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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:52,535 --> 00:00:54,054 - Fear is a funny thing. 2 00:00:54,985 --> 00:00:58,092 Where it begins and where it ends is never a certainty. 3 00:01:02,027 --> 00:01:04,754 Fear can form seemingly out of nowhere 4 00:01:04,788 --> 00:01:07,032 and then disappear just as quickly 5 00:01:07,067 --> 00:01:08,896 and we might never really know why. 6 00:01:19,182 --> 00:01:22,944 Some fears develop over days, weeks, or years, 7 00:01:22,979 --> 00:01:25,188 sown from the time we're young, 8 00:01:25,223 --> 00:01:27,294 eventually bursting forth from the seeds 9 00:01:27,328 --> 00:01:29,986 that were planted when we were children. 10 00:01:36,061 --> 00:01:38,132 But where did the seeds come from? 11 00:01:38,167 --> 00:01:39,340 Who first planted them? 12 00:01:48,177 --> 00:01:50,558 Were they simply groomed over centuries, 13 00:01:50,593 --> 00:01:52,836 or are they unique to each generation? 14 00:01:56,909 --> 00:01:59,291 A story is a powerful thing, 15 00:01:59,326 --> 00:02:01,742 it can move us in unexpected ways. 16 00:02:02,639 --> 00:02:05,401 It can inspire hope or create a sense of longing. 17 00:02:10,716 --> 00:02:13,823 A story can manifest sadness or depression, 18 00:02:13,857 --> 00:02:15,894 laughter or tears. 19 00:02:15,928 --> 00:02:19,035 And yes, a story can instill fear. 20 00:02:29,873 --> 00:02:32,566 The question we might begin to ask ourselves 21 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,120 is not who put the fear there orwhy, 22 00:02:38,986 --> 00:02:40,125 but what if the stories 23 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,093 that instilled it to begin withare true, 24 00:02:46,649 --> 00:02:49,479 not simply fables, but somethingmore, 25 00:02:54,139 --> 00:02:58,626 something primal and ageless. 26 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,113 A something whose very survivaldepends 27 00:03:03,148 --> 00:03:05,564 on our telling of tales. 28 00:06:52,066 --> 00:06:53,389 - Well, when the Silver Bridge collapsed 29 00:06:53,413 --> 00:06:57,451 in December of 1967, everybody'sattention immediately went 30 00:06:57,486 --> 00:07:01,593 to the recovery effort, the rescue effort. 31 00:07:01,628 --> 00:07:04,458 People weren't really interested in lookin' for UFOs 32 00:07:04,493 --> 00:07:06,909 or Mothman, even though they did. 33 00:07:13,433 --> 00:07:16,608 But it was such a horrible tragedy 34 00:07:16,643 --> 00:07:20,370 that the local population was grieving 35 00:07:20,405 --> 00:07:22,131 and mourning the loss of, you know, 36 00:07:22,165 --> 00:07:24,340 family members and friends and things like that. 37 00:07:24,374 --> 00:07:28,724 So the attention went from the weird stuff in the sky 38 00:07:28,758 --> 00:07:32,382 or the Mothman sightings to recovering bodies and cars 39 00:07:32,417 --> 00:07:33,591 from the Ohio River. 40 00:07:34,557 --> 00:07:38,009 - You know Main Street used to be very hustle and bustle. 41 00:07:38,043 --> 00:07:41,426 And after the bridge fell in the'60s, 42 00:07:41,461 --> 00:07:44,222 that kind of broke off that connection 43 00:07:44,256 --> 00:07:47,777 and so a lot of businesses started to close 44 00:07:47,812 --> 00:07:50,780 and it became kind of a ghost town 45 00:07:53,783 --> 00:07:56,614 until basically the museum and the festival took off. 46 00:07:56,648 --> 00:07:59,271 And then, you know, during the Mothman Festival 47 00:08:00,203 --> 00:08:03,103 you can't hardly move there's so many people. 48 00:08:03,137 --> 00:08:05,968 You'd bring in like eight to 10,000 people to a town 49 00:08:06,002 --> 00:08:08,004 with a population of less than 5,000. 50 00:08:10,317 --> 00:08:14,217 - Between the years of 1966 and1967, 51 00:08:14,252 --> 00:08:17,842 sightings of a red-eyed monster, dubbed the Mothman, 52 00:08:17,876 --> 00:08:20,534 helped put the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia 53 00:08:20,569 --> 00:08:21,949 on the map. 54 00:08:21,984 --> 00:08:24,434 However, it was the collapse ofa bridge 55 00:08:24,469 --> 00:08:28,369 spanning the Ohio River in December of 1967 56 00:08:28,404 --> 00:08:31,718 that brought the town to a tragic sort of prominence. 57 00:08:31,752 --> 00:08:33,064 Since that time, 58 00:08:33,098 --> 00:08:35,929 this sleepy hamlet on the banks of the mighty Ohio 59 00:08:35,963 --> 00:08:39,553 and the Kanawha Rivers has adopted a strange fame 60 00:08:39,588 --> 00:08:43,039 bolstered by their mostrenowned resident, the Mothman. 61 00:08:44,420 --> 00:08:46,353 Now over 50 years 62 00:08:46,387 --> 00:08:49,598 since the Silver Bridge tumbled into the icy waters 63 00:08:49,632 --> 00:08:52,048 and took with it 47 lives, 64 00:08:52,083 --> 00:08:54,913 Point Pleasant has begun to rebuild. 65 00:08:56,259 --> 00:08:58,814 - Life here in Point Pleasant is laid back. 66 00:08:58,848 --> 00:09:03,128 I mean, you know, it's not yourhustle bustle of a big city 67 00:09:03,163 --> 00:09:06,649 and I think that's why a lot of people choose to stay here. 68 00:09:06,684 --> 00:09:08,582 - My dad is is Jeff Wamsley, 69 00:09:08,617 --> 00:09:11,343 the owner of the Mothman Museum. 70 00:09:11,378 --> 00:09:13,898 So basically from my young adulthood up, 71 00:09:13,932 --> 00:09:18,661 Mothman pretty much surrounds a lot of my life. 72 00:09:18,696 --> 00:09:21,353 - You know, it's just a little Main Street town 73 00:09:21,388 --> 00:09:25,461 that just happens to have a monster in it's history 74 00:09:25,495 --> 00:09:28,878 and it's a nice calling card. 75 00:09:28,913 --> 00:09:31,778 - Mothman became something they fell in love with 76 00:09:31,812 --> 00:09:34,435 and then it was the town they really fell in love with. 77 00:09:34,470 --> 00:09:37,577 And I ultimately believeMothman is what gets them here, 78 00:09:37,611 --> 00:09:40,649 but it's Point Pleasant that brings them back every time. 79 00:09:50,590 --> 00:09:53,213 - West Virginia is a jewel in the rough, I always thought, 80 00:09:53,247 --> 00:09:56,216 because you know the landscape and the beauty. 81 00:09:57,355 --> 00:09:59,599 You've got all kinds of different areas 82 00:09:59,633 --> 00:10:04,604 like the mountains, the streams, the river towns, 83 00:10:04,811 --> 00:10:08,642 the ski lodges, all kinds of different things 84 00:10:08,677 --> 00:10:10,102 and I think they've done a pretty good job 85 00:10:10,126 --> 00:10:12,577 as far as capitalizing on the tourism aspect. 86 00:10:12,612 --> 00:10:17,582 - West Virginia is rolling hills and beautiful creeks 87 00:10:18,583 --> 00:10:23,553 and green pastures and football Friday night. 88 00:10:24,693 --> 00:10:27,834 - Isolated, at times boring. 89 00:10:27,868 --> 00:10:29,111 It's very beautiful. 90 00:10:30,250 --> 00:10:31,700 Not much happens, 91 00:10:31,734 --> 00:10:35,427 which allows being tuned into certain things 92 00:10:35,462 --> 00:10:37,498 and also noticing things maybe 93 00:10:37,533 --> 00:10:40,225 that people in other areas may not notice. 94 00:10:40,260 --> 00:10:43,401 It's a quiet, placid kind of upbringing. 95 00:10:43,435 --> 00:10:46,715 Very beautiful, beautifulmountains and trees and streams. 96 00:10:46,749 --> 00:10:49,165 So that part is of course, excellent. 97 00:10:53,722 --> 00:10:55,068 - Point Pleasant sits on the edge 98 00:10:55,102 --> 00:10:57,346 of what is known as Appalachia. 99 00:10:57,380 --> 00:10:59,210 The Appalachian Mountains are arange 100 00:10:59,244 --> 00:11:02,869 that stretches from Canada, all the way down to Alabama. 101 00:11:02,903 --> 00:11:06,700 Rugged and rural, with a landscape defined by jutting rocks 102 00:11:06,735 --> 00:11:08,288 and dense forestry. 103 00:11:08,322 --> 00:11:10,014 The mountains are an essential part 104 00:11:10,048 --> 00:11:11,843 of the Eastern United States. 105 00:11:13,258 --> 00:11:16,330 Appalachia derives its name from the local inhabitants, 106 00:11:16,365 --> 00:11:18,436 as well as the mountains. 107 00:11:18,470 --> 00:11:19,989 It's a cultural statement 108 00:11:20,024 --> 00:11:22,820 as much as it is a geographicalone. 109 00:11:22,854 --> 00:11:24,131 A culture informed 110 00:11:24,166 --> 00:11:26,547 by the people who journeyed through these lands 111 00:11:26,582 --> 00:11:28,411 and who settled these lands, 112 00:11:28,446 --> 00:11:31,173 not to mention the lands themselves, 113 00:11:31,207 --> 00:11:34,590 from Scotch-Irish immigrants to the First Nations tribes 114 00:11:34,624 --> 00:11:35,833 who occasionally traveled 115 00:11:35,867 --> 00:11:38,801 through what is now known as West Virginia. 116 00:11:38,836 --> 00:11:41,562 These places are still alive with a history 117 00:11:41,597 --> 00:11:44,704 that is passed down from generation to generation. 118 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,846 - The Scots-Irish settled West Virginia. 119 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,435 So about 250,000 of them 120 00:11:52,470 --> 00:11:53,540 got on a boat 121 00:11:53,574 --> 00:11:55,369 and came over to the United States. 