1 00:00:00,871 --> 00:00:03,788 (mysterious music) 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:09,738 --> 00:00:13,047 - [Narrator] This might seem like just another folktale. 5 00:00:13,047 --> 00:00:15,895 It begins like so many rural legends. 6 00:00:15,895 --> 00:00:18,317 A car full of kids on a country road 7 00:00:18,317 --> 00:00:22,325 as they encounter something frightening and unexplainable. 8 00:00:22,325 --> 00:00:25,200 But unlike stories told to children to keep them inside 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,117 after dark, this particular encounter was real. 10 00:00:30,148 --> 00:00:32,991 For 13 months, the citizens of West Virginia 11 00:00:32,991 --> 00:00:35,648 were haunted by a bizarre entity 12 00:00:35,648 --> 00:00:39,561 that descended like a shadow from the sky. 13 00:00:39,561 --> 00:00:41,822 And with it came a symphony of strange 14 00:00:41,822 --> 00:00:45,218 and unsettling events that would eventually crescendo 15 00:00:45,218 --> 00:00:47,551 into the ultimate nightmare. 16 00:00:49,398 --> 00:00:51,448 To add to this heightened state, 17 00:00:51,448 --> 00:00:54,380 the mysterious entity was not alone. 18 00:00:54,380 --> 00:00:58,214 It was accompanied by other seemingly supernatural beings, 19 00:00:58,214 --> 00:01:00,381 both from above and below. 20 00:01:02,525 --> 00:01:05,927 At the eye of the storm was the tiny town of Point Pleasant, 21 00:01:05,927 --> 00:01:08,301 West Virginia, a bustling little 'burb 22 00:01:08,301 --> 00:01:10,568 on the banks of the Ohio River. 23 00:01:10,568 --> 00:01:11,872 A town whose people would confront 24 00:01:11,872 --> 00:01:14,622 this carnival of horrors head on. 25 00:01:16,885 --> 00:01:19,998 Now, thanks to years of pop culture references 26 00:01:19,998 --> 00:01:22,356 and a major Hollywood movie, 27 00:01:22,356 --> 00:01:24,533 those that live in Point Pleasant may seem 28 00:01:24,533 --> 00:01:27,763 like fictional characters to the outside world, 29 00:01:27,763 --> 00:01:29,897 but the people are real, 30 00:01:29,897 --> 00:01:31,897 and this is their story. 31 00:01:33,427 --> 00:01:36,344 (mysterious music) 32 00:01:58,743 --> 00:02:01,660 (mysterious music) 33 00:02:47,487 --> 00:02:50,904 - My family's been here since about 1774, 34 00:02:52,901 --> 00:02:54,866 so my mother's family. 35 00:02:54,866 --> 00:02:59,033 I've lived here, for other than going to college, 58 years. 36 00:03:05,185 --> 00:03:08,882 Obviously, Point Pleasant is a rural community. 37 00:03:08,882 --> 00:03:11,437 It's a town of less than 5,000 people. 38 00:03:11,437 --> 00:03:12,518 And most of the people's families 39 00:03:12,518 --> 00:03:14,334 have been here for a very long time. 40 00:03:14,334 --> 00:03:16,198 Everyone knows everybody. 41 00:03:16,198 --> 00:03:18,727 It's a very close-knit community. 42 00:03:18,727 --> 00:03:22,948 In a big city, this would just be a small suburb. 43 00:03:22,948 --> 00:03:24,828 And literally, it's neighborhoods. 44 00:03:24,828 --> 00:03:29,759 From end to end, the town's only about three miles long. 45 00:03:29,759 --> 00:03:31,736 - [Narrator] The Ohio River flows from Pittsburgh, 46 00:03:31,736 --> 00:03:34,486 Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois. 47 00:03:35,767 --> 00:03:38,632 Access to two major waterways is just one of the reasons 48 00:03:38,632 --> 00:03:42,632 Point Pleasant has survived as long as it has. 49 00:03:42,632 --> 00:03:45,413 It also boasts a National Guard armory 50 00:03:45,413 --> 00:03:48,305 and has been home to various manufacturing facilities 51 00:03:48,305 --> 00:03:52,472 for the U.S. Navy, as well as a Naval Reserve Center. 52 00:03:53,602 --> 00:03:55,150 Across the river from Point Pleasant 53 00:03:55,150 --> 00:03:59,045 lies its sister city of Gallipolis, Ohio. 54 00:03:59,045 --> 00:04:01,773 With a population of less than 4,000, 55 00:04:01,773 --> 00:04:04,266 most locals think Gallipolis is merely 56 00:04:04,266 --> 00:04:06,707 an extension of Point Pleasant. 57 00:04:06,707 --> 00:04:08,526 The people of Point Pleasant represent 58 00:04:08,526 --> 00:04:11,211 the best of blue-collar America, 59 00:04:11,211 --> 00:04:14,527 a people who are both hardy and resourceful. 60 00:04:14,527 --> 00:04:16,118 - It's different. 61 00:04:16,118 --> 00:04:17,644 Most of West Virginia's mountains. 62 00:04:17,644 --> 00:04:19,840 You're in the high valley. 63 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:21,640 You're where the two main rivers, 64 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,909 the Ohio and Kanawha come together, 65 00:04:24,909 --> 00:04:26,659 so you have a lot of farmland here. 66 00:04:26,659 --> 00:04:29,742 You have rich, fertile river valleys. 67 00:04:35,643 --> 00:04:36,837 - [Narrator] Point Pleasant's history 68 00:04:36,837 --> 00:04:40,375 is a bloodied, messy affair, even to this day. 69 00:04:40,375 --> 00:04:42,680 Native American bodies are still buried 70 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,912 throughout the area, with a mass grave 71 00:04:44,912 --> 00:04:47,247 located somewhere in the vicinity of what 72 00:04:47,247 --> 00:04:51,790 is known as the McClintic Wildlife Management Area. 73 00:04:51,790 --> 00:04:54,281 Native tribes in the region traditionally avoided 74 00:04:54,281 --> 00:04:56,736 the area of modern-day Point Pleasant 75 00:04:56,736 --> 00:05:01,576 due to bad omens associated with lands where waters mingled. 76 00:05:01,576 --> 00:05:04,061 However, they would be forced to stand ground 77 00:05:04,061 --> 00:05:05,561 in this very area. 78 00:05:06,536 --> 00:05:10,655 In 1774, the Shawnee and Mingo tribes banded together 79 00:05:10,655 --> 00:05:15,074 to defend their homes located south of the Ohio River 80 00:05:15,074 --> 00:05:18,408 from what they perceived as an invading Virginia militia 81 00:05:18,408 --> 00:05:20,841 led by Colonel Andrew Lewis. 82 00:05:20,841 --> 00:05:24,065 The natives waged a furious battle in an attempt to halt 83 00:05:24,065 --> 00:05:26,888 continuous advances into their territory 84 00:05:26,888 --> 00:05:30,679 in the now-infamous Battle of Point Pleasant. 85 00:05:30,679 --> 00:05:33,666 After a vicious fight between the two parties, 86 00:05:33,666 --> 00:05:35,098 the natives were forced to retreat 87 00:05:35,098 --> 00:05:38,442 and were overtaken by the militia. 88 00:05:38,442 --> 00:05:40,926 The Shawnee chieftain by the name of Cornstalk 89 00:05:40,926 --> 00:05:44,553 negotiated a treaty with the white men. 90 00:05:44,553 --> 00:05:48,311 Three years later, Chief Cornstalk returned 91 00:05:48,311 --> 00:05:50,462 to the area for a diplomatic visit 92 00:05:50,462 --> 00:05:53,103 at the nearby Fort Randolph. 93 00:05:53,103 --> 00:05:55,820 However, upon arriving at the fort, 94 00:05:55,820 --> 00:05:58,643 Cornstalk and his sons were taken captive 95 00:05:58,643 --> 00:06:01,172 and murdered by the soldiers. 96 00:06:01,172 --> 00:06:05,339 - He was the principal chief of the Shawnee Nation. 97 00:06:06,410 --> 00:06:09,091 He was instrumental in this war. 98 00:06:09,091 --> 00:06:10,378 He did not want this battle, 99 00:06:10,378 --> 00:06:12,101 but he really didn't have a choice. 100 00:06:12,101 --> 00:06:13,662 He had to fight for his land, he had to fight 101 00:06:13,662 --> 00:06:16,079 for his people, he had to do, 102 00:06:16,951 --> 00:06:20,025 he had to do what he felt would be 103 00:06:20,025 --> 00:06:22,931 right for his future generations. 104 00:06:22,931 --> 00:06:25,201 We didn't own the land. 105 00:06:25,201 --> 00:06:26,847 We just cared for the land. 106 00:06:26,847 --> 00:06:29,930 - Chief Cornstalk was a Shawnee chief 107 00:06:30,987 --> 00:06:33,945 who was reportedly murdered by 108 00:06:33,945 --> 00:06:36,527 some settlers over a land dispute, 109 00:06:36,527 --> 00:06:38,277 him and his son both. 110 00:06:40,427 --> 00:06:44,665 The legend is told that upon his dying breath 111 00:06:44,665 --> 00:06:48,468 that he cursed the town of Point Pleasant for 200 years. 112 00:06:48,468 --> 00:06:51,551 But I think that all towns have their 113 00:06:52,569 --> 00:06:56,737 share of problems and tragedies and things like that. 114 00:06:56,737 --> 00:06:58,089 - The first time it was heard of was in a play 115 00:06:58,089 --> 00:06:59,672 in the early 1900s. 116 00:07:00,530 --> 00:07:05,188 - We found when they tore down a local grade school here 117 00:07:05,188 --> 00:07:06,855 about six years ago, 118 00:07:07,926 --> 00:07:10,408 we found a closet that they didn't know about. 119 00:07:10,408 --> 00:07:12,491 We found a play from 1923 120 00:07:13,844 --> 00:07:16,130 that the entire town put on on their history. 121 00:07:16,130 --> 00:07:18,583 And in that play, one of the big scenes, 122 00:07:18,583 --> 00:07:22,141 is Cornstalk getting shot and cursing Point Pleasant. 123 00:07:22,141 --> 00:07:23,965 - They just ran with it. 124 00:07:23,965 --> 00:07:24,798 They 125 00:07:25,804 --> 00:07:27,575 told it to their daughter, and their daughter 126 00:07:27,575 --> 00:07:29,654 told it to her son and it just, 127 00:07:29,654 --> 00:07:31,587 and by the time it escalated and escalated, 128 00:07:31,587 --> 00:07:32,585 he was responsible for everything 129 00:07:32,585 --> 00:07:35,502 that went wrong in the whole state. 130 00:07:36,558 --> 00:07:38,481 - [Narrator] For over a century, Point Pleasant 131 00:07:38,481 --> 00:07:41,617 has been plagued with a string of unfortunate incidents 132 00:07:41,617 --> 00:07:44,117 that many would call bad luck. 133 00:07:44,979 --> 00:07:48,312 On four occasions between 1913 and 1937, 134 00:07:49,212 --> 00:07:52,100 the Ohio River overflowed its banks, 135 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,150 proving catastrophic for the town. 136 00:07:55,150 --> 00:07:58,625 The flooding cost citizens thousands of dollars in damage, 137 00:07:58,625 --> 00:08:02,792 and worse, untold grief in the number of lives lost. 138 00:08:03,943 --> 00:08:06,580 During the early part of the 20th century, 139 00:08:06,580 --> 00:08:09,649 with frequent disasters befalling Point Pleasant, 140 00:08:09,649 --> 00:08:13,744 rumors about a bizarre birdman began to circulate. 141 00:08:13,744 --> 00:08:16,847 The most startling fact about these birdman stories 142 00:08:16,847 --> 00:08:19,843 is that they occurred over 50 years prior 143 00:08:19,843 --> 00:08:23,093 to the Mothman encounters of the 1960s. 144 00:08:24,672 --> 00:08:27,920 Professor James Gay Jones of Glenville State College 145 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,411 documented multiple sightings of the birdman in his book, 146 00:08:31,411 --> 00:08:34,896 Haunted Valley and More Folktales of Appalachia. 147 00:08:34,896 --> 00:08:37,681 The sightings began around 1914, 148 00:08:37,681 --> 00:08:40,682 with the creature being described as a large bird 149 00:08:40,682 --> 00:08:42,831 with the head of a man and a wingspread 150 00:08:42,831 --> 00:08:45,481 of at least a dozen feet. 151 00:08:45,481 --> 00:08:47,855 It was said to be of monstrous size, 152 00:08:47,855 --> 00:08:50,435 and was covered in dark reddish feathers 153 00:08:50,435 --> 00:08:52,967 that glistened in the sunlight. 154 00:08:52,967 --> 00:08:54,953 According to Jones, sightings of the birdman 155 00:08:54,953 --> 00:08:58,245 persisted well into the 1940s, where it was reported 156 00:08:58,245 --> 00:09:01,353 by motorists who drove along the Ohio River 157 00:09:01,353 --> 00:09:04,042 just outside of Point Pleasant. 158 00:09:04,042 --> 00:09:06,777 These encounters were also said to be a prelude 159 00:09:06,777 --> 00:09:09,694 or epilogue to a tragic occurrence. 160 00:09:16,851 --> 00:09:20,680 As the 1960s dawned, so too did a new wave 161 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:23,076 of birdman sightings. 