Wikipedia
According to Dutch folklore, the Buckriders (, ), were ghosts or " devils", who rode through the sky on the back of flying goats provided to them by Satan. During the 18th century, groups of thieves and other criminals co-opted the belief to frighten the inhabitants of Southern Limburg (a province in the southern part of the Netherlands). Using the name "Bokkenrijders", these criminal bands launched raids across a region that includes Southern Limburg, and parts of Germany and Belgium (parts of which were a part of the Netherlands at the time). Commonly, the "Bokkenrijders" raided peaceful communities and farms. Several confessed "Bokkenrijders" were convicted and sentenced to death. Because of the link to the occult, authorities accused a large number of potentially innocent men of being "Bokkenrijders" and a number were tortured and subsequently convicted of crimes they denied having committed.