The Mothman Mystery

In early November of 1966, grave diggers in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, were doing their typical graveyard shift when something strange happened. In the trees above them and on the branches was a tall and shadowy man. Or at least they thought it was a man... that was, until, the man flew from the branches and into the night. They brushed it off as a late Halloween prank or maybe a bird, but little did they know the creature they saw was about to cause a chain reaction of other sightings.

On the night of November 14th, Newell Partridge was in his home in Salem, West Virginia with his German Shepherd, Bandit, when his tv suddenly went dark. Bandit began howling uncontrollably as if he were alerting his master of an intruder. Newell went outside of his home and saw two red orbs flying over his property. Upon further inspection, he realized the red orbs were actually a pair of eyes; glowing red eyes. Bandit took off after the creature and disappeared into the night. He searched frantically for Bandit but to no avail, and unfortunately, he never found his beloved pet.

The very next day, in Point Pleasant, the Mothman sightings began...

November 15th, on the outskirts of Point Pleasant were two married couples driving down the road together; the Mallettes and the Scaryberrys. They were talking amongst themselves after a wonder double date, but then, everything changed. They were passing by the TNT Area (an area comprised of bunkers and tunnels used to store weapons in WWII that was since abandoned) when they came to a crumbling building where a strange man stood. However, their headlights illuminated a winged creature towering over the corpse of a badly mutilated dog, possibly a German Shepherd (but never officially confirmed because of how mutilated it was). The creature's eyes glowed red and it let out a shrill and almost-human like scream before flying towards the car. Mr. Scarberry, the driver, slammed on the gas to get he and his passengers away from the creature flying directly towards them. They were terrified beyond belief when their speedometer reached 100mph and the creature was still matching their pace. It was only when they exited the TNT Area that the creature turned back and flew away... perhaps not wanting to leave where it found residence? The two couples burst into the police station in hysterics and narrated their terrifying experience. It wasn't long before word spread all over town about a winged monster.

The very next day, a press release was held where Dr. Robert Smith, a zoologist and researcher clarified that what the couples saw was likely a Sand Hill Crane. This explanation was not satisfactory to the couples nor was it well received by the general public. Shortly after, tons of people and journalists descended upon the tiny town to see what the commotion was about. Naturally, many other eyewitnesses came forth but very few had any merit and were likely fabricated.

There was one other sighting that took place the very next day, however, that does have merit. The Walmsley couple and their friend Marcella Bennett (who had a newborn) were on their way to visit their friends the Thomas family at their home when something unusual happened. They arrived on the property and exited their vehicle, but an ominous man stood right near their vehicle, tucked away in the shadows. They realized that this was not a man, but a large winged figure with glowing red eyes. Marcella especially was so horrified that she dropped her newborn baby... They took off running towards the house as the creature "shuffled towards them", and when they finally reached the Thomas residence they were in a state of utter panic. Locking the doors, they called the police and hoped the strange creature had gone. To their horror the creature ,seemingly toying with them, peered into multiple windows of the home to illicit fear. It took nearly a half hour for the police to arrive, and when they did, the creature was long gone. What wasn't long gone was a group of traumatized people that stood about the home terrified beyond belief.

Marcella claimed that in the months following the encounter she was visited many times at night by the Mothman in her home. The creature would come to the house to peer into the windows and its screams were heard throughout the night. She was so traumatized by the entire experience that she actually developed severe anxiety and panic attacks and had to seek professional help for mental illness. She struggled with her mental health for years following the incident.

Only a few days later, the evening paper arrived to Newell Partridge's home where he read of the Scarberry/Mallette encounter and how a mutilated dog laid under the towering figure that so closely resembled what he saw only a day before. He made the drive to the TNT Area, but the remains were no longer there, and he never received closure as to the fate of his beloved, Bandit.

Sightings occurred throughout that year and into the next. Some were plausible, but most were attributed to mass hysteria.

During the ongoing hysteria, a tragedy took place that coincided with the last sightings of Mothman.

It was around 5pm on December 15th, 1967, and people were driving in 5 o'clock traffic on their usual route over the Silver Bridge when a failure in the suspension chains of the bridge caused the entire structure to collapse. Without any warning, the bridge collapsed and 32 cars carrying 64 people plunged into the frigid and icy Ohio River. While some cars sunk others floated downstream the Ohio River. Out of the 64 people who plunged into the river, only 18 people survived. Emergency services responded promptly to help, but for some it was too late. The next morning, divers and boats were called in to retrieve bodies, and two people's remains were never recovered.

Some eye witnesses claim they heard a sound like an airplane and believed they saw a military airplane possibly hit or shave part of the bridge off and that is why it fell, but the sound they heard was likely the suspension chain breaking. As for the military aircraft, the US Air Force confirmed that there were no aircrafts operating in that zone during this time. Some claim the aircraft was actually a UFO, while others claim it was the Mothman spotted.

A photo of the Silver Bridge with what appeared to be the creature surfaced which only added to the speculation.

Strangely, after this tragedy took place, Mothman disappeared and there have only been un-confirmed or non credible sightings since. Perhaps Mothman was an omen for death, or maybe he was warning everyone of the impending disaster...

The Silver Bridge was rebuilt two years later as the Silver Memorial Bridge.

The Mothman Prophecies, written by John Keel in 1975, covers the sightings over thirteen months that plagued the Point Pleasant area, and how they stopped suddenly after the fall of the Silver Bridge. His writing explores the links between the paranormal and UFO theories surrounding Mothman.

In 2002, a film based on his book was released, although this film was more so fiction with its own created plot.

In wake of the Mothman, several journalists flocked to the Point Pleasant area to do stories and to capitalize off the commotion. What they were not expecting was to be plunged into a government-UFO conspiracy. Many journalists reported being intimidated by what we now know are Men in Black.

Mary Hyre, the most famous journalist of the Mothman era, was visited in her office by a tall, pale man with dark messy hair in dark clothing. According to her, he warned her to stop writing and covering the Mothman mystery. She claimed she was also visited at home by these men who looked like "walking cadavers." These threats did not deter her from reporting and she pressed on, later teaming up with John Keel, writer of the Mothman Prophecies.

Mary Hyre died only a few years later in 1970 at the age of 54. According to her obituary, she was ill for a month in the hospital before passing. Nothing else is known about her illness.

Some people believe that Mothman was a demonic entity that brought upon a tragic disaster. Others believe he was a monster that had nothing to do with the Silver Bridge disaster. Thunderbirds and Skin Walkers have been entertained, as well.

Dr. Robert Smith dismissed it as a misidentified Sand Hill Crane, but I have many doubts about this theory:

1. Sand Hill Cranes are usually around 4 feet tall (although they can be as tall as 6 feet in very rare occasions), but the Mothman was above 6 feet tall.

2. It is true that Sand Hill Cranes have red feathers around their eyes, so it could give the illusion of red eyes, but they are not reflective. The only birds that have reflective eyes in the dark are owls, and owls are never that tall.

3. A Sand Hill Crane is a bird that migrates south, and if it really was a Sand Hill Crane it would've had to been blown out of migration and hopelessly lost for it to remain so far north in Mid-November.

Then there are people who believe that Mothman was not a villain at all, but an omen of disaster trying to warn the masses that a tragedy would soon take place and that they needed to heed its warning.

Then we have the UFO theory which is very plausible, and the theory that it was a creature that was mutated from radiation from whatever weapons were kept in the TNT Area during WWII.

Unfortunately, we will likely never know the answer to the Mothman cryptid.