122 00:11:55,404 --> 00:11:57,026 Once they got here, 123 00:11:57,061 --> 00:11:59,132 the colonies were kind of already established 124 00:11:59,166 --> 00:12:01,272 and these were sort of outsiders, 125 00:12:01,306 --> 00:12:04,447 so they started to push them closer to the mountains, 126 00:12:04,482 --> 00:12:06,829 the Appalachian Mountains. 127 00:12:06,864 --> 00:12:09,798 Technically the English didn't want anybody 128 00:12:09,832 --> 00:12:11,420 moving past the mountains 129 00:12:11,454 --> 00:12:13,594 because there was an agreement with the French. 130 00:12:13,629 --> 00:12:15,493 But we started chipping away atthat 131 00:12:15,527 --> 00:12:18,772 and that ultimately led to the French and Indian War. 132 00:12:19,980 --> 00:12:21,879 - Well, the Natives were kind of frightened 133 00:12:21,913 --> 00:12:23,294 of West Virginia. 134 00:12:23,328 --> 00:12:25,123 They thought West Virginia was cursed 135 00:12:25,158 --> 00:12:28,748 and they only used West Virginia mostly as hunting. 136 00:12:30,025 --> 00:12:32,475 So the Shawnee were here quite abit. 137 00:12:32,510 --> 00:12:35,133 The Saponi were kind of like in the mountains 138 00:12:35,168 --> 00:12:38,585 is where the Blackfoot Saponi Indians were all 139 00:12:38,619 --> 00:12:41,174 in the southern part of the state, down into Virginia. 140 00:12:42,347 --> 00:12:45,523 - When we started pushing into the region 141 00:12:45,557 --> 00:12:46,869 across the Appalachians, 142 00:12:46,904 --> 00:12:51,322 the Natives chose to fight on the side of the French. 143 00:12:51,356 --> 00:12:53,773 When the English colonists werecoming in, it was a threat, 144 00:12:53,807 --> 00:12:55,188 so the Native sided with French. 145 00:12:55,222 --> 00:12:57,811 Well, ultimately that did not gowell 146 00:12:57,846 --> 00:12:59,813 and the French left the region, 147 00:13:01,401 --> 00:13:03,783 leaving the Natives kind of on their own. 148 00:13:03,817 --> 00:13:05,819 The different tribes tried to get together 149 00:13:05,854 --> 00:13:08,753 to form alliances to fightagainst the English if need be. 150 00:13:09,996 --> 00:13:15,104 - The Confederacy's made up of many, many tribes 151 00:13:15,139 --> 00:13:17,624 and they were all in and out of West Virginia 152 00:13:17,658 --> 00:13:19,729 throughout the years. 153 00:13:19,764 --> 00:13:22,387 The Shawnee were big here, the Cherokee were here, 154 00:13:23,250 --> 00:13:24,596 Lenape, Ojibwe. 155 00:13:25,805 --> 00:13:27,841 There were many, 31 tribes. 156 00:13:27,876 --> 00:13:30,292 There were villages, there werefamilies. 157 00:13:30,326 --> 00:13:32,363 - Once the French left, 158 00:13:32,397 --> 00:13:34,779 they were really kind of left ontheir own 159 00:13:34,814 --> 00:13:36,401 and it ultimately was not something 160 00:13:36,436 --> 00:13:38,541 that they could withstand 161 00:13:38,576 --> 00:13:41,613 and so they slowly got pushed out of the area. 162 00:13:42,752 --> 00:13:45,686 - The traditions were extremelyimportant to pass down. 163 00:13:45,721 --> 00:13:47,688 Our elders' pasts 164 00:13:48,862 --> 00:13:49,932 were lost. 165 00:13:50,864 --> 00:13:54,557 It was extremely important to listen and to pay attention 166 00:13:54,592 --> 00:13:56,490 and to follow the traditions. 167 00:13:56,525 --> 00:13:58,596 - We do hold onto our stories. 168 00:13:58,630 --> 00:14:00,874 You know it might be genetic aswell 169 00:14:00,909 --> 00:14:03,946 because if you look into the Celts, 170 00:14:03,981 --> 00:14:05,879 West Virginia is mostly Celtic. 171 00:14:05,914 --> 00:14:09,469 We do have some Pennsylvania Dutch Germans here as well, 172 00:14:09,503 --> 00:14:11,781 but that's like a natural thing with the Celts 173 00:14:11,816 --> 00:14:14,301 and I think it's passed down that way. 174 00:14:14,336 --> 00:14:17,511 Plus, that little bit of Native American ancestry. 175 00:14:17,546 --> 00:14:21,274 - Well I mean there's, again a love of music and singing 176 00:14:21,308 --> 00:14:23,207 and passing stories through thatway. 177 00:14:23,241 --> 00:14:26,037 It's more of a human characteristic to want to tell stories 178 00:14:26,072 --> 00:14:28,729 and make sure that your legacy is passed on 179 00:14:28,764 --> 00:14:30,593 in one way or another. 180 00:14:30,628 --> 00:14:33,665 - As Appalachia began to see more and more settlers, 181 00:14:33,700 --> 00:14:36,461 traditions and stories started to merge, 182 00:14:36,496 --> 00:14:39,154 just as the remaining Natives begin to exist 183 00:14:39,188 --> 00:14:42,226 alongside the Scotch-Irish settlers inhabiting a land 184 00:14:42,260 --> 00:14:43,952 they once called their own. 185 00:14:43,986 --> 00:14:47,369 So too, did stories and cultures begin to meld 186 00:14:47,403 --> 00:14:51,545 and what was born of this blendwas something wholly unique, 187 00:14:51,580 --> 00:14:53,030 Appalachian culture. 188 00:14:53,996 --> 00:14:56,447 Folktales and lore were absorbed and transmitted 189 00:14:56,481 --> 00:14:58,932 from one generation to the next. 190 00:14:58,967 --> 00:15:02,211 Now the region was defined as much by tales of ghosts, 191 00:15:02,246 --> 00:15:04,317 witches and red-eyed banshees 192 00:15:04,351 --> 00:15:06,664 as it was the rugged wildernessbackdrop 193 00:15:06,698 --> 00:15:08,331 where they were told. 194 00:15:08,355 --> 00:15:11,703 When 1966 saw the rise of the Mothman, 195 00:15:11,738 --> 00:15:15,397 it was strangely familiar despite its unique appearance. 196 00:15:15,431 --> 00:15:19,435 After all, it was simply one more tale to be told 197 00:15:19,470 --> 00:15:22,714 as if a new face had been put on an old legend. 198 00:15:31,482 --> 00:15:33,656 - I grew up in Southeastern Ohio 199 00:15:33,691 --> 00:15:37,798 and during the original sightings of the Mothman, 200 00:15:37,833 --> 00:15:40,836 I was about 10 years old. 201 00:15:47,808 --> 00:15:51,640 Whenever I first heard about Mothman 202 00:15:51,674 --> 00:15:54,746 was through my older male cousins. 203 00:15:54,781 --> 00:15:56,886 One night they came over to visit my dad 204 00:15:56,921 --> 00:15:59,751 and wanted to have a private conversation with him. 205 00:15:59,786 --> 00:16:02,858 And they seemed very concerned, 206 00:16:02,892 --> 00:16:07,345 so of course I needed to know what they were talking about. 207 00:16:07,380 --> 00:16:11,798 My cousins were concerned about going night fishing 208 00:16:11,832 --> 00:16:14,421 and they were afraid that if they did, 209 00:16:14,456 --> 00:16:18,701 that they might see or be taken by Mothman. 210 00:16:18,736 --> 00:16:21,325 So I listened in on the conversation 211 00:16:21,359 --> 00:16:23,913 and that's how I first heard about Mothman. 212 00:16:29,057 --> 00:16:32,094 Later in the summer, 213 00:16:32,129 --> 00:16:34,545 I was asleep one night, 214 00:16:34,579 --> 00:16:36,064 I heard something outside. 215 00:16:36,098 --> 00:16:39,101 I woke up. 216 00:16:39,136 --> 00:16:40,872 I went over to the window, 217 00:16:40,896 --> 00:16:45,418 looked out and I saw red eyes inthe yard. 218 00:16:45,452 --> 00:16:48,007 Whatever it was could have been, I don't know, 219 00:16:48,041 --> 00:16:51,286 maybe six feet or more in height. 220 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,634 And so I ran to my parents' bedroom. 221 00:16:54,668 --> 00:16:58,845 My dad, I told him, I thought Mothman was outside 222 00:16:58,879 --> 00:17:01,951 and he tried to tell me he didn't think 223 00:17:01,986 --> 00:17:03,712 that that was probably Mothman. 224 00:17:04,816 --> 00:17:07,095 Now, you know, like sometimes they'll say 225 00:17:07,129 --> 00:17:11,306 that Mothman's there to either mourn you or whatever. 226 00:17:11,340 --> 00:17:15,482 Like just a few months after I saw those red eyes, 227 00:17:15,517 --> 00:17:18,106 my dad was in an airplane accident. 228 00:17:19,072 --> 00:17:21,833 He was one of 16 people that survived. 229 00:17:21,868 --> 00:17:24,319 It happened in Cincinnati. 230 00:17:24,353 --> 00:17:26,045 It was like TWA 128. 231 00:17:27,425 --> 00:17:31,326 It was a flight coming from San Diego, California 232 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:35,226 going to Boston, but it stopped in Cincinnati 233 00:17:35,261 --> 00:17:38,988 and there wasn't enough runway for the jet. 234 00:17:39,023 --> 00:17:44,097 And so it went on and went intoa orchard and caught on fire 235 00:17:44,132 --> 00:17:46,582 and just like threw people out of the plane 236 00:17:46,617 --> 00:17:47,618 all over the place. 237 00:17:47,652 --> 00:17:50,552 My dad, the seat that he was in, 238 00:17:50,586 --> 00:17:53,244 the seat right beside him was onfire 239 00:17:53,279 --> 00:17:56,903 and there was a husband and wife behind him. 240 00:17:56,937 --> 00:17:59,457 The wife was killed and my dad turned around 241 00:17:59,492 --> 00:18:00,941 and grabbed this guy by the hand 242 00:18:00,976 --> 00:18:03,289 and said, "If you want to live, come with me." 243 00:18:08,949 --> 00:18:11,952 - Flight TWA 128 crashed on approach 244 00:18:11,987 --> 00:18:16,543 to the Cincinnati airport on November 20th, 1967, 245 00:18:16,578 --> 00:18:18,511 just shy of one month prior 246 00:18:18,545 --> 00:18:20,306 to the collapse of the Silver Bridge 247 00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:23,136 in nearby Point Pleasant, West Virginia. 