Bennington Triangle
Overview
The Bennington Triangle is a term coined by author Joseph A. Citro for an area of southwestern Vermont, centered on Glastenbury Mountain, where five people disappeared under unexplained circumstances between 1945 and 1950.
Details
- Origin:
- The Bennington Triangle centers on Glastenbury Mountain in southwestern Vermont, encompassing parts of the towns of Bennington, Woodford, Shaftsbury, and Somerset.
- Regions:
- Southwestern Vermont, Glastenbury Mountain area, Bennington County, Vermont
- First Reported:
- 1945-11-01
Full Account
The Bennington Triangle is a colloquial designation for a stretch of southwestern Vermont centered on Glastenbury Mountain and encompassing parts of Bennington, Woodford, Shaftsbury, and Somerset. Author and folklorist Joseph A. Citro coined the term and popularized it through his books including 'Shadow Child'. Five people disappeared in the area between November 1945 and October 1950: Middie Rivers (74, experienced outdoorsman, November 1945), Paula Jean Welden (18, Bennington College student, December 1, 1946), James Tedford (68, WWI veteran, December 1, 1949), Paul Jepson (8 years old, October 12, 1950), and Frieda Langer (53, experienced hiker, October 28, 1950). Langer's body was found in May 1951; the others were never found. The geographic area was historically one of the few areas of Vermont that remained virtually uninhabited even during the peak of agricultural settlement — Glastenbury and Somerset became ghost towns — which folklorists attribute to the difficulty of the terrain and repeated failed attempts at logging and industry. The Bennington Triangle has no counterpart in official law enforcement classification; Vermont state police and the FBI investigated individual cases without producing explanations. The clustering in time and place, the wilderness terrain of Glastenbury Mountain (elevation 3,748 feet), and the inability to find most bodies or evidence have sustained paranormal and anomalous interpretations.
Also Known As
- Vermont's Vanishing Zone (English, Vermont, USA)
Etymology
- Origin:
- The term 'Bennington Triangle' was coined by Vermont author and folklorist Joseph A. Citro, modeled on the Bermuda Triangle designation. It refers to the town of Bennington, Vermont, near which several of the disappearances occurred.
- Meaning:
- A triangular geographic region near Bennington, Vermont, associated with a cluster of unexplained disappearances.
- First Use:
- Attributed to Joseph A. Citro; popularized through his work in the 1990s
Timeline
- 1945-11-01 — Middie Rivers, 74, an experienced local guide, vanishes while leading a hunting party near Woodford, Vermont; only a single rifle cartridge is found (First disappearance in what would become the Bennington Triangle cluster)
- 1946-12-01 — Paula Jean Welden, 18, a Bennington College sophomore, disappears on the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain while hiking alone and insufficiently equipped; the FBI investigates and offers a $5,000 reward; she is never found (Most famous Bennington Triangle case; inspired Shirley Jackson's 1951 novel 'Hangsaman' and led to the creation of the Vermont State Police)
- 1949-12-01 — James Tedford, 68, a WWI veteran living in the Bennington Soldiers Home, disappears on December 1 — exactly three years after Paula Jean Welden — while traveling by bus from St. Albans to Bennington; last confirmed seen at a stop; his belongings were found on the bus but he was gone (Disappearance on the same date as Welden; noted for occurring on a public bus route)
- 1950-10-12 — Paul Jepson, 8, a boy with special needs, vanishes from near an unattended vehicle at a town dump in the area; a bloodhound tracks his scent to a road intersection where the trail ends; he is never found (Youngest victim; trail ending at a road suggests he may have entered a vehicle)
- 1950-10-28 — Frieda Langer, 53, an experienced hiker camping near Somerset Reservoir with her cousin, slips into a stream and goes back to change clothes; she is never seen again; her body is found the following May approximately 3.5 miles from the campsite (Only victim whose body was recovered; cause of death not determined due to decomposition)
Sightings & Evidence
Cultural Significance
The Bennington Triangle is primarily a modern popular legend rather than a deep-rooted folk tradition. It belongs to the genre of 'named mystery zones' — the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil's Sea — that cluster unexplained events within a named geographic boundary to create a mythology of danger.
Related Phenomena
- Bermuda Triangle — The naming convention was directly borrowed from the Bermuda Triangle
- Devil's Sea / Dragon's Triangle — Another named disappearance cluster used as a paranormal location designation