162 00:09:23,076 --> 00:09:26,018 America was now in the throes of a space race, 163 00:09:26,018 --> 00:09:28,050 launching multiple manned missions 164 00:09:28,050 --> 00:09:31,318 in an effort to put the first man on the moon. 165 00:09:31,318 --> 00:09:33,701 In Vietnam, American soldiers were in 166 00:09:33,701 --> 00:09:35,843 their third year of ground combat 167 00:09:35,843 --> 00:09:38,843 in a war that seemed to have no end. 168 00:09:41,007 --> 00:09:44,934 On November First, 1966, a National Guardsman 169 00:09:44,934 --> 00:09:47,407 at the armory near the McCintic Wildlife 170 00:09:47,407 --> 00:09:51,042 Management Area claimed to see a brown half-bird, 171 00:09:51,042 --> 00:09:54,407 half-man figure perched in a tree. 172 00:09:54,407 --> 00:09:57,888 Less than two weeks later, the birdman appeared again, 173 00:09:57,888 --> 00:10:00,841 nearly 80 miles east of Point Pleasant. 174 00:10:00,841 --> 00:10:03,622 - On November 11th, 1966, 175 00:10:03,622 --> 00:10:05,840 in Clendenin, West Virginia, which is a little bit 176 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,478 over an hour from here in Point Pleasant, 177 00:10:08,478 --> 00:10:10,013 there were four men digging a grave. 178 00:10:10,013 --> 00:10:12,377 It was later in the evening, almost dusk, 179 00:10:12,377 --> 00:10:15,377 and they claimed to see a flying man 180 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,487 who flew over top of where they were digging this grave. 181 00:10:20,487 --> 00:10:21,968 That was reported to the newspapers 182 00:10:21,968 --> 00:10:24,347 and the media at that time. 183 00:10:24,347 --> 00:10:26,884 That was one of the first Mothman sightings 184 00:10:26,884 --> 00:10:28,710 or big bird sightings that took place, 185 00:10:28,710 --> 00:10:31,480 even before here in Point Pleasant. 186 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,280 - [Narrator] The birdman is only one such figure 187 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,864 known to West Virginia folklore. 188 00:10:35,864 --> 00:10:38,153 Aside from centuries of ghost tales and stories 189 00:10:38,153 --> 00:10:41,264 of mysterious spook lights, there's also 190 00:10:41,264 --> 00:10:44,002 the notorious Flatwoods Monster. 191 00:10:44,002 --> 00:10:47,704 The Flatwoods Case, which took place in 1952, 192 00:10:47,704 --> 00:10:50,444 revolves around a small town where eyewitnesses 193 00:10:50,444 --> 00:10:52,654 came upon a bizarre creature 194 00:10:52,654 --> 00:10:55,920 after seeing a glowing object streak across the sky 195 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,292 and come to rest on a farm. 196 00:10:58,292 --> 00:11:00,681 Like the Flatwoods Monster, the birdman was often 197 00:11:00,681 --> 00:11:04,009 accompanied by unusual aerial phenomena, 198 00:11:04,009 --> 00:11:06,064 like that witnessed by Merle Partridge 199 00:11:06,064 --> 00:11:08,613 near his home located less than 90 miles 200 00:11:08,613 --> 00:11:10,280 from Point Pleasant. 201 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,881 - [Merle] And all at once, the TV started winding up 202 00:11:15,881 --> 00:11:18,424 like a high-pitched generator, like winding up 203 00:11:18,424 --> 00:11:19,793 to a fever pitch. 204 00:11:19,793 --> 00:11:22,050 At the same time, my dog, Bandit, 205 00:11:22,050 --> 00:11:25,317 on the front porch, that dog is carrying on and 206 00:11:25,317 --> 00:11:26,317 all at once, 207 00:11:29,152 --> 00:11:31,473 as it was winding up and I thought, what in the hell, 208 00:11:31,473 --> 00:11:32,398 more than anything else. 209 00:11:32,398 --> 00:11:34,683 And I got up to go over and turn it down 210 00:11:34,683 --> 00:11:36,870 because it was hurting our ears, 211 00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:38,860 the way the thing was a-screaming. 212 00:11:38,860 --> 00:11:40,825 And the whole picture tube and everything 213 00:11:40,825 --> 00:11:42,996 just blew out in the middle of the floor. 214 00:11:42,996 --> 00:11:45,731 And man I run out the front door to the, 215 00:11:45,731 --> 00:11:47,478 like the front door here and the porch there, 216 00:11:47,478 --> 00:11:49,528 and I run out on the front porch, 217 00:11:49,528 --> 00:11:52,443 the dog, as I run out, he took off 218 00:11:52,443 --> 00:11:54,354 down through the field. 219 00:11:54,354 --> 00:11:55,722 Well the only thing that was in that field 220 00:11:55,722 --> 00:11:58,159 was a little pump house. 221 00:11:58,159 --> 00:12:00,104 And I looked down at where he was going, 222 00:12:00,104 --> 00:12:02,306 I hollered for him to come back and he wouldn't come back. 223 00:12:02,306 --> 00:12:03,334 He wouldn't mind me at all. 224 00:12:03,334 --> 00:12:06,175 But when I looked down there, all I seen was red lights 225 00:12:06,175 --> 00:12:08,929 going around, like intermittent. 226 00:12:08,929 --> 00:12:11,549 They weren't eyes or anything like that 227 00:12:11,549 --> 00:12:12,549 because, so, 228 00:12:13,843 --> 00:12:15,521 the dog would not come back. 229 00:12:15,521 --> 00:12:17,421 I stood out there and called him for a half, 230 00:12:17,421 --> 00:12:18,467 well, this thing, 231 00:12:18,467 --> 00:12:21,406 in fact, this thing disappeared after just a few minutes. 232 00:12:21,406 --> 00:12:22,704 The first thing that entered my mind 233 00:12:22,704 --> 00:12:25,121 was that it was a helicopter. 234 00:12:26,314 --> 00:12:28,080 But there was no noise. 235 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,102 (laughs) 236 00:12:30,102 --> 00:12:34,987 And, so I guess I called the dog there for a little bit 237 00:12:34,987 --> 00:12:37,229 and I just went back in the house, 238 00:12:37,229 --> 00:12:38,893 more or less kinda putting it outta my mind, 239 00:12:38,893 --> 00:12:40,633 something weird. 240 00:12:40,633 --> 00:12:42,430 My wife was cleaning up the glass and everything 241 00:12:42,430 --> 00:12:44,199 from the television, sweeping it up. 242 00:12:44,199 --> 00:12:46,673 Well as far as I can remember, we just went to bed. 243 00:12:46,673 --> 00:12:49,096 - This was all reported to the local authorities, 244 00:12:49,096 --> 00:12:51,991 the state police, and the media outlets 245 00:12:51,991 --> 00:12:56,104 and things like that, but that dog was never located. 246 00:12:56,104 --> 00:12:59,021 (mysterious music) 247 00:13:00,504 --> 00:13:02,765 - [Narrator] Though locals refer to it as the TNT, 248 00:13:02,765 --> 00:13:07,109 or TNT Area, the McClintic Wildlife Management Area 249 00:13:07,109 --> 00:13:10,528 was at one time home to a $45 million munitions 250 00:13:10,528 --> 00:13:13,220 manufacturing facility that encompassed 251 00:13:13,220 --> 00:13:15,970 an area of more than 8,000 acres. 252 00:13:17,322 --> 00:13:19,871 Known as the West Virginia Ordnance Works, 253 00:13:19,871 --> 00:13:23,621 the plant was in operation from 1942 to 1945, 254 00:13:24,566 --> 00:13:28,237 when it was abandoned after World War Two. 255 00:13:28,237 --> 00:13:30,753 Shortly thereafter, it became a dumping ground 256 00:13:30,753 --> 00:13:33,864 for chemicals and toxic waste before being given 257 00:13:33,864 --> 00:13:37,258 to the state for use as a wildlife reserve. 258 00:13:37,258 --> 00:13:40,002 During the 1960s, it was frequented by teenagers 259 00:13:40,002 --> 00:13:42,161 who took advantage of its seclusion 260 00:13:42,161 --> 00:13:44,185 for the purpose of drag racing, 261 00:13:44,185 --> 00:13:48,773 or better yet, as a secretive lovers' hangout. 262 00:13:48,773 --> 00:13:50,745 - We had a pretty good size farm out there, 263 00:13:50,745 --> 00:13:54,604 and if you would walk clear to the back of the farm, 264 00:13:54,604 --> 00:13:57,109 it was about a mile and a half 265 00:13:57,109 --> 00:13:59,526 into the TNT Area from there. 266 00:14:01,345 --> 00:14:05,025 Steve Mallette, I'd heard his name quite a bit, 267 00:14:05,025 --> 00:14:07,850 and Roger Scarberry, I'd heard of their names quite a bit. 268 00:14:07,850 --> 00:14:10,280 They were well known around school. 269 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:11,925 The way I heard it back then was, 270 00:14:11,925 --> 00:14:15,845 that Steve Mallette and his wife, Mary, 271 00:14:15,845 --> 00:14:18,755 and Roger Scarberry and his wife, Linda. 272 00:14:18,755 --> 00:14:20,046 - About 11 o'clock that night, 273 00:14:20,046 --> 00:14:22,769 they had been up riding around, showing off their car, 274 00:14:22,769 --> 00:14:25,602 that Roger had a '57 Chevy Belair. 275 00:14:26,489 --> 00:14:29,709 As they went past that north power plant, 276 00:14:29,709 --> 00:14:32,885 they saw what they thought was a man standing in the road. 277 00:14:32,885 --> 00:14:34,539 It stood about seven foot tall. 278 00:14:34,539 --> 00:14:36,810 It was light gray in color. 279 00:14:36,810 --> 00:14:41,012 And Linda said that it had wings folded against its back. 280 00:14:41,012 --> 00:14:43,879 As they got closer in the car, she said the wings 281 00:14:43,879 --> 00:14:47,062 spread out and it ran towards the north power plant. 282 00:14:47,062 --> 00:14:49,836 She said it ran in a very awkward manner. 283 00:14:49,836 --> 00:14:51,844 It hobbled through the grass, 284 00:14:51,844 --> 00:14:53,380 went into the north power plant. 285 00:14:53,380 --> 00:14:55,501 - They backed out onto the main drag, 286 00:14:55,501 --> 00:14:57,177 rushed back down the fairground road 287 00:14:57,177 --> 00:14:59,597 and took off towards Point Pleasant. 288 00:14:59,597 --> 00:15:02,511 - They decided to go to the sheriff's department. 289 00:15:02,511 --> 00:15:04,591 They were hesitant about telling anybody 290 00:15:04,591 --> 00:15:05,841 because they thought people would just 291 00:15:05,841 --> 00:15:07,965 think they were making the story up. 292 00:15:07,965 --> 00:15:10,350 - When they got over on Route 62, 293 00:15:10,350 --> 00:15:12,479 they turned south towards Point Pleasant. 294 00:15:12,479 --> 00:15:15,502 They discovered that this creature was chasing them. 295 00:15:15,502 --> 00:15:18,596 - Linda said, as they turned left onto Route 62, 296 00:15:18,596 --> 00:15:21,553 they saw it again, standing by a billboard. 297 00:15:21,553 --> 00:15:25,300 She said the wings came out, it went straight up in the air. 298 00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:28,370 And as they hit the straight stretch there on Route 62, 299 00:15:28,370 --> 00:15:31,703 that's when it came over top of the car. 300 00:15:34,885 --> 00:15:37,964 They were doing 90, 95 miles an hour 301 00:15:37,964 --> 00:15:39,034 down the straight stretch. 302 00:15:39,034 --> 00:15:40,963 It never got in front of the car, 303 00:15:40,963 --> 00:15:42,419 but it stayed above the car. 304 00:15:42,419 --> 00:15:44,971 It would disappear for a few minutes and then come back. 305 00:15:44,971 --> 00:15:47,502 At this point, they were a little concerned 306 00:15:47,502 --> 00:15:49,450 because they thought they could possibly 307 00:15:49,450 --> 00:15:51,783 have a wreck or an accident. 308 00:15:53,705 --> 00:15:56,205 - He chased them all the way to the city limits. 309 00:15:56,205 --> 00:15:58,048 And they said that they reached 310 00:15:58,048 --> 00:16:00,730 100 mile an hour in their car. 311 00:16:00,730 --> 00:16:03,307 - That's when they went on to the sheriff's department 312 00:16:03,307 --> 00:16:05,517 and set down and explained 313 00:16:05,517 --> 00:16:07,684 what they had experienced. 314 00:16:08,592 --> 00:16:11,509 (mysterious music) 315 00:16:13,856 --> 00:16:16,101 - I had seen something on TV. 316 00:16:16,101 --> 00:16:18,892 It was just real short, and it was during those days 317 00:16:18,892 --> 00:16:21,952 when that happened, during that week. 318 00:16:21,952 --> 00:16:24,435 - As soon as the media caught wind 319 00:16:24,435 --> 00:16:28,435 of Linda Scarberry and the Mallettes' sightings, 320 00:16:29,957 --> 00:16:32,487 curiosity piqued here in Point Pleasant. 321 00:16:32,487 --> 00:16:34,079 - It was like Jaws. 322 00:16:34,079 --> 00:16:35,876 They said there's a monster in the TNT, 323 00:16:35,876 --> 00:16:37,462 everybody grabbed their gun. 324 00:16:37,462 --> 00:16:40,573 - People armed with rifles and guns, 325 00:16:40,573 --> 00:16:44,298 miles and miles of cars up in the TNT Area. 326 00:16:44,298 --> 00:16:46,435 It got to the point where the National Guard 327 00:16:46,435 --> 00:16:49,491 had to step in and control the amount 328 00:16:49,491 --> 00:16:51,785 of people that were coming into the TNT Area. 329 00:16:51,785 --> 00:16:53,619 - There was only two questions they wanted to know. 330 00:16:53,619 --> 00:16:56,869 Number one, are we allowed to shoot it? 331 00:16:58,298 --> 00:17:01,781 Number two, if there's more than one, can we shoot two? 332 00:17:01,781 --> 00:17:03,514 - [Narrator] The Mothman incidents weren't the only 333 00:17:03,514 --> 00:17:07,681 unusual events taking place in West Virginia during 1966. 