248 00:18:23,171 --> 00:18:25,311 If there was one overwhelming takeaway 249 00:18:25,345 --> 00:18:26,967 from the activity running rampant 250 00:18:27,002 --> 00:18:31,144 around Point Pleasant during 1966 and 1967, 251 00:18:32,076 --> 00:18:35,355 it was the feeling that everything was accelerating, 252 00:18:35,390 --> 00:18:37,909 heading towards some inevitableconclusion 253 00:18:37,944 --> 00:18:40,291 that couldn't be avoided. 254 00:18:40,326 --> 00:18:44,882 When the Silver Bridge collapsedon December 15th, 1967, 255 00:18:44,916 --> 00:18:48,437 it seemed that the unavoidable collision had been reached 256 00:18:48,472 --> 00:18:52,269 and with it, the story of the Mothman had ended. 257 00:18:52,303 --> 00:18:54,512 The book had closed. 258 00:18:54,547 --> 00:18:55,686 For the next few months, 259 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,896 stories of encounters with the creature were absent. 260 00:18:58,930 --> 00:19:00,967 It seemed that the bridge collapse had led 261 00:19:01,001 --> 00:19:03,072 to the departure of the being. 262 00:19:03,107 --> 00:19:06,869 However, nothing could have been further from the truth. 263 00:19:06,904 --> 00:19:08,940 The book had never closed 264 00:19:08,975 --> 00:19:13,186 and in some ways the Mothman story was just beginning. 265 00:19:13,221 --> 00:19:16,465 - I've read and collected several newspaper articles 266 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:19,088 from the late '60s, early '70s. 267 00:19:19,123 --> 00:19:21,298 I've talked to people that were still seeing 268 00:19:21,332 --> 00:19:24,128 whatever this thing was in the TNT Area 269 00:19:24,163 --> 00:19:27,235 and it was well after 1966, '67. 270 00:19:27,269 --> 00:19:28,829 A lot of the people that I've talked to, 271 00:19:28,857 --> 00:19:32,136 I will specifically ask them what the timeframe was 272 00:19:32,171 --> 00:19:37,176 and you know, '71, '73, '75. 273 00:19:37,555 --> 00:19:39,355 - The Mothman frenzy went from 1966 into 1967, 274 00:19:41,628 --> 00:19:43,389 but the activity continued. 275 00:19:43,423 --> 00:19:45,667 We lived close to the Scarberrys. 276 00:19:45,701 --> 00:19:49,912 I grew up on a hillside in WestUnion called Shannon's Knob 277 00:19:49,947 --> 00:19:51,224 and late at night, 278 00:19:51,259 --> 00:19:55,642 it would sound like someonehad jumped out of a helicopter. 279 00:19:56,643 --> 00:19:59,163 The roof would go, boom, just like that. 280 00:20:01,407 --> 00:20:04,927 There would be a pause and then these footsteps, 281 00:20:04,962 --> 00:20:07,654 somebody was walking on our roof. 282 00:20:19,666 --> 00:20:22,290 And they might be up there at 10, 15 minutes 283 00:20:22,324 --> 00:20:25,845 and the footsteps would stopas if something had flown away. 284 00:20:25,879 --> 00:20:28,330 And of course my parents did not believe me, 285 00:20:28,365 --> 00:20:30,401 you know, when I kept telling them 286 00:20:30,436 --> 00:20:31,782 about these footsteps. 287 00:20:31,816 --> 00:20:33,922 Until I woke up early one morning 288 00:20:33,956 --> 00:20:36,476 and I heard them talking to eachother, 289 00:20:36,511 --> 00:20:39,583 saying, "Wonder what those footsteps are on the roof?" 290 00:20:39,617 --> 00:20:43,034 And I was pretty small, Iwasn't even quite in school yet 291 00:20:43,069 --> 00:20:46,175 and I was thinking, "I want to go outside. 292 00:20:46,210 --> 00:20:49,869 I want to go outside and, you know, and hide the bushes 293 00:20:49,903 --> 00:20:52,492 and see if I can see the Mothman." 294 00:20:52,527 --> 00:20:54,805 But I never developed the courage to do that. 295 00:21:01,329 --> 00:21:02,882 - I talked to one lady, 296 00:21:02,916 --> 00:21:05,643 and she specifically mentioned early '70s, 297 00:21:05,678 --> 00:21:09,268 who had a morning paper route in the Gallipolis area. 298 00:21:09,302 --> 00:21:11,856 She'd deliver papers about five in the morning 299 00:21:11,891 --> 00:21:16,309 and she told me that as she was coming down the street, 300 00:21:16,344 --> 00:21:18,622 on the other side of the street was like a guard rail, 301 00:21:18,656 --> 00:21:20,727 right beside the Ohio River. 302 00:21:20,762 --> 00:21:23,351 There's a little island that's right off of that guard rail 303 00:21:23,385 --> 00:21:25,422 that goes out into the Ohio River 304 00:21:25,456 --> 00:21:26,940 and she said she looked up 305 00:21:26,975 --> 00:21:29,529 and saw the biggest bird that she'd ever seen in her life, 306 00:21:29,564 --> 00:21:31,220 sittin' there starin' at her. 307 00:21:31,255 --> 00:21:34,638 And she said it scared her and she turned to run 308 00:21:34,672 --> 00:21:37,468 and she said, the bird raised up, flew across 309 00:21:37,503 --> 00:21:39,712 and landed in the trees over on this island. 310 00:21:39,746 --> 00:21:41,300 She said it was enormous. 311 00:21:41,334 --> 00:21:43,060 She was very detailed about it. 312 00:21:43,094 --> 00:21:46,615 And I asked her specifically, you know, when this happened 313 00:21:46,650 --> 00:21:50,447 and she said, it was the late '60s, early '70s era. 314 00:21:50,481 --> 00:21:54,416 - In the 1970s, I met my husband and married him 315 00:21:54,451 --> 00:21:56,349 and he is from Point Pleasant. 316 00:21:56,384 --> 00:21:59,559 He and his dad were actually out in their car, 317 00:21:59,594 --> 00:22:01,768 driving around and looking for Mothman. 318 00:22:02,666 --> 00:22:04,392 And he was camping out in his backyard 319 00:22:04,426 --> 00:22:08,257 hoping to find Mothman, where I was, you know, 320 00:22:08,292 --> 00:22:11,606 40 miles away, terrified at thesame time. 321 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:13,031 - You know there were sightingsin Ohio, 322 00:22:13,055 --> 00:22:14,919 there were sightings in West Virginia, 323 00:22:14,954 --> 00:22:16,956 Pennsylvania, Kentucky. 324 00:22:16,990 --> 00:22:20,235 It's just that that rash of sightings didn't last 325 00:22:20,269 --> 00:22:23,307 nearly as long as it did here in Point Pleasant. 326 00:22:23,342 --> 00:22:25,344 - Major players in the Mothman story 327 00:22:25,378 --> 00:22:28,795 during the 1960s and '70s included the likes 328 00:22:28,830 --> 00:22:32,903 of West Virginia UFO author and investigator, Gray Barker 329 00:22:32,937 --> 00:22:34,283 and a newspaper reporter 330 00:22:34,318 --> 00:22:37,356 and Point Pleasant local, Mary Hyre. 331 00:22:37,390 --> 00:22:40,324 Hyre chronicled the ongoing activity taking place 332 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:42,913 following the collapse of the Silver Bridge, 333 00:22:42,947 --> 00:22:45,916 relaying sightings of Mothman, UFOs 334 00:22:45,950 --> 00:22:48,021 and the infamous Men in Black 335 00:22:48,056 --> 00:22:50,541 in her "Athens Messenger" columntitled, 336 00:22:50,576 --> 00:22:52,750 "Where the Waters Mingle." 337 00:22:52,785 --> 00:22:55,270 Hyre herself had a run-in with a Man in Black 338 00:22:55,304 --> 00:22:57,790 in her Point Pleasant office following the collapse 339 00:22:57,824 --> 00:23:01,552 of the Silver Bridge in Decemberof 1967. 340 00:23:01,587 --> 00:23:04,452 However, in February of 1970, 341 00:23:04,486 --> 00:23:08,110 Hyre would pass away after an extended illness. 342 00:23:08,145 --> 00:23:09,491 Around Point Pleasant, 343 00:23:09,526 --> 00:23:12,460 the Mothman became less of a talking point, 344 00:23:12,494 --> 00:23:14,082 although the UFO activity, 345 00:23:14,116 --> 00:23:16,912 which accompanied the initial wave of strangeness, 346 00:23:16,947 --> 00:23:18,397 continued unabated. 347 00:23:20,019 --> 00:23:22,228 While Hyre was tracking ongoingreports 348 00:23:22,262 --> 00:23:24,920 during the late '60s and early '70s, 349 00:23:24,955 --> 00:23:27,129 New York based author, John Keel, 350 00:23:27,164 --> 00:23:29,166 was laboring over his own recounting 351 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,272 of the 13-month-winged-creaturesiege. 352 00:23:32,307 --> 00:23:33,895 Keel would release his book, 353 00:23:33,929 --> 00:23:38,071 "The Mothman Prophecies" in 1975. 354 00:23:38,106 --> 00:23:40,902 The nonfiction saga would become a bestseller 355 00:23:40,936 --> 00:23:43,663 and reignite an interest in thetopic. 356 00:23:43,698 --> 00:23:46,252 Keel continue to write about theMothman, 357 00:23:46,286 --> 00:23:49,082 but no longer made trips to Point Pleasant. 358 00:23:49,117 --> 00:23:51,050 And with Mary Hyre no longer around 359 00:23:51,084 --> 00:23:53,190 to update Keel on the Mothman, 360 00:23:53,224 --> 00:23:55,606 no one was keeping tabs on the creature, 361 00:23:55,641 --> 00:23:57,746 who was now making its presencefelt 362 00:23:57,781 --> 00:23:59,092 around much of Appalachia. 363 00:24:00,473 --> 00:24:02,751 - I think the planets kind of aligned 364 00:24:02,786 --> 00:24:04,581 with the sightings in Point Pleasant 365 00:24:04,615 --> 00:24:08,343 because number one, you had all these people seeing UFOs, 366 00:24:08,377 --> 00:24:11,311 the Men in Black, the Mothman, the Silver Bridge collapse. 367 00:24:11,346 --> 00:24:13,659 John Keel comes to town 368 00:24:13,693 --> 00:24:17,110 and it isolated the Point Pleasant sightings. 