Mothman Festival Bound!
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on September 20th, 2013
Last night at about 9 PM, Lyle Blackburn and I set out from DFW for Point Pleasant, WV.
Lyle is a scheduled speaker for the Mothman Festival, and we both will have vendor tables.
If you are planning to attend, be sure to come by and say hi and hang out!
The Man, The Moth, The Legend: Point Pleasant’s Mothman Festival Returns!
Every September an invasion occurs in the quaint town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. No, the invaders aren’t visitors from space, but rather car loads of curiosity seekers, paranormal nuts, and Richard Gere fans (yes, they exist) descend upon the town, filling hotels, crowding breakfast joints, and snapping loads of pictures.
Why would so many people congregate in this relatively unknown all-American town, you ask? To celebrate the appearance of a mysterious winged monster half a century ago. That’s the strange story behind the 12th annual Mothman Festival.
Since his first appearance in the mid 60′s, the tale of the Mothman has become an iconic piece of American folklore, and an even bigger part of the community that was at the center of the unsolved mystery. For those not familiar with the beast, or the havoc he brought to town with him during a year-long nightmare, here’s a quick history lesson:
The first widely circulated sighting of the Mothman occurred during the month of November 1966, when a group of five men diving graves in nearby Clendenin, West Virginia claimed to have spotted a large humanoid flying low over a patch of trees. Days later, the same bizarre creature would again be spotted, this time by Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette of Point Pleasant. The description that the couples gave to the police that evening would go on to become the most iconic imagery of the Mothman to date.
As the two couples drove home that night, they witnessed what they collectively described as a large flying man, with massive wings spanning ten-feet wide, and eyes that glowed bright-red. Much to the couples’ horror, the strange creature began following their vehicle down the winding, desolate West Virginia roads. Just as they pulled into town, the beast disappeared back into the night.
Read the rest of the article at Roadtrippers.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Wish I could have made it…
Are they organizing walking tours to the gravesites of the 46 people who perished when the Silver Bridge collapsed? Honestly. no bridge collapse – no Mothman Festival 45 years later, although nobody wants to admit it. That might spoil the…fun.
The right-side steering wheel – now THAT’S classic!
I still think mothman was an owl and the story got bigger and more outlandish with the telling–and this from someone that believes in cryptids! Even the drawings look like an owl!
Take one pair of mated sandhill cranes who strayed from their migration route. Throw in a couple of turkey vultures and one snowy owl. Add in extremely unsophisticated witnesses, then throw John Keel into that mix. All total bs.
Have to admit the idea of Mothman is very cool. Hope Point Pleasant makes a bundle of money off “believers” this weekend because that place needs all the money it can get.
Well, you are now faced with the chore of delivering to us ONE VERY LARGE OWL. Too many close encounters, over a period of 18 or so months, and I think you know the prospects of all those people being dogged by ONE LARGE OWL are pretty dim.
There you go with the classist BS again, looking down upon the residents of Point Pleasant as ignorant paupers, corrick. Every time I think you’ve stooped as low as you could possibly go, you surprise me.
Goodfoot:
I have listened to early ’70’s tape recorded interviews by Linda Scarberry, Mary Mallette and Connie Carpenter.
You have not.
I have read and exhaustively researched the cryptozoological elements of the Point Pleasant Mothman story.
You have not.
These were not your “normal” eyewitnesses. Political correctness has value today as a social tool, but none as far as science is concerned. Or don’t you care what really happened?
I think you’ve gone off the deep end, corrick. You have absolutely no idea what I’ve listened to or not listened to, or researched, for that matter. And suggesting I “don’t care about what really happened” suggests you possess some special knowledge. Just like everyone who has delusions of grandeur.
Goodfoot;
You make a good point. I have no problem with the Mothman witnesses if that’s their experience and ultimately, they have to reconcile with themselves as to the veracity of their claims. My problem is two fold.
One; the connecting of the Silver Bridge collapse with Mothman sightings by John Keel and his whole cloth universe of high strangeness.
And two; seeing as how the entire Mothman mythos rose to prominence from the bridge collapse, no mention (that I see) is made of the people who perished in that tragedy in the planned proceedings. I have to feel that there are family members, perhaps survivors who are not thrilled with a festive and vendor driven event as the Mothman Festival. But then, who am I to rain on anyone’s parade?
I don’t know how many survivors there are of an event 45, 46 years old, or if their descendants could be offended. I suppose it’s possible, but I feel we’d have heard from them if it were so.
cryptokellie and Goodfoot
Hope you understand there are actually TWO Mothmans.
One is the paranormal Mothman linked to the Silver Bridge collapse, Indrid Cold, Men in Black etc by Grey Barker, Keel etc.
The second is the cryptozoological Mothman speculated as an unknown species of giant bird or owl.
You really need to differentiate between the two.
I’m finished dignifying your stupidity, corrick. It’s over.
Corrick;
The paranormal Mothman and the cryptozoological Mothman have at least one thing in common. Neither have a shred of real evidence to support their existence.
By your definitions, I will give the cryptozoological Mothman a passing glance because all the witnesses probably saw something…whatever that was. I still have a first edition bought in 1975 copy of “Mothman Prophecies” and have read it. The paranormal Mothman, along with Indrid Cold; et al, were plot embellishments created by John Keel for his book. Interesting that it took him over seven years to interweave his whole-cloth universe with the West Virginia events and tragic Silver Bridge collapse.
Goodfoot:
My Father-in-Law is a WWII vet and he at some of the history rewriting occurring these days and that was over seventy years ago, so there is a possibility of survivors and certainly a possibility of relatives who might not appreciate such fun-filled events. But, it occurs to me that if any of them discount the Mothman and all the foolishness that was attached to it, then they might not care at all. I hope this is the case.
What you hope is of no concern to me whatsoever.