334 00:17:08,957 --> 00:17:11,952 On November Second, a man named Woodrow Derenberger 335 00:17:11,952 --> 00:17:15,539 is accosted on Highway 77 while driving home 336 00:17:15,539 --> 00:17:18,701 from Parkersburg, West Virginia. 337 00:17:18,701 --> 00:17:20,375 His antagonist is the occupant 338 00:17:20,375 --> 00:17:22,842 of an unidentified flying object, 339 00:17:22,842 --> 00:17:26,160 which lands on the road in front of him. 340 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,120 The being speaks to Derenberger telepathically, 341 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,120 referring to himself as Indrid Cold. 342 00:17:34,158 --> 00:17:37,786 Much like the Mothman stories would just two weeks later, 343 00:17:37,786 --> 00:17:40,423 Indrid Cold draws national media attention 344 00:17:40,423 --> 00:17:42,968 as Derenberger calmly and matter of factly 345 00:17:42,968 --> 00:17:47,004 relays the details of his encounter to reporters. 346 00:17:47,004 --> 00:17:49,313 Today it stands as one of the most fascinating 347 00:17:49,313 --> 00:17:51,146 UFO stories on record. 348 00:17:52,444 --> 00:17:55,819 Also on November Second, in nearby Gallipolis, Ohio, 349 00:17:55,819 --> 00:17:57,546 a woman is outside when she sees 350 00:17:57,546 --> 00:18:00,570 a bright flash in the sky above her. 351 00:18:00,570 --> 00:18:03,279 She looks up in time to see a massive cylinder-shaped 352 00:18:03,279 --> 00:18:06,637 object appear in a downward trajectory. 353 00:18:06,637 --> 00:18:08,361 The object lands in a parking lot, 354 00:18:08,361 --> 00:18:11,476 and two plain-dressed men exit the craft 355 00:18:11,476 --> 00:18:14,018 and proceed to ask her a series of questions 356 00:18:14,018 --> 00:18:16,590 in a bizarre dialect. 357 00:18:16,590 --> 00:18:20,090 At the same time, two men traveling on Highway 77 358 00:18:20,090 --> 00:18:22,521 near Parkersburg, in the same vicinity 359 00:18:22,521 --> 00:18:25,269 as Woodrow Derenberger, have their own brush 360 00:18:25,269 --> 00:18:29,489 with a man who sounds suspiciously like Indrid Cold. 361 00:18:29,489 --> 00:18:33,764 Or as they refer to him, the Grinning Man. 362 00:18:33,764 --> 00:18:36,231 Meanwhile, up and down the Ohio Valley, 363 00:18:36,231 --> 00:18:40,231 scores of UFOs are appearing on a nightly basis. 364 00:18:41,883 --> 00:18:44,800 (mysterious music) 365 00:18:46,055 --> 00:18:47,460 - Well I discovered everything. 366 00:18:47,460 --> 00:18:49,829 At that time, I was a general assignment reporter. 367 00:18:49,829 --> 00:18:51,585 Whatever happened, whether it was in town 368 00:18:51,585 --> 00:18:54,488 or within our coverage area, 369 00:18:54,488 --> 00:18:58,311 I was Johnny on the Spot ready to go cover it. 370 00:18:58,311 --> 00:18:59,978 Young and ambitious. 371 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:06,089 There was an outbreak of UFO sightings 372 00:19:06,089 --> 00:19:08,748 in that whole area from Point Pleasant 373 00:19:08,748 --> 00:19:12,163 up Route 35 almost all the way to Charleston. 374 00:19:12,163 --> 00:19:13,466 And they would all start out by saying, 375 00:19:13,466 --> 00:19:16,300 I know you think I'm crazy, but. 376 00:19:16,300 --> 00:19:17,750 And they would tell me these stories 377 00:19:17,750 --> 00:19:22,111 about sightings that they had on their land. 378 00:19:22,111 --> 00:19:25,713 Usually, it involved some sort of machine, like a UFO. 379 00:19:25,713 --> 00:19:27,937 It got so bad that we basically had 380 00:19:27,937 --> 00:19:30,609 a special assignment desk for when people called in 381 00:19:30,609 --> 00:19:32,192 to report the UFOs. 382 00:19:33,056 --> 00:19:35,026 They would send them over to me, 383 00:19:35,026 --> 00:19:37,468 and I would talk to these people about it. 384 00:19:37,468 --> 00:19:39,751 - It seems like, to me, 385 00:19:39,751 --> 00:19:42,460 that there were some UFO sightings 386 00:19:42,460 --> 00:19:45,008 exactly at the Mothman time. 387 00:19:45,008 --> 00:19:48,362 People went to the TNT Area on Friday night, 388 00:19:48,362 --> 00:19:50,233 and while they were there, 389 00:19:50,233 --> 00:19:53,609 several claimed to have seen UFOs in the sky 390 00:19:53,609 --> 00:19:55,109 over the TNT Area. 391 00:19:55,959 --> 00:19:59,751 And I believe, the night after the Mothman was seen, 392 00:19:59,751 --> 00:20:03,177 Marcella Bennett and her brother, Raymond Wamsley, 393 00:20:03,177 --> 00:20:05,811 and his wife, I think Cathy Wamsley, 394 00:20:05,811 --> 00:20:09,314 those three went to the TNT Area, and on the way, 395 00:20:09,314 --> 00:20:11,481 they saw a UFO in the sky. 396 00:20:12,802 --> 00:20:15,719 (mysterious music) 397 00:20:24,109 --> 00:20:26,043 - My brother and sister-in-law had decided 398 00:20:26,043 --> 00:20:28,825 one night to take a ride to the TNT Area, 399 00:20:28,825 --> 00:20:30,307 to my sister's house. 400 00:20:30,307 --> 00:20:33,187 And then we visited for, approximately maybe 401 00:20:33,187 --> 00:20:35,393 an hour and a half, and we decided that 402 00:20:35,393 --> 00:20:37,895 we were just gonna journey back home. 403 00:20:37,895 --> 00:20:40,478 So my brother, Raymond Wamsley, 404 00:20:42,387 --> 00:20:45,544 and myself and his wife, Catherine Wamsley, 405 00:20:45,544 --> 00:20:49,200 went out and my brother Raymond kept saying to me, 406 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,049 Marcella, look to your right, 407 00:20:51,049 --> 00:20:53,497 at this light in the sky. 408 00:20:53,497 --> 00:20:55,908 And I said, oh, hopeless, you know. 409 00:20:55,908 --> 00:20:59,193 And I kept walking, and he said, no, you've gotta see this, 410 00:20:59,193 --> 00:21:00,569 it's not a plane. 411 00:21:00,569 --> 00:21:01,794 I kept walking. 412 00:21:01,794 --> 00:21:05,546 And when I got to the car, I had my daughter, Tina, 413 00:21:05,546 --> 00:21:07,976 which was about three years old at that time. 414 00:21:07,976 --> 00:21:11,169 And I reached for the door handle on the car. 415 00:21:11,169 --> 00:21:13,079 And when I reached for the door handle of the car 416 00:21:13,079 --> 00:21:15,496 with Tina, I saw this figure, 417 00:21:16,501 --> 00:21:20,908 and somehow, I was holding on to the door handle 418 00:21:20,908 --> 00:21:24,182 And I started at the feet, and I came up 419 00:21:24,182 --> 00:21:26,316 with my eyes, looking up. 420 00:21:26,316 --> 00:21:28,617 And I could see, I saw no feet. 421 00:21:28,617 --> 00:21:31,648 But I saw gray, a grayish cast. 422 00:21:31,648 --> 00:21:35,241 And I kept going up, looking up at this creature. 423 00:21:35,241 --> 00:21:37,488 And it had wings, like a bird, 424 00:21:37,488 --> 00:21:39,370 with its neck stuck down and stood 425 00:21:39,370 --> 00:21:41,881 in a position about like this. 426 00:21:41,881 --> 00:21:45,050 At that point, I turned and tried to run 427 00:21:45,050 --> 00:21:46,740 back towards the house. 428 00:21:46,740 --> 00:21:49,688 And when I did, I couldn't 429 00:21:49,688 --> 00:21:53,324 I got within maybe a foot from the creature. 430 00:21:53,324 --> 00:21:55,261 And I fell facedown, 431 00:21:55,261 --> 00:21:56,870 and I laid there on top of my daughter, 432 00:21:56,870 --> 00:21:58,982 which I could hear her crying. 433 00:21:58,982 --> 00:22:01,333 So by that time, I could hear my brother 434 00:22:01,333 --> 00:22:04,265 in the background, hollering, Come on, Marcella, 435 00:22:04,265 --> 00:22:07,161 get up, get up, come on, hurry. 436 00:22:07,161 --> 00:22:10,483 So I went back with him, and then we went in the house. 437 00:22:10,483 --> 00:22:13,516 And then after we got in the house, he, 438 00:22:13,516 --> 00:22:15,117 it hit the door. 439 00:22:15,117 --> 00:22:16,926 It came to the door and tried to get in the door, 440 00:22:16,926 --> 00:22:18,609 which they had locked. 441 00:22:18,609 --> 00:22:20,941 And I was just in and out. 442 00:22:20,941 --> 00:22:23,874 They took me to a sofa and laid me down on the sofa. 443 00:22:23,874 --> 00:22:26,447 But I just, I just couldn't, 444 00:22:26,447 --> 00:22:29,380 I couldn't grasp what I saw. 445 00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:31,832 I knew it was nothing from this Earth. 446 00:22:31,832 --> 00:22:34,778 I knew that the creature, whatever it was, 447 00:22:34,778 --> 00:22:36,469 didn't live here. 448 00:22:36,469 --> 00:22:39,386 (mysterious music) 449 00:22:43,561 --> 00:22:45,898 - [Narrator] As sightings continue in neighboring 450 00:22:45,898 --> 00:22:48,126 communities, the Mothman continues to make 451 00:22:48,126 --> 00:22:50,781 frequent appearances in Point Pleasant. 452 00:22:50,781 --> 00:22:52,549 Most often, the creature is encountered 453 00:22:52,549 --> 00:22:54,578 in the abandoned north power plant, 454 00:22:54,578 --> 00:22:58,935 inside the TNT Area, as it was one night by Bob Bosworth 455 00:22:58,935 --> 00:23:01,685 and a friend in November of 1966. 456 00:23:02,788 --> 00:23:04,600 - [Bob] He and I decided to drive that evening, 457 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,006 just riding around. 458 00:23:06,006 --> 00:23:08,756 There was a very bright moon out. 459 00:23:10,468 --> 00:23:12,790 And we were just riding around. 460 00:23:12,790 --> 00:23:15,003 And Al said, Wanna drive through TNT Area? 461 00:23:15,003 --> 00:23:16,598 And I said, yeah, we might as well. 462 00:23:16,598 --> 00:23:19,612 So we're riding out through there, and I remember, 463 00:23:19,612 --> 00:23:21,435 you know how guys will mess around, 464 00:23:21,435 --> 00:23:23,974 well, the moon was so bright 465 00:23:23,974 --> 00:23:25,936 that just, I guess outta boredom, Al turned 466 00:23:25,936 --> 00:23:27,362 the headlights off on the motorcycle 467 00:23:27,362 --> 00:23:30,429 and dodged the chuckholes by the bright moonlight. 468 00:23:30,429 --> 00:23:33,388 So we're riding out through there. 469 00:23:33,388 --> 00:23:35,499 And Al said, Look at that. 470 00:23:35,499 --> 00:23:38,435 And we stopped, and up on top, on the roof 471 00:23:38,435 --> 00:23:40,368 of that old power plant building, 472 00:23:40,368 --> 00:23:43,605 it was, I believe, a three-story building, 473 00:23:43,605 --> 00:23:46,230 and up on top we seen two big, 474 00:23:46,230 --> 00:23:49,931 what looked like red eyes, looking at us. 475 00:23:49,931 --> 00:23:51,681 We sit there and looked at it, and I said, 476 00:23:51,681 --> 00:23:52,691 Let's go out and see who it is. 477 00:23:52,691 --> 00:23:53,750 He said, Yeah. 478 00:23:53,750 --> 00:23:55,333 So we went out there. 479 00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:57,196 Well we stopped at the, 480 00:23:57,196 --> 00:23:59,150 you know, right there underneath the building. 481 00:23:59,150 --> 00:24:00,493 - [Jeff] Like an entranceway. 482 00:24:00,493 --> 00:24:03,665 - [Bob] Yeah, we stopped right there, and we looked up. 483 00:24:03,665 --> 00:24:06,294 Well, it looked like these eyes 484 00:24:06,294 --> 00:24:08,246 were looking down at us then. 485 00:24:08,246 --> 00:24:09,812 So we decided to go up. 486 00:24:09,812 --> 00:24:12,441 Well, the moon was so bright, 487 00:24:12,441 --> 00:24:14,691 that it was shining through 488 00:24:15,885 --> 00:24:17,502 these openings. 489 00:24:17,502 --> 00:24:19,419 Well, we could make out 490 00:24:21,161 --> 00:24:24,677 an outline of something in that dark. 491 00:24:24,677 --> 00:24:27,673 Well all of a sudden, this, 492 00:24:27,673 --> 00:24:31,824 I really don't know what, whatever I saw, 493 00:24:31,824 --> 00:24:34,411 Al was right beside of me, 494 00:24:34,411 --> 00:24:38,791 it very slowly and precisely walked towards us. 495 00:24:38,791 --> 00:24:40,088 We heard it walk. 496 00:24:40,088 --> 00:24:43,400 It walked right up and just stayed 497 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,786 on the dark side of that distinct line. 498 00:24:45,786 --> 00:24:46,809 - [Jeff] Did you notice any red eyes 499 00:24:46,809 --> 00:24:47,885 or anything at the time? 500 00:24:47,885 --> 00:24:50,372 - [Bob] No, and I've thought about that, 501 00:24:50,372 --> 00:24:53,593 and I think what it is, is because there was no light 502 00:24:53,593 --> 00:24:56,816 where it was at in the dark to reflect. 503 00:24:56,816 --> 00:24:58,662 And it had a taper to it like, 504 00:24:58,662 --> 00:25:01,329 well, I compare it with a robin. 505 00:25:02,464 --> 00:25:03,881 You know, a bird. 506 00:25:05,219 --> 00:25:07,703 When their wings are folded, how they're bulged at the top 507 00:25:07,703 --> 00:25:09,422 and then when you come down to it, tapered. 508 00:25:09,422 --> 00:25:12,394 And it had no long neck like a bird, 509 00:25:12,394 --> 00:25:15,296 you know like some of these birds they tried to say it was. 510 00:25:15,296 --> 00:25:17,216 It just, as though it had a head, 511 00:25:17,216 --> 00:25:19,482 a large head, sitting on its shoulders. 512 00:25:19,482 --> 00:25:22,899 Then, it very slowly and precisely turned 513 00:25:25,394 --> 00:25:27,144 towards the catwalks. 514 00:25:28,059 --> 00:25:31,524 Could here it's footsteps in the glass right in front of us. 515 00:25:31,524 --> 00:25:34,896 And then when it started walking on the catwalk, 516 00:25:34,896 --> 00:25:37,896 never a hesitation, kept on walking. 517 00:25:38,940 --> 00:25:40,523 Then, we heard that 518 00:25:42,473 --> 00:25:43,890 sound like wings. 519 00:25:45,525 --> 00:25:47,326 - [Narrator] On November 18th, one of the first 520 00:25:47,326 --> 00:25:50,192 major newspaper articles about the Scarberry-Mallette 521 00:25:50,192 --> 00:25:53,272 Mothman encounter is published. 522 00:25:53,272 --> 00:25:55,701 Within days, more articles run in newspapers 523 00:25:55,701 --> 00:25:58,697 across Ohio and West Virginia. 524 00:25:58,697 --> 00:26:01,922 The Athens Messenger, the newspaper from the nearby town 525 00:26:01,922 --> 00:26:04,882 of Athens, begins covering the Mothman stories 526 00:26:04,882 --> 00:26:09,117 extensively thanks to a local report named Mary Hyre, 527 00:26:09,117 --> 00:26:12,229 who happens to reside in Point Pleasant. 528 00:26:12,229 --> 00:26:14,903 Only three days since the sighting had occurred, 529 00:26:14,903 --> 00:26:17,736 Mothman hysteria is in full swing. 530 00:26:19,303 --> 00:26:20,939 Paul Yoder and Benjamin Enochs, 531 00:26:20,939 --> 00:26:24,267 two volunteer firemen stationed at the TNT Area 532 00:26:24,267 --> 00:26:26,900 to help control traffic, have their own brush 533 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:30,483 with a large bird at 1:30 a.m. on the 18th. 534 00:26:31,548 --> 00:26:33,671 The two men see a large white shadow 535 00:26:33,671 --> 00:26:35,939 that flies across their car as they're driving 536 00:26:35,939 --> 00:26:37,939 near Camp Connolly Road. 537 00:26:39,045 --> 00:26:41,057 Though they immediately stop the car and search 538 00:26:41,057 --> 00:26:44,310 for the bird, they find no trace of it. 539 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:45,939 Both men insist that what they see is nothing more 540 00:26:45,939 --> 00:26:49,106 than a large bird, most likely an owl. 541 00:26:50,730 --> 00:26:52,704 As more sightings occur, the mystique surrounding 542 00:26:52,704 --> 00:26:56,582 the TNT area grows, and so does the number 543 00:26:56,582 --> 00:27:00,780 of curious explorers looking for the creature. 544 00:27:00,780 --> 00:27:02,242 - We went up there several times, 545 00:27:02,242 --> 00:27:05,979 my brother and my twin brother and my sister, 546 00:27:05,979 --> 00:27:07,562 and a baby brother. 547 00:27:08,949 --> 00:27:12,186 And once we turned off the main road, 548 00:27:12,186 --> 00:27:14,129 and all the time my brothers just kept giving me 549 00:27:14,129 --> 00:27:16,278 a funny look, I said, well what is it? 550 00:27:16,278 --> 00:27:18,752 They said, Well, don't look, 551 00:27:18,752 --> 00:27:21,133 but there's something right beside the window there. 552 00:27:21,133 --> 00:27:22,762 So I turned and looked, 553 00:27:22,762 --> 00:27:25,659 and that thing was right beside my window. 554 00:27:25,659 --> 00:27:28,175 It was so dark, I don't know, 555 00:27:28,175 --> 00:27:31,258 if it was running or if it was flying. 556 00:27:31,258 --> 00:27:33,432 I didn't see any wings. 557 00:27:33,432 --> 00:27:36,073 But it was keeping up with the car. 558 00:27:36,073 --> 00:27:37,861 I kept hitting my brother on the leg, 559 00:27:37,861 --> 00:27:40,517 telling him, hurry up, go faster, go faster. 560 00:27:40,517 --> 00:27:43,312 He saw that he wasn't losing it by going faster, 561 00:27:43,312 --> 00:27:46,941 and so he saw the turn that goes up into 562 00:27:46,941 --> 00:27:49,024 the TNT factory building. 563 00:27:50,128 --> 00:27:52,989 And I guess it come in his head at the split second, 564 00:27:52,989 --> 00:27:56,182 if he turned up in there, it would keep going straight. 565 00:27:56,182 --> 00:27:59,081 And we would turn up in there and lose it. 566 00:27:59,081 --> 00:28:00,466 But it didn't. 567 00:28:00,466 --> 00:28:03,932 He made that sharp turn, a left turn, 568 00:28:03,932 --> 00:28:07,153 and it was still right there beside my window. 569 00:28:07,153 --> 00:28:10,994 And we went straight up in there and come to another turn 570 00:28:10,994 --> 00:28:15,466 that you had to make because you went into the loading dock. 571 00:28:15,466 --> 00:28:18,432 And so he whipped around that turn, 572 00:28:18,432 --> 00:28:21,224 and just like that, he stopped. 573 00:28:21,224 --> 00:28:24,105 And we was trying to collect ourselves. 574 00:28:24,105 --> 00:28:26,677 That thing just jumped on the hood of our car, 575 00:28:26,677 --> 00:28:29,473 and just kinda squatted like, 576 00:28:29,473 --> 00:28:32,175 and just watched him, and then me, 577 00:28:32,175 --> 00:28:33,500 and then him, and me. 578 00:28:33,500 --> 00:28:35,775 We was just setting there, we didn't know what to do. 579 00:28:35,775 --> 00:28:38,270 We was afraid to move. 580 00:28:38,270 --> 00:28:40,625 My sister, my two brothers, 581 00:28:40,625 --> 00:28:42,570 crying, carrying on the back. 582 00:28:42,570 --> 00:28:45,358 He told them, Get down on the floor and shut up. 583 00:28:45,358 --> 00:28:47,554 It's just like we were frozen 584 00:28:47,554 --> 00:28:50,751 for a split second, I'm sure it wasn't no more than that. 585 00:28:50,751 --> 00:28:53,952 And it just jumped down off the car. 586 00:28:53,952 --> 00:28:56,960 It ran a little bit to that great big, 587 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,831 I'd say it was five stories high 588 00:28:58,831 --> 00:29:02,788 because the fourth floor, that I didn't even know of 589 00:29:02,788 --> 00:29:05,685 til way years later, had like a little porch 590 00:29:05,685 --> 00:29:09,152 top to it, with a tin slanted roof. 591 00:29:09,152 --> 00:29:11,141 And that's where it jumped up to. 592 00:29:11,141 --> 00:29:15,244 I still say jumped, because I still recall no wings. 593 00:29:15,244 --> 00:29:18,429 If it did, it's blanked outta my mind. 594 00:29:18,429 --> 00:29:21,160 And so he just opened up the door and stood 595 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,728 right behind the door, and he's picking up chunks of coal. 596 00:29:24,728 --> 00:29:26,923 He was picking that up and just throwing it, 597 00:29:26,923 --> 00:29:28,866 and going, Shoo, shoo. 598 00:29:28,866 --> 00:29:31,251 And he threw a little bit bigger one, 599 00:29:31,251 --> 00:29:33,727 and it landed just probably 600 00:29:33,727 --> 00:29:36,073 four inches from his foot. 601 00:29:36,073 --> 00:29:37,844 And when it did, it's like that thing said, 602 00:29:37,844 --> 00:29:40,564 Okay, enough's enough, and it stood up. 603 00:29:40,564 --> 00:29:42,141 And I thought, Oh, he's coming to get us, 604 00:29:42,141 --> 00:29:44,279 now see what you done? 605 00:29:44,279 --> 00:29:46,993 And he jumped back in the car and slammed the door 606 00:29:46,993 --> 00:29:49,005 and locked it and hollered at me, Lock the doors. 607 00:29:49,005 --> 00:29:51,393 Well, I never did unlock mine in the first place. 608 00:29:51,393 --> 00:29:54,642 He jumps up, and just as he gets ready to go over, 609 00:29:54,642 --> 00:29:58,260 instead, he just opens up the prettiest set of wings 610 00:29:58,260 --> 00:29:59,699 you ever seen on anything. 611 00:29:59,699 --> 00:30:02,082 I mean big wings, big enough to carry 612 00:30:02,082 --> 00:30:05,749 you or me or anybody else at least six feet. 613 00:30:06,817 --> 00:30:07,734 And he just 614 00:30:08,781 --> 00:30:11,857 easily, he didn't flap them like I bird would real fast 615 00:30:11,857 --> 00:30:14,474 to hurry up and get flying, he just spread them out 616 00:30:14,474 --> 00:30:16,273 and just glided over them there 617 00:30:16,273 --> 00:30:20,273 and just went on up in there and just flew away. 618 00:30:25,333 --> 00:30:26,565 - [Narrator] In the five days since 619 00:30:26,565 --> 00:30:28,301 the Scarberry-Mallette sighting, 620 00:30:28,301 --> 00:30:30,139 reports of encounters with Mothman 621 00:30:30,139 --> 00:30:32,891 spring up around Point Pleasant. 622 00:30:32,891 --> 00:30:36,292 Reports during that time have one unifying theme. 623 00:30:36,292 --> 00:30:39,625 The creature seems to be a massive bird. 624 00:30:40,547 --> 00:30:43,284 On November 20th, a man named Howard Miller 625 00:30:43,284 --> 00:30:45,732 of Nicholas County sees a large bird 626 00:30:45,732 --> 00:30:48,808 about four feet tall with red, half-moon eyes 627 00:30:48,808 --> 00:30:50,641 land on a bus shelter. 628 00:30:51,924 --> 00:30:54,118 Later that same day, a couple driving near Ferry Branch, 629 00:30:54,118 --> 00:30:57,461 55 minutes south of Point Pleasant, 630 00:30:57,461 --> 00:31:01,173 also see a large bird-like creature. 631 00:31:01,173 --> 00:31:04,017 They later report the incident to the Charleston Police, 632 00:31:04,017 --> 00:31:05,732 adding that the creature landed 633 00:31:05,732 --> 00:31:09,143 in a nearby tree after it flew by. 634 00:31:09,143 --> 00:31:12,382 Also on the 20th, Brenda Jones of Point Lick, 635 00:31:12,382 --> 00:31:15,839 a suburb of Charleston, only an hour from Point Pleasant, 636 00:31:15,839 --> 00:31:19,114 sees a large bird dart off on foot into the woods 637 00:31:19,114 --> 00:31:20,281 near her home. 638 00:31:22,256 --> 00:31:24,527 The next day, a man in Charleston calls police 639 00:31:24,527 --> 00:31:28,519 at 10:15 p.m. to report a bizarre sighting. 640 00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:31,901 Richard West describes a batman, six feet tall, 641 00:31:31,901 --> 00:31:33,898 with a wingspread of up to eight feet, 642 00:31:33,898 --> 00:31:36,760 sitting on the roof of his neighbor's home. 643 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,276 He noted its great big red eyes. 644 00:31:39,276 --> 00:31:42,320 And when asked if the creature flew, he said, 645 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,903 Straight up, like a helicopter. 646 00:31:46,245 --> 00:31:48,126 The helicopter description appears again 647 00:31:48,126 --> 00:31:51,376 when Thomas Ury, a Point Pleasant businessman, 648 00:31:51,376 --> 00:31:53,299 sees a giant bird circling his car 649 00:31:53,299 --> 00:31:57,844 while driving beside the Ohio River outside of town. 650 00:31:57,844 --> 00:32:00,363 Mr. Ury, though aware of the bird reports, 651 00:32:00,363 --> 00:32:04,530 was not out hunting for monsters when it crossed his path. 652 00:32:05,743 --> 00:32:08,054 - [Thomas] Well, when I first saw it, 653 00:32:08,054 --> 00:32:09,479 I thought it was a helicopter. 654 00:32:09,479 --> 00:32:12,519 Couldn't hear any noise at all, but that far away. 655 00:32:12,519 --> 00:32:13,769 But then, as it 656 00:32:14,753 --> 00:32:17,200 rose over the trees, 657 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,721 and proceeded to make the big circles, 658 00:32:19,721 --> 00:32:21,721 you know, how birds fly. 659 00:32:23,151 --> 00:32:26,836 It started out, I would say, 500 feet in the air. 660 00:32:26,836 --> 00:32:28,706 But every time it'd make a circle, 661 00:32:28,706 --> 00:32:31,089 I could see it when it came in front of my car. 662 00:32:31,089 --> 00:32:32,601 It would come lower and lower. 663 00:32:32,601 --> 00:32:35,704 Now the last pass it made was 664 00:32:35,704 --> 00:32:37,707 probably 75 feet over my car. 665 00:32:37,707 --> 00:32:39,561 I had a pretty good shot at it. 666 00:32:39,561 --> 00:32:41,431 And I would guess, 667 00:32:41,431 --> 00:32:43,717 and it's purely a guess, 668 00:32:43,717 --> 00:32:45,717 it was at least 10 feet. 669 00:32:46,703 --> 00:32:47,536 Wingspan. 670 00:32:48,466 --> 00:32:51,314 Yeah, I guess I was scared to a certain extent. 671 00:32:51,314 --> 00:32:53,896 But then when I saw it wasn't gonna 672 00:32:53,896 --> 00:32:56,075 attack me or anything, when it first started, 673 00:32:56,075 --> 00:33:00,092 kept getting lower, I think it was more curious of me. 674 00:33:00,092 --> 00:33:02,871 You know, a mutual curiosity. 675 00:33:02,871 --> 00:33:05,989 After that, it wasn't scared. 676 00:33:05,989 --> 00:33:06,822 It was 677 00:33:08,576 --> 00:33:10,026 apprehensive. 678 00:33:10,026 --> 00:33:11,933 I told George Johnson, the sheriff, 679 00:33:11,933 --> 00:33:13,859 I asked him, I said, you're not gonna 680 00:33:13,859 --> 00:33:15,804 give me a ticket, are you, for speeding? 681 00:33:15,804 --> 00:33:17,530 But I was probably going 75. 682 00:33:17,530 --> 00:33:20,399 When I hit that straight stretch, I was probably doing 90. 683 00:33:20,399 --> 00:33:21,685 Of course, then I started slowing down 684 00:33:21,685 --> 00:33:23,755 after it went back to the river. 685 00:33:23,755 --> 00:33:25,002 - ]Jeff] It went back towards the river. 686 00:33:25,002 --> 00:33:26,671 - Yeah, right, it came from the river, 687 00:33:26,671 --> 00:33:28,480 went back towards the river. 688 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:32,143 So I don't know if it was nesting over there or what. 689 00:33:32,143 --> 00:33:34,311 - [Narrator] The sightings of the Mothman increase. 690 00:33:34,311 --> 00:33:36,976 So do the number of descriptions. 691 00:33:36,976 --> 00:33:39,883 What first seemed to be an abnormally large bird 692 00:33:39,883 --> 00:33:42,238 begins to take on another form altogether 693 00:33:42,238 --> 00:33:45,246 in the eyes of some witnesses. 694 00:33:45,246 --> 00:33:48,107 Some feel the creature is trying to communicate, 695 00:33:48,107 --> 00:33:51,546 but perhaps is unaware of how to do so. 696 00:33:51,546 --> 00:33:54,292 Mothman witness Linda Scarberry would later claim 697 00:33:54,292 --> 00:33:56,367 to see the creature over 18 times 698 00:33:56,367 --> 00:33:59,481 following her initial sighting, including an incident 699 00:33:59,481 --> 00:34:01,527 wherein she saw the being lurking 700 00:34:01,527 --> 00:34:04,074 outside her home one night. 701 00:34:04,074 --> 00:34:06,175 As she stared at it through a window, 702 00:34:06,175 --> 00:34:09,109 she sensed a sadness and a vague curiosity 703 00:34:09,109 --> 00:34:11,276 emanating from the creature. 704 00:34:11,276 --> 00:34:14,094 The odd nature of some reports led to speculation 705 00:34:14,094 --> 00:34:18,513 that the creature may not have been of this Earth. 706 00:34:18,513 --> 00:34:21,369 - There were various reports of 707 00:34:21,369 --> 00:34:25,026 the Mothman sightings of being of a supernatural nature. 708 00:34:25,026 --> 00:34:27,276 Almost a mental type vision 709 00:34:28,137 --> 00:34:30,143 of whatever this thing was. 710 00:34:30,143 --> 00:34:32,219 - I lived up on Jefferson Avenue. 711 00:34:32,219 --> 00:34:33,617 Of course, my wife and I, 712 00:34:33,617 --> 00:34:37,784 and we were about 19 years old I think at the time. 713 00:34:39,595 --> 00:34:41,675 We went to bed that night. 714 00:34:41,675 --> 00:34:45,345 The bed, the way the bed was, there was a window on my left, 715 00:34:45,345 --> 00:34:47,485 and sometime in the night, 716 00:34:47,485 --> 00:34:50,511 and it seems to me like it was about three o'clock. 717 00:34:50,511 --> 00:34:55,352 And I was facing that window, and I looked out the window 718 00:34:55,352 --> 00:34:57,017 and looked out at the street light, 719 00:34:57,017 --> 00:34:58,041 and there was a crossing. 720 00:34:58,041 --> 00:35:00,373 I remember distinctly there was a car 721 00:35:00,373 --> 00:35:02,534 come across the crossing. 722 00:35:02,534 --> 00:35:04,201 And I turned my head 723 00:35:05,572 --> 00:35:06,997 to the right. 724 00:35:06,997 --> 00:35:09,227 I mean, I can still feel that really. 725 00:35:09,227 --> 00:35:11,089 Turned my head to the right, 726 00:35:11,089 --> 00:35:12,339 and there this, 727 00:35:13,730 --> 00:35:15,408 to me it was the devil, 728 00:35:15,408 --> 00:35:18,241 Mothman, standing there by my bed. 729 00:35:19,130 --> 00:35:21,122 And I just sorta froze up. 730 00:35:21,122 --> 00:35:22,789 And I tried to talk. 731 00:35:24,478 --> 00:35:27,664 And I couldn't, it was this awful horrible feeling. 732 00:35:27,664 --> 00:35:29,671 And I thought, Lord, what can I do? 733 00:35:29,671 --> 00:35:33,719 This thing is here, this evil presence. 734 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,301 And it was standing there and it had a body, 735 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:40,964 about six feet tall, sort of a dirty lunar color. 736 00:35:40,964 --> 00:35:43,187 I didn't see any buttons or zippers or anything like that, 737 00:35:43,187 --> 00:35:45,104 but it was a gray form, 738 00:35:46,490 --> 00:35:50,619 like a solid robe, without seams, down the arm, 739 00:35:50,619 --> 00:35:52,495 then the hands were down, or whatever those were 740 00:35:52,495 --> 00:35:55,056 on the other end, they kinda disappeared by the bedside. 741 00:35:55,056 --> 00:35:56,595 I didn't see that. 742 00:35:56,595 --> 00:35:57,678 And red eyes. 743 00:35:59,445 --> 00:36:01,362 And kinda back end like. 744 00:36:01,362 --> 00:36:02,612 But it was this 745 00:36:03,754 --> 00:36:04,587 presence. 746 00:36:07,986 --> 00:36:09,319 I can feel that. 747 00:36:10,766 --> 00:36:12,186 It was just evil. 748 00:36:12,186 --> 00:36:13,436 100% evil. 749 00:36:16,401 --> 00:36:18,982 So my being a churchgoer and a Christian, 750 00:36:18,982 --> 00:36:22,130 knowing what the Bible says about the blood of Christ, 751 00:36:22,130 --> 00:36:24,705 I began to plead to the blood in my mind, 752 00:36:24,705 --> 00:36:26,124 and little by little, that thing just 753 00:36:26,124 --> 00:36:29,582 disappeared, like putting I guess salt on a slug. 754 00:36:29,582 --> 00:36:31,057 I mean, it just 755 00:36:31,057 --> 00:36:33,144 kinda evaporated. 756 00:36:33,144 --> 00:36:35,915 And I've never never never forgotten it. 757 00:36:35,915 --> 00:36:37,003 And I never will. 758 00:36:37,003 --> 00:36:40,670 I'm 74 years old, and that was 50 years ago. 759 00:36:42,651 --> 00:36:47,308 But it's just as plain in my head today as it was then. 760 00:36:47,308 --> 00:36:49,407 - You had the professor from West Virginia University 761 00:36:49,407 --> 00:36:51,907 came to town and tried to calm 762 00:36:53,588 --> 00:36:56,162 the masses, you know, he said that what people 763 00:36:56,162 --> 00:36:58,081 were actually seeing was nothing more 764 00:36:58,081 --> 00:37:00,563 than just a large bird or a sand hill crane. 765 00:37:00,563 --> 00:37:04,052 - There was a biologist from WVU. 766 00:37:04,052 --> 00:37:06,663 They contacted him by phone and asked him 767 00:37:06,663 --> 00:37:08,851 what his opinions were. 768 00:37:08,851 --> 00:37:12,342 And he felt, well, it's a big bird, so 769 00:37:12,342 --> 00:37:15,751 the sand hill crane migrates through this area. 770 00:37:15,751 --> 00:37:18,027 He thought it landed in the TNT Area. 771 00:37:18,027 --> 00:37:20,244 A lotta people suspected the birds migrating 772 00:37:20,244 --> 00:37:22,688 through that area had, 773 00:37:22,688 --> 00:37:24,659 drank water or something 774 00:37:24,659 --> 00:37:27,234 and picked up some kind of chemicals 775 00:37:27,234 --> 00:37:29,771 left over from the TNT Area, and it caused them 776 00:37:29,771 --> 00:37:32,452 to do a genetic mutation and you've got some 777 00:37:32,452 --> 00:37:35,306 weird creature that developed because of it. 778 00:37:35,306 --> 00:37:37,214 There was that talk. 779 00:37:37,214 --> 00:37:39,381 - This was not a mutation. 780 00:37:40,567 --> 00:37:43,487 This was something that was perfectly formed, 781 00:37:43,487 --> 00:37:45,217 the way it was supposed to be, 782 00:37:45,217 --> 00:37:47,634 just like any other thing is. 783 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,567 - [Narrator] On November 26th, sightings of the creature 784 00:37:51,567 --> 00:37:54,414 continue to come in as several people in Hocking, Ohio, 785 00:37:54,414 --> 00:37:57,364 50 miles north of Point Pleasant, 786 00:37:57,364 --> 00:37:59,566 report seeing four large birds 787 00:37:59,566 --> 00:38:02,456 sitting in bare trees for two hours. 788 00:38:02,456 --> 00:38:05,454 The birds are described as four to five feet tall 789 00:38:05,454 --> 00:38:08,224 with a 10-foot wingspan. 790 00:38:08,224 --> 00:38:10,357 In St. Albans, West Virginia, 791 00:38:10,357 --> 00:38:12,957 Miss Ruth Foster is startled to find the Mothman 792 00:38:12,957 --> 00:38:15,972 standing in her front yard that evening. 793 00:38:15,972 --> 00:38:17,718 She tells a reporter that the creature 794 00:38:17,718 --> 00:38:21,452 is over six feet tall with big red eyes. 795 00:38:21,452 --> 00:38:23,422 The next day, Sheila Kane and her sister 796 00:38:23,422 --> 00:38:26,065 see a seven-foot-tall gray and white figure 797 00:38:26,065 --> 00:38:30,161 with big red eyes near Miss Foster's home in St. Albans. 798 00:38:30,161 --> 00:38:32,718 In nearby Charleston, a woman describes seeing 799 00:38:32,718 --> 00:38:37,512 the same red eyes peering at her through a window. 800 00:38:37,512 --> 00:38:39,761 For the most part, many of the early sightings 801 00:38:39,761 --> 00:38:41,956 are nocturnal in nature. 802 00:38:41,956 --> 00:38:44,584 But Connie Carpenter, like Thomas Ury, 803 00:38:44,584 --> 00:38:47,096 encounters the creature in broad daylight 804 00:38:47,096 --> 00:38:49,179 on Sunday, November 27th. 805 00:38:50,186 --> 00:38:53,511 At 10:30 a.m., Connie, a New Haven resident, 806 00:38:53,511 --> 00:38:55,635 is driving home from church when she sees 807 00:38:55,635 --> 00:38:58,043 what she first takes to be a man standing near 808 00:38:58,043 --> 00:39:00,638 a deserted golf course. 809 00:39:00,638 --> 00:39:02,660 As she draws closer to the figure, 810 00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:06,061 her car slows until suddenly, large wings unfold 811 00:39:06,061 --> 00:39:08,034 from the back of the creature. 812 00:39:08,034 --> 00:39:12,166 Connie estimates the wingspan was at least 10 feet wide. 813 00:39:12,166 --> 00:39:14,684 The thing then flies straight up into the air, 814 00:39:14,684 --> 00:39:18,154 and swoops toward her car as if to attack. 815 00:39:18,154 --> 00:39:21,058 Connie is transfixed and horrified by the being's 816 00:39:21,058 --> 00:39:25,176 large red eyes, saying, Once they were fixed on me, 817 00:39:25,176 --> 00:39:28,107 I couldn't take my own eyes off them. 818 00:39:28,107 --> 00:39:30,479 To further add to the bizarre situation, 819 00:39:30,479 --> 00:39:33,257 Connie contracts klieg conjunctivitis, 820 00:39:33,257 --> 00:39:35,546 a condition that causes severe redness, 821 00:39:35,546 --> 00:39:38,476 itching and watering of the eyes. 822 00:39:38,476 --> 00:39:41,891 Connie never speaks publicly about her experience, 823 00:39:41,891 --> 00:39:46,131 instead prefers to forget it ever happened. 824 00:39:46,131 --> 00:39:48,584 Perhaps it's Connie's own encounter with the Mothman 825 00:39:48,584 --> 00:39:51,463 which helps to motivate her aunt, a local reporter 826 00:39:51,463 --> 00:39:54,240 named Mary Hyre, to search for answers 827 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:57,119 in the ongoing series of events. 828 00:39:57,119 --> 00:39:59,936 Mary does as much to catalog the high strangeness 829 00:39:59,936 --> 00:40:02,372 unfolding in and around Point Pleasant 830 00:40:02,372 --> 00:40:04,622 during that time as anyone. 831 00:40:05,558 --> 00:40:08,406 She even went so far as to look for mysterious creatures 832 00:40:08,406 --> 00:40:12,379 and strange lights in the sky for herself. 833 00:40:12,379 --> 00:40:14,494 - And Mary Hyre was a reporter 834 00:40:14,494 --> 00:40:17,760 for the Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio. 835 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:19,594 She had an office here on Main Street 836 00:40:19,594 --> 00:40:20,760 here in Point Pleasant. 837 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,556 - She was the typical small town newspaper person. 838 00:40:24,556 --> 00:40:26,436 She wasn't gonna let this get away from her. 839 00:40:26,436 --> 00:40:29,819 And I admire her for what she did. 840 00:40:29,819 --> 00:40:32,650 - Mary Hyre is the first person who really wrote 841 00:40:32,650 --> 00:40:35,490 an article about the sightings in the local newspaper, 842 00:40:35,490 --> 00:40:37,500 the Point Pleasant Register. 843 00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:40,917 - We really didn't send anybody up there. 844 00:40:42,045 --> 00:40:45,465 It's interesting because the people who saw the Mothman 845 00:40:45,465 --> 00:40:47,776 didn't call the Herald Dispatch in Huntington. 846 00:40:47,776 --> 00:40:50,712 I think it's because Mary was so tied into it. 847 00:40:50,712 --> 00:40:53,465 They would talk to Mary, but they weren't talking to us. 848 00:40:53,465 --> 00:40:56,364 I wish we had sent somebody up there prior to this. 849 00:40:56,364 --> 00:40:57,877 But we had some editors who thought, 850 00:40:57,877 --> 00:41:00,674 well, this is just a bunch of malarkey. 851 00:41:00,674 --> 00:41:04,117 - John Keel was a author from New York City, 852 00:41:04,117 --> 00:41:07,768 who caught wind of the Mothman activity and the sightings 853 00:41:07,768 --> 00:41:10,621 and things, and he came to Point Pleasant 854 00:41:10,621 --> 00:41:13,412 right after those first initial sightings. 855 00:41:13,412 --> 00:41:16,324 He joined forces with a local newspaper reporter 856 00:41:16,324 --> 00:41:17,771 named Mary Hyre. 857 00:41:17,771 --> 00:41:21,901 She and John Keel would work together back and forth. 858 00:41:21,901 --> 00:41:23,549 - There was a certain part of the community 859 00:41:23,549 --> 00:41:26,309 that he visited all the time. 860 00:41:26,309 --> 00:41:28,705 He visited some of the Mothman witnesses 861 00:41:28,705 --> 00:41:30,548 and some people like that. 862 00:41:30,548 --> 00:41:32,429 He was in here a lot. 863 00:41:32,429 --> 00:41:34,768 - [John] Point Pleasant, West Virginia, 864 00:41:34,768 --> 00:41:39,339 it's about 50 miles from where Woodrow Derenberger 865 00:41:39,339 --> 00:41:41,051 had his contact. 866 00:41:41,051 --> 00:41:42,740 They said it's 2,500 acres. 867 00:41:42,740 --> 00:41:45,829 There are hundreds of these igloos there. 868 00:41:45,829 --> 00:41:49,417 There are four families living within this area, 869 00:41:49,417 --> 00:41:51,713 so it's very thinly populated. 870 00:41:51,713 --> 00:41:53,758 If the Mothman wanted to live there, 871 00:41:53,758 --> 00:41:56,412 not very many people would bother him. 872 00:41:56,412 --> 00:41:58,497 And I have some more leads now. 873 00:41:58,497 --> 00:42:03,111 As I thought it would, a pattern is building up now. 874 00:42:03,111 --> 00:42:05,182 And we may be able to get to the bottom 875 00:42:05,182 --> 00:42:07,682 of this one particular case. 876 00:42:07,682 --> 00:42:11,672 And find out whether Mothman is mechanical, 877 00:42:11,672 --> 00:42:13,832 or an angel or what he is. 878 00:42:13,832 --> 00:42:15,981 - It got so bad that a friend of mine, 879 00:42:15,981 --> 00:42:18,228 who is a photographer at the newspaper, and I 880 00:42:18,228 --> 00:42:21,471 decided a couple of nights, because we were so sure 881 00:42:21,471 --> 00:42:24,404 that what they were seeing was real, 882 00:42:24,404 --> 00:42:26,309 we decided to go up there and see for ourselves. 883 00:42:26,309 --> 00:42:29,083 Unfortunately, the UFOs and the creatures 884 00:42:29,083 --> 00:42:30,394 didn't appear for us. 885 00:42:30,394 --> 00:42:31,477 But we tried. 886 00:42:32,517 --> 00:42:34,313 - [Narrator] With December dawning, area residents 887 00:42:34,313 --> 00:42:38,564 fully expected the Mothman and UFO sightings to die down. 888 00:42:38,564 --> 00:42:42,241 But instead, there is a marked increase. 889 00:42:42,241 --> 00:42:44,343 As the number of occurrences escalate, 890 00:42:44,343 --> 00:42:47,842 so too does their bizarre nature. 891 00:42:47,842 --> 00:42:50,912 On December Fourth, five pilots at the Gallipolis airport 892 00:42:50,912 --> 00:42:53,016 are killing time between flights when they see 893 00:42:53,016 --> 00:42:55,679 a small plane swerving erratically through the sky 894 00:42:55,679 --> 00:42:58,325 over the landing strip. 895 00:42:58,325 --> 00:43:01,205 As it passes directly overhead, they realize that what 896 00:43:01,205 --> 00:43:03,885 they are looking at isn't a plane at all. 897 00:43:03,885 --> 00:43:06,639 But rather a massive bird. 898 00:43:06,639 --> 00:43:08,520 They describe the creature as being enormous 899 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,582 and having a sizable neck and build. 900 00:43:11,582 --> 00:43:14,256 As the sightings continue, so does John Keel's 901 00:43:14,256 --> 00:43:17,594 investigation into the phenomenon. 902 00:43:17,594 --> 00:43:20,145 On December Seventh, Keel and Mary Hyre journey 903 00:43:20,145 --> 00:43:24,084 to the TNT Area with a group of five original witnesses, 904 00:43:24,084 --> 00:43:26,743 including Linda and Roger Scarberry, 905 00:43:26,743 --> 00:43:30,493 Mary and Steve Mallette and Connie Carpenter. 906 00:43:31,332 --> 00:43:33,741 Keel, Carpenter and her boyfriend, Keith, 907 00:43:33,741 --> 00:43:36,424 wander into the abandoned power plant and proceed 908 00:43:36,424 --> 00:43:39,307 to walk its length for some time. 909 00:43:39,307 --> 00:43:41,587 Suddenly, Connie lets out a scream, 910 00:43:41,587 --> 00:43:43,345 proclaiming that she's seen the monster 911 00:43:43,345 --> 00:43:46,433 as she dissolves into hysterics. 912 00:43:46,433 --> 00:43:48,826 For Keel, this would be the beginning of a series 913 00:43:48,826 --> 00:43:52,575 of unusual encounters and experiences in Point Pleasant, 914 00:43:52,575 --> 00:43:54,204 which would later be documented 915 00:43:54,204 --> 00:43:58,059 in his bestselling book, The Mothman Prophecies. 916 00:43:58,059 --> 00:44:00,001 However, Keel isn't the only person 917 00:44:00,001 --> 00:44:03,399 seriously investigating the case. 918 00:44:03,399 --> 00:44:05,827 A science fiction writer by the name of Gray Barker 919 00:44:05,827 --> 00:44:08,649 documents a number of events from this time period, 920 00:44:08,649 --> 00:44:10,899 and later released them in a semi-fictional 921 00:44:10,899 --> 00:44:13,482 novel titled The Silver Bridge. 922 00:44:14,553 --> 00:44:16,729 Of course, Point Pleasant's own Mary Hyre 923 00:44:16,729 --> 00:44:19,872 continues her own dealings with the story. 924 00:44:19,872 --> 00:44:22,261 Her news column, Where the Waters Mingle, 925 00:44:22,261 --> 00:44:24,785 becomes the most consistent place to find 926 00:44:24,785 --> 00:44:28,893 updated information about the high strangeness. 927 00:44:28,893 --> 00:44:31,635 Throughout much of December 1966, 928 00:44:31,635 --> 00:44:34,453 activity is rampant around Point Pleasant, 929 00:44:34,453 --> 00:44:37,026 much of it going unreported. 930 00:44:37,026 --> 00:44:39,655 In the streets and in diners and barbershops, 931 00:44:39,655 --> 00:44:42,407 residents all have a story of their own. 932 00:44:42,407 --> 00:44:44,703 Usually whispered in hushed tones, 933 00:44:44,703 --> 00:44:46,725 they tell of voices in the sky, 934 00:44:46,725 --> 00:44:50,001 strange lights in the forest, flying creatures, 935 00:44:50,001 --> 00:44:54,526 and mysterious dark-suited individuals asking questions. 936 00:44:54,526 --> 00:44:57,193 John Keel himself begins to feel that he is 937 00:44:57,193 --> 00:45:00,263 at the center of something even he can't make sense of. 938 00:45:00,263 --> 00:45:04,275 - John Keel had a lot of weird things happen to him 939 00:45:04,275 --> 00:45:06,822 after he came to Point Pleasant 940 00:45:06,822 --> 00:45:08,899 to investigate the Mothman sightings. 941 00:45:08,899 --> 00:45:11,469 His phone calls were monitored. 942 00:45:11,469 --> 00:45:13,622 He always felt that somebody was following him. 943 00:45:13,622 --> 00:45:15,484 It coulda been some of the men in black. 944 00:45:15,484 --> 00:45:20,074 His mail would be intercepted from time to time. 945 00:45:20,074 --> 00:45:22,376 - [Narrator] 48 miles south of Point Pleasant, 946 00:45:22,376 --> 00:45:24,700 an appliance story owner named Tad Jones 947 00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:27,152 is head to work when he sees a UFO land 948 00:45:27,152 --> 00:45:30,152 on Interstate 64 at around nine a.m. 949 00:45:31,205 --> 00:45:33,444 The next morning, he finds a note under his door, 950 00:45:33,444 --> 00:45:36,303 reading, We know what you have seen, 951 00:45:36,303 --> 00:45:38,484 and we know that you have talked. 952 00:45:38,484 --> 00:45:41,145 You'd better keep your mouth shut. 953 00:45:41,145 --> 00:45:43,882 Around town, more and more people encounter strange men 954 00:45:43,882 --> 00:45:46,203 who claim to work for undisclosed branches 955 00:45:46,203 --> 00:45:48,307 of the government. 956 00:45:48,307 --> 00:45:51,218 The majority of these men are dressed in black suits 957 00:45:51,218 --> 00:45:55,567 and fedora hats and are driving in black sedans. 958 00:45:55,567 --> 00:45:58,217 Their behavior is extremely unusual 959 00:45:58,217 --> 00:46:01,217 and at times described as unearthly. 960 00:46:02,300 --> 00:46:05,052 Mary Hyre herself receives a visit from the men in black 961 00:46:05,052 --> 00:46:08,520 one night in January 1967, while working 962 00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:10,821 at her Point Pleasant office. 963 00:46:10,821 --> 00:46:13,935 - As soon as those witnesses started reporting 964 00:46:13,935 --> 00:46:18,327 their stories to the newspaper reporters, the TV stations, 965 00:46:18,327 --> 00:46:22,077 then these men in black, as some called them, 966 00:46:23,088 --> 00:46:24,904 started showing up on people's doorsteps, 967 00:46:24,904 --> 00:46:28,262 places of business, asking these witnesses, 968 00:46:28,262 --> 00:46:30,149 why they were talking about this, 969 00:46:30,149 --> 00:46:33,426 that they really had no reason to be causing panic. 970 00:46:33,426 --> 00:46:36,146 Some of those witnesses were pretty spooked 971 00:46:36,146 --> 00:46:39,761 by the sudden appearance of these strange people. 972 00:46:39,761 --> 00:46:41,628 They didn't know who they were. 973 00:46:41,628 --> 00:46:43,441 They didn't know if they were military. 974 00:46:43,441 --> 00:46:46,378 They didn't know if they were government agents or whatever. 975 00:46:46,378 --> 00:46:48,628 - [Witness] This guy, he was in plainclothes, 976 00:46:48,628 --> 00:46:51,349 and he said, I want you to stand out here 977 00:46:51,349 --> 00:46:54,777 and point down there where this thing was at. 978 00:46:54,777 --> 00:46:56,665 My wife told him, Go to Hell. 979 00:46:56,665 --> 00:46:58,453 I'm not gonna stand here some like dumb hillbilly 980 00:46:58,453 --> 00:47:00,080 and point to an empty field. 981 00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:01,295 Just get outta here. 982 00:47:01,295 --> 00:47:02,137 We run them off. 983 00:47:02,137 --> 00:47:04,087 But it was a spooky thing. 984 00:47:04,087 --> 00:47:06,579 - You had several witnesses who claimed that 985 00:47:06,579 --> 00:47:09,898 these men in black were actually coming to their house. 986 00:47:09,898 --> 00:47:13,114 One lady in particular went out to get the mail one day, 987 00:47:13,114 --> 00:47:14,856 and a black sedan pulled up. 988 00:47:14,856 --> 00:47:17,294 A man got out and tried to pull her into the car, 989 00:47:17,294 --> 00:47:21,456 actually ripped her sleeve off of her blouse. 