369 00:24:17,145 --> 00:24:20,044 - I came across "The Mothman Prophecies," the book, 370 00:24:20,079 --> 00:24:24,463 in the mid-'90s and it immediately got my attention 371 00:24:24,497 --> 00:24:26,188 'cause it sort of was my sweet spot 372 00:24:26,223 --> 00:24:27,856 in terms of my interest in the paranormal, 373 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,330 which is, well it had tons of phenomenon in it, 374 00:24:30,365 --> 00:24:33,748 UFOs, poltergeists, the Mothman. 375 00:24:33,782 --> 00:24:35,370 And at the same time, 376 00:24:35,404 --> 00:24:37,821 the story was told from the point of view of John Keel, 377 00:24:37,855 --> 00:24:39,650 the guy who was there investigating it, 378 00:24:39,685 --> 00:24:43,136 and it focused so much on his interaction 379 00:24:43,171 --> 00:24:45,794 with the phenomenon and theway it affected him personally, 380 00:24:45,829 --> 00:24:47,244 which I found fascinating. 381 00:24:47,278 --> 00:24:50,489 - Well "The Mothman Prophecies" book didn't come together 382 00:24:50,523 --> 00:24:53,526 until about 10 years after the events. 383 00:24:53,561 --> 00:24:55,701 He did do some, there was an article 384 00:24:55,735 --> 00:24:59,187 in "The Flying Saucer Review" and I think "Saga Magazine" 385 00:24:59,221 --> 00:25:00,706 where he did talk about it 386 00:25:00,740 --> 00:25:02,846 and he talked about certain elements of it. 387 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,056 Apparently his publisher told him, he said, "Hey, look, 388 00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:08,437 it's time we put together a book on the Mothman." 389 00:25:08,472 --> 00:25:11,993 So Keel talks about how he got his tattered briefcase out 390 00:25:12,027 --> 00:25:15,272 and went through all his notes and articles and so forth 391 00:25:15,306 --> 00:25:17,619 and kind of pieced together a book. 392 00:25:17,654 --> 00:25:19,552 - What was happening in Point Pleasant 393 00:25:19,587 --> 00:25:21,692 felt extremely personal. 394 00:25:21,727 --> 00:25:22,935 And what was interesting to me 395 00:25:22,969 --> 00:25:24,971 was this sort of interactive nature 396 00:25:25,006 --> 00:25:27,215 of his experience with the phenomenon. 397 00:25:27,249 --> 00:25:28,423 The more he studied it 398 00:25:28,457 --> 00:25:31,771 and the more he tried to really nail it down 399 00:25:31,806 --> 00:25:33,739 and be totally objective, 400 00:25:33,773 --> 00:25:38,778 the more the phenomenon seemed to want to bring him on stage 401 00:25:39,089 --> 00:25:42,195 as it were and make his experience less objective 402 00:25:42,230 --> 00:25:45,129 and more subjective and that's exactly what happened. 403 00:25:55,174 --> 00:25:57,279 - In November of 1966, 404 00:25:57,314 --> 00:26:00,559 Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette 405 00:26:00,593 --> 00:26:02,906 had the first regionally-reported encounter 406 00:26:02,940 --> 00:26:04,424 with the Mothman. 407 00:26:04,459 --> 00:26:06,254 The incident took place in an area 408 00:26:06,288 --> 00:26:08,567 frequently tied to Mothman lore, 409 00:26:08,601 --> 00:26:10,361 an abandoned munitions facility 410 00:26:10,396 --> 00:26:12,743 just outside of Point Pleasant. 411 00:26:12,778 --> 00:26:16,126 The area was known as the McClintic Wildlife Management Area 412 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,579 or as locals referred to it, theTNT Area. 413 00:26:20,613 --> 00:26:23,616 While the bizarre entity would become known as the Mothman 414 00:26:23,651 --> 00:26:25,066 a short time later, 415 00:26:25,100 --> 00:26:29,726 it was initially referred to as the Bird or the Birdman. 416 00:26:30,727 --> 00:26:33,177 Its association with a known avian animal 417 00:26:33,212 --> 00:26:35,628 was based in part on the creature's wings, 418 00:26:35,663 --> 00:26:37,250 its ability to fly 419 00:26:37,285 --> 00:26:40,944 and its occasional comparison to a large owl. 420 00:26:40,978 --> 00:26:43,740 In other words, many encounters detailed a being 421 00:26:43,774 --> 00:26:45,880 that looked and behaved like a bird. 422 00:26:46,743 --> 00:26:47,951 Despite stranger features 423 00:26:47,985 --> 00:26:50,470 described in later Mothman reports, 424 00:26:50,505 --> 00:26:52,921 the ID of a man-sized winged creature 425 00:26:52,956 --> 00:26:54,371 that descends from the sky 426 00:26:54,405 --> 00:26:57,063 to terrify people when they least expect it 427 00:26:57,098 --> 00:27:00,791 is an ancient one and one foundworldwide. 428 00:27:02,137 --> 00:27:03,932 - John Keel, his original title, 429 00:27:03,967 --> 00:27:05,831 which never made it to press obviously, 430 00:27:05,865 --> 00:27:07,349 was the "Year of the Garuda." 431 00:27:07,384 --> 00:27:09,489 He saw sort of a connection 432 00:27:09,524 --> 00:27:13,562 with the Hindu mythology ofthe Garuda, this winged entity. 433 00:27:13,597 --> 00:27:15,875 Of course he was knocked down by the publisher. 434 00:27:15,910 --> 00:27:18,464 - But the Garuda is in multiple traditions. 435 00:27:18,498 --> 00:27:22,641 In Hinduism, the Garuda is a massive sun bird 436 00:27:22,675 --> 00:27:25,540 that ultimately becomes the vehicle, the mount, 437 00:27:25,574 --> 00:27:26,714 for the god Vishnu. 438 00:27:26,748 --> 00:27:30,200 It is depicted as some human features, 439 00:27:30,234 --> 00:27:32,374 sometimes two arms, sometimes four arms, 440 00:27:32,409 --> 00:27:36,206 but the body of an eagle, massive wings as well. 441 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:37,414 - And you know, 442 00:27:37,448 --> 00:27:39,219 when you read some aspects of "The Mothman Prophecies," 443 00:27:39,243 --> 00:27:41,590 "The year of the Garuda was at hand. 444 00:27:41,625 --> 00:27:43,696 A shadow was passing over a little town 445 00:27:43,731 --> 00:27:46,906 I had never even heard of, Point Pleasant, West Virginia." 446 00:27:46,941 --> 00:27:51,221 This winged apparition, sometimes winged-demon or whatever, 447 00:27:51,255 --> 00:27:54,534 I think it just lends it to theidea 448 00:27:54,569 --> 00:27:57,779 that whatever Mothman was, it is kind of an archetype. 449 00:28:03,509 --> 00:28:04,752 - I remember back, 450 00:28:04,786 --> 00:28:08,169 and it started out they didn't even call it Mothman. 451 00:28:08,203 --> 00:28:10,412 There for several months, they called him Birdman. 452 00:28:10,447 --> 00:28:11,897 I do remember that. 453 00:28:11,931 --> 00:28:13,174 And then something went around 454 00:28:13,208 --> 00:28:17,005 that it was a sandhill crane, the rather large crane 455 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,525 that had red feathers around itseyes. 456 00:28:19,559 --> 00:28:23,149 - The kind of explanations that get talked about a lot, 457 00:28:23,184 --> 00:28:25,496 one of them is a sandhill crane. 458 00:28:25,531 --> 00:28:27,498 A friend of mine, Forrest Burgess, 459 00:28:27,533 --> 00:28:30,847 once said that, "The sandhill crane is to Mothman 460 00:28:30,881 --> 00:28:33,677 what swamp gas is to UFOs." 461 00:28:33,712 --> 00:28:35,852 You know, it's the go-to explanation 462 00:28:35,886 --> 00:28:38,095 that makes absolutely no sense. 463 00:28:38,130 --> 00:28:40,753 - Other people thought, youknow, well, maybe it was a bird, 464 00:28:40,788 --> 00:28:42,893 but it was a mutated bird. 465 00:28:42,928 --> 00:28:45,240 You know, the TNT Area, the waste in the TNT Area 466 00:28:45,275 --> 00:28:48,140 and the chemicals used in WorldWar II 467 00:28:48,174 --> 00:28:49,762 contaminated the ground. 468 00:28:49,797 --> 00:28:53,801 Which makes a perfect scenario for a Boris Karloff movie. 469 00:28:53,835 --> 00:28:56,355 - I know that back in the '80s, that they came in 470 00:28:58,322 --> 00:28:59,772 and it was an EPA disaster site 471 00:28:59,807 --> 00:29:02,430 and they had to shave two or three inches of top soil off 472 00:29:02,464 --> 00:29:05,019 within an eight mile radius just to clean the place up. 473 00:29:05,053 --> 00:29:07,331 - But that was maybe a way for a lot of those people 474 00:29:07,366 --> 00:29:09,851 to validate, "Hey, yeah, it was some sort of a monster 475 00:29:09,886 --> 00:29:12,785 because it got into this toxic waste 476 00:29:12,820 --> 00:29:15,098 and it resembled a monster." 477 00:29:15,132 --> 00:29:16,789 It scared people, you know, 478 00:29:16,824 --> 00:29:19,930 and it's no secret that the TNT Area was contaminated 479 00:29:19,965 --> 00:29:21,829 with a lot of stuff. 480 00:29:22,933 --> 00:29:25,073 - It's not a natural creature to this area. 481 00:29:25,108 --> 00:29:27,144 There wouldn't be anything that would match that. 482 00:29:27,179 --> 00:29:30,389 There's no birds that would have wings anywhere close 483 00:29:30,423 --> 00:29:33,323 to the size of Mothman, you know, his wings. 484 00:29:33,357 --> 00:29:35,463 - Yes, there are many researchers 485 00:29:35,497 --> 00:29:39,916 that look at the giant birds as something very tangible. 