The name of a town called Palmyra in Maine is unfamiliar to most people. Only those who live relatively close to it know about it. It is located between Newport, Hartland, Detroit, St. Albans, and Pittsfield.
This town was officially founded in 1807 by townspeople who moved here when the Commonwealth in Massachusetts wanted to sell some land to get money during the War of Independence.
A seemingly unremarkable American town. But there are curious mystical stories of wolves and werewolves associated with it. For example, the Palmyra wolves are werewolves, rumors about which have been known for quite some time.
The documentary series Paranormal Witness has become widely popular on American television. In the third season, episode 9, the family is haunted by creatures that resemble two-legged wolves. The story is popularly known as the story of the Palmyra Wolves.
Everyone probably knows what a werewolf is. However, when people say the word out loud, they imagine a creature with the head of a wolf covered with thick black hair and walking on two legs.
The medieval legends that terrified the population have regained their former glory, only now they have been transformed into rumors and speculation. But some claim that the mystical creatures of ancient legends live on to this day. In Maine alone, there are numerous accounts of encounters with these creatures. So does this mean that werewolves exist or not? Let’s try to find out.
Let us turn to history. Who are werewolves, and what is known about them?
Who they are
How does one think of a werewolf today? The first thing that comes to mind is the beast’s image from famous pictures such as Van Helsing, The Wolf Man, and The Silver Bullet, all based on Stephen King’s The Werewolf Cycle. Immediately, the subconscious mind turns to the direct connection of these terrifying creatures to the full moon, with silver, which is detrimental to these predators. And the image of the werewolf is always associated with the wolf.
A werewolf in real life looks like an ordinary person, no different from those around him. His transformation into a wild animal usually occurs at night when no one is around. But, of course, he does not want outsiders to know the truth about him. Therefore, his immediate environment may not even guess who he really is.
Interesting! In most cases, shapeshifters become wolves as a result of reincarnation. Some werewolves can also transform, at will, not only into any animal but also into an inanimate object, such as a boulder or sparkling mist. However, only the strongest of these creatures are capable of it.
There are several versions of where werewolves come from. In ancient Slavs, werewolves were believed to be werewolves in ordinary people’s minds caused of the corruption of witches. Another version, which emerged during Christianity, turned into wolves and other animals were great sinners who had apostatized from their faith in God or their children. Witches and witches also know how to turn into a werewolf and periodically do so to harm other people.
A genetic disorder in which a person has an abundance of facial and upper torso hair could also have contributed to the creation of the werewolf image. This pathology is called “congenital hypertrichosis. People suffering from it were readily hired to work in the circus, where they entertained the public by acting as beasts and werewolves.
The range of possibilities
The abilities of werewolves are quite varied and impressive. Folklore has it that they are:
- they have tremendous physical strength;
- they can see in the dark;
- they have a keen sense of smell which allows them to smell an animal or human coming a mile away;
- they live up to 200 years or, according to some accounts, are immortal.
Werewolves can manifest these abilities in varying degrees. The strongest can heal from grievous wounds in minutes, never age, and subdue wild animals with a mere glance.
What Happens During Reincarnation
Many people wonder what a werewolf looks like when he turns into an animal. There is a misconception that such creatures supposedly retain some human traits in an animal guise. In fact, a werewolf who has transformed into a wolf, for example, is indistinguishable from other animals of this species. The only discernable difference is in behavior, which can be quite deliberate in werewolves.
The reincarnation process itself occurs rapidly in a matter of minutes. An average human suddenly gets down on all fours, begins to cover himself with hair, and changes before his eyes. He then discards his clothes and wanders off into the night. Some werewolves are said to be in pain and physical discomfort while reincarnated. But in reality, there is little, if any, discomfort.
The Palmyra wolves – old stories
In Maine, alleged werewolf activity began as early as 1857.
One of the first man-wolf pack attacks was reported to have occurred just 20 miles from Bangor. A team of horses driving Mr Mitchell, a mailman, as he delivered daily packages in a horse-drawn wagon was assaulted. When a pack of wolves attempted to outrun the horses, Mr Mitchell shot the pack with his rifle.
