The New Jersey Vegetable Monster
As defined by Leonard George in his encyclopedic work Alternative Realities: The Paranormal, the Mystic and the Transcendent in Human Experience —
Loren Coleman and Bruce Hallenbeck offer some more context in their book Monsters of New Jersey:
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down the original report that inspired the New Jersey Vegetable Monster. I'm not sure it was ever reported in papers.
New Jersey Vegetable Monster — A humanoid resembling a giant stalk of broccoli, reputedly seen one night by a drunk in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The case has entered the folklore of animalistic studies as representing the least evidential type of unusual experience report.
Loren Coleman and Bruce Hallenbeck offer some more context in their book Monsters of New Jersey:
If Leonard George is to be remembered for anything, it should be for a term that hits the name on the head and speaks to the topic and state that is the focus of this volume. George has coined the phrase New Jersey Vegetable Monster, which is today used by cryptozoologists and other researchers of anomalous phenomena and the unexplained to describe a sighting or incident that has exceptionally poor evidential support. He discusses the case of page 194 of his book, Alternative Realities.
According to George, the term originated with a sighting reported by a single severely intoxicated eyewitness, who claimed to have observed a humanoid resembling a giant stalk of broccoli. The original sighting, which allegedly occurred in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, was likely attributable to a case of delirium tremens.
The basis of the use of this expression today is that if something is so absurd and the eyewitness lacks almost any credibility, a cryptozoologist investigating this nearly completely unreliable sighting, out of no disrespect to other credible witnesses, may quietly slip the rejected case in his New Jersey Vegetable Monster file.
According to George, the term originated with a sighting reported by a single severely intoxicated eyewitness, who claimed to have observed a humanoid resembling a giant stalk of broccoli. The original sighting, which allegedly occurred in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, was likely attributable to a case of delirium tremens.
The basis of the use of this expression today is that if something is so absurd and the eyewitness lacks almost any credibility, a cryptozoologist investigating this nearly completely unreliable sighting, out of no disrespect to other credible witnesses, may quietly slip the rejected case in his New Jersey Vegetable Monster file.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down the original report that inspired the New Jersey Vegetable Monster. I'm not sure it was ever reported in papers.
Comments
I once saw a cockroach that ate Cincinnati.
Posted by KDP on 02/04/20 at 03:26 PM
@KDP, wasn't that a movie?
Posted by Steve E. on 02/04/20 at 11:07 PM
Not quite, Steve. But close enough.
Posted by KDP on 02/05/20 at 01:54 PM
How about the eggplant that ate Chicago?
Posted by F.U.D in Stockholm on 02/05/20 at 03:34 PM
You can see George Clooney's film acting start in Return of the Killer Tomatoes,
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 02/05/20 at 04:53 PM
Let's not forget the rutabaga that ate DC...
Posted by Richard Bos on 02/08/20 at 10:33 AM
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Category: Cryptozoology | Fictional Monsters