Pumpkin Jack Sighted

He nearly spotted Pumpkin Jack.

The morning paper reported several sightings of Pumpkin Jack, a.k.a. Jersey Jack Scarecrow, on Halloween night. The closest encounter to Junior occurred on the Red and Green Road in the Watchung Reservation. A purportedly sober witness told local authorities that as he was driving through the reserve, a tall, gaunt figure suddenly stepped into the road ahead of him causing him to brake his car sharply to a stop to avoid a collision. When he collected himself, the driver said that he saw a seven foot tall man in a faded red coat with a grinning Jack O' Lantern face staring at him through the front windshield of his car. Then, in a flash, the figure sped away up the ridge and was lost to sight in the dark forest.

Sightings of Pumpkin Jack, while not common, occur on a regular basis, especially at Halloween time.

The illustration is a drawing of Pumpkin Jack taken from " A History of East Jersey" by W. P. Gadston, published in 1888.