Then they decided to retreat into the woods. Despite the fact that the attack appeared to be random and unprovoked, reports soon started to circulate that the monsters may not have actually been wolves but rather werewolves, human-wolf hybrids.
The Palmyra wolves – contemporary testimonies
Notably, Maine author Stephen King chose werewolves as the focus of his werewolf stories, which are set in the fictional Maine town of Tarker’s Mills.
Recently, several stories about werewolves in Maine have swarmed across the country. More recently, though identified as dog and wolf hybrids, mysterious beasts found in 2006 and 2013 have sparked much speculation that they may be something more supernatural. The mystery beast found in Turner in 2006 was dead when it was found, and a photo of the mystery beast in Wayne is all we had of the sighting in 2013.
The most famous werewolf story from Maine was about the Palmyra wolves and was featured on Syfy’s Paranormal Witness. This Palmyra story is about a family that was terrorized by five human dogs outside their cabin in the woods.
The story came to prominence after the Paranormal Witness series.
Maine is truly the last wilderness on America’s thoroughly settled East Coast. Larger than the other five New England states combined, Maine is sparsely populated and overwhelmingly rural. So it would be easy to hide among the state’s many pine trees. But, like the Pacific Northwest, which has long been home to most of the world’s sasquatch species, Maine could harbor an entire army of the Palmyra wolves.
A horrifying night that may have involved werewolves happened to a couple from Palmyra, Maine, in 2007. Five wolf-like monsters started stalking Shelley Rockwell-Martin and Eric Martin as they sat on the porch of their new house in Palmyra, which they had just moved into.
They claimed that the creatures, which stood around 2 meters (7 feet) tall, occasionally quickly stood on their hind legs. The creatures had been cunningly sneaking around the couple’s home all night. Eric loved to hunt and always had his guns close by. Still, at Shelly’s insistence, every firearm in his arsenal was securely stored outside in a barn.
The Martin family mostly spent the night cooped up in their house. But there were nevertheless a few creepy encounters (as mentioned in an episode of Paranormal Witness). As if a potential werewolf attack in modern Maine wasn’t strange enough, the siege was preceded by a series of unexplained lights in the woods surrounding the Martin home.
Eric Martin also claimed that before seeing the wolf pack, he saw the ghost of a young child in outdated clothing inside the house. Given all the strange activity involved in this case, those inclined to believe in such things have wondered if the Martin house is near or on the threshold between the spirit world and our own.
More about the Palmyra wolves
The story of the Palmyra wolves described in the famous TV series is not the only story of werewolves in Maine.
Another story is from a woman whose family lives about 60 miles northeast of Palmyra (where Martin’s family lives).
I played outside with the dogs at dusk (the sun was below the tree line, but there was still plenty of light) and went to the bathroom. My husband played his guitar but walked into the bathroom, looking like he wanted to say something. He was pale and sweaty and kind of staring into space, so naturally, I got worried. At first, he didn’t want to tell me what was wrong, but eventually, I got it out of him that he had seen a huge black wolf walking past the window.
I told him it must have been a bear, knowing that there should be no wolves here and that the window was too high for any four-legged dog to pass in front of it. He said no, but whatever it was, I didn’t want dogs messing with him, so I ran outside. They were still struggling in the side yard, not paying attention, so it was easy to get them back, and then I looked around. I didn’t see any animal or sign, but I noticed that the window was even higher than I thought.
When I returned, my husband described what he saw as a two-legged black wolf. He said its muzzle and ears looked like a wolf’s, but it had yellow eyes that reminded him more of a cat’s. I measured the window, and its bottom was 6 feet off the ground, so for someone’s head and torso to fit through it from where it was standing, the animal would have had to be about 7 feet tall.
One of our dogs is tall enough if she stands up on her hind legs, but we’ve never seen her do it on her own, and she’s grey-blue, with floppy ears and brown eyes. As far as I know, there are no huge black circus dogs in my driveway.
