Tag Archives: point pleasant west virginia

Mothman: Debunking the Debunking

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Debunking the Debunked, Mothman, Paranormal, Uncategorized

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Mothman: Debunking the Debunking

This summer I’m busy finishing my manuscript: Mothman: Debunking the Debunking. The book takes a look at Mothman, the sightings in 1966, the explanations that were proffered, and finally, how these explanations don’t pan out. Here’s a teaser:

Mothman: Debunking the Debunking

Fifty years ago, Mothman flew into the imaginations of the residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a small town in the western part of the state. For 13 months, eyewitnesses recall seeing a 7’ tall, red-eyed winged creature. Though it never threatened anyone, its size was menacing. Mothman may have snatched a German Shepard. Other than that, it did not kill or maim. It merely fascinated.

An Urban Legend Is Born

Couples Steve and Mary Mallette and Roger and Linda Scarberry were looking for a good time. The abandoned ammunitions factory was perfect for night exploration. On the evening of November 15, 1966, they drove out on West Virginia Route 62. Their destination was the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, a vast wildlife preserve in Mason County, 5 miles outside Point Pleasant. The area included an ordinance works housing a TNT factory from World War II.

The party of five reached the shackled chain-linked fencing. As the car’s engine ran, the young adults spotted something: a 7’ tall, red-eyed winged creature.

Quickly, they turned the car around and sped off reaching speeds upwards of 100 mph. The creature pursued, flying alongside. The car screeched to a halt at the Point Pleasant Courthouse, located in downtown. The courthouse housed the local police department. The five adults ran inside to alert Deputy Millard Halstead of the frightening flying creature that followed them into town. The deputy went outside; however, the creature was gone.

Roger Scarberry attempted to capture the image of the creature onto paper. He drew an overly simplistic blob-like shape with glowing eyes. He shared it with Deputy Halstead, who filed a police report. Mothman was born.

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Mothman Was a … Green Beret?

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Debunking the Debunked, Famous Locations, Mothman, Paranormal, Road Trip, Uncategorized

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halogreenberet

Mothman Was a … Green Beret?

The February 2014 issue of Soldiers of Fortune ran an incredibly thin article claiming that Mothman was a Green Beret. Titled “UFO Mystery Solved “Mothmen” Were Actually Green Berets,” author Harold Hutchison theorized that the 7-foot, red-eyed creature being spotted around Point Pleasant, West Virginia from November 15, 1966-December 15, 1967 was a specially trained US Army soldier wearing temporary glow-in-the-dark reflective paint practicing HALO (high-altitude, low-opening) parachute maneuvers. Unfortunately, the article lacked any evidence supporting his claim.

First, he misrepresented the second reported sighting. Hutchison wrote that it was “a couple” seeking “an intimate moment” who spotted the creature. However, nearly every writing on the topic credits Steve and Mary Mallette and Roger and Linda Scarberry as the first ones to report an encounter with Mothman. It wasn’t one couple; it was two couples who were together in a car. In addition, the author conveniently left out the part about the couples being chased at 100 M.P.H. By incompletely discussing the sighting, he reduced his credibility in his claim.

Hutchison innocuously wrote that the first reported sighting was made by 5 men digging a grave. This is troublesome. According to the Williamson Daily News, Kenneth Duncan, one of the men digging the grave, recalled seeing a “brown man … gliding through the trees … [with] eyes like red reflectors.” Duncan was describing one man—not several. Further, men parachuting down do not cut through trees. The parachute would restrict this. Moreover, reflective paint differs from glowing red eyes. All of the witness accounts described red eyes—not glowing war paint.

vietnam

Hutchison based his theory on military training here in the US to assist troops abroad in Vietnam. Unfortunately, he didn’t name one unit training in West Virginia. Nor did he supply any evidence that HALO training took place for 13 months around Point Pleasant and then abruptly stopped. Instead, he included a picture from the Utah National Guard completing “[s]imilar jumps.” This isn’t evidence.

He ended the short article reassuring his readers that the Department of Defense remained silent to protect the HALO program but now it was okay to openly discuss and to reveal the “secret.” This argument is flawed. It assumes that the HALO jumps only occurred at night, when in fact jumps also occur during daylight hours. If the Green Berets were in West Virginia practicing HALO jumps, more people, especially the newspaper reporters, would have reported it.

mothman-statue

While Hutchison’s theory is interesting and places a patriotic spin on Mothman, a truly Americana urban legend, it doesn’t make sense. So, no, Mothman was not a wayward Green Beret.

 

 

Mothman Turned 50: Let’s Celecbrate

26 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Animals, Conferences, Curiosities, Disasters, Famous Locations, In the News, Paranormal, Road Trip, Special Events, Ufology, UFOs, Uncategorized, Urban Legends

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Mothman Turned 50: Let’s Celebrate

Sightings of the red-eyed, 7 foot tall half man/half flying creature turned 50 last November. Although “Mothman,” as he was called, only appeared in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from November 1966-December 15, 1967, he still captures the imaginations of cryptozoologists, paranormal researchers, and general urban legend fans. He has spawned an entire industry in the small town. There’s a Mothman Museum; TNT Tours to see McClintic Wildlife Management Area, where the first documented sighting occurred; evening U.F.O. sky watches; and the popular Mothman Festival. This year the festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary.

Mothman descended into the quite town of Point Pleasant on November 15, 1966. Two couples were taking a cousin out to the abandoned TNT factory for some night hiking. Upon arrival at the chain-linked fence, the five young adults reported encountering a 7’ feathery creature with large wings (possibly 15 feet wide). They quickly returned to the car and sped off into town. This begins the sightings made more popular by John A. Keel’s The Mothman Prophecies book published in 1975.

The first “Congress,” outdated word for festival, began over Labor Weekend in 1968 when Saucer News editor, Gray Barker, organized a small event. Forty-six people attended and participated in touring the Silver Bridge disaster, learning about Shawnee leader Cornstalk who was murdered in the area in 1777, and a “saucer watch,” whereby people stared up into the clear evening sky searching for U.F.O.s. Apparently, the Congress was a success. Renamed the Mothman Festival, the current event has been running for 16 years.

This year the event returns to downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia, on September 16-17, 2017. Vendors, live music, food services, and a 5K run are planned. Admission to the Main Street events is free; however, nominal fees will be charged for the TNT tours and other additional events. According to the Official Mothman Festival Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/mothmanfestival/, 1,505 people are interested in attending and nearly 500 confirmed. Quite an uptick from the original 46.

Mothman is truly Americana. Other similar sightings have been reported, but none have the Appalachian appeal that Mothman brings to West Virginia. Definitely worth a visit.

For more information, visit: http://mothmanfestival.com/