In an age before “fake news” was a part of the vernacular there were some pretty suspicious, mysterious, and downright creepy occurrences reported on newsprint. Could the news media be trusted? Word of Mothman spread from front porch to bar stool, from the beauty parlor to the church pew, and from the playground to the grocery line.

A strange creature, flying overhead in mid-November 1966, was reported by young couples in Point Pleasant, WV. There were enough “sightings” and unexplained happenings for the story to grip the town, make national news, and find its way to Hollywood and the big screen.

I’ll let some of the photos speak for themselves.

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Earlier this fall I visited the Mothman Museum, where memorabilia, original reports, and murky images are collected. It’s a small space with a lot to see, and worth a trip to a small town where you can visit antique stores, eat homemade ice cream, and wander along the riverfront gazing from West Virginia across the Ohio River into Ohio.

I wonder if Mothman was responsible for the collapse of the Silver Bridge, which killed 46 people in Dec. 1967, stuck in evening traffic. Or was he warning the residents of Point Pleasant, cautioning them of impending doom?

I’m inspired to return home to watch Men in Black, the 1997 film with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and the 2002 The Mothman Prophecies, starting Richard Gere, for alternate accounts of the strange and unusual, each based in part on the events of the 1960s in small town America.

A Mothman sculpture draws visitors, who want a selfie with the beast, to document their visit. Gift shops, within the museum and scattered around town, have capitalized on all things spooky, from local art to mass-produced t-shirts, post cards, stickers and key chains.

If nothing else, you’ll be entertained for an afternoon.

Join me on my next adventure!

~ Kathleen

Related Links:

Mothman Museum: https://www.mothmanmuseum.com/mothman-museum.html

The Mothman Prophecies Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXcpwJbXT7o

Point Pleasant, WV: https://visitpointpleasantwv.com/

Mothman Festival: https://www.mothmanfestival.com/

The Men in Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYUd7AOw_lk