486 00:29:39,950 --> 00:29:41,503 There have been a sightings 487 00:29:41,538 --> 00:29:43,643 that look like they were just giant owls. 488 00:29:43,678 --> 00:29:46,301 And the Mothman, it's seen in the dark sometimes, 489 00:29:46,336 --> 00:29:48,787 did look quite like kind of a giant owl. 490 00:29:49,857 --> 00:29:52,342 - It's common in folklore for a screech owl. 491 00:29:52,376 --> 00:29:54,240 In Welsh there's the Corpse Bird. 492 00:29:54,275 --> 00:29:57,071 It's a screech owl that comes banging at the window 493 00:29:57,105 --> 00:29:59,211 of someone who's ill or sick. 494 00:29:59,245 --> 00:30:02,593 And then that motif follows its way into Appalachia, too. 495 00:30:02,628 --> 00:30:04,664 If you see or hear an owl 496 00:30:04,699 --> 00:30:06,839 outside of your window at night making a call, 497 00:30:06,874 --> 00:30:08,737 it's a sign that someone's goingto die. 498 00:30:08,772 --> 00:30:12,845 Likewise, if a bird flies in your house, 499 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,260 that's really bad news. 500 00:30:14,295 --> 00:30:17,505 Someone is probably going to get hurt or die as well. 501 00:30:17,539 --> 00:30:21,164 - The Native American of coursehave the Thunderbird legend, 502 00:30:21,198 --> 00:30:23,545 which some people associate with the Mothman, 503 00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:25,754 I think maybe John Keel did even. 504 00:30:25,789 --> 00:30:27,998 - The Thunder Bird is a Southwest tribal, 505 00:30:28,033 --> 00:30:30,759 it is not Shawnee, it's not Eastern Woodland. 506 00:30:30,794 --> 00:30:33,279 So it is said that the Mothman could be tied 507 00:30:33,314 --> 00:30:36,835 to the Thunderbird, but wedidn't have a Thunderbird here. 508 00:30:40,217 --> 00:30:42,910 - Tom Ury, one of the Mothman witnesses, 509 00:30:42,944 --> 00:30:45,774 that's really what he saw was a giant bird, 510 00:30:45,809 --> 00:30:48,225 about a 10 to 12 foot wingspan. 511 00:30:48,260 --> 00:30:51,332 I was able to talk to him one on one about his experience. 512 00:30:51,366 --> 00:30:53,196 In fact, Tom, for a while, 513 00:30:53,230 --> 00:30:55,888 thought that the other people like Linda Scarberry 514 00:30:55,923 --> 00:30:57,959 and Marcella Bennett and so forth, 515 00:30:57,994 --> 00:30:59,340 saw the same thing he did, 516 00:30:59,374 --> 00:31:01,756 but thought perhaps it was so shocking 517 00:31:01,790 --> 00:31:04,414 that they've maybe added the details. 518 00:31:05,587 --> 00:31:07,279 But the thing is about the Mothman, 519 00:31:07,313 --> 00:31:08,487 the Mothman was a paradox. 520 00:31:08,521 --> 00:31:10,085 Some people got a pretty good look at it, 521 00:31:10,109 --> 00:31:13,354 and it was about seven feet, tall, dark gray, or black, 522 00:31:13,388 --> 00:31:14,803 about a 10 foot wingspan. 523 00:31:14,838 --> 00:31:17,599 A 10 foot wingspan probably isn't gonna lift something 524 00:31:17,634 --> 00:31:18,877 that's seven foot tall. 525 00:31:18,911 --> 00:31:22,018 Just biologically it didn'twork, but people kept seeing it. 526 00:31:29,991 --> 00:31:33,098 - While the 1980s were a dead zone for Mothman research, 527 00:31:33,132 --> 00:31:34,927 sightings of winged humanoids 528 00:31:34,962 --> 00:31:37,274 and giant birds continued around Appalachia. 529 00:31:38,172 --> 00:31:39,587 In Northern Pennsylvania, 530 00:31:39,621 --> 00:31:42,141 a string of reports of a pterosaur-like creature 531 00:31:42,176 --> 00:31:45,524 made regional headlines during the early '80s. 532 00:31:45,558 --> 00:31:48,907 Meanwhile, around Point Pleasant and West Virginia, 533 00:31:48,941 --> 00:31:51,185 the red-eyed creature that dominated headlines 534 00:31:51,219 --> 00:31:56,017 during the late 1960s had faded into relative obscurity. 535 00:31:56,052 --> 00:31:58,847 Despite the Mothman's lack of popularity, 536 00:31:58,882 --> 00:32:00,470 kids still warned one another 537 00:32:00,504 --> 00:32:03,956 about venturing into the TNT Area after dark. 538 00:32:03,991 --> 00:32:06,614 Tales also circulated amongst the locals, 539 00:32:06,648 --> 00:32:08,202 such as one in which hunters 540 00:32:08,236 --> 00:32:10,342 encountered a mysteriously largebird 541 00:32:10,376 --> 00:32:12,447 in the early morning hours. 542 00:32:12,482 --> 00:32:15,036 A group of teenagers even claimed to have found a pile 543 00:32:15,071 --> 00:32:16,969 of abnormally large feathers 544 00:32:17,004 --> 00:32:19,351 in one of the abandoned TNT bunkers. 545 00:32:20,455 --> 00:32:21,905 As the years tick by, 546 00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:24,563 the reality of what was encountered began to fade 547 00:32:24,597 --> 00:32:26,875 and was replaced by something else, 548 00:32:26,910 --> 00:32:29,361 a modern folktale in the making. 549 00:32:29,395 --> 00:32:31,397 Still, an absence of evidence 550 00:32:31,432 --> 00:32:34,642 doesn't necessarily indicate evidence of absence, 551 00:32:34,676 --> 00:32:38,473 as Leah Wilson discovered in the summer of 1987. 552 00:32:38,508 --> 00:32:40,820 - I was in Calhoun County, WestVirginia, 553 00:32:40,855 --> 00:32:44,169 Leading Creek Road, it's outside of Grantsville, 554 00:32:44,203 --> 00:32:47,517 my aunt and uncle's old farm house. 555 00:32:47,551 --> 00:32:49,450 A few months before that, like in the spring, 556 00:32:49,484 --> 00:32:50,496 people were talkin' about, 557 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,937 like their chickens and stuff coming up missing, 558 00:32:53,972 --> 00:32:55,145 you know overnight. 559 00:32:55,180 --> 00:32:57,389 But they would talk about weirdnoises, 560 00:32:57,423 --> 00:33:00,944 but no one had ever talkedabout actually seein' anything. 561 00:33:00,979 --> 00:33:03,360 The farmhouse, there's nothing around it. 562 00:33:03,395 --> 00:33:05,949 So there's no other residents for like a half a mile 563 00:33:05,984 --> 00:33:07,744 from the house that I was stayin' in. 564 00:33:07,778 --> 00:33:11,023 And it was probably 1987, '88, 565 00:33:11,058 --> 00:33:12,818 somewhere around there, summertime, 566 00:33:14,509 --> 00:33:16,029 it was like two o'clock in the morning, 567 00:33:16,063 --> 00:33:17,098 I was just goin' to bed 568 00:33:17,133 --> 00:33:19,031 from after watching movies and stuff. 569 00:33:21,275 --> 00:33:25,279 And across the street from the farmhouse is a holler 570 00:33:25,313 --> 00:33:29,317 that goes up on the hill and I started hearing this noise. 571 00:33:31,837 --> 00:33:33,252 You could tell us some kind of, 572 00:33:33,287 --> 00:33:35,013 I thought it was kind of a bird-type thing. 573 00:33:35,047 --> 00:33:37,463 I thought maybe it was an owl or somethin', 574 00:33:37,498 --> 00:33:40,501 but it just kept getting closerand closer 575 00:33:40,535 --> 00:33:42,675 and louder and louder. 576 00:33:43,952 --> 00:33:46,783 The only way I can describe it is the Hollywood movies, 577 00:33:46,817 --> 00:33:48,543 the pterodactyl noises, you know, 578 00:33:48,578 --> 00:33:49,796 that's the only way I can describe it. 579 00:33:49,820 --> 00:33:54,687 It was that loud and that piercing and it kind of had, 580 00:33:55,102 --> 00:33:57,069 I don't know, kind of a giggling, 581 00:33:57,104 --> 00:33:59,071 loud giggling noise to it, too. 582 00:33:59,106 --> 00:34:00,935 I mean, it's really hard to describe. 583 00:34:01,970 --> 00:34:05,077 By the time I sat up to look out the window, 584 00:34:05,112 --> 00:34:07,079 'cause I thought whatever this was 585 00:34:07,114 --> 00:34:09,737 was gonna fly right into the window, 586 00:34:09,771 --> 00:34:13,879 the wingspan of this covered thewindows. 587 00:34:18,987 --> 00:34:21,921 And then when it got to that part of the house 588 00:34:21,956 --> 00:34:24,752 and went up over the house, you actually could hear it. 589 00:34:24,786 --> 00:34:28,100 You actually heard the whoosh sound. 590 00:34:28,135 --> 00:34:31,724 Again, not sure what I wasgonna do or what I'd just seen. 591 00:34:31,759 --> 00:34:33,968 I turned around to the back window of the bedroom 592 00:34:34,002 --> 00:34:36,350 and you could see the shadow of whatever this was flyin' 593 00:34:36,384 --> 00:34:39,318 over the field to the back of the house. 594 00:34:39,353 --> 00:34:41,251 I've never heard anything like that. 595 00:34:41,286 --> 00:34:46,291 I have stayed at that country house all my life, you know, 596 00:34:46,705 --> 00:34:49,052 never heard it, never seen it, anything like that again. 597 00:34:49,087 --> 00:34:51,537 So not sure what it was, 598 00:34:51,572 --> 00:34:54,471 but it was something that was very large 599 00:34:54,506 --> 00:34:56,749 and very loud and very fast. 600 00:34:56,784 --> 00:34:58,141 'Cause that holler that it cameout 601 00:34:58,165 --> 00:35:00,028 was probably about a mile long. 602 00:35:00,063 --> 00:35:03,342 You know, I was the first one on that Leading Creek Road 603 00:35:03,377 --> 00:35:05,931 that actually seen somethin'. 604 00:35:09,452 --> 00:35:11,316 - You know I think there were things going on 605 00:35:11,350 --> 00:35:13,145 all the way through the '80s and'90s. 606 00:35:13,180 --> 00:35:15,699 It's real hard to validate a lot of that stuff 607 00:35:15,734 --> 00:35:18,806 because sometimes it comes from other states, 608 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:20,739 but it's hard for me to pinpointand say, 609 00:35:20,773 --> 00:35:25,640 that's exactly what they were seeing here in 1966, '67. 