Creature record / 1971
Late summer, 1971. Two in the morning. Thomas Downey, a sergeant with the Norton Police Department, was driving home along Winter Street in Mansfield toward Easton. Off duty. Alone. Ahead lay Bird Hill, at the edge of the Hockomock Swamp. He drew to a stop at the intersection. Something was there. A tremendous winged creature, over 6 feet tall, with a wingspan of 8 to 12 feet. Then the bird flew straight up and disappeared over the dark trees into the swamp. A patrol car searched the area and found nothing. For weeks his colleagues called him "The Birdman". Downey maintained his account.
Southeastern Massachusetts holds a vast stretch of wetland called the Hockomock Swamp. It covers 16,950 acres across Bridgewater, Easton, Norton, Raynham, Taunton and West Bridgewater. Years later, the cryptozoologist Loren Coleman would give the surrounding region a name in his book Mysterious America. The Bridgewater Triangle. Among the strangest stories in it was one told by a police officer.