Tuesday 15 December 2009

The Mothman story re-surfaces.

An extract from the article:

Remembering the Mothman Written by Nick Diamond

On a chilly, fall night in November 1966, two young couples drove into the TNT area north of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, when they realized they were not alone,” reads the plaque on the front of a twelve foot tall stainless steel sculpture of the Mothman that stands eerily in downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia.The legend of the Mothman was born in the small town of Point Pleasant during the 1960’s when over a hundred eyewitnesses were horrified by something they had never seen before. The townspeople began reporting sightings of a tall creature with piercing red eyes and demon wings. The creature was said to be about eight feet tall and resembled the figure of a man.Today, the little town in West Virginia still remembers the events that took place. A book was even written by John A Keel, supernatural phenomenon expert and writer. Keel investigated the events in the town and put his findings and works together in the book “The Mothman Prophecies.” The book also inspired the creation of the 2002 Richard Gere film “The Mothman Prophecies.” A festival is also held every year in memory of the legend. Tours and guides are also given to anyone interested in probing the little town of every nook and cranny the story can offer. Tourism, tourism, and even more tourism seems to be the biggest reason people visit the town today.Point Pleasant is approximately 226.57 miles from Frostburg, Maryland, averaging about a three and a half hour drive along interstate 68 West. The best way to get there is by simply taking the interstate and driving west through Morgantown, Clarksburg, and Pomeroy until you reach Point Pleasant

The first encounter of the Mothman took place on November 15, 1966, by David and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette. The two couples were traveling late at night in the Scarberry car. They passed the West Virginia Ordanance Works, an old abandoned World War II TNT factory. They noticed two red lights in the shadows by an old generator plant. After stopping the car, they realized the lights were the glowing eyes of a large creature, “shaped like a man, but bigger, maybe six and a half or seven feet tall, with big wings folded against its back,” according to Roger Scarberry. The couples were terrified. They fled and reported what they saw to the police.They were not the only ones who encountered this creature. On the 16th Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wamsley and Mrs. Marcella Bennett were going to see some friends who lived near the TNT plant. When Mrs. Bennett got out of the car she realized there was a figure lurking behind them. “It seemed like it had been lying down, slowly rising up from the ground, large and gray, with glowing red eyes.” Mrs. Wamsley ran inside and phoned the police as the creature walked onto the porch and peered in at the couples through the window. The entity fled before the police arrived.During these strange encounters, something terrible happened to the town of Point Pleasant. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant to Ohio, collapsed. It plummeted to the depths of the river, killing 46 people. The event was heavily investigated, and the only consensus of the collapse was a small manufacturing flaw in the single eye-bar suspension chain. The believers in the Mothman sightings would say that the two events are connected. Witnesses and believers even claim that the Mothman appears before upcoming disasters.

Between 1966 and 1977 there were over a hundred eyewitness encounters with the creature. Jeff Wamsley was among the few people willing to discuss his personal knowledge of the events. Mr. Wamsley has lived in Point Pleasant his entire life. “I actually live in nearby Gallipolis, Ohio, now…I was born and raised in Point Pleasant West Virginia…right down the street from where those original witnesses lived back in 1966,” said Wamsley. “I grew up hearing about the Mothman sightings…I was always interested in the story because it took place literally in my hometown…I was lucky enough to launch two book projects that contained exclusive interviews with many of those original witnesses. I have collected archives for years and run the worlds only Mothman museum…I ran my own chain of record stores for about fifteen years.” Mr. Wamsley now teaches graphic design in Point Pleasant at the career center and high school.

Regardless of what people believe, the events that occurred in Point Pleasant have been strongly speculated as hysteria. Skeptics such as paranormal investigator Joe Nickell looked into the stories and concluded that it was only a common barn owl that was witnessed numerous times. Whatever the Mothman was, it terrified the townspeople for almost a year and suddenly left. Mr. Wamsley was asked what his personal take on the story was. He simply replied, “I have no real explanations to what this thing was, but I can tell you that these people saw something that really shook them up…over 100 reported sightings in a thirteen month time frame…all the descriptions matched…no doubt they saw something they had never seen before.”

Source and rest of article here:

http://appindie.org/index.php/appalachian-culture/55-culture/980-remembering-the-mothman

So was it a bird or an unknown creature or someone in a suit? If it appears again perhaps we may find out. There are stories from all over the world of similar creatures being seen, winged humanoids. Some say they are giant bats, others something from another realm. My feet are firmly in this realm and I would love it to be giant bats.


12 comments:

Gummerfan said...

Giant bats? I'm not so sure. Given all the other phenomena Keel describes in the book, everything from ufo's to MIBs, to the weird telephone calls (not to mention Indrid Cold!), I'm leaning way more towards "a higher shade of strange".
Among cryptids, the Mothman is one of those that just doesn't abide by the rules.

Tabitca said...