610 00:35:28,885 --> 00:35:31,163 - We had that other sighting in Parkersburg 611 00:35:31,198 --> 00:35:34,166 of the girl having seen it on Quincy Hill. 612 00:35:34,201 --> 00:35:38,860 She said when she was in high school in 1987, 613 00:35:38,895 --> 00:35:41,553 she and her boyfriend were driving 614 00:35:41,587 --> 00:35:43,624 to the top of Quincy Hill, 615 00:35:43,658 --> 00:35:46,730 which is the highest location in Parkersburg. 616 00:35:46,765 --> 00:35:48,007 Something very similar, 617 00:35:48,042 --> 00:35:51,114 they saw this huge creature was walking across the street. 618 00:35:51,149 --> 00:35:54,600 She said, it looked like six-and-a-half-foot insect. 619 00:35:54,635 --> 00:35:56,878 She said its knees were on backwards, 620 00:35:56,913 --> 00:35:58,570 you know like an insect's leg 621 00:35:59,467 --> 00:36:00,951 and had these huge wings as well. 622 00:36:00,986 --> 00:36:04,472 But she said, the thing that stood out to her was 623 00:36:04,507 --> 00:36:07,889 this creature had a shuffling gait, 624 00:36:07,924 --> 00:36:11,445 like it was not used to walking on its feet. 625 00:36:11,479 --> 00:36:14,068 That told me she was tellin' thetruth 626 00:36:14,102 --> 00:36:16,381 because I had read a lot of the written accounts 627 00:36:16,415 --> 00:36:17,761 down a Point Pleasant, 628 00:36:17,796 --> 00:36:20,523 they all described the Mothman as walking that way. 629 00:36:21,455 --> 00:36:23,008 - In the early 1990s, 630 00:36:23,042 --> 00:36:25,217 a Point Pleasant local named Darren Hayes 631 00:36:25,252 --> 00:36:28,151 encountered the Mothman in the TNT Area. 632 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:31,223 While talking to Jeff Wamsley in an interview for his book, 633 00:36:31,258 --> 00:36:33,777 "Mothman, Behind the Red Eyes," 634 00:36:33,812 --> 00:36:36,159 Hayes recalled while driving into the area, 635 00:36:36,194 --> 00:36:40,163 a massive winged humanoid-bird appeared above the car. 636 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:41,785 As Hayes stepped on the gas, 637 00:36:41,820 --> 00:36:44,685 the creature made five or six passes over the car 638 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:46,963 before the vehicle eventually outran it 639 00:36:46,997 --> 00:36:49,793 as the men headed back to PointPleasant. 640 00:36:50,725 --> 00:36:52,658 Darren's account wouldn't becomepublic 641 00:36:52,693 --> 00:36:54,867 until the publication of Wamsley's book 642 00:36:54,902 --> 00:36:56,662 nearly a decade later. 643 00:36:56,697 --> 00:36:57,870 The story illustrates 644 00:36:57,905 --> 00:37:01,564 that the Mothman was still making its presence felt. 645 00:37:01,598 --> 00:37:04,222 Perhaps no one felt the creature's presence more 646 00:37:04,256 --> 00:37:05,982 than John Keel. 647 00:37:06,016 --> 00:37:08,053 Despite living states away 648 00:37:08,087 --> 00:37:10,055 and making an effort to distancehimself 649 00:37:10,089 --> 00:37:11,953 from "The Mothman Prophecies," 650 00:37:11,988 --> 00:37:14,508 the author felt himself pulled back to the story 651 00:37:14,542 --> 00:37:15,923 over the years. 652 00:37:16,820 --> 00:37:18,443 - People thought he had the answers 653 00:37:18,477 --> 00:37:20,928 because he had spent so much time in Point Pleasant. 654 00:37:20,962 --> 00:37:23,724 He stayed with Linda's family, Linda Scarberry's family. 655 00:37:23,758 --> 00:37:24,966 In "The Mothman Prophecies," 656 00:37:25,001 --> 00:37:28,038 it talks about how his life became intertwined 657 00:37:28,073 --> 00:37:29,730 with the people of the Ohio Valley, 658 00:37:29,764 --> 00:37:31,835 especially in Point Pleasant. 659 00:37:31,870 --> 00:37:32,871 - Here's how it went. 660 00:37:32,905 --> 00:37:34,769 When John Keel was there, 661 00:37:34,804 --> 00:37:37,082 the entire town was sort of haunted. 662 00:37:37,116 --> 00:37:40,982 The people that he was speaking to were very scared 663 00:37:41,017 --> 00:37:42,052 about what was going on. 664 00:37:42,087 --> 00:37:43,882 There seemed to be a general understanding 665 00:37:43,916 --> 00:37:46,816 that all of this was going to lead to something bad, 666 00:37:46,850 --> 00:37:49,508 at least that's certainly what John Keel felt. 667 00:37:49,543 --> 00:37:52,097 - He had proposed some ideas for other books 668 00:37:52,131 --> 00:37:53,271 that never came about. 669 00:37:53,305 --> 00:37:56,343 He seemed to kind of move away from it. 670 00:37:56,377 --> 00:37:58,862 I remember hearing people that interviewed him, 671 00:37:58,897 --> 00:38:00,416 they want to talk about the Mothman, 672 00:38:00,450 --> 00:38:01,900 he would change the subject, 673 00:38:01,934 --> 00:38:03,936 he would want to talk about something else. 674 00:38:03,971 --> 00:38:05,328 - Because he was solving his ownmystery 675 00:38:05,352 --> 00:38:07,146 and he really wanted an answer. 676 00:38:07,181 --> 00:38:09,873 And like most of us do when we first get involved 677 00:38:09,908 --> 00:38:12,359 in the paranormal, 678 00:38:12,393 --> 00:38:15,569 we think, on a certain level, we're gonna figure it out. 679 00:38:15,603 --> 00:38:19,711 The experience typically does not provide an answer 680 00:38:19,745 --> 00:38:21,540 and it certainly didn't for JohnKeel. 681 00:38:21,575 --> 00:38:24,647 - When people would ask him, "What was the Mothman? 682 00:38:24,681 --> 00:38:25,682 What was it all about?" 683 00:38:25,717 --> 00:38:28,202 He'd have to be honest and say he didn't know. 684 00:38:28,236 --> 00:38:29,524 I mean, he didn't have the answers. 685 00:38:29,548 --> 00:38:32,344 He was someone that chronicled the events. 686 00:38:32,379 --> 00:38:34,381 A very important thing about Keel, 687 00:38:34,415 --> 00:38:38,143 he didn't reject stuff that didn't fit a certain paradigm. 688 00:38:38,177 --> 00:38:42,285 And that's how he became towrite books like "Trojan Horse," 689 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,460 because he began to see the interconnectedness 690 00:38:44,494 --> 00:38:46,151 of all paranormal activity. 691 00:39:02,409 --> 00:39:06,551 - So I grew up pretty much right near the woodlot. 692 00:39:08,967 --> 00:39:10,451 We were the last house actually, 693 00:39:10,486 --> 00:39:12,039 before it turns into the woods 694 00:39:12,073 --> 00:39:14,213 and you know, a very small area. 695 00:39:14,248 --> 00:39:16,181 And there was a community area, 696 00:39:18,666 --> 00:39:20,427 an old community area 697 00:39:20,461 --> 00:39:23,464 and passed down, you know, family to family, 698 00:39:23,499 --> 00:39:24,879 one of those kind of deals. 699 00:39:26,329 --> 00:39:27,582 I've been going over it in my head 700 00:39:27,606 --> 00:39:29,006 and this is pretty much how it went. 701 00:39:29,988 --> 00:39:32,611 We were comin' home, it was either 1999 or 2000, 702 00:39:34,786 --> 00:39:35,797 We were comin' home 703 00:39:35,821 --> 00:39:37,202 and it was late in the evening. 704 00:39:38,514 --> 00:39:40,032 We're coming around the first curve 705 00:39:40,067 --> 00:39:43,242 and the first curve will be near a graveyard actually, 706 00:39:43,277 --> 00:39:46,625 it's an old family graveyard, it's up on a hill there. 707 00:39:46,660 --> 00:39:49,904 And as we go around the curve, we slowed down 708 00:39:49,939 --> 00:39:53,632 and the headlights hit somethin' in the road. 709 00:39:57,464 --> 00:39:59,397 What they hit was a form 710 00:40:00,570 --> 00:40:02,883 and for a split second, I thought, "Oh, it's a large bird," 711 00:40:02,917 --> 00:40:04,056 and all that. 712 00:40:04,091 --> 00:40:06,438 And then, we're sitting there you know, 713 00:40:06,473 --> 00:40:09,337 and this thing, whatever it was, 714 00:40:09,372 --> 00:40:11,236 you notice really quickly it's not a bird 715 00:40:11,270 --> 00:40:13,100 because you can kinda almost see through it. 716 00:40:13,134 --> 00:40:15,343 It has this weird, not translucent, 717 00:40:15,378 --> 00:40:17,553 but almost like it was phasing or shifting. 718 00:40:18,485 --> 00:40:20,763 It kinda stands up a little bit 719 00:40:20,797 --> 00:40:23,455 and puts out what I assume werewings, 720 00:40:23,490 --> 00:40:24,698 I mean, arms somethin' 721 00:40:24,732 --> 00:40:26,769 and they reached almost to the sides of the road. 722 00:40:26,803 --> 00:40:30,600 But with just one movement, it shot straight up. 723 00:40:30,635 --> 00:40:32,533 And as it's shootin' straight up, you know, 724 00:40:32,568 --> 00:40:34,293 we're sitting there and you could hear it 725 00:40:34,328 --> 00:40:35,467 and you can see it, too. 726 00:40:35,502 --> 00:40:37,573 There were twigs fallin', you know? 727 00:40:37,607 --> 00:40:39,126 It made no sense. 728 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,404 The speed at which it moved, I have no idea. 729 00:40:41,439 --> 00:40:44,165 Now I never thought for one second when this happened, 730 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:45,753 by the way, you know, 731 00:40:45,788 --> 00:40:47,755 that was Mothman or that was somethin'. 732 00:40:47,790 --> 00:40:52,070 Nope, what I felt was absolute, 100% fear, terror. 733 00:40:52,104 --> 00:40:53,796 I hit the gas as hard as I possibly could. 734 00:40:53,830 --> 00:40:56,661 I don't think I ever got that car to go as fast 735 00:40:56,695 --> 00:40:57,938 as I did that night. 