WEST MILFORD What do ghostly park rangers, a crashed jet plane with no instruments, escaping wild animals and rampaging Ku Klux Klan members all have in common? The answer: they have all been witnessed in West Milford (well, supposedly). While the official history of the town is founded in proud tales of men, women and families striving for better lives, a less obvious and eerie past also exists; or does it? It’s advisable to seek out town resident and local historian Nancy McLaughlin for the less dramatic and more plausible versions of the same anecdotes. McLaughlin was only too happy to discuss some of the town’s best known myths and legends at a presentation called Dogging the Truth.’ The discussion, which drew a keen audience, was held on Tuesday afternoon and included Joanne Austin from the monthly magazine, Weird New Jersey. Austin read letters and e-mails which had been sent to the magazine from residents and visitors of West Milford that were adamant they saw, heard or knew of strange and ghoulish occurrences here. Among those is the story of remains of a jet plane found in woods off Macopin Road which mysteriously had no instruments on the panel. The idea that a mysterious aircraft somehow sprouted in the woods was easily dispelled by McLaughlin. “It was around 1955 when I was at a nearby lake with my family. My father saw the jet circle around us and we all watched as it disappeared below the trees. Before the police or ambulance crews could get anywhere near it, the FBI, the CIA and whoever-else were there. It was they who removed the instruments before anyone could get to them. One man died in the crash and another survived.” What about the infamous Clinton Road? Austin recounted several tales of people witnessing apparitions, including a classic horror story of a car full of youths observing a pair of hands “walking” along the road just a pair of hands, nothing else. Clinton Road also inspires yarns including claims of being chased by roaming groups of Ku Klux Klan. Austin told a Clinton Road story in which two campers were approached by a pair of park rangers who told them their car was safe from being ticketed. When the campers awoke the next morning there were two tickets on their windshield. The campers approached police on the road to ask why they had been ticketed when the park rangers had told them they wouldn’t be. The police told the campers a legend of two park rangers killed while on patrol in 1939 but who can still be seen wandering their route. A great story no doubt, but there is a problem with it. McLaughlin explains, “The watershed area around Clinton Road never had park rangers. It’s not a park, why would it have park rangers?” Finally, the fairy tale of Jungle Habitat’s escaping creatures. “Some cages did somehow get left open and some animals did escape,” said McLaughlin. Jungle Habitat was the safari-themed Warner Brothers’ attraction which ran alongside Marshall Hill Road and Airport Road in the 1970s. “Were [the animals] let loose when it closed? I doubt it,” said McLaughlin when asked about the legend about the park closing and the owners being so riddled with debt, they simply opened all the cages and let the wildlife roam free. Dogging the Truth’ is only one of many programs for adults and children organized by West Milford library as part of its Summer Events calendar. To find out more enquire at the library or visit their Web site at www.wmtl.org.