Mothman

Within cryptozoology, the Mothman is a winged creature rumored to inhabit the Point Pleasant area of western West Virginia, along the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. Cryptozoology is the search for physical evidence of cryptids, creatures that are rumored to exist according to folklore, but whose existence has never been scientifically documented. Alleged sightings of the Mothman continue to be reported, and the creature has become a source of local pride and identity among the population of Point Pleasant. The 2002 horror/science-fiction film The Mothman Prophecies increased the public’s fascination with the Mothman, which is the most famous cryptid of West Virginia and one of the most well known associated with the United States as a whole.

Background

Unlike with many other cryptids, such as Sasquatch (Bigfoot) and the Yeti, whose rumored existence and alleged sightings have persisted for centuries, Mothman lore is more recent—dating to the 1960s. No indigenous American Indian myths of the Mothman have ever been recounted, nor were there accounts of this creature during colonial times. The myth of the Mothman emerged in the region of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, over a thirteen-month period between November 12, 1966, and December 15, 1967, when dozens of alleged eyewitness accounts of a mysterious creature roaming the area were reported to local authorities and the media. By some accounts, the first reported encounter came from a group of five grave diggers near the small town of Clendenin, West Virginia, who claimed that they had seen a brown, human-like creature flying overhead and passing through the trees.

Three days later, two married couples (Steve and Mary Mallette and Roger and Linda Scarberry) claimed to have encountered the mysterious creature that would eventually be named the Mothman. The four witnesses were driving in a car near Point Pleasant when they claimed to have spotted the Mothman; when they attempted to flee out of fear, they asserted that the creature kept pace with them overhead. The Mallettes and Scarberrys described the creature as being approximately seven feet tall with two large wings and lacking a clearly distinct head, even though it had two bright red eyes that appeared to be on its chest. The couples reported that the creature did not flap its wings, appearing instead to glide through the air, and made loud squeaking noises that resembled a mouse.

Approximately one hundred other individuals reported sightings or encounters with a bizarre creature matching this description in the Point Pleasant region over the next thirteen months. The creature’s popular nickname, the Mothman, was inspired by Killer Moth, a villain from the Batman comic books. Furthermore, accounts and allegations of different unusual events—such as unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings and other unexplained phenomena—were reported to local police over this same time period.

During rush hour on the evening of December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed after one of its steel bars ruptured, causing thirty-one vehicles to fall into the frigid waters of the Ohio River. The bridge’s collapse resulted in forty-six fatalities and nine injuries. Dozens of local residents claimed to have seen the Mothman flying to and from the Silver Bridge immediately before and after this event occurred. Claims of Mothman sightings greatly subsided following this incident, which eventually caused some members of the local community, along with paranormal researchers, to believe that the sightings of the Mothman during the one-year period before the collapse of the Silver Bridge were intended to serve as ominous warnings that something tragic was about to occur in the local area.

Impact

The Mothman’s legacy has persisted over time. In 1975, paranormal author John Keel wrote The Mothman Prophecies, which argues that the rumored sightings of the Mothman between 1966 and 1967, reported sightings of UFOs in West Virginia, and the Silver Bridge tragedy were all interconnected phenomena. The book eventually went out of print until the release of the film of the same title in 2002, when Keel’s book was republished and translated into several languages.

The film The Mothman Prophecies was directed by Mark Pellington and stars Richard Gere as John Klein, a Washington, DC–based newspaper journalist who ends up in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, following a traffic accident that hospitalizes and eventually kills his wife. The film implies that the accident was engendered by the Mothman, who led Klein’s wife (who was driving) to veer out of her lane to avoid hitting it. Klein soon finds sketches that his wife made of the Mothman before this incident occurred. In Point Pleasant, he finds himself increasingly enmeshed in mysteries surrounding the Mothman, including the bizarre death of an acquaintance, and receiving a series of disturbing telephone calls in his hotel room. The film culminates with the collapse of the Silver Bridge, and the plot suggests that the mysterious sightings of the Mothman and the other strange occurrences in Point Pleasant are directly connected to the fate of the bridge. The main character of the film is, essentially, a fictionalized version of John Keel, the author whose 1975 book inspired the 2002 motion picture.

The same year that The Mothman Prophecies film was released, the town of Point Pleasant held its first annual Mothman Festival. The festival is a two-day event that occurs during the third weekend of September and features food, live bands, artwork, information about the 1966–7 Mothman sightings, and other events. Admission to the festival is free of charge, although admission to the Mothman Museum is three dollars. The museum opened in October 2005 and features original newspaper articles documenting eyewitnesses reports of the Mothman and accounts of the Silver Bridge’s collapse, police notes and reports pertaining to the alleged sightings, props and equipment from The Mothman Prophecies film, and a gift shop.

In 2003, Point Pleasant erected a statue of the Mothman, designed by Bob Roach, a sculptor from New Haven, West Virginia, in its downtown district. The statue and the festival itself have become popular tourist attractions and important sources of revenue for the local economy. In this respect, the mystery of the Mothman has become as important a financial boon to Point Pleasant as the alleged 1947 UFO crash is to the local economy and tourist industry of Roswell, New Mexico.

Bibliography

Clark, Jerome. Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. 3rd ed. Canton: Visible Ink, 2013. Print.

Coleman, Loren. Mothman and Other Curious Encounters. 3rd ed. New York: Paraview, 2002. Print.

Dixon, Deborah. "A Benevolent and Skeptical Inquiry: Exploring ‘Fortean Geographies’ with the Mothman." Cultural Geographies 14.2 (2007): 189–210. Print.

Keel, John. The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story. New York: Saturday Review, 1975. Print.

Laycock, Joe. "Mothman: Monster, Disaster and Community." Fieldwork in Religion 3.1 (2008): 70–80. Print.

Mitchell, Elvis. "Mysteries Multiply in Spooky Adventures." Rev. of The Mothman Prophecies, dir. Mark Pellington. New York Times. New York Times, 25 Jan. 2002. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.

Moye, David. "Mothman Theories Explored on Science Channel’s Unexplained Files." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.

Ross, Jim. "Mothman Lives in Point Pleasant, 47 Years Later." State Journal (WV) 26 July 2013: 46. Print.