Despite the scenic, natural beauty of the area - the Bennington Triangle is shrouded in mystery and a sinister past. Since at least the 19th Century, Bennington has been a hotspot for paranormal phenomena. Early settlers and loggers reported seeing strange, flashing lights in the sky. There are also stories that go back to the earliest colonial days of people venturing into the area, and never returning, The few people who did return, came back completely insane, raving about the horrors they had witnessed.

 

This troubling history was brought back into public consciousness, by a series of bizarre disappearances in the five year period between 1945 and 1950.

 

The first disappearance was Middie Rivers, 74. He went missing in November '45, while out on a hunting trip with four companions.

 

Despite a thorough search of the area, all they found was a bullet from the hunter's rifle, laying by a small stream.

 

The second disappearance: 18-year-old Paula Weldon, On the 1st of December 1946, after finishing her shift at work, Paula decided to get some fresh air and take the popular hiking trail called 'Long Trail up Glastenbury Mountain'. It was around 4 PM when Paula set out on her hike, she vanished and was never seen again.

 

Three years later, to the day, December 1st, 1949, a third disappearance happened. War veteran, James E. Tetford vanished on a bus travelling from St. Albans to Bennington, to visit relatives. He never reached his destination. Witnesses saw him sleeping in his seat at the second to last stop before arriving at Bennington. When the bus reached its destination, James had vanished. The bus had been in motion the entire time so he couldn't have gotten off the bus, plus he had left all his luggage, his wallet, and all of his cash behind.

 

The next victim to fall prey to the Bennington Triangle was little Paul Jepson, aged 8. Paul was playing on the farm, where he lived with his mother. A short while later his mother came to check on him, and he had vanished without a trace.

 

His father recalled how in the months before Paul's disappearance, he had expressed a strong desire to go up the nearby mountains of Bennington - almost as though a supernatural force was calling him.

 

16 days later on the 28th of October, 1950, 53-year-old Frieda Langer was camping with a group of friends. At one point Frieda fell into a shallow stream and decided to go back to the campsite to get a change of clothes. She also disappeared.

 

There were five extensive searches for Frieda, using helicopters and police dogs, but not a trace of Frieda could be found.

 

Then in May, 1951, the body of Frieda was found. It was found in full view in an open clearing, so badly decomposed that no cause of death could be determined.

​

To this day, these cases have never been solved.