; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Monday, December 28, 2015

Mothman Eyewitness Accounts


I'm a bit pressed for time today, so I decided to pull up a few Mothman-like reports forwarded to me over the years:

Mothman is a legendary creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register dated November 16, 1966, entitled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something." Mothman was said to be related to a wide array of supernatural events in the area, including the deadly collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967. Since that time, the Mothman has been called a harbinger of death and destruction and has been reportedly seen worldwide.

Many of the reports that I have received over the years are concentrated in the Ohio River Valley, from southeast Ohio, through West Virginia and into northern Kentucky; but there are other sightings worldwide.

Mothman Sighting Near Cincinnati, Ohio

I received an email in reference to incidents experienced by the witness and her friend. The location was near Cincinnati, Ohio (unedited):

“It was about 8:00 pm and I was driving home after dropping a friend off at her house. I came to an intersection, a red light, and stopped. Nothing out of the normal - just a regular night. The roads were fairly deserted. While waiting for the light to change I saw something that looked like the back end of a deer as it quickly crossed the street. I didn't think much of it except for the fact that when I drive through there I have to be careful because deer apparently like to jump in front of cars. That stretch of road is only a couple hundred feet posted at 40 mph. I slowed to about 30-35 mph to watch and look at the deer.

When I looked to see if the deer was still there I witnessed something quite a bit different. This massive thing was standing back a ways but it was clearly visible. The yard it was standing in has a huge white shed with a light attached to the front though; this didn't help because it cast a big shadow. The figure stood on the ground but its height reached to about the top of the doors to the shed. It had two curved like masses coming from the sides. But the most obvious feature were the deep red, glowing eyes coming from the center of the black mass. It was something I couldn't stop looking at. I continued to drive but all the way home I felt I was being followed.”- L.

I later received the following from the previous witness:

“I'd like to share an experience my friend and I have unfortunately been dragged into. At approximately 10:30 PM tonight, I received an instant message from my friend about a rather disturbing encounter she had. She had reported she saw the Mothman. I sent her several messages back, asking if she was alright, if she was there, etc. She eventually sent me a text message with a picture that she drew of the creature attached. By this point, I was literally getting sick and trembling due to anxiety and fright. We began talking about it and I noticed a tapping at my window; a very light kind of sound. My dogs both jerked their heads upward and stared at the window for a long time. Being in the state I was in, I refused to look.

For awhile, the tapping stopped...she and I continued to discuss the matter at hand. Suddenly, the tapping began again, but this time the dogs ignored it and so did I. About four or five minutes later, I fought the urge to stare at my computer monitor and looked at my window. My blinds were closed, but I could faintly see something red and glowing, like taillights that had somehow made their way into the neighbor's backyard. I quickly looked away, not wanting to see it anymore. I looked again a couple minutes later, unnerved to see the red glow was still there. Again, I looked away and continued discussing this with my friend. Finally, I turned my head one final time and saw that the glow no longer remained.

As I'm typing this email, I'm really worried, as the tapping has begun again and I'm really too afraid to move from this position. Above this, I've included my friend's side of the story, and, should you post this, we would certainly appreciate if you could put them both into one piece. We'd discussed calling the police, but she didn't want to make a big deal about it. Her parents brushed it off and I have yet to tell anyone in my house about this.

I'm not sure what this was; a frightening delusion or a real situation, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to face the facts and find out. Thanks for your time. - A. (This was sent to the Mothman Museum as well)”

NOTE: At the time, I didn’t know the specific location. I received an update soon after.

Update: Mothman Sighting - Middletown, Ohio

I received an update to this sighting including another related encounter. This creature (or creatures) may continue to visit in the area:

“Well, both my friend and I live closer to Middletown, OH. There was another encounter I had shortly after I had sent the email and I kept forgetting that I hadn't sent it. I had walked out of my room to wash my face, try and calm myself down, etc. and my brother's room is directly across the hall from mine. I looked straight ahead and it was looking right through the window of his room (that's the picture I had sent). I stared at it for awhile, feeling kind of cold and then feeling really scared and I finally pulled my eyes away and went about my business. When I came out of my bathroom, I didn't look in the direction of his room. My friend reported that what she saw had more oblique-shaped eyes and looked kind of 'angry' (I wasn't too sure about that hypothesis), while mine had large, round eyes and seemed kind of curious or something.

Sorry I didn't include that in the original message; like I said, this happened after I sent the email and I keep assuming I had included it when I hadn't. Other than the weird sightings, there wasn't any strange activity I can recall.”

Mothman Comes Home

I received the following email from a woman in Ohio who had concerns in reference to a sighting her and a girlfriend had six months prior to the report. She stated that she substituted their names for anonymity. 'Megan' affirms that all other details...location, date and description of the incident are factual:

“Sir - my name is Megan. I am forwarding a summary of an experience that I and a friend had in August 2010. My friend and associate Kyra and I traveled from Columbus, Ohio to Ravenswood, West Virginia on business. While we were there, I wanted to make a side trip to Gallipolis, Ohio in order to visit relatives I had not seen for quite awhile.

After our meeting and presentation, we drove onto Ohio Rt. 7 and traveled south along the Ohio River towards Gallipolis. We had a nice, though brief, visit with my relatives. Around 6PM, we left their home and drove a few miles north on Rt. 7 to check-in to a hotel near the local airport.

Around 7:30PM, we decided to get dinner and found a quiet restaurant so we could eat and work. After we finished, Kyra needed to go to the store and pick up a few items that she forgot to pack. We headed to a Wal-Mart that was nearby the restaurant.

