to dismiss him as an urban myth. Is he a malevolent spirit, a demon from some hellish dimension? Is he a man who has developed special powers, including incredibly long life?
My money is on him being a thought-form, what the Tibetans call a Tulpa, brought into being by the power of the mind or minds. According to the Tibetans, Tulpas invariably become malicious and dangerous - just like Jack.
Sources:
- www.ghost-story.co.uk
- www.historic-uk.com
Brian Baker - My name is Brian Baker and I live in Manchester, England though I was born almost 70 years ago in Liverpool, 30-odd miles down the ...