990 00:47:21,456 --> 00:47:23,839 - [Narrator] On March Fifth, Miss Alice Bradshaw 991 00:47:23,839 --> 00:47:26,737 reports seeing a shiny, saucer-shaped UFO 992 00:47:26,737 --> 00:47:29,275 while traveling on Beyond Street. 993 00:47:29,275 --> 00:47:32,224 Across town, Dolly Grady confirms her own sighting 994 00:47:32,224 --> 00:47:35,895 of the same craft to Mary Hyre the next day. 995 00:47:35,895 --> 00:47:39,475 On March 20th, near Marietta Manufacturing Plant, 996 00:47:39,475 --> 00:47:43,794 more UFOs are seen, and throughout much of 1967, 997 00:47:43,794 --> 00:47:48,153 flying saucers became all the rage in the area. 998 00:47:48,153 --> 00:47:50,291 Sightings are in the hundreds as people flock 999 00:47:50,291 --> 00:47:52,681 to the TNT Area on clear evenings 1000 00:47:52,681 --> 00:47:56,577 to watch for strange lights in the sky. 1001 00:47:56,577 --> 00:48:00,329 On May 19th, two women driving along Route 62 1002 00:48:00,329 --> 00:48:03,641 near the TNT Area, observe a dark form with two, 1003 00:48:03,641 --> 00:48:07,635 brilliant red lights hovering in the sky above them. 1004 00:48:07,635 --> 00:48:12,269 Though it's airborne, it appears to be some sort of man. 1005 00:48:12,269 --> 00:48:15,194 Suddenly, a larger red light appears and floats 1006 00:48:15,194 --> 00:48:19,189 toward the red-eyed man until the two seem to merge. 1007 00:48:19,189 --> 00:48:22,463 The two women rush into town and report the incident. 1008 00:48:22,463 --> 00:48:25,270 A few hours later, many others in Point Pleasant 1009 00:48:25,270 --> 00:48:28,240 report seeing a flaming UFO land in a field 1010 00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:31,183 near the junior high school. 1011 00:48:31,183 --> 00:48:35,197 During this time, the Mothman sightings begin to taper off. 1012 00:48:35,197 --> 00:48:39,508 From April through November 1967, few reports are noted, 1013 00:48:39,508 --> 00:48:41,508 and even fewer recorded. 1014 00:48:42,432 --> 00:48:44,946 On November Second, Miss Ralph Thomas sees 1015 00:48:44,946 --> 00:48:47,784 the familiar red eyes of the Mothma behind her home 1016 00:48:47,784 --> 00:48:49,284 near the TNT Area. 1017 00:48:50,318 --> 00:48:53,686 Then, on November 16th, one year and one day 1018 00:48:53,686 --> 00:48:56,227 after the Scarberry-Mallette sighting, 1019 00:48:56,227 --> 00:48:58,428 the creature appears again when two hunters 1020 00:48:58,428 --> 00:49:00,544 encounter it moving on foot through 1021 00:49:00,544 --> 00:49:03,630 the McClintic Wildlife Area. 1022 00:49:03,630 --> 00:49:07,427 In the November 16th, 1967, edition of her column, 1023 00:49:07,427 --> 00:49:10,003 Mary Hyre reports sightings of the creature 1024 00:49:10,003 --> 00:49:12,244 are at the forefront again. 1025 00:49:12,244 --> 00:49:16,411 Most commonly, it's seen buzzing cars on county roads. 1026 00:49:17,722 --> 00:49:21,132 In late November 1967, an elderly businessman 1027 00:49:21,132 --> 00:49:24,103 in downtown Point Pleasant sees what he describes 1028 00:49:24,103 --> 00:49:28,270 as a flaming-eyed gargoyle standing on his front lawn. 1029 00:49:29,176 --> 00:49:31,772 The two stare at each other for a brief second 1030 00:49:31,772 --> 00:49:33,951 before the creature flies into the sky 1031 00:49:33,951 --> 00:49:37,118 without so much as one flap of a wing. 1032 00:49:38,950 --> 00:49:40,950 It is now December 1967. 1033 00:49:42,502 --> 00:49:44,489 The pattern has formed. 1034 00:49:44,489 --> 00:49:45,906 The stage is set. 1035 00:49:47,935 --> 00:49:51,176 - It did build in a crescendo. 1036 00:49:51,176 --> 00:49:53,291 There were more and more people looking for it. 1037 00:49:53,291 --> 00:49:54,953 - In hindsight, I think there was a pattern 1038 00:49:54,953 --> 00:49:59,139 of escalation, and I have thought about this many times. 1039 00:49:59,139 --> 00:50:02,703 I wish we had covered the Mothman 1040 00:50:02,703 --> 00:50:04,442 prior to the collapse of the bridge. 1041 00:50:04,442 --> 00:50:05,609 But we didn't. 1042 00:50:06,878 --> 00:50:09,795 (mysterious music) 1043 00:50:26,268 --> 00:50:28,771 - December 15th, 1967, 1044 00:50:28,771 --> 00:50:30,644 is a day that everybody who lives here 1045 00:50:30,644 --> 00:50:33,263 in Point Pleasant will remember if they were alive 1046 00:50:33,263 --> 00:50:34,944 at that time. 1047 00:50:34,944 --> 00:50:37,787 That is the day that the 40-year-old 1048 00:50:37,787 --> 00:50:40,485 Silver Bridge, which spanned from Point Pleasant 1049 00:50:40,485 --> 00:50:43,682 over to Kanauga, Ohio, and Gallopolis, 1050 00:50:43,682 --> 00:50:47,741 collapsed at about five o'clock in the evening. 1051 00:50:47,741 --> 00:50:49,278 - The light was out in town 1052 00:50:49,278 --> 00:50:52,524 that monitored the traffic on the bridge. 1053 00:50:52,524 --> 00:50:53,943 It was very busy. 1054 00:50:53,943 --> 00:50:55,834 A lotta semis. 1055 00:50:55,834 --> 00:50:57,794 Semis don't come to our town at all now. 1056 00:50:57,794 --> 00:51:00,061 We just built the bridge around it. 1057 00:51:00,061 --> 00:51:04,173 But there were a lotta semis on the bridge. 1058 00:51:04,173 --> 00:51:05,365 Bumper-to-bumper traffic. 1059 00:51:05,365 --> 00:51:08,926 Traffic stopped on the bridge, and it collapsed. 1060 00:51:08,926 --> 00:51:10,342 - This was on a Friday. 1061 00:51:10,342 --> 00:51:11,518 It was payday. 1062 00:51:11,518 --> 00:51:15,009 It was 10 days before Christmas Day. 1063 00:51:15,009 --> 00:51:17,981 Lotta people out and about Christmas shopping, 1064 00:51:17,981 --> 00:51:20,140 Christmas parties and things like that. 1065 00:51:20,140 --> 00:51:22,938 - That cable broke, and the bridge swung. 1066 00:51:22,938 --> 00:51:26,309 It dumped half the cars into the river. 1067 00:51:26,309 --> 00:51:27,759 It swung back the other way, broke, 1068 00:51:27,759 --> 00:51:31,136 dumped the other half in the river. 1069 00:51:31,136 --> 00:51:33,889 And then it fell on them. 1070 00:51:33,889 --> 00:51:38,071 And the river, it was right before Christmas. 1071 00:51:38,071 --> 00:51:42,168 So hypothermia immediately, but the people in the cars, 1072 00:51:42,168 --> 00:51:44,399 I'm sure in the middle of a conversation, 1073 00:51:44,399 --> 00:51:46,737 they're in the river and boom, the bridge just falls. 1074 00:51:46,737 --> 00:51:48,095 It's over. 1075 00:51:48,095 --> 00:51:50,164 And in seconds. 1076 00:51:50,164 --> 00:51:52,316 - A woman picked me up in front of the house 1077 00:51:52,316 --> 00:51:56,157 and took me to Oak Grove Church for this play practice. 1078 00:51:56,157 --> 00:51:57,841 And we got there at the church, 1079 00:51:57,841 --> 00:52:00,656 about a little after five. 1080 00:52:00,656 --> 00:52:03,823 And a car pulled in, and someone said, 1081 00:52:05,454 --> 00:52:07,656 they'd just heard on the car radio 1082 00:52:07,656 --> 00:52:10,665 that the Silver Bridge had collapsed in Point Pleasant. 1083 00:52:10,665 --> 00:52:11,608 - [Denny] Kinda give you an idea, 1084 00:52:11,608 --> 00:52:14,011 I was in the third grade at the time. 1085 00:52:14,011 --> 00:52:16,703 Everyone here remembers what was going on, 1086 00:52:16,703 --> 00:52:18,402 you could hear the boom. 1087 00:52:18,402 --> 00:52:21,313 My mother was on Main Street when the bridge fell. 1088 00:52:21,313 --> 00:52:23,567 She says there were cars and Christmas gifts 1089 00:52:23,567 --> 00:52:24,637 floating in the river. 1090 00:52:24,637 --> 00:52:27,869 It happened quickly, very very quickly. 1091 00:52:27,869 --> 00:52:29,640 - I arrived back at my house 1092 00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:31,613 at about 5:30. 1093 00:52:31,613 --> 00:52:33,636 My dad had just arrived. 1094 00:52:33,636 --> 00:52:37,135 We drove down here and parked behind G.C. Murphy's, 1095 00:52:37,135 --> 00:52:39,908 on that parking lot, because they were closed. 1096 00:52:39,908 --> 00:52:44,185 And we got out and walked through the Fourth Street Bridge 1097 00:52:44,185 --> 00:52:47,649 and up there to where the bridge crossed the flood wall. 1098 00:52:47,649 --> 00:52:50,103 The bridge was clear gone, except for the ramp. 1099 00:52:50,103 --> 00:52:51,337 It was down the river, 1100 00:52:51,337 --> 00:52:54,514 and there were search boats out searching. 1101 00:52:54,514 --> 00:52:56,097 Looking for bodies. 1102 00:52:58,249 --> 00:53:01,487 So we stayed there til late at night. 1103 00:53:01,487 --> 00:53:03,671 - One lady in particular, who was on the ramp 1104 00:53:03,671 --> 00:53:06,156 here on the Point Pleasant side, 1105 00:53:06,156 --> 00:53:08,424 she was actually pregnant with twins. 1106 00:53:08,424 --> 00:53:10,988 As she approached that ramp, 1107 00:53:10,988 --> 00:53:15,481 the bridge just basically fell right in front of her. 1108 00:53:15,481 --> 00:53:18,746 Her car almost teetered right on the edge 1109 00:53:18,746 --> 00:53:21,146 of that, that ramp. 1110 00:53:21,146 --> 00:53:25,019 And I guess a policeman pulled her out of the car. 1111 00:53:25,019 --> 00:53:27,302 She went into shock. 1112 00:53:27,302 --> 00:53:31,469 - I got up there and saw very few people on the Ohio side. 1113 00:53:32,406 --> 00:53:35,438 Most of the people who were in shock 1114 00:53:35,438 --> 00:53:38,377 were hanging around the West Virginia side that night. 1115 00:53:38,377 --> 00:53:41,829 But I got up that night and from the Ohio side 1116 00:53:41,829 --> 00:53:44,048 what I saw were boats coming in. 1117 00:53:44,048 --> 00:53:46,981 It was interesting because they were 1118 00:53:46,981 --> 00:53:50,293 towboats coming in to see if they could do anything, 1119 00:53:50,293 --> 00:53:51,793 pick up any debris 1120 00:53:53,027 --> 00:53:55,594 or bodies or whatever. 1121 00:53:55,594 --> 00:53:58,112 So I reported that night from the Ohio side, 1122 00:53:58,112 --> 00:54:00,417 and it was very quiet, almost spooky, 1123 00:54:00,417 --> 00:54:04,000 because there was nothing on the Ohio side. 1124 00:54:06,268 --> 00:54:08,435 - Lost a girl in my class. 1125 00:54:10,855 --> 00:54:14,444 Went down with her, her body was never recovered. 1126 00:54:14,444 --> 00:54:17,861 Our mayor, his parents, lost his parents. 1127 00:54:19,294 --> 00:54:21,607 A lotta prominent people went down on that bridge 1128 00:54:21,607 --> 00:54:23,535 from both towns, and then a lotta people 1129 00:54:23,535 --> 00:54:27,699 who were in the ultimate wrong place at the wrong time. 1130 00:54:27,699 --> 00:54:30,449 (downbeat music) 1131 00:55:04,811 --> 00:55:06,253 It was numbing. 1132 00:55:06,253 --> 00:55:07,925 Plus, you were watching them 1133 00:55:07,925 --> 00:55:10,888 drag the bridge out of the river. 1134 00:55:10,888 --> 00:55:14,572 And they were piling it up right here on the other side. 1135 00:55:14,572 --> 00:55:18,746 And every day they were dragging the river for bodies. 1136 00:55:18,746 --> 00:55:21,162 Some of the bodies they could get, some they couldn't. 1137 00:55:21,162 --> 00:55:22,463 People were still trying to figure out, 1138 00:55:22,463 --> 00:55:25,296 who was on the bridge, who wasn't. 1139 00:55:26,504 --> 00:55:29,808 - Yeah that ramp when you would drive through town, 1140 00:55:29,808 --> 00:55:33,083 you would just see the ramp just a dead break, 1141 00:55:33,083 --> 00:55:34,882 right off the edge there. 1142 00:55:34,882 --> 00:55:38,823 And that was a real somber reminder for people here, 1143 00:55:38,823 --> 00:55:41,731 as they drove for years after that, 1144 00:55:41,731 --> 00:55:45,898 that ramp was there, so that was a bad reminder for people. 1145 00:55:49,152 --> 00:55:51,950 - Other than that, but that's people my age. 1146 00:55:51,950 --> 00:55:53,627 The kids now don't think anything about it. 1147 00:55:53,627 --> 00:55:55,057 They don't know anything about it. 1148 00:55:55,057 --> 00:55:58,835 In fact, the Silver Bridge is part of the Mothman legend, 1149 00:55:58,835 --> 00:56:02,994 to them, not a disaster that we went through. 1150 00:56:02,994 --> 00:56:05,404 - People are definitely still affected by it. 1151 00:56:05,404 --> 00:56:08,219 Definitely, I don't think it'll ever be forgotten. 