After we finished shopping, we were walking to the car when I noticed a woman running through the parking lot. When she reached her car, she looked back in the direction of the store then hurriedly got into the car. I quickly looked in the same direction and saw what looked like a large bird flying above the roof of the store. It was difficult to see but when it swooped downward the parking lot lights would shine off of it. It looked like it was either oily or had shiny leather-like skin. Whatever it was, it had a wide wing span. I would guess it reached 8-10 foot across. It circled above the store for about a minute then just disappeared.

We were both somewhat shocked at what we witnessed but figured that it was just a huge bird. Since it was dark, I figured we had misjudged what it really was.

We drove back to the hotel and decided to call it a night so we could get an early start on the drive home in the morning. I got ready for bed but thought I’d watch some television first. By this time it was around 10PM or so.

I must have dozed off fairly quickly because the next thing I remember is frantic knocking on my door. I stumbled out of bed and checked who it was. It was Kyra and she was obviously upset. She rushed into my room and said “it’s here!” “What are you talking about?”- a little bit perturbed that she woke me up. She said that she was laying on the bed reading when she heard something in the hallway. She got out of bed, walked to the door and listened to what she thought was ‘scratching’ sounds. After a few minutes the sounds stopped, so she went back to bed. Not long after she lay down she heard more scratching sounds but, from outside her window. Again she got up and peeked through the curtains. This time, something looked back at her.

Our rooms were on the second floor in the back section of the hotel and both looked out onto a small parking lot and a large field beyond that. She could see, what she described as, a ‘bald ugly man with wings’ who was looking directly at her with 'large bulging eyes that lit up bright red.' It was there for only a few seconds. It then spread it’s wings while running at the same time towards the end of the parking lot and lifted off the ground like a bird.

“You’re kidding, right?” I muttered to her. “Meg, I swear to God - that thing is out there and it knows we saw it!” I knew the only way I was going to get some sleep was to allow Kyra to stay in my room. The next morning we woke early, checked out and drove back to Columbus.

Kyra didn’t mention the incident from the previous night during the ride. In fact, she has still never said anything else about it. We continue to be good friends and have a very good working relationship.

But - I got curious. I had never heard about the Mothman or any of the tales associated with it. I grew up in Texas and had only lived in Ohio for a few years. I moved into my Mom’s house after she had passed away. Her relatives lived throughout Ohio but I had never been told any of the stories.

This is the reason I am writing to you. We were near Point Pleasant, WV when we had this encounter. Do you think that it is possible that this was a Mothman? I read some of your posts recently and I’m starting to believe that Kyra actually saw something supernatural.

In light of the prophecies of danger that this thing is suppose to warn people about, Kyra has had some bad luck and tragedy since that day. Her husband suddenly left her, she had a fire in her house and she severely injured her leg in a fall. Could this be connected?

I personally don’t believe in predictions, either good or bad. But I will admit that these have been strange times since we witnessed ‘whatever.’”

NOTE: I responded to 'Megan's' concerns with a lot more uncertainty...we really don't have many answers for the Mothman. Is it natural, supernatural or non-terrestrial? Some people think that it may be an escaped experiment performed by the government. What would you tell 'Megan?'

Mothman Sighting - Mertztown, PA

Mertztown is in Longswamp Township in eastern Berks County, Pennsylvania. The witness wrote me after reading one of my previous reports (unedited):

“Good morning, as I sit reading this article, it amazes me that no one caught one of these things yet. I understand that if something with a 25-30 ft wingspan flies past you, you're not going to grab your camera as a first instinct.

My son and I saw this monster thing last summer in Mertztown, PA. We were parked on the side of the road in a heavily wooded area when this thing casually glided up the road. It looked big enough to carry a full grown man away with no effort. When the wing flew over the hood of my car, we instantly ducked down. This thing had a round human sized head with no beak (hence the term man-bird), and huge bat-like wings. Now I would never tell this story if it wasn't for my 16-yr-old son sitting in the backseat who also witnessed it on that summer day. I'm a pretty capable guy, not too many things can shake me, but this thing scared the hell out of me. Here is what I saw:

The body was 5-6 ft in length easy, wing span was 25-30 ft easy, no feathers, bat like skin, jet black, and a 4-5 ft skinny (rat or dragon) like tail that stuck straight out. This thing didn't fly like a bird, it glided about 10 ft off the ground at a VERY slow speed. After 50-75 ft of gliding, it took one huge flap of the wings, never changing elevation, and glided up the road till it disappeared into the woods. I'm convinced this thing lives underground, probably near some sort of hot spring because it has no feathers.

Well that's my story. Feel free to reply with any questions, that 45 second event will forever be etched into memory. I say we find it and catch it, I would love to see it again up close.”

Unknown Encounter - New Miami, Ohio

New Miami is in central Butler County in the southwestern part of Ohio. The witness wrote me after searching the internet for answers (unedited):

“On Monday May 9th, 2011 around 5:45am, I was on my way to work headed north bound in to the village of New Miami on Seven Mile Avenue. I left the traffic light at the southern most edge of town in to a dark stretch of road when a large flying creature swooped in over my car and snatched up a small animal in the road ahead of me at the edge of my head lights. As a construction worker, I feel I can judge the size of objects fairly well. This creature had a wing span of at least 12 feet and was jet black with a human figure. It completely blocked the view out of my windshield and then some and moved at a very high rate of speed. I was traveling between 35-40MPH. It had to have been traveling at around 70-80MPH. Like I stated before is swooped down grabbed the animal and was gone over the trees very quickly. I've researched large predator birds and raptors indigenous to Ohio and there are none that fit the description of what I saw. If you have any other questions about my experience please feel free to email me back. T.”

The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story

Men In Black: Personal Stories & Eerie Adventures

Mothman's Curse

Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts