Mothman

One of the most celebrated and strange cases in the history of ufololigy is that of Mothman. The creature was first reported on November 15, 1966 when a pair of young married couples drove past a deserted TNT plant near Point Pleasant, West Virginia and saw a large pair of red eyes. The group reported the eyes were on a creature that stood about six or seven feet, had the basic shape of biped and carried large wings folded against its back. The witnesses later claimed the eyes were hypnotic. Suddenly the creature turned and dashed towards the open door of the plant.

The driver quickly turned the car around and raced down the desolate road to get back to Point Pleasant. Seconds later the creature was seen standing on a hillside near the road. It spread its gigantic wings, which resembled those of a bat, and rose into the air with little effort. The monster began to follow the car as it sped nearly one hundred miles an hour towards town. The sound of a "record played at high speeds" was heard, which could account for the flapping wings.

When the couples reached the city limits of Point Pleasant the creature broke off the chase and turned back to the desert. The group happened to notice a large dead dog on a hill near the road as they entered town. Later that night when returning to the scene with police investigators the group could not locate the dog's body.

On the same night, Newell Partridge was watching television at about 10:30 PM on November 15 when the television screen disappeared. Partridge, a building contractor, claimed the screen was then replaced by a "fine herringbone pattern" and a "loud whining noise." Partridge's dog Bandit began to howl on the porch. After stepping onto his porch the dog ran towards his barn located about four hundred and fifty feet away. Partridge claimed to have shone a light in the direction of the barn and picked up two red circle-like eyes.

Bandit was an experienced hunting dog and used to fighting and fending for himself. Partridge ran inside, grabbed a loaded gun and barricaded himself inside the small house. He slept the night with his gun at his side. The next day when looking for Bandit Partridge found tracks running in a circle- as if the dog had been chasing something in the sky.

A reporter soon nicknamed the creature "Mothman," after a once popular Batman character.

For the next twelve months a large number of sightings took place. Perhaps the most infamous involves two adults and an infant on November 16, 1966. After visiting friends the trio stepped outside of the house and began to walk to their cars when suddenly a large figure rose from behind the vehicles. One of the women, Marcella Bennett, was so frightened by the creature that she dropped her baby. As the monster unfolded its gigantic wings Raymond Wamsley scooped up the child and dragged the stunned women into the house. The trio later claimed the creature was a "big gray thing" that was "bigger then a man." The beast had no distinct head but a large stump that rose from its shoulders. The creature then followed them to the porch, where it emitted strange sounds and looked inside the windows. By the time the police arrived, however, the creature was gone.

More sightings flowed in, including a mass sighting of over one hundred people.

Several theories have been created to explain the creature. The most common is that witnesses mistook a Sandhill Crane or an owl for Mothman. These known animals, combined with fear and wild imaginations, could have created the biped. The study of Mothman is not over and most likely never will be.