What is Mothman?
In November 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, reported that a huge, human-sized creature with wings and glowing red eyes had chased them at night near an old munitions site. Over the following weeks, more people reported similar encounters. The press named the creature “Mothman.”
The Silver Bridge
The sightings went on for more than a year, along with UFO reports and stories of strange visitors dressed in black. On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed, killing 46 people. Since then, many have seen Mothman as a harbinger of disaster. In 1975 the journalist John Keel tied these events together in his book The Mothman Prophecies, which was made into a film in 2002.
Possible explanations
As early as 1966, a biologist suggested that the witnesses had seen a large bird, such as a sandhill crane that had strayed into the area. Others thought of an owl, whose eyes shine red in headlights. Today Point Pleasant has a Mothman statue and holds a Mothman festival every year.
Episodes on this topic
- Mothman: The First Sightings (Mothman, Part 1) (in German)
- Monster or Bird? (Mothman, Part 2) (in German)
- UFOs, Flying Monsters and the Men in Black (Mothman, Part 3) (in German)
- The UFOs, Mothman and Mary Hyre (Mothman, Part 4) (in German)
- Miss Venus, an Alien Abduction and the Silver Bridge (Mothman, Part 5) (in German)
- Mothman Returns? (in German)
- The Van Meter Visitor: The Winged Creature of 1903
Further reading
- John A. Keel: The Mothman Prophecies, 1975.