My husband is very sceptical of anything not recognized by the scientific community. However, he still insists he has not seen a black bear. He concluded that he had imagined the whole thing.
Two weeks later, my husband saw the same animal at about the same time of day. This time he was standing close to the window, and the animal was farther away, running out through a strange grove of red pines with sparse undergrowth. He still can’t believe it is real, even after seeing it the second time.
And then (I’m not sure if it’s related), about a week after that, I was working in the garden, and my husband came back and called me, again badly shaken. He said he was sitting in his computer chair, and he thought he saw me standing over his shoulder.
He said that when he looked up, it was a black figure (like a shadow man?) He jumped up, and it was gone, but it scared him to death. He asked me to come inside and keep an eye on him because he was afraid it meant he was having a stroke or something.
The Palmyra wolves are not the only ones of their kind. Stories of werewolves in America are numerous and have been known from ancient times to the present day. Here are some of them.
Michigan Werewolf
Stories about the Michigan werewolf have existed for more than 50 years. In that time, more than a hundred people have seen him. Some consider it fiction and legend, but a recent case indicates that the wolf man exists.
Like the Palmyra wolves, the Michigan werewolf, described by eyewitnesses as an upright creature with a wolf head, a human body, and glowing eyes, is the most famous story among Great Haven residents and is in some ways considered an urban legend of the entire state of Michigan.
Over 50 years, the story has become littered with numerous fictions, among which it is challenging to find actual cases. In addition, a documentary was released in 2007, and another has yet to make things any easier. On the contrary, it is difficult to distinguish between credible testimony and fiction by filmmakers and those who engage in speculation.
Testimonies
The most credible detailed description of a human wolf was made by a Great Haven resident named Kenneth Brown, who claimed to have seen a werewolf three times between 2003 and 2004. The story strongly resembled that of the Palmyra wolves. However, he later speculated that he had seen different creatures because they were somewhat different in size and coloration, meaning there could be a whole pack of werewolves in Michigan.
– It was almost two meters tall and stared at me intently. I froze and didn’t move,” the eyewitness described his encounter.
The first encounter dates back to 2003 when Kenneth and two friends walked past Hofma Preserve late at night. As they passed the bridge, they heard strange noises. The friends didn’t pay attention, but Ben got a little behind and turned back. Then, not far from where they had passed a minute before, Kenneth saw a huge dog standing behind a lamppost.
The second incident was more unexpected and shocking. It happened later that year, right in front of his house. Kenneth went outside and headed for his car, but before he reached it 20 meters away, he saw a similar creature looking out from behind the car. The monster was reddish but no different from the first time he saw it.
But Kenneth had another encounter with the wolf man ahead of him. Late one evening in 2004, he and his cousin drove from the beach. Suddenly they saw a downed deer on the road and stopped. Suddenly, a huge creature that looked like a dog appeared out of nowhere, picked up the animal, and took off with it into the woods.
The Last Attack
Now let’s move on to the most recent incident, which occurred in March 2022. In the beginning, we mentioned the story of the Palmyra wolves. This story is somewhat similar.
Here’s what the eyewitness Henrietta Smith told us:
– I was taking a morning run through a wooded area about a mile and a half from my house. As I turned, I saw a man walking about 100 yards away.
Suddenly something greyish-brown rushed past him, and they both disappeared without a sound. I could see that the creature looked like a tall, fur-covered man. It stood on its hind legs and moved at lightning speed, and it also had the head of a dog or a wolf.
As Henrietta ran over to where the man had disappeared, she noticed that someone’s baseball cap was on the ground, and there were traces of blood on it. It seemed familiar to her. She reflected on the same baseball cap she had seen on the local tramp, whom everyone knew as Chucky. There was no other sign of him being there.
Chucky Birdman, whose baseball cap Henrietta allegedly saw, was homeless, and no one had seen him since that day. Some believe he moved elsewhere, while others believe he was the new victim of a Michigan werewolf who continues to terrify Michigan residents.
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