Myths and legends touch upon the unknown, intriguing us of what is beyond the things we can see. Many cultures have legends or folklore that shows who they are, their beliefs and values.. Other myths and legend evolve from stories, true events, dreams, revelations and any combination of those things. Anywhere you go, you will be sure to learn of a legend centered in that area. For West Virginia, the legend of the Mothman is such a tale that accompanies the area. The tale of the Mothman is such an interesting story, that there was a movie produced in 2002 staring Richard Gere: The Mothman Prophecies which presents the tale and raises questions of what is the Mothman?
The Mothman legend started in November 1966 in the town of Point Pleasant, when a couple of gravediggers claimed to have seen a massive brown humanlike creature moving rapidly from tree to tree. With that sighting, the legend begins.
Three days after the initial sighting, two couples report another sighting where they describe seeing a grey-winged beast standing 6-7 ft tall in front of their vehicle. It had bright red glowing eyes, with a 10 ft wingspan. It is possible the creature is sensitive to light as it seemed to have avoided the headlights of the car. The couples tried out run the beast, but it had a flight speed of an estimated 100 mph, but was much slower when it ran.
Several days later comes yet another sighting. This time a man heard strange sounds outside while strange patterns appeared on his television. When he looked outside with a flashlight, he seen what appeared to be 2 red eyes reflected back at him. Oddly enough his dog went missing around this same time, which people have attributed to the Mothman. One of the last recorded sightings is that of a young woman walking into her house with her baby when she observed the creature emerging from the shadows. She ran inside only to have the creature peer in through the windows from the porch. Then he suddenly disappeared.
In December 1967 after some of the last sightings, tragedy struck in the form of a bridge collapsing. Forty Six people died from the incident, from either drowning in the river or being crushed among the wreckage. There have been reports of the Mothman being seen just before the incident. This has caused the theory that the Mothman is a harbinger of doom. There is no census, however, on whether or not Mothman is trying to warn humans of impending doom or if he is the cause of the doom. All together in West Virginia there have been over 100 reports sightings of the Mothman.
Even though Mothman remains a West Vrignia myth, there have been other incidents of Mothman sightings outside of the West Virginia area. Just before the disaster of Chernobyl, there are reports of Mothman sightings, even as recent as within the past couple years when a pilot in Chicago reported seeing the creature in August of 2019. The pilot recounts riding on a shuttle to the terminal and seeing a large humanoid with wings sitting on a railing. Watching him with red eyes. The creature kept his wings open, slowly moving them as it watched the shuttle. His account others can be read an the article by Tobas & Emily Wayland on the Singular Fortean website (link at the end of the post).
While it is unknown of what Mothman could be there are some theories that he is an alien stuck on earth, some sort of mutated bird, or even a vengeful curse. Regardless of what the Mothman is or what he represents he is a legend that is revelant today as people continue to report sightings of the creature whether in West Virignia or not.
He has garnered enough intrigued that the town of Point Pleasant hosts an annual Mothman festival generally held in September. For information on the festival visit the Mothman festival homepage. Not only has the Mothman been brought to life on the screen, there are several books about him as well you can check out:
The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel
Mothman: The Facts behind the Legend: by Jeff Wamsley
Beyond the Prophecies of Mothman by Andrew Colvin
Monsters of West Virginia by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Other Articles of Note:
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