Creature record / 1939

The Glawackus of Glastonbury

January 1939 · Glastonbury, Connecticut (Diamond Lake and surrounding woods), United States

27Thinly documented Cryptid Creature 21 sources 7 videos

Glastonbury, Connecticut. Winter, 1939. Something was yelling in the woods at night. Dogs that chased it came back clawed. Goats went missing. One man saw a big animal in the pitch dark, with eyes that glowed like embers. Near Diamond Lake, a hunter watched a beautiful black creature with a tail two feet long jump from the brush. The hunter fired. The animal fled. Soon about two hundred people were combing the snowy woods. The Hartford Courant gave the beast a name. The Glawackus. What followed was half manhunt, half newspaper joke, and nobody ever settled what was really out there.

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Key facts

When	January 1939
Time of day	night
Where	Glastonbury, Connecticut (Diamond Lake and surrounding woods),United States
Duration	months (a flap, January to July 1939)
Witnesses	7
Witness roles	civilians
Found	,physical traces
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	Hartford County game warden posse led by Charles Allshouse, January 14, 1939
Status	disputed

The creature

A black or tawny animal about three to four feet long, with a tail two feet long that was sometimes bushy. Witnesses described it as part dog, part cat. It gave blood-curdling yells at night, and one man saw eyes that glowed like embers in the dark. It was nimble and fast, and fled when shot at.

Size	about 0.9 m (about three feet long, with a two-foot tail)
Distance	about 4.6 m from the witnesses
Colour	black
Sound	other sound
Motion	high speed

The 2024 Drone Wave: New Jersey, Langley AFB and RAF Lakenheath (related)

Context

The winter after the Great New England Hurricane of September 1938 was a hard one in Connecticut.

Sources (21, most influential first)

Glawackus · Wikipedia · Wiki, blog, podcast · wiki
Remembering the Dreaded Glawackus, the Mystery Creature Who Enchanted CT and the Berkshires · These Mysterious Hills (Joe Durwin)· 2021-01-14 · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
The Glastonbury Glawackus · The Line-up· 2014-10-29 · Press, book, documentary · news
The Glawackus, Glastonbury · Damned Connecticut (Ray Bendici) · Wiki, blog, podcast · blog
Meet Glawackus, Glastonbury's Own Legendary Beast · Patch· 2014-09-08 · Press, book, documentary · news

Reputability

27/100Thinly documented

Editorial note: most sources for this case are later retellings; the press and book coverage is thin.

Keywords

People

William F. BonvouloirHunter who fired at the black, long-tailed creature near Diamond Lake (also reported as Joseph Bonvouleir)
Charles G. StricklandFarmer; possible earliest encounter, on Bush Hill, Manchester, November 1938
Charles AllshouseHartford County game warden who led the posse of January 14, 1939
George HutchinsonOwner of goats said to have been taken by the animal
Frank KingAssistant state editor at the Hartford Courant who coined the name Glawackus
Clay PerryNewspaperman and caving pioneer who staged the 1939 cave capture spoof
Roger JohnsonCaver who took part in the staged Bashful Lady Cave capture
Joe DurwinResearcher and writer of These Mysterious Hills; proposed the fisher explanation