Mothman has been sighted around the world in various places for the last couple of centuries. He showed up in West Virginia in 1966 in a place called Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant holds an annual festival in September to celebrate their most infamous resident.

Appearance

According to the stories of eyewitnesses, Mothman is seven feet tall, and people can hear it screech from a mile away. He is gray or blue and his feathers glow in different colors. Ten-foot wings complete its ensemble. You can see a metal statue of it in a Mt. Pleasant park and it even has its own museum.

First Sightings

Two couples traveling near a factory in Mt. Pleasant first reported the strange animal. They stopped to investigate a set of strange red lights, which turned out to be the eyes of a dog like creature with wings folded up on its back.

The apparition rose up and chased them at high speeds. The sheriff who investigated found nothing unusual. However, several sightings followed in the next year. The last occurred in December of 1967 after which it disappeared without a trace.

Silver Bridge Disaster

The Silver Bridge, that crossed the Ohio River, collapsed in December 1967 just before the disappearance of the creature. Speculation abounds as to whether Mothman caused the downing of that bridge.

Mothman Prophecies

Mothman was a coined word by John Keel who wrote a book in 1975. He called it “The Mothman Prophecies” and followed it up with a book called “The Eighth Tower.”

The book recounted many changes that happened to those involved in Mothman encounters including early deaths, suicide, and the downing of the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River in December 1957, killing 46 unfortunate souls that day, two bodies never recovered.

Mothman disappeared after that. Eighty-four people involved in the Mothman affair lost their lives in various ways and perhaps others were unreported.

The prophecy book was made into a movie directed Mark Pennington by starring Richard Gere and Debra Messing.

Monster Sightings

People claim other sightings around the country, perhaps the cousins or sons of the Mothman.

The most famous is the Flatwoods Monster a ten-foot tall, green, red-faced entity that terrorized a small town called Flatwoods in WV. A red glowing ball accompanied the strange visitor. People speculated that it was an otherworldly space ship or flying saucer. Contact with a mist surrounding the creature caused vomiting, a sore throat, and in one case, convulsions.

Speculations

What Mothman was and where it came from are questions that remain to this day. Why was it there? Was it responsible for a bridge collapse and the deaths of 46 people at the scene and ultimately 84 deaths of those encountering the thing?

Some people think it was demonic, some said it came from beyond our world, and others think it came to warn the residents of the impending bridge tragedy and something got lost in the translation.

Conclusion

Every area has its monsters and mysteries, Mt Pleasant boasting of one of the best.

After the tragic aftermath of the beast coming to the town, it has turned into a tourist industry, including a movie, several books, a museum, a statue, and a yearly festival, thus redeeming itself from the harm it allegedly caused.

It remains forever ingrained into the culture and history of West Virginia along with its dastardly cousin, Flatwood Monster.  Will Mothman come back to terrorize, or save, the little town of Mt. Pleasant? Only time will tell.

Internet Sources:

When is the Mothman Festival?

Mothman Festival Site

The Mothman Lives.com

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia

The Legend of the Flatwoods Monster

The Braxton County Flatwoods Monster, UFO casebook files.

Similar Internet Sources