What happened
In 1971 two boys digging in the garden of a house on Rede Avenue in Hexham unearthed two small stone heads, about 6 cm high. Soon the family began to report strange happenings: the heads seemed to turn by themselves, and bottles fell from shelves. A neighbour said she saw a half-man, half-goat figure leaving the house at night. The heads were passed to Dr Anne Ross, a respected expert on Celtic culture, who considered them Celtic. In her own house – so she said – she woke one night to see a dark figure, partly wolf and partly human, leaving the room. Her daughter reportedly saw a large, wolf-like creature on the stairs, which leapt over the banister and vanished. The phenomena are said to have stopped once the heads were removed from the house. Ross told the story on BBC television in 1976.
Witnesses
The family on Rede Avenue and their neighbours, Dr Anne Ross and her daughter; Ross's account was broadcast on the BBC programme “Nationwide” (1976).
Explanations and hypotheses
The origin of the heads is disputed. Desmond Craigie, an earlier occupant of the house, said he had made them himself from cement in 1956 for his daughter, though his replicas were not identical. A geologist at the University of Newcastle concluded that the heads had been moulded rather than carved. The wolf apparitions were linked to the “Hexham wolf” that killed sheep in 1904. Sceptics point to suggestion and fear after the publicity. The heads themselves have been lost.
Disputed A likely explanation exists, but some of the facts are still disputed.
Sources
More: Wikipedia (en)