1152 00:56:08,219 --> 00:56:10,567 I hope that it's not ever forgotten. 1153 00:56:10,567 --> 00:56:13,567 I mean, the stories are passed down. 1154 00:56:14,581 --> 00:56:15,914 It's a part of this community. 1155 00:56:15,914 --> 00:56:18,630 It's a part of who everyone is. 1156 00:56:18,630 --> 00:56:19,934 I hope that it's never forgotten. 1157 00:56:19,934 --> 00:56:23,459 That would be very sad if it was forgotten. 1158 00:56:23,459 --> 00:56:26,042 (somber music) 1159 00:56:54,821 --> 00:56:56,952 - I don't remember anybody, when I went up there that night 1160 00:56:56,952 --> 00:56:58,785 saying, as I have seen 1161 00:57:02,838 --> 00:57:04,270 in subsequent years, 1162 00:57:04,270 --> 00:57:06,583 well, we saw the Mothman perched on the bridge that night 1163 00:57:06,583 --> 00:57:09,184 before it collapsed, I never heard that. 1164 00:57:09,184 --> 00:57:11,552 - It was really never connected to the bridge 1165 00:57:11,552 --> 00:57:13,664 in terms of we've heard people say 1166 00:57:13,664 --> 00:57:14,995 it was around the bridge or whatever. 1167 00:57:14,995 --> 00:57:16,489 I'll tell you what happened at the time, 1168 00:57:16,489 --> 00:57:19,637 no one wanted to hear about the Mothman anymore. 1169 00:57:19,637 --> 00:57:21,589 And it died completely. 1170 00:57:21,589 --> 00:57:22,939 Completely. 1171 00:57:22,939 --> 00:57:24,189 - It put a real 1172 00:57:25,528 --> 00:57:28,367 calming effect on the Mothman and the men in black 1173 00:57:28,367 --> 00:57:30,117 and the UFO stuff. 1174 00:57:30,117 --> 00:57:33,529 Because everybody's attention went from that 1175 00:57:33,529 --> 00:57:35,446 to the bridge disaster. 1176 00:57:37,135 --> 00:57:39,342 - [Narrator] In the days following the bridge collapse, 1177 00:57:39,342 --> 00:57:41,935 residents along the Ohio River continued to note 1178 00:57:41,935 --> 00:57:44,984 the appearance of strange lights in the sky. 1179 00:57:44,984 --> 00:57:47,984 However, the Mothman itself is gone. 1180 00:57:49,564 --> 00:57:52,274 John Keel and Mary Hyre eventually part ways 1181 00:57:52,274 --> 00:57:54,349 for what would be the last time, 1182 00:57:54,349 --> 00:57:57,832 leaving Mary as the only continuing source of information 1183 00:57:57,832 --> 00:58:01,308 regarding unusual events in the region. 1184 00:58:01,308 --> 00:58:04,257 Back in New York, Keel begins work on his book, 1185 00:58:04,257 --> 00:58:06,787 The Mothman Prophecies. 1186 00:58:06,787 --> 00:58:10,989 On February 15th, 1970, Mary Hyre passes away 1187 00:58:10,989 --> 00:58:12,869 from an illness that left her bedridden 1188 00:58:12,869 --> 00:58:16,137 in a hospital for nearly a month. 1189 00:58:16,137 --> 00:58:18,258 Keel receives word of Hyre's passing 1190 00:58:18,258 --> 00:58:20,841 in a telegram from Gray Barker. 1191 00:58:22,436 --> 00:58:25,158 Hyre's column, Where the Waters Mingle, 1192 00:58:25,158 --> 00:58:28,599 was a beloved part of the community for over two decades, 1193 00:58:28,599 --> 00:58:32,864 and her passing is felt far and wide throughout the area. 1194 00:58:32,864 --> 00:58:35,771 Her death also signals the end of consistent reporting 1195 00:58:35,771 --> 00:58:39,127 on the strange and unusual in the area. 1196 00:58:39,127 --> 00:58:40,951 Five years after Mary's death, 1197 00:58:40,951 --> 00:58:44,055 Keel releases The Mothman Prophecies. 1198 00:58:44,055 --> 00:58:46,473 The book becomes a bestseller, and is widely acclaimed 1199 00:58:46,473 --> 00:58:49,357 for its unavoidably unnerving recounting 1200 00:58:49,357 --> 00:58:51,700 of not just the creature sightings, 1201 00:58:51,700 --> 00:58:53,885 but the multiple bizarre phenomena 1202 00:58:53,885 --> 00:58:58,304 occurring in and around the country during that time. 1203 00:58:58,304 --> 00:59:00,885 The book will later be adapted as major motion picture 1204 00:59:00,885 --> 00:59:03,802 by the same name, released in 2002. 1205 00:59:05,293 --> 00:59:07,291 Keel himself felt he was never able 1206 00:59:07,291 --> 00:59:09,468 to escape the lore of the story. 1207 00:59:09,468 --> 00:59:12,135 He continued his involvement in paranormal research 1208 00:59:12,135 --> 00:59:13,958 until the time of his death 1209 00:59:13,958 --> 00:59:15,625 on July Third, 2009. 1210 00:59:17,049 --> 00:59:19,346 - I admired him a great deal too. 1211 00:59:19,346 --> 00:59:23,513 I think he did an excellent job of making the connections. 1212 00:59:24,352 --> 00:59:25,685 I'm glad he did. 1213 00:59:26,542 --> 00:59:28,789 - And of course, you know, he's really the one 1214 00:59:28,789 --> 00:59:32,956 responsible for like turning us into a worldwide legend. 1215 00:59:35,762 --> 00:59:38,209 - Even though he'd be in New York, they would call him 1216 00:59:38,209 --> 00:59:40,081 and say, Hey, we've seen it again, 1217 00:59:40,081 --> 00:59:41,783 you need to come back. 1218 00:59:41,783 --> 00:59:46,103 And sadly, he never had a chance to really see it. 1219 00:59:46,103 --> 00:59:47,724 - [Narrator] Occasional sightings of the Mothman 1220 00:59:47,724 --> 00:59:50,359 continue even to this day. 1221 00:59:50,359 --> 00:59:52,303 From the back roads around Point Pleasant 1222 00:59:52,303 --> 00:59:54,082 to the creature's old stomping grounds 1223 00:59:54,082 --> 00:59:57,063 within the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, 1224 00:59:57,063 --> 01:00:00,175 tales of encounters are still told. 1225 01:00:00,175 --> 01:00:02,763 In other parts of the country and even the world, 1226 01:00:02,763 --> 01:00:06,434 the Mothman has been frequently associated with disasters, 1227 01:00:06,434 --> 01:00:09,189 acting as much as a harbinger of doom 1228 01:00:09,189 --> 01:00:12,101 as an unexplainable mystery. 1229 01:00:12,101 --> 01:00:14,629 Point Pleasant itself has embraced the mysterious creature 1230 01:00:14,629 --> 01:00:16,187 as its own. 1231 01:00:16,187 --> 01:00:19,832 In 2002, local residents Jeff Wamsley and Carolin Harris 1232 01:00:19,832 --> 01:00:22,960 created the first-ever Mothman Festival, 1233 01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:24,624 celebrating this particular chapter 1234 01:00:24,624 --> 01:00:27,541 in the Mountain State's history. 1235 01:00:27,541 --> 01:00:31,708 In 2005, Wamsley opened the world's only Mothman Museum. 1236 01:00:32,894 --> 01:00:35,622 The town is now more associated with the creature 1237 01:00:35,622 --> 01:00:39,789 than any other piece of its long and storied history. 1238 01:00:41,172 --> 01:00:43,903 Many of the original witnesses have passed away, 1239 01:00:43,903 --> 01:00:46,114 and in recent years, other key players 1240 01:00:46,114 --> 01:00:49,342 in the Mothman story, such as Carolin Harris, 1241 01:00:49,342 --> 01:00:50,842 passed on as well. 1242 01:00:51,692 --> 01:00:54,860 Still, Point Pleasant remains a sleepy little town 1243 01:00:54,860 --> 01:00:56,766 on the banks of a mighty river 1244 01:00:56,766 --> 01:00:59,881 in the heart of the Ohio Valley. 1245 01:00:59,881 --> 01:01:03,219 - The town hasn't changed that much, quite frankly. 1246 01:01:03,219 --> 01:01:06,892 Doesn't take much to turn Point Pleasant back to 1966. 1247 01:01:06,892 --> 01:01:09,590 Take off the new cars, bring in the old cars. 1248 01:01:09,590 --> 01:01:11,590 It's virtually the same. 1249 01:01:12,595 --> 01:01:14,702 - For several years, they've talked about the Mothman 1250 01:01:14,702 --> 01:01:17,869 nonstop, and it didn't die out because 1251 01:01:18,750 --> 01:01:21,417 journalists and book authors and 1252 01:01:23,386 --> 01:01:27,623 magazine writers and people like that came to town, 1253 01:01:27,623 --> 01:01:29,972 and they kept it pretty well stirred up. 1254 01:01:29,972 --> 01:01:32,807 But I actually thought that it was dying off some, 1255 01:01:32,807 --> 01:01:35,218 a little bit, then all of a sudden, this movie, 1256 01:01:35,218 --> 01:01:37,682 The Mothman Prophecies, came out. 1257 01:01:37,682 --> 01:01:39,790 - I was six years old, five, six years old 1258 01:01:39,790 --> 01:01:43,378 when the Mothman sightings started taking place, 1259 01:01:43,378 --> 01:01:46,052 and the Silver Bridge disaster. 1260 01:01:46,052 --> 01:01:48,966 As I got older, I thought it was really cool 1261 01:01:48,966 --> 01:01:51,270 that it was part of the history of the town. 1262 01:01:51,270 --> 01:01:52,773 I started collecting stuff. 1263 01:01:52,773 --> 01:01:56,672 My dad had shot home movies of the bridge disaster. 1264 01:01:56,672 --> 01:01:59,339 And I seen what kind of interest 1265 01:02:00,486 --> 01:02:03,898 basically the world has shown over the whole 1266 01:02:03,898 --> 01:02:05,315 Mothman story, so 1267 01:02:06,964 --> 01:02:10,142 I just kept looking and finding stuff 1268 01:02:10,142 --> 01:02:13,059 and archiving and things like that. 1269 01:02:14,074 --> 01:02:16,548 - [Narrator] The Mothman Museum acts as a sort of window 1270 01:02:16,548 --> 01:02:18,861 into another time. 1271 01:02:18,861 --> 01:02:21,636 Through decades of research, Jeff Wamsley has amassed 1272 01:02:21,636 --> 01:02:24,259 an impressive collection of newspaper articles, 1273 01:02:24,259 --> 01:02:26,526 memorabilia and historical items 1274 01:02:26,526 --> 01:02:28,776 related to the 1966-67 case 1275 01:02:30,242 --> 01:02:32,159 and the Mothman itself. 1276 01:02:33,232 --> 01:02:35,718 While the rest of the world continues to view the Mothman 1277 01:02:35,718 --> 01:02:38,793 as a kitschy folk figure and the events surrounding 1278 01:02:38,793 --> 01:02:41,755 its original appearance as a rural legend, 1279 01:02:41,755 --> 01:02:46,666 the museum helps to solidify the reality behind the case. 1280 01:02:46,666 --> 01:02:49,509 In recent years, the Mothman Festival has become 1281 01:02:49,509 --> 01:02:52,859 the largest annual event in the state of West Virginia, 1282 01:02:52,859 --> 01:02:57,701 with an annual attendance of more than 12,000 people. 1283 01:02:57,701 --> 01:02:59,534 The Mothman, it seems, 1284 01:03:00,894 --> 01:03:02,394 is truly immortal. 1285 01:03:04,396 --> 01:03:08,313 - The Mothman Festival came about back in 2003, 1286 01:03:09,631 --> 01:03:12,577 as a way to capitalize a little bit 1287 01:03:12,577 --> 01:03:15,347 on the movie, The Mothman Prophecies. 1288 01:03:15,347 --> 01:03:17,596 And get some people to come downtown, 1289 01:03:17,596 --> 01:03:21,114 help out the merchants and the downtown stores 1290 01:03:21,114 --> 01:03:22,620 and things like that. 1291 01:03:22,620 --> 01:03:25,109 And 15 years later, it's grown to be one of the biggest 1292 01:03:25,109 --> 01:03:27,614 festivals in the state of West Virginia. 1293 01:03:27,614 --> 01:03:31,781 We draw crowds of 10,000-plus now every September. 1294 01:03:36,286 --> 01:03:38,479 - There are a lotta people that like the festival. 1295 01:03:38,479 --> 01:03:41,229 And they like the Mothman Museum. 1296 01:03:44,301 --> 01:03:46,363 Now there's a few, in the community 1297 01:03:46,363 --> 01:03:48,446 there are a few skeptics. 1298 01:03:49,799 --> 01:03:50,915 - I hope he doesn't come back. 1299 01:03:50,915 --> 01:03:51,995 I don't wanna see him. 1300 01:03:51,995 --> 01:03:56,162 If he wants royalties, we're in trouble (laughs). 1301 01:04:25,169 --> 01:04:27,919 - [Jeff] The fact that there are so many unanswered 1302 01:04:27,919 --> 01:04:31,396 questions when it comes to the Mothman, 1303 01:04:31,396 --> 01:04:35,419 if it would have been two or three people that reported 1304 01:04:35,419 --> 01:04:37,767 the sightings and stuff, I woulda been 1305 01:04:37,767 --> 01:04:40,010 more than skeptical myself. 1306 01:04:40,010 --> 01:04:43,014 But the fact that there was over 100 reported sightings 1307 01:04:43,014 --> 01:04:46,516 within that first year tells me that there 1308 01:04:46,516 --> 01:04:48,158 was definitely something going on. 1309 01:04:48,158 --> 01:04:50,115 And it's always intrigued me as 1310 01:04:50,115 --> 01:04:52,084 as to what these people were seeing. 1311 01:04:52,084 --> 01:04:54,388 Where they encountered it, 1312 01:04:54,388 --> 01:04:57,043 how it affected their lives. 1313 01:04:57,043 --> 01:04:59,460 (soft music) 1314 01:05:45,523 --> 01:05:48,023 (piano music)