736 00:40:57,972 --> 00:40:59,042 And it weird about that, 737 00:40:59,077 --> 00:41:01,079 and I looked back at it to thisday, 738 00:41:01,113 --> 00:41:05,117 but something said, "Get out," and I got out. 739 00:41:05,980 --> 00:41:07,292 Yeah, it was pretty scary. 740 00:41:14,713 --> 00:41:17,820 But what is really weird about the story 741 00:41:17,854 --> 00:41:19,442 is not my sighting, 742 00:41:21,306 --> 00:41:23,515 the part that gets me is, 743 00:41:23,550 --> 00:41:25,586 where it happened is only about 744 00:41:26,518 --> 00:41:28,624 just maybe a couple hundred yards 745 00:41:28,658 --> 00:41:31,834 from where my mom had a sighting 746 00:41:31,868 --> 00:41:34,699 and that would have been in the'50s. 747 00:41:34,733 --> 00:41:38,426 And her and four other people atthe time 748 00:41:38,461 --> 00:41:41,084 had seen what they described as a gray ghost. 749 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,882 They were walking along the ridge line at the time. 750 00:41:45,917 --> 00:41:49,541 They said that this gray thing appeared near the graveyard 751 00:41:50,473 --> 00:41:51,888 and 752 00:41:51,923 --> 00:41:52,717 to them, 753 00:41:52,751 --> 00:41:53,751 it just 754 00:41:55,098 --> 00:41:56,099 went up in the air. 755 00:41:56,134 --> 00:41:58,377 That was their words. "It went up in the air." 756 00:41:59,551 --> 00:42:00,725 I didn't even, you know, 757 00:42:00,759 --> 00:42:02,554 we've heard that story so much growin' up 758 00:42:02,589 --> 00:42:05,246 and it's just like, you know, it never really clicked 759 00:42:05,281 --> 00:42:06,430 until that night I saw that thing. 760 00:42:06,454 --> 00:42:08,353 I'm like, "This is where they saw it." 761 00:42:13,392 --> 00:42:17,327 - From sandhill crane to giant owl, to mythical birds, 762 00:42:17,362 --> 00:42:19,882 during the 1960s and up until the release 763 00:42:19,916 --> 00:42:23,506 of John Keel's seminal book in 1975, 764 00:42:23,541 --> 00:42:26,578 the most common theories as to what the creature might be 765 00:42:26,613 --> 00:42:30,340 all revolved around tangible flesh and bone beings, 766 00:42:30,375 --> 00:42:33,343 animals that either existed within known science 767 00:42:33,378 --> 00:42:35,138 or on its fringes. 768 00:42:35,173 --> 00:42:38,072 Yet with the release of "The Mothman Prophecies," 769 00:42:38,107 --> 00:42:39,971 something new is proposed. 770 00:42:40,005 --> 00:42:43,008 Suddenly, the answers as to what the entity might be 771 00:42:43,043 --> 00:42:45,908 weren't being sought in the pages of science, 772 00:42:45,942 --> 00:42:48,117 but in the realms of physics. 773 00:42:48,151 --> 00:42:51,569 As Keel put forth his own ideasabout alternate dimensions 774 00:42:51,603 --> 00:42:54,123 and realities to explain the Mothman, 775 00:42:54,157 --> 00:42:58,023 similar theories were beingpresented for various phenomena. 776 00:42:58,058 --> 00:42:59,577 Could the Mothman be a visitor 777 00:42:59,611 --> 00:43:01,717 from another plane of existence, 778 00:43:01,751 --> 00:43:03,822 one beyond our own? 779 00:43:03,857 --> 00:43:06,825 If so, was there something about Point Pleasant, 780 00:43:06,860 --> 00:43:08,447 or even all of Appalachia, 781 00:43:08,482 --> 00:43:12,037 that acted as a gateway between these realities? 782 00:43:12,072 --> 00:43:14,074 Legends suggest that Native Americans 783 00:43:14,108 --> 00:43:17,422 avoided much of the land where West Virginia now sits, 784 00:43:17,456 --> 00:43:18,665 leading to speculation 785 00:43:18,699 --> 00:43:22,047 that the earth itself in this place was cursed. 786 00:43:22,082 --> 00:43:24,394 In later years, an unfounded story 787 00:43:24,429 --> 00:43:27,363 regarding a supposed curse placed on Point Pleasant 788 00:43:27,397 --> 00:43:29,054 began to circulate. 789 00:43:29,089 --> 00:43:30,711 It involved the real life murder 790 00:43:30,746 --> 00:43:33,749 of a Native chief named Cornstalk. 791 00:43:33,783 --> 00:43:36,648 Though likely having little basis in reality, 792 00:43:36,683 --> 00:43:39,168 it is possible that some kernelof truth 793 00:43:39,202 --> 00:43:41,480 does exist in the story. 794 00:43:41,515 --> 00:43:44,967 Perhaps the curse in question was simply a word ascribed 795 00:43:45,001 --> 00:43:48,626 to a location that seemed to invite strangeness, 796 00:43:48,660 --> 00:43:49,937 if not tragedy. 797 00:43:58,601 --> 00:43:59,844 - What I have gathered 798 00:43:59,878 --> 00:44:02,570 is that there are parts in the Ohio Valley 799 00:44:02,605 --> 00:44:05,021 that are kind of believed to becursed. 800 00:44:05,056 --> 00:44:06,229 They're a land of the dead. 801 00:44:06,264 --> 00:44:09,163 It was common for people to be buried closer 802 00:44:09,198 --> 00:44:10,061 to bodies of water. 803 00:44:10,095 --> 00:44:11,655 That's where we find some of themounds. 804 00:44:11,683 --> 00:44:13,133 It's a valley of the dead, 805 00:44:13,167 --> 00:44:16,861 so I would think that any place along a river 806 00:44:16,895 --> 00:44:18,034 is kind of the same thing. 807 00:44:18,069 --> 00:44:19,629 There's probably a lot of burials there. 808 00:44:19,657 --> 00:44:22,142 Different Native American tribes believed so strongly 809 00:44:22,176 --> 00:44:23,661 that they wouldn't come at night. 810 00:44:23,695 --> 00:44:24,558 They would not. 811 00:44:24,592 --> 00:44:25,777 - There's a lot of people that believed 812 00:44:25,801 --> 00:44:27,665 the movement of water is conducive 813 00:44:27,699 --> 00:44:31,772 to helping to produce some of this activity. 814 00:44:31,807 --> 00:44:33,878 And yes, I find it easy to believe 815 00:44:33,912 --> 00:44:35,914 that there is something about the confluence 816 00:44:35,949 --> 00:44:38,192 of the rivers coming together. 817 00:44:38,227 --> 00:44:40,229 There's even the lore about crossroads, you know, 818 00:44:40,263 --> 00:44:41,920 the Devil's Crossroads or whatever, 819 00:44:41,955 --> 00:44:45,337 and that's where Indrid Cold was supposed to have shown up 820 00:44:45,372 --> 00:44:47,132 along Route 77 there. 821 00:44:48,893 --> 00:44:51,516 - That's common in a lot of different cultures. 822 00:44:51,550 --> 00:44:53,967 The idea that a river or a confluence 823 00:44:54,001 --> 00:44:57,522 of bodies of water is a gateway somewhere, yes. 824 00:45:01,146 --> 00:45:02,182 - Keel did not believe 825 00:45:02,216 --> 00:45:04,667 that we were interacting with extraterrestrials. 826 00:45:04,702 --> 00:45:06,531 He called them ultra-terrestrials. 827 00:45:06,565 --> 00:45:08,775 In other words, something that is earth bound, 828 00:45:08,809 --> 00:45:11,985 some sort of phenomenon that originates on earth 829 00:45:12,019 --> 00:45:15,333 that we can sometimes see and interact with. 830 00:45:15,367 --> 00:45:18,957 And it might be from another dimension, 831 00:45:18,992 --> 00:45:22,133 or it might simply be a little bit outside 832 00:45:22,167 --> 00:45:25,757 our normal perceptual abilities. 833 00:45:25,792 --> 00:45:28,139 - Keel used the term ultra-terrestrial 834 00:45:28,173 --> 00:45:29,657 and he revealed in later years, 835 00:45:29,692 --> 00:45:31,556 he used it as a literary device. 836 00:45:32,799 --> 00:45:34,214 Again, he wasn't really fixed 837 00:45:34,248 --> 00:45:35,605 in his thinking about these things. 838 00:45:35,629 --> 00:45:39,771 It was really a term used to suggest that these entities, 839 00:45:39,806 --> 00:45:42,705 whatever they are, wherever they actually come from, 840 00:45:42,740 --> 00:45:44,811 may be a natural condition of the planets, 841 00:45:44,845 --> 00:45:47,952 suggesting that they're not necessarily from off world 842 00:45:47,986 --> 00:45:50,299 or are even necessarily from another dimension. 843 00:45:50,333 --> 00:45:53,992 - They're your radio waves and ultraviolet rays 844 00:45:54,027 --> 00:45:56,857 and various things that exist and we know they exist, 845 00:45:56,892 --> 00:45:58,031 but we can't see them. 846 00:45:58,065 --> 00:46:00,827 But what if under somecircumstances we could see them, 847 00:46:00,861 --> 00:46:02,552 what else would we see? 848 00:46:02,587 --> 00:46:04,623 And I think his notion was that 849 00:46:04,658 --> 00:46:09,249 what we might see is Indrid Cold or the Mothman. 850 00:46:09,283 --> 00:46:10,491 - So the idea would be 851 00:46:10,526 --> 00:46:14,495 that perhaps we can't really conceive of other dimensions 852 00:46:14,530 --> 00:46:18,499 and these creatures or whatever, while they exist with us, 853 00:46:18,534 --> 00:46:21,261 can hide or pass into these other dimensions. 854 00:46:21,295 --> 00:46:24,471 People will use the term vortex or a portal 855 00:46:24,505 --> 00:46:26,438 or a window area. 856 00:46:27,474 --> 00:46:31,409 - I do know that in the 1980s and even before, 857 00:46:31,443 --> 00:46:36,448 the TNT Area was a hub for a lot of occult type activity, 858 00:46:36,828 --> 00:46:40,211 you know, the activity in the TNT Area for all those years. 859 00:46:40,245 --> 00:46:42,765 Is it possible that maybe somebody did something 860 00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,941 to open up some kind of portal 861 00:46:45,975 --> 00:46:47,943 to let some kind of activity in? 862 00:46:47,977 --> 00:46:49,772 Why would it just choose Point Pleasant? 