I'm sure that a lot of you guys have heard of the Mothman or have seen the movie The Mothman Prophecies starring Richard Gere, but did you know that the first sighting of the Mothman was reported by five men who were digging a grave? It's true; on November 12th 1966 in Clendenin, West Virginia the men were digging a grave and as they finished they saw a man-like figure standing in the trees. The man flew across the cemetery and supposedly had glowing red eyes.
The Mothman sightings continued, especially in the area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia here is an excerpt from Kizaz.com :
"Throughout the 1960s, the town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia was terrorised by numerous sightings of the “Mothman”, a tall human-like figure with wings that dragged behind it on the ground and with the apparent ability to fly. These apparitions culminated in the Silver Bridge disaster of 1967, when a bridge bearing 37 vehicles collapsed. 46 people died from the incident, as well as the Mothman himself apparently. Since that date, the sightings petered out. Whilst many have been quick to dismiss the creature as myth, the proliferation of sightings from credible sources means there may be more to the story than meets the eye. The good people of Point Pleasant have also rather bizarrely decided to reward the Mothman’s contributions to the society with his very own shiny statue! Thanks for the memories, Mothman!"
This excerpt claims that the Mothman simply disappeared after the bridge disaster, but there have been other sightings. This is from Wikipedia on recent sightings:
"Ufologist Jerome Clark writes that many years after the initial events, members of the Ohio UFO Investigators League re-interviewed several people who claimed to have seen Mothman, all of whom insisted their stories were accurate. Linda Scarberry claimed that she and her husband had seen Mothman "hundreds of times, " sometimes at close range, commenting, "It seems like it doesn’t want to hurt you. It just wants to communicate with you. "
"Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman claims that sightings of Mothman continue and told USA Today he re-interviewed witnesses described in Keel's book who said Mothman was "a huge creature about 7 feet tall with huge wings and red eyes" and that "they could see the creature flapping right behind them" as they fled from it."
These are more recent reports although the dates weren't given in the article. The skeptics have written the Mothman off as a case of mistaken identity. They say that people are simply seeing Barred Owls or Albino Owls. Some of the believers think that the Mothman is either a ghost or an alien that simply lost it's way and wants to communicate. The Mothman is rumored to have telepathic abilities including the ability to speak to you through your mind. I'd like to think that this could be an unknown cryptid, perhaps in the same species as the Jersey Devil. They are both in the same domestic range.
Here is another story from a Point Pleasant resident. This was posted on the Voices.Yahoo site:
"Many of the stories of the Mothman centered on a former TNT plant that sat empty and abandoned on the edge of town. The building sat in the middle of a wooded area, where few people tended to venture. Nearby was an animal preserve, and some believed the Mothman could find food there and blend in with the other animals in the area. There were also stories that the creature had hid there for years before finally being seen.
On November 16 a new report of the Mothman surfaced, only this one came from a home near the TNT plant. Ralph Thomas and his family spotted a strange red light in the area. At first they thought it might be some kind of plane, but the small light continued to circle the plant before dipping closer to the roof of the building.
A friend stopped by for a visit, and claimed to see the Mothman next to her car. The creature slowly climbed to its feet, giving her a clear look into its glowing red eyes. The woman and her daughter ran inside, where they watched the Mothman walk onto the porch and look in the windows before flying away.
For some, the sightings of the Mothman coincided with reports of other strange things in the area. There were reports of UFO's in the area, and stories of strange men in black stopping locals on the road. One weekend over 500 reports came in regarding strange lights and things spotted in the skies above Point Pleasant. The Mothman was the real story though, with over 100 reports occurring in a single year."
Many people in Point Pleasant said that the Mothman was trying to warn people about the bridge collapse which killed 46 people, but only 44 bodies were recovered. They say that the night of the bridge collapse strange lights were seen in the sky. In my opinion these lights could be explained by news helicopters or even search lights searching the river for the bodies. Other people say that the Mothman is a ghost and that the gravediggers disturbed it's grave. This is another interesting story because it intermingles UFO's, Aliens, Cryptids and the Paranormal.
Horror Question of the Day: What do you think the Mothman is?
