1 In 6 NJ Residents Believe In The Jersey Devil, Poll Says

NEW JERSEY — Within the vast acreage of New Jersey's Pine Barrens is a trove of local folklore and history passed down through generations.

The most famous, of course, is the state's own cryptid - the Jersey Devil. And according to a new poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1 in 6 residents think that it could be real.

Sixteen percent of residents of New Jersey today say that the Jersey Devil is “somewhat” or “very” likely to be real, with 58 percent saying that it's “not at all likely” to be real, and 18 percent saying that it’s “not very likely,” according to the poll results. And while the Jersey Devil is linked to the Pine Barrens, people statewide are equally likely to believe in it.

“The Jersey Devil may have started off as a regional cryptid,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at FDU, and the director of the poll. “But at this point, he’s been adopted by the state as a whole.”

The tale of the Jersey Devil has gone through many iterations throughout the years, even dating back to the indigenous Lenape people. The most common story is that the Jersey Devil was the 13th child of Mother Leeds, born in 1735 in Leeds Point (now in Galloway), and that she cursed her “dire straits.” The child was turned into a winged, hoofed bipedal creature who flew into the woods.

There have been numerous sightings of the Jersey Devil reported throughout the years, including by Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon's elder brother).

New Jersey residents are not rejecting the supernatural as a whole, though: 44 percent of poll respondents said that ghosts are “somewhat” or “very” likely to be real.

“Not believing in Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil doesn’t mean giving up on all paranormal beliefs,” said Cassino. “There are lots of otherwise skeptical and scientific people who say that they’ve seen a ghost.”

And while some may criticize the results as respondents just having a laugh at the interviewer, FDU included a question about a paranormal creature no one believes in just to check - the Flukeman of Newark, a sewer dwelling abomination that appeared on an 1994 episode of the TV show “The X-Files.” Only 2 percent of residents say that he's “very likely” to be real.