The Mothman
Whether
you’re a lover of Forteana or not, you’ve probably heard of the ‘Mothman’ –
it’s even been the subject of a film, ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ made in 2002
with Richard Gere starring which was based on John Keel’s 1975 book of the same
name in which he theorized that there were supernatural events related to the
sightings and of one in particular that preceded (or predicted ) the collapse
of the Silver Bridge which carries ca U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River and
connects Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with Gallipolis, in Ohio.
Reports of the Mothman seem to begin in the
Point Pleasant area with sightings reported from November 12, 1966, to December
15, 1967 – the first newspaper to mention it was the Point Pleasant Register
which ran a story on November 16, 1966 with the heading "Couples See
Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something".
According to the records so far the first
known appearance put in by the creature was witnessed by five gravediggers
working in cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia who claimed to see a man-like
figure fly low from the trees over the heads on November 12, 1966. 3 days later
two young couples, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, told
police they had been followed by a ‘large grey creature whose eyes "glowed
red’ when the car headlights picked it up that resembled a "large flying
man with ten-foot wings", car while they were driving in an area outside
of town known as ‘the TNT area’, which was the site of a disused munitions
plant.
Dr.
Robert L. Smith, a Wildlife biologist at West Virginia University, informed the
press that the witness descriptions thus far seemed to point to the creature
being a 'sandhill crane' , which was almost as high as a man and had a seven-foot
wingspan as well as having reddish circles around its eyes, pointing out that
the bird was not usually seen in the area and that this was probably a case of
mistaken identity.
The
bridge in question, that seems to be the focal point for the Mothman legend
really picking up speed, is a suspension eye-bar chain bridge, built in 1928
which collapsed during rush hour. The cause of this disaster isn’t really much
of a mystery, for it was traced to a defect in one of the eye-bar links a crack
to forming due a defect in one of the eye-bar links. The
real mystery was the appearance of a strange visitor sighted several times by
the citizens of Point Pleasant during the months leading up to the tragedy-
which then became the basis for the film.
As for the film, I’ve seen it, directed by Mark Pellington and as state before was based on the 1975 book by Fortean author and parapsychologist John Keel and starred Richard Gere as John Klein, a reporter researching the legend of the Mothman. It had a mixed reception, despite being given a certificate to allow children over the age of 14 to see it, and barely made its costs back.
Can I recommend it? That’s a tough one – it was
advertised as being ‘based on a true story’ – note the ‘based’ .Whenever I see
that word used with a film, or even a book, I see it as a warning sign, because
in truth the film gets an awful lot wrong and even claims that the cause of the
collapse was never found ( which it was in 1971- before the book was even
written ) , along with other ‘lapses’ too. Still, saying that, if you’re a fan of
matters Fortean then you may well enjoy it for what it is, a reasonable romp
for late night viewing even if it does seem to be similar in style to the
X-Files series a little too much.
As a parting shot, curiously, it appears that there have been worldwide sightings for there are some cryptozoology theorists who claim that the Mothman has been seen before many catastrophes, incredibly even 9-11.
Now it's your turn- any thoughts or comments , suggestions ( preferably polite ones) , or if you want to mention your own experiences feel free to pop them into the comment box-
D W Storer 2018/2019
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