Update: Here's a blog that has picked this post up and has dissected some of the events. I welcome all of this kind of discussion. So if anything I post is of interest to you guys feel free to re-blog or write about the subject on your own or in the comments section here.
http://coffeecupid.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/mothman/
The Mothman sightings continued, especially in the area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia here is an excerpt from Kizaz.com :
"Throughout the 1960s, the town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia was terrorised by numerous sightings of the “Mothman”, a tall human-like figure with wings that dragged behind it on the ground and with the apparent ability to fly. These apparitions culminated in the Silver Bridge disaster of 1967, when a bridge bearing 37 vehicles collapsed. 46 people died from the incident, as well as the Mothman himself apparently. Since that date, the sightings petered out. Whilst many have been quick to dismiss the creature as myth, the proliferation of sightings from credible sources means there may be more to the story than meets the eye. The good people of Point Pleasant have also rather bizarrely decided to reward the Mothman’s contributions to the society with his very own shiny statue! Thanks for the memories, Mothman!"
This excerpt claims that the Mothman simply disappeared after the bridge disaster, but there have been other sightings. This is from Wikipedia on recent sightings:
"Ufologist Jerome Clark writes that many years after the initial events, members of the Ohio UFO Investigators League re-interviewed several people who claimed to have seen Mothman, all of whom insisted their stories were accurate. Linda Scarberry claimed that she and her husband had seen Mothman "hundreds of times, " sometimes at close range, commenting, "It seems like it doesn’t want to hurt you. It just wants to communicate with you. "
"Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman claims that sightings of Mothman continue and told USA Today he re-interviewed witnesses described in Keel's book who said Mothman was "a huge creature about 7 feet tall with huge wings and red eyes" and that "they could see the creature flapping right behind them" as they fled from it."
These are more recent reports although the dates weren't given in the article. The skeptics have written the Mothman off as a case of mistaken identity. They say that people are simply seeing Barred Owls or Albino Owls. Some of the believers think that the Mothman is either a ghost or an alien that simply lost it's way and wants to communicate. The Mothman is rumored to have telepathic abilities including the ability to speak to you through your mind. I'd like to think that this could be an unknown cryptid, perhaps in the same species as the Jersey Devil. They are both in the same domestic range.
Here is another story from a Point Pleasant resident. This was posted on the Voices.Yahoo site:
"Many of the stories of the Mothman centered on a former TNT plant that sat empty and abandoned on the edge of town. The building sat in the middle of a wooded area, where few people tended to venture. Nearby was an animal preserve, and some believed the Mothman could find food there and blend in with the other animals in the area. There were also stories that the creature had hid there for years before finally being seen.
On November 16 a new report of the Mothman surfaced, only this one came from a home near the TNT plant. Ralph Thomas and his family spotted a strange red light in the area. At first they thought it might be some kind of plane, but the small light continued to circle the plant before dipping closer to the roof of the building.
A friend stopped by for a visit, and claimed to see the Mothman next to her car. The creature slowly climbed to its feet, giving her a clear look into its glowing red eyes. The woman and her daughter ran inside, where they watched the Mothman walk onto the porch and look in the windows before flying away.
For some, the sightings of the Mothman coincided with reports of other strange things in the area. There were reports of UFO's in the area, and stories of strange men in black stopping locals on the road. One weekend over 500 reports came in regarding strange lights and things spotted in the skies above Point Pleasant. The Mothman was the real story though, with over 100 reports occurring in a single year."
Many people in Point Pleasant said that the Mothman was trying to warn people about the bridge collapse which killed 46 people, but only 44 bodies were recovered. They say that the night of the bridge collapse strange lights were seen in the sky. In my opinion these lights could be explained by news helicopters or even search lights searching the river for the bodies. Other people say that the Mothman is a ghost and that the gravediggers disturbed it's grave. This is another interesting story because it intermingles UFO's, Aliens, Cryptids and the Paranormal.
Horror Question of the Day: What do you think the Mothman is?
Update: Here's a blog that has picked this post up and has dissected some of the events. I welcome all of this kind of discussion. So if anything I post is of interest to you guys feel free to re-blog or write about the subject on your own or in the comments section here.
http://coffeecupid.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/mothman/
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