The Deogen, "De Ogen" or The Eyes is a ghost that is said to haunt the Sonian Forest

Sonian Forest

The Sonian Forest is a forest that lies across the south-eastern part of Brussels, Belgium.The forest lies in the Flemish municipalities of Sint-Genesius-Rode, Hoeilaart, Overijse and Tervuren, in Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in the Brussels-Capital Region and in...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, often seen in fog form and followed by smaller shadow figures. The story, which is based on a series of true events, has become more of a campfire tale or urban legend

Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

 with virtually no sightings in recent years.

Legend

According to the book De Kinderen van Het Bezeten Bos which was written in 1937 the legend of Deogen is said to have began when area nuns began finding the burned bodies of young children in the Sonian Forest in Belgium, near Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

. It is said in the book that 80 children were murdered and the bodies dumped throughout in the forest and set ablaze but a more accepted number was only 8. Very little is known of the case excepting that which is found in the book which is believed by many to have been a work of fiction.

Misconceptions

The name Deogen along with numorous other mistakes first appeared in a book titled The Children of the Haunted Forest (De Kinderen van Het Bezeten Bos). The name of the fog was originally "De Ogen" during the first sightings, and was misspelled in the book as Deogen, as it is commonly known as today. It was said that over 80 children were killed in the area, the number otherwise is said to have been only 8, the high number believed by many today is due to a printing error. The murderer was said to have committed suicide in the Sonian Forest, in the book which was told in a surviving child's viewpoint this is true. In reality the killer was never known or captured and there were no survivors.

Physical description

A greenish ghostlike fog is often seen and small black solid figures are said to dart across the road causing cars to go off the road. A laughing child is often heard as the mist evaporates. On other occasions it is said that bloody palm print is seen on the cars window only to soon disappear as mysterious as it appears. Earlier descriptions of the fog would have it as being gray, orange, or white in color followed by the childish laughter. The term De Ogen, Dutch for The Eyes originated from reports that something large was said to be seen staring at witnesses from within the fog.

Explanations

Shadow figures have still been reported seen running in front of cars driving through the forest on very rare occasion, along with the bloody hand of a child on the back side of a car window. Practical jokers have been seen though touching the windows of cars entering the forest. The shadow figures are believed to be that of wild boar which have been known to roam the forest.