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The Flatwoods Monster

I was focused on figuring out what exactly happened in this case (there was a lot of contradicting info to verify, and my brain is fried from exams) and I think my grammar/spelling suffered a bit because of it. I double-checked everything but please excuse any errors! :)

Date Of First Sighting: September 12th, 1952

Date First Photographed: Unfortunately, I can’t find any information on the date of a photograph.

Sightings/Reports: At 7:15pm on September 12th, 1952, three young boys were playing on the school playground when they witnessed a bright fiery object cross the sky and land somewhere near the Bailey Fisher farm, which was on top of a nearby hill. The children ran to the house of one of the boy’s mother, Mrs. Kathleen May. Mrs. May grabbed a flashlight and accompanied the children back up the hill, with a small group of locals following.

When they reached the top of the hill, a pulsing red light appeared ahead that looked like a ball of fire. They shone a flashlight in the light’s direction and momentarily spotted the creature.

Unlike many cryptids, the Flatwoods Monster’s appearance rarely changes from encounter to encounter. It is said to be a man-like figure, around seven-feet tall with a red, round face within a dark shape that resembles a hood. It allegedly has branch-like arms with large gnarled claws. Some said it was dark, seemingly colorless, but others said it was green or brown. Mrs. May reported it had drape-like folds near the bottom of its body, but others described its bottom half as metallic.

The Flatwoods Monster was accompanied by a mist smelling of sulfur that burned the boy’s noses and throats. One of the boys had difficulty drinking for weeks after the encounter due to the damage the mist had on his throat. Other people who confronted the monster suffered from nausea and vomiting-one woman had such a bad response she had to be hospitalized for three weeks. A doctor who examined witnesses claimed their symptoms were similar to those of mustard gas exposure.

The monster made a loud hissing noise and the group fled. Only hours after the group’s encounter, a couple and their baby were driving down the road when their car broke down. The husband got out of the car and smelled the same mist the boys had. The couple allegedly saw a large creature “floating” across the highway, but it didn’t pay them any attention. This suggests that the creature shares the behavior of a wild animal, attacking only when threatened.

Believer’s Theories:

Reports of metallic parts have led some to believe the the Flatwoods Monster is robotic. Other theories include that the creature is extraterrestrial or some new species entirely.  

Skeptic’s Theories:

Many people believe that what the witnesses actually saw was simply a barn owl, combined with a terrible smell and lots of smoke. The general belief is that a frightened group of mostly young boys witnessing this would assume it to be some horrible monster because of a mix of overactive imagination and fear.

Sources (I wasn’t able to keep track of every source I used for this one unfortunately):

http://cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Flatwoods_Monster

http://allthatsinteresting.com/flatwoods-monster

http://braxtonwv.org/FlatwoodsMonsterInfo.aspx

https://www.ranker.com/list/flatwoods-monster-facts/jacob-shelton

[mythsandmysteries-blog]

Mothman

Date of First Sighting: November 12th, 1966

Date First Photographed: November 2016

Sightings/Reports: On November 12th, 1966, five gravediggers working in a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia spotted a brown humanoid creature soaring from tree to tree above their heads. They insisted what they had seen was a man with wings. Only three days later, the winged “man” was spotted in front of two young couples’ car near an abandoned TNT plant in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The couples would later tell police it was six or seven feet tall, had bright red eyes, and had been able to keep up with their car, which had been speeding away at over 100 miles per hour. One of the witnesses, Steve Mallette, told newspapers “It was like a man with wings. It wasn’t like anything you’d seen on TV or in a monster movie.”

These were the first two sightings of Mothman, a cryptid who would terrorize the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia for several months,  and who is still having reported sightings today.

There were many other sightings besides these two, such as two volunteer firefighters who claimed the beast was “a very large bird with large red eyes,” and a woman who was so distressed by the sight of the the creature that she dropped her baby and had to seek medical attention for her related anxieties.  However, the strangest sighting is one reported by a man named Newell Partridge, who lived around 90 miles from Point Pleasant and whose sighting occurred the same night the couples saw Mothman. Partridge was watching TV one evening when his TV screen went black, before showing an array of odd patterns. This was followed by a peculiar noise just outside of his home that sounded “just like a generator starting up”. Investigating the noise, Partridge was met with a pair of two large red eyes staring back at him. His dog, Bandit, dashed after the creature, and was never seen again.

Two days later Partridge was reading the newspaper when he came across an article about the sighting near the TNT plant. One of the witnesses, Roger Scarberry, had said that they had seen a dog lying on the side of the road when they went into town. On the way out of town a few minutes later, the dog was missing. Partridge immediately thought of Bandit.

On December 15th, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed during rush-hour, killing 46 people. While the official reason was a failed welding job, many people believe it was tied to Mothman.

Today Mothman is celebrated by the town that once feared it. Mothman has his own 12-foot statue, as well as an annual festival and a small museum. (The Coffee Grinder, a cafe in downtown Point Pleasant, also has little Mothman cookies, which I think is pretty cute!) He has recently had reported sightings in Chicago.

Believer’s Theories: The people that do believe in the Mothman are conflicted over his meaning. Some people believe he was an angel sent to warn the town of danger, such as the Silver Bridge collapse, while others believe he was the one who caused it. Other theories include that the Mothman was an alien, a demon, or that he was a mutated bird.

Skeptic’s Theories: George Johnson, the county sheriff at the time, and Dr. Robert L. Smith, a professor of wildlife biology, both claimed the alleged Mothman was not a monster, but a large bird. Dr. Smith believed it was a Sandhill Crane, which is almost as tall as a man, and has a seven-foot wingspan and red coloring around its eyes. While Sandhill Cranes are not native to the area, many people believe it could have migrated from Canada. Other skeptics believed it was an elaborate prank, with some theorising there was a prankster hiding out in the abandoned TNT plant. Several people also believe the creature’s rumored red eyes could be the result of lights reflecting off its eyes, as many witnesses shone a flashlight or something similar on whatever the Mothman may be. Mothman’s red eyes could also be misidentified planes.

Sources, if you'd like to read further:

http://allthatsinteresting.com/mothman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothman

http://themothman.wikia.com/wiki/Eight_People_Say_They_Saw_%27Creature%27

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/paqv9z/mothman-sightings-in-chicago

https://theportalist.com/4-alleged-mothman-sightings-that-preceded-disasters

https://www.prairieghosts.com/moth.html

http://www.cultofweird.com/paranormal/mothman-roadtrip-point-pleasant/

http://themothman.wikia.com/wiki/Merle_Partridge%27s_Mothman_Sighting

(The YouTube series Unsolved Mysteries also did an episode on Mothman, although I didn't use it as a resource for this post)