Mothman — Cryptid Encyclopedia

For thirteen months between 1966 and 1967, the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia was terrorized by something that has never been satisfactorily explained: a man-sized winged creature with enormous glowing red eyes.

The first sighting came on November 12, 1966, when five gravediggers working in a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia saw a dark figure lift off from nearby trees and fly over their heads. Three days later, on November 15, two young couples — Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette — had the encounter that would define the legend. Driving past the abandoned TNT Area outside Point Pleasant, they saw a large gray figure with glowing red eyes standing near the road. When they drove away, the creature spread enormous wings and followed their car at speeds they estimated at over 100 miles per hour.

Over the next thirteen months, more than 100 witnesses reported seeing the creature in and around Point Pleasant. It was described as headless, with eyes set directly into its chest, wings that folded flat against its body, and gray skin — not feathers, not fur. Witnesses consistently reported feelings of intense dread in its presence.

On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge — connecting Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio — collapsed during rush hour, killing 46 people. After the bridge collapse, Mothman sightings largely ceased. The creature's association with disaster has fueled decades of speculation about whether Mothman was a warning, a harbinger, or something else entirely.

"It was like a man with wings. It wasn't like anything you'd see on TV or in a movie." — Linda Scarberry, one of the original witnesses.