Frankenstein, Dracula, Bigfoot, the Boogie man, Jack the Ripper, Aliens; these all plague our nightmares, why not add one more to the things that scare us the most, The Mothman.

West Virginia plays home to one of the most bizarre legends, the Mothman. This legend is known mostly in Point Pleasant, West Virginia located near the Ohio River. 

The legend of the Mothman is a very mysterious one, no positive facts have been brought to public. Although, the Silver bridge collapsing on December 15, 1967 was rumored to be the works of the Mothman whether it be directly or indirectly, it has never been a proven fact. For about thirteen months before the collapsing of the bridge there were several sightings of a large bird-like creature in the Point Pleasant area. After the bridge incident the sightings trickled off to almost nonexistence a couple months later. 

Some describe this bird-like creature as having glowing red eyes, which has led to the question of wondering if this is a creature of another world. Does it belong in UFOology? Could this creature be from another planet? It is quite possible. Reasons being that there was another sighting of something similar in Flatwoods, West Virginia. It was said that there were glowing lights rushing toward the ground then a loud crash, upon which two glowing red lights or eyes were seen surfacing from the wreckage. These lights or eyes were positioned about a foot apart, and described to have a hypnotizing effect when stared into. These sightings in both Flatwoods and Point Pleasant, West Virginia have not been proven to be either non-existent, UFO related, or the truth. They are both legend and are open until there is actual proof to validate that they are the truth or just legend.

The first sighting was in the 1960’s when a woman and her father were driving along route 2. They rounded a curve and a large man-shaped figure stepped onto the road in front of them. The woman slowed her car, the man-shaped figure spread two large wings and took off. This sighting was not reported. The woman said later “Who would have believed us, anyway?”

The first sighting to be reported publicly was in 1965,  a woman’s son told her that he saw an “angel” outside. About a year later she saw the man-shaped figure that her son had described as an angel.