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.
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.
I have also included several flying humanoid phenomena reports. Some of these reports are included in my 1st book Phantoms & Monsters: Cryptid Encounters
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Tall Dark 'Mothman' Type Entity Reported - Stow, Ohio
The Munroe Falls Paranormal Society contacted me in reference to this sighting (unedited):
“MFPS was contacted by a person who had an extremely odd sighting of an entity here in Stow, OH an adjacent community of my hometown. Witness' wife contacted me with story and after several days of negotiation, witness agreed to meet with me, recreate the events and answer questions. Witness extremely hesitant, but wife persuaded him to give story. Night of 9/14/09 witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, but name and other vitals on record, was driving to work, 10:15pm, Northbound on Hudson Drive. As witness drove under the RT8 overpass bridge, just north of the Hudson Drive Applebee’s Restaurant, he witnessed a 9-10′ tall solid black entity standing on the southbound side of the road. No discernible head or facial features noticed. Duration approx. 5-10 secs. Distance approx 15-20′ from his vehicle.
Witness had the feeling the entity was watching him and was “there” for him only. No other vehicles/persons present during sighting. Immediately after turning his head back to the road, he looked in rearview mirror, entity no longer visible. Did not see entity depart or disappear. Witness became extremely upset and scared. Felt that he paled, and his eyes began to water uncontrollably. First thought was to turn around and go home, calling off of work. He tried to call his wife at home, but cell phone would not work, either from the programmed address book, or manual input calling. Kept getting “call failed”, which has never happened before. Cell phone continued to be affected all the way to the I-271 entrance ramp, approx. 8-10 miles up the road. Witness did make it to his job, but has since regretted not turning around and going home, due to his state of mind. The experience was traumatic in every sense of that word. It was a “bad” night for him at work.
Weather was clear, starry. No other known witnesses, no animal sightings. Other than the uncontrollable watering of the eyes, no other physiological or physical effects on his person. Other than the cell phone not working, no other effects noticed on inanimate objects, such as streetlights, car, or timepiece (watch). There was no religious interpretation, no known memory lapse, no dreaming related to sighting as of this report. Witness did report close encounter with UAO as a ten year old when he lived in Akron, other than that, no overt paranormal experiences were reported during his normal daily life. Witness tried to box his sighting into something prosaic. Closest he could come was an electric company canvas transformer covering, but on reflection, he’s certain that that was not what he observed. Entity too tall, too big for that. Witness stated that immediately after the sighting he became more and more agitated and scared the further he drove along. Distinct feeling that the entity was waiting for him and possibly following him, but he did not see it again, that night. No disturbances at witness place of residence. The following day on his way home, as he neared the RT8 overpass, this time driving over the bridge he went under the day before, as he approached the bridge area, his eyes began to water uncontrollably once again, as he drove over the bridge and his eyes continued to water, until he passed beyond the bridge, then his eyes began to clear up.
Witness provided me a pencil drawing of what he observed. When I first saw the drawing I was incredulous. The drawing bears an uncanny resemblance to the original drawing submitted by the original Mothman witness of Point Pleasant WV, 1966. Witness willing to keep me informed of any further sightings or activity. I believe I have gained his trust, as I mentioned he wasn’t really interested in coming forth with this. My intuitive reaction is that witness is extremely believable and honest in his testimony. No outrageous embellishments to either his story, which I made him relate twice, nor to his drawing, which was really rather simple in nature.
So in the end, no answers at this point, but the eerie drawing he provided and its uncanny resemblance to the Mothman legacy are very much intriguing. I will continue to correspond and follow up with witness periodically and will be anxiously waiting to see if any other sightings are reported in this vicinity that might validate this entity’s appearance.”
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Human Adult-Sized Flying Cryptid - Pacific, Missouri
“We were in Pacific, MO, tonight around 11:30 PM and noticed a massive flying creature, not once but three times. My son even noticed it on his own the third time. We were near a large cliff/mountain with some type of cave openings. We don't live in the area, I can say for sure we turned onto a road called Viaduct Road, went past a fire station and continued on for about 1 mile before we first noticed it. It was brownish/grey and the body portion was at least the size of a large adult human. This creature was tracking us - in a circle pattern. We were driving an Escalade with the blue color headlights and this may have cause interest in us. The third time around we viewed it in front of the vehicle, around the driver side and around towards the rear of the vehicle. The factory tinted windows did help it vanish into the sky from our point of view.
Please understand when we could see it the range must have been about 150 feet in the air, not more than 250 feet. The distance was never less than 100 yards, often much greater. We were going about 35- 45 MPH. I have never thought of anything like this in my life! It is 3:33 AM and my son and I are wide awake in a hotel, 17 miles away from the place we first noticed the creature. Please notify me if you become aware of similar sightings. Thanks.”
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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 will occasionally post other flying humanoid reports from the Phantoms & Monsters archives. Lon
Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts
Operation Trojan Horse: The Classic Breakthrough Study of UFOs
Phantoms & Monsters: Strange Encounters
