My recent roadtrip from North Carolina to Michigan went right through Point Pleasant, WV – the original “hometown” for the creepy cryptid Mothman. There’s a Mothman museum I want to visit. Sadly, we didn’t have time this trip. Maybe next year!
So I thought I’d share an article on Mothman that I wrote years ago for the paranormal magazine, Paranormal Rag.
Mothman – Man-Sized Bird…Creature…Something
In this latest installment of my series on cryptids, let’s discuss one of the most well-known cryptids…Mothman.
First, if you are new to my articles, you may ask – What is a cryptid?
A cryptid is an animal species believed to exist on the basis of anecdotal evidence, not backed by mainstream science – essentially an animal who has not been scientifically verified to actually exist, but enough people believe it does. Examples of cryptids are Big Foot, the Loch Ness monster, the Beast of Bladenboro, or the Jersey Devil.
Mothman hails from the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia. First seen in November 1966, it was reported by the Point Pleasant Register as “…man-sized
bird…creature…something.” The story soon spread nationwide. Five men digging a grave near Clendenin, West Virginia, described seeing a man-like figure flying low, just over their heads. Later two couples driving near the TNT Area (an abandoned munitions dump just north of Point Pleasant) claimed
to witness a large gray creature with glowing red eyes and ten-foot wings. There were at least one hundred sightings of the creature from 1966 – 1967. The sightings abruptly ended after the collapse of the Silver Bridge (bridge carried U.S. Highway Route 35 over the Ohio River and connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia with Gallipolis, Ohio). Forty-six people perished in the
bridge collapse. This incident gave rise to the theory that sightings of Mothman actually foreshadow death and destruction.
This particular theory became more prevalent as similar sightings of a man-sized bird preceded other disasters. For example, there were numerous reports of Mothman appearances in and around Moscow, Russia just prior to the 1999 Russian apartment bombings. A series of explosions hit four apartment blocks in three cities between September 4 and September 16 of that year. Almost 300 persons were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
Another incident associated with Mothman sightings occurred in Freiburg, Germany when the creature frightened away miners just before the mine collapsed. Before the nuclear plant, Chernobyl, melted down there were multiple reports from workers of a similar creature flying over the facility.
More chilling (at least to this writer because it hits so close to home), there were two photographs of Mothman taken in New York City on September 11, 2001. The pictures were taken after the Twin Towers were hit by hijacked airplanes, but just before the buildings fell. The validity of the photo is still questioned.
There were also a number of sightings of the cryptid just before the 2007 collapse of a bridge in Minnesota. This bridge was originally built in 1967 (same year as the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia) and is part of the U.S. Interstate 35 system (the Silver Bridge was a section of U.S. Highway Route 35).
There are numerous theories as to the existence of such a creature. Some claim Mothman is an extraterrestrial (strengthened by reports of witnesses being harassed by government agents to keep quiet); others that the creature is an unknown animal species; and some that it is a supernatural manifestation. It has even been claimed that sightings of Mothman have incited witnesses to have precognitive abilities and others to experience threatening shadow figures.
So what exactly does Mothman look like? Most sightings, even across continents, closely resemble each other. Mothman is a winged bipedal (two feet) cryptid. It is known to be anywhere from dark gray to black to brown in color, the size of a man (roughly six to seven feet tall), with a wingspan of ten to fifteen feet. Some reports state the creature has no head, but has two red glowing eyes in its chest; whereas others state it does have a head with the red glowing eyes. The one person to say she got a good look at Mothman’s face could only recount that it was monstrous. She was so horrified by what she saw, the woman suffered from nightmares and a nervous breakdown. It is also told that anyone experiencing a close encounter with the Mothman suffers from traumatic fear and long-term debilitating psychological distress due to the sense of pure evil emanating from its eyes.
Skeptics tried to debunk the mythical creature as merely an unusually large heron or a sandhill crane (large American crane almost as tall as a man with seven-foot wingspan and reddish coloring around the eyes). I say “tried” because the sandhill crane, nor any other large heron, are native to West Virginia or any of the other areas where Mothman has been sighted.
Additionally, neither bird has a reputation as a carnivorous predator. Since the 1966-1967 sightings included multiple reports of missing dogs, we can assume either it was a great coincidence or that the creature (bird or cryptid) got hungry.
In 2002, the Mothman legend re-emerged stronger than ever with the release of the Richard Gere movie, “The Mothman Prophecies,” based on the 1975 book by parapsychologist John Keel. The movie received mixed reviews, but overall follows the legend closely through a modern retelling of the Point Pleasant bridge disaster.
There are many books about Mothman. However, a more recent book by the Paranormal60’s Greg Lawson, “Messages from Mothman,” is an intriguing deep dive into the legend.
Point Pleasant has embraced its Mothman legacy. Since 2002, the city has celebrated the Annual Mothman Festival. If you’re a fan of the cryptid or just interested in learning more, head on out to Point Pleasant during the third weekend of September for guest speakers, a Mothman pancake eating contest, Mothman vendors, and a hayride showcasing locations of Mothman sightings.