I was referring in general to the winged humanoid stories. I like bats so would love to find a giant one in existence. The Mothman story is one on it's own and depending on your view can be either high strangeness or high hysteria. Still fascinating though. Thanks for commenting,sensible comments always appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Many years before I saw the movie The Mothman Prophecies, I, along with 4 other people travelling in a car saw a very tall figure standing with it's back towards us. It was standing almost in the road, but just to the side, I was afraid we might hit it. It was nightime at the time of the incident. As we drove past it, it didn't seem to move at all, it's arms were spread eagle with it's head completely lowered so it appeared there was no head. I was so shocked at what I saw, all of us in the car saw it and wondered aloud what in the world it was. It was freaky at the time, we all told ourselves someone put a scarecrow up on the road or something like that. Several years later I saw the Mothman movie and drawings and I swear it struck me that is what I saw. I sometimes search around to see if other people have seen this as well.

Tabitca said...

I know you have submitted this anonymously and I understand why but could you possibly tell us what area of the country this took place in or even which road/ highway?
Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry, I should have posted that. It was in Stafford Virginia on Courthouse Road. Stafford is about 50 miles south of Washington DC. Courthouse Road is a windy two lane road. It was in October because we were going to celebrate my friends birthday so I remember the month but not the year, it was about 12 years ago. I still drive down that road a lot, I have never seen it again. Like I said we thought that maybe someone was playing a joke by putting a scarecrow or something right on the white line. (dangerous if that's what it was) Whatever it was it appeared to be very tall, it didn't move at all as we approached it and then passed it. All of the people who were in the car including myself were very freaked out by it. I don't know what it was but the fact that it looked like it didn't have a head was really what freaked me out the most. I do know that I will never forget how creepy that thing was, whatever it really was. Anyway thanks for reading. Take care.

Tabitca said...

Thankyou .If anyone else saw something similar perhaps they would be kind enough to post a comment.

Anonymous said...

I will never forget the night I was riding home from the club Andrews A.F.B. Maryland, (with a female friend, I'm female as well. We went out to party. early 90's perhaps 1990 or 91. We lived on Bolling A.F.B. DC

To make my story as short as possible; I had to drive, therefore, I didn't drink much @ all.

While driving home on 295 rt, it was about 3am or so (give or take) Something so dark and huge flew over my car (Sundance 91 or 93 model) I'll never forget and I'm not crazy.

It was larger then my car. It seemed to have came from behind, flew ahead of the car not quite directly in front of my windshield but a just a lil above but in eye sight (flying just a lil faster then my car.

It didn't appear to really flap it's wings much but more so glide like (very long wing spread)

I had to pay attention to the road so I couldn't constantly stair at IT. I didn't see feathers. More like a bat wings.

Suddenly it went up^ very High and still looked huge as I kept trying to glance.

My friend was on the passenger side. I thought I was tripping or something. I was froze in silence and so was she.

Finally she said to me "did you see that? Did you see that?" She said it twice.

I then finally said "you saw it too?" but we were so shucked that we couldn't say much of anything. I remember her being drunk but sobered quickly after the sight.

IT just flew away. Didn't bother us any. It was as if IT just wanted us to see IT or scare us. I'll never forget IT!

I had to drop her off first (around the corner from my house) when I pulled into her drive way, her cross fell off of her neck.

She turned and looked @ me and started yelling "this is your fault" slammed my door and never spoke to me again!!!

When I got home I told my family what happened and never told another soul for fear of ppl thinking I was crazy or I would be talked about.

Recently, I was watching monster-quest and saw the story of Moth-man and was stunned (2010)

I must admit, I didn't see red eyes or a body (perhaps b/c of the angle. I only saw the HUGE wings (first I thought it was some sort of huge black bag that the wind had taken) until I could tell IT clearly wasn't!!!

I will never forget IT.

I remember yearsss afterward seeing a movie called Geepers- Creepers and that's the first thing I thought about.

I did see my friend years later and we spoke but when I asked her about that night, she wouldn't say a word about it from her mouth.

I believe she saw it better then me and it frightened her that bad. I will never forget that night and what we saw. and I will never type about it again in fear that I might see it again.

God is Amazing and I always keep God with me. I know what we saw.

I just don't know or understand why.

Thanks for reading. Stay blessed always

Anonymous said...

P.s. I didn't see a head either

Tabitca said...

I am afraid I have had to remove some comments from this posting because they were political and this blog is neutral.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I understand

Ms.Orrum said...

I live in Orrum N.C,a little small city near Lumberton N.C. I have seen something that resemble what everyone is calling the moth man. I have seen him on two occasions. The first time I say this figure was in 2009 then once again in 2010. In 2012 my step daughter was visiting me and was outside smoking when it appeared on the corner of my home. I'm sure there is some explanation to this besides what I have read. I must admit I thought of it being an death angel because death came after each sighting. Please help me with any information you may have...Thanks

Ms.Orrum said...

I saw what you saw and yes it was like that of Geepers Creepers . I am so out done and thought everyone would think I was crazy too.