“But it was those eyes that got us. It had two big red eyes, like automobile reflectors.” – An eyewitness reporting of the Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV (November 15, 1966)
Americans love a good horror story. Whether flocking to the theater to see the latest horror flick, visiting haunted houses, or handing down ghost stories from one generation to the next, it seems that horror stories are a part of our pop culture.
Today, I was looking over the television guide and turned on one of my favorite horror movies. The Mothman Prophecies was a 2002 film starring Richard Gere as a reporter investigating strange sightings in rural West Virginia. You may have seen the movie, but did you know it is based in truth? The small town of Point Pleasant, WV was plagued with sightings of a strange apparition that became known as the Mothman starting in 1966. For thirteen months, odd things happened including automobiles stalling, telephones and televisions not working properly, and animals found slaughtered. But, perhaps the strangest thing was the appearance of the Mothman himself. Not quite a monster, yet not a man, the Mothman was said to have glowing red eyes, be very tall (over seven feet), be able to fly (hence the Mothman name), be able to cause electronic interference, and have powers to control or read minds. The terror ended as abruptly as it began with the collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967. Forty-Six people were killed in that tragedy. There have been no reported sightings of the Mothman in Point Pleasant since the collapse of the bridge, which was said to be caused by corrosion and extra stress due to the heavy Christmas traffic.
What was really happening in Point Pleasant in the 60s? Skeptics say the Mothman was either a Great Horned Owl (the largest breed in West Virginia) or a Sandhill Crane. They believe that as the story grew, mass hysteria took over with many additional sightings of the Mothman being reported.
Owls or cranes may explain the Point Pleasant Mothman, but the Mothman is not merely a Point Pleasant phenomenon. Sightings of a “winged man” were reported in the 1800s in New York, Kentucky, Washington, Illinois, and Nebraska. Other global sightings have been reported in China, Chile, countries in the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Mexico.
Of course, Hollywood took a few liberties with the movie The Mothman Prophecies, but it is still a very suspenseful movie filled with many facts of the story. For a copy of the movie or books about The Mothman, check out Amazon.com.
-Drawings on display at the Point Pleasant Mothman Museum