The Devil's Footprints
After a snowy night in Devon, people woke to a single line of hoof-like prints that seemed to cross rooftops and walls.
What was reported
On the morning of 9 February 1855, after a night of snow, people in towns and villages around the Exe estuary in south Devon found tracks shaped like small hooves. They ran in a single line, one in front of another, and were reported to continue for many kilometres in total.
According to the newspapers of the time, the tracks went over rooftops and high walls, through haystacks and up to doors, and even seemed to cross the estuary. Some people called them the devil's footprints.
Explanations offered
Suggestions at the time and since include hopping rodents such as wood mice, birds, a loose pony, an experimental balloon trailing a rope, and tracks from several animals that were linked together in the retelling. Many historians think the tracks were real but the reports were exaggerated.
- When
- 8–9 February 1855
- Where
- Exe estuary, Devon, England
- Witnesses
- Residents of dozens of towns and villages
- Status
- Unexplained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.