863 00:46:49,807 --> 00:46:51,809 Or there's all kinds of questions 864 00:46:51,843 --> 00:46:53,707 and even John Keel himself thought 865 00:46:53,741 --> 00:46:56,020 that there was some kind of portal in the TNT Area. 866 00:46:56,054 --> 00:46:58,160 And if you've ever been to the TNT Area, 867 00:46:58,194 --> 00:47:00,610 there very well could be, you'd never know it, 868 00:47:00,645 --> 00:47:03,786 if you believe in that kind of thing because it's so vast. 869 00:47:05,650 --> 00:47:07,341 I've talked to several people 870 00:47:07,376 --> 00:47:11,035 that have seen hooded figures upthere. 871 00:47:11,069 --> 00:47:12,174 When I was a kid, 872 00:47:12,208 --> 00:47:13,220 there was a rumor going around 873 00:47:13,244 --> 00:47:15,487 that the 13th gate to hell was in the TNT area 874 00:47:15,522 --> 00:47:17,765 and that's what I remember about my childhood. 875 00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:19,595 Kind of makes you want to stay away. 876 00:47:21,079 --> 00:47:23,150 My dad's sister, I'm gonna out her, 877 00:47:23,185 --> 00:47:26,740 but she snuck out in highschool with a bunch of friends, 878 00:47:26,774 --> 00:47:28,052 went up to the TNT Area. 879 00:47:28,086 --> 00:47:29,087 That's not unusual, 880 00:47:29,122 --> 00:47:30,893 a lot of people used to do that kind of thing. 881 00:47:30,917 --> 00:47:32,435 Inside the igloos that are up there, 882 00:47:32,470 --> 00:47:35,300 there's like 100 of these bunkers. 883 00:47:35,335 --> 00:47:38,062 Well, there's just a few of those that are open today, 884 00:47:38,096 --> 00:47:40,512 but people like to go up there and investigate 885 00:47:40,547 --> 00:47:41,997 and all that kind of stuff. 886 00:47:42,031 --> 00:47:43,861 Well, they had went into one 887 00:47:43,895 --> 00:47:45,932 and said that there was all these symbols 888 00:47:45,966 --> 00:47:48,348 written all over the walls 889 00:47:48,382 --> 00:47:52,317 and there was a table with a outline 890 00:47:52,352 --> 00:47:53,905 of a cat, 891 00:47:53,940 --> 00:47:55,873 where somebody had sacrificed acat. 892 00:47:55,907 --> 00:47:58,737 There was always stories that, once a year, 893 00:47:58,772 --> 00:48:01,671 that there was a large group ofoccultists 894 00:48:01,706 --> 00:48:03,087 that would come and meet. 895 00:48:03,121 --> 00:48:05,261 I know another girl that was one of my neighbors 896 00:48:05,296 --> 00:48:07,022 that lived up in that area 897 00:48:07,056 --> 00:48:10,094 that said that she was walking in the TNT Area 898 00:48:10,128 --> 00:48:11,819 with her parents one day 899 00:48:11,854 --> 00:48:13,373 and said that she'd looked over 900 00:48:13,407 --> 00:48:16,169 and she'd seen this giant fire 901 00:48:16,203 --> 00:48:18,136 and there was all these people in these hoods 902 00:48:18,171 --> 00:48:20,794 just like standing there aroundit. 903 00:48:20,828 --> 00:48:23,003 And she said she freaked out andran off. 904 00:48:25,972 --> 00:48:27,742 - You know, some of the people that encountered this, 905 00:48:27,766 --> 00:48:31,149 you know, Mothman, giant bird-type creature 906 00:48:31,184 --> 00:48:35,188 that said it was more on a supernatural type of basis. 907 00:48:35,222 --> 00:48:37,155 They felt that what they were seeing 908 00:48:37,190 --> 00:48:41,159 was not a tangible thing they could reach out and touch, 909 00:48:41,194 --> 00:48:43,817 but it was more of a vision of evil. 910 00:48:43,851 --> 00:48:44,852 They said, you know, 911 00:48:44,887 --> 00:48:47,717 "This wasn't an animal or anything like that, 912 00:48:47,752 --> 00:48:50,720 it was more of somethin' that just popped up 913 00:48:50,755 --> 00:48:52,343 and I couldn't explain it." 914 00:48:53,654 --> 00:48:56,071 I think there's a lot of people that tend to think 915 00:48:56,105 --> 00:48:58,901 that it was more of a vision or a spiritual thing. 916 00:48:58,936 --> 00:49:00,430 - Well I think the Mothman is some kind 917 00:49:00,454 --> 00:49:02,111 of an inter-dimensional being 918 00:49:02,146 --> 00:49:05,528 and I think it's very odd that he is described 919 00:49:05,563 --> 00:49:08,566 as being a flesh and blood creature. 920 00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:12,052 Some people describe the wings as looking like bat wings. 921 00:49:12,087 --> 00:49:15,124 Some describe him as having feathers. 922 00:49:15,159 --> 00:49:16,884 He looked flesh and blood, 923 00:49:16,919 --> 00:49:20,026 but yet his eyes looked electrical. 924 00:49:20,060 --> 00:49:23,684 I guess he could be from either another planet 925 00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:26,791 or another dimension that sort of slipped through. 926 00:49:26,825 --> 00:49:29,828 - There really is no explanation as far as I know. 927 00:49:29,863 --> 00:49:34,385 I don't know if there's aparticular unconscious archetype 928 00:49:34,419 --> 00:49:36,490 that's being accessed. 929 00:49:36,525 --> 00:49:39,666 I have a general theory of the paranormal, 930 00:49:39,700 --> 00:49:42,013 which is if it does exist, 931 00:49:42,048 --> 00:49:44,257 if there is an exterior force atwork, 932 00:49:44,291 --> 00:49:46,776 that it might be presenting itself 933 00:49:46,811 --> 00:49:50,263 as almost just as a sort of incoet energy, 934 00:49:50,297 --> 00:49:52,575 almost like snow on a TV. 935 00:49:52,610 --> 00:49:54,888 And as people experience it, 936 00:49:54,922 --> 00:49:57,995 whatever that energy is that they're interacting with, 937 00:49:58,029 --> 00:49:59,375 interacts with their mind 938 00:49:59,410 --> 00:50:03,655 and as human beings we try to unscramble the signal. 939 00:50:03,690 --> 00:50:05,416 It's like a Rorschach test. 940 00:50:05,450 --> 00:50:07,487 Here's this thing, but what do you see? 941 00:50:07,521 --> 00:50:08,936 Some people will see Mothman, 942 00:50:08,971 --> 00:50:11,974 other people will maybe see a dead relative, 943 00:50:12,009 --> 00:50:13,389 other people will see aliens. 944 00:50:13,424 --> 00:50:16,530 It's just sort of your mind flipping through things, 945 00:50:16,565 --> 00:50:18,394 trying to attach to something. 946 00:50:18,429 --> 00:50:21,535 Maybe that exterior energy is interacting with your mind 947 00:50:21,570 --> 00:50:24,504 and helping you select something that works for you 948 00:50:24,538 --> 00:50:26,551 and then you move on to phase two of the experience, 949 00:50:26,575 --> 00:50:29,716 which is whatever the content of the communication is. 950 00:50:31,097 --> 00:50:32,443 - As decades passed, 951 00:50:32,477 --> 00:50:34,928 the effects of the initial events still lingered 952 00:50:34,962 --> 00:50:36,964 with some of the original witnesses. 953 00:50:36,999 --> 00:50:40,037 Marcella Bennett and Linda Scarberry were among those 954 00:50:40,071 --> 00:50:41,900 who saw the Mothman for themselves 955 00:50:41,935 --> 00:50:45,973 during the 1966-67 wave of sightings. 956 00:50:46,008 --> 00:50:48,631 As time went on, their recollections of who 957 00:50:48,666 --> 00:50:50,702 or what the Mothman might have been 958 00:50:50,737 --> 00:50:53,188 couldn't have been further apart. 959 00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:55,949 Marcella Bennett encountered theMothman 960 00:50:55,983 --> 00:50:58,745 outside the home of a friend late one evening. 961 00:50:58,779 --> 00:51:00,712 Her encounter took a turn for the worst 962 00:51:00,747 --> 00:51:02,266 when she dropped her infant daughter 963 00:51:02,300 --> 00:51:04,371 and fell on top of her in terror 964 00:51:04,406 --> 00:51:07,719 as she claimed the Mothmanswooped toward them from above. 965 00:51:08,582 --> 00:51:09,721 Bennett, in later years, 966 00:51:09,756 --> 00:51:12,103 would recall the creature as looking every bit 967 00:51:12,138 --> 00:51:14,174 like the devil himself. 968 00:51:14,209 --> 00:51:17,004 Meanwhile, Linda Scarberry would recount the being 969 00:51:17,039 --> 00:51:20,077 in a way that painted it in a sympathetic light, 970 00:51:20,111 --> 00:51:23,459 as an entity lost in a place it did not recognize 971 00:51:23,494 --> 00:51:27,532 with no way to communicate or relay a cry for help. 972 00:51:27,567 --> 00:51:29,707 - After Linda Scarberry, 973 00:51:29,741 --> 00:51:31,881 her initial sightings in '66, 974 00:51:31,916 --> 00:51:36,231 you know for years after, she told me and others that, 975 00:51:36,265 --> 00:51:39,061 you know, weird things happened in her house. 976 00:51:39,096 --> 00:51:42,202 She always had this premonitionof somethin' watching her. 977 00:51:42,237 --> 00:51:43,272 In later years, 978 00:51:43,307 --> 00:51:46,033 she lived in the downtown area in an apartment 979 00:51:46,068 --> 00:51:48,553 above just a vacant building orwhatever. 980 00:51:48,588 --> 00:51:49,968 - She said it was winter, 981 00:51:50,003 --> 00:51:53,524 it was like really, really cold, like January. 982 00:51:53,558 --> 00:51:55,560 And she heard a thump 983 00:51:55,595 --> 00:51:57,044 and she had one of those roof lines 984 00:51:57,079 --> 00:52:00,082 like came right up to the window, two story house. 985 00:52:00,117 --> 00:52:02,326 And said she opened up the window and she looked 986 00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:04,017 and it was sittin' there. 987 00:52:04,051 --> 00:52:06,088 And it was cold and it was shivering. 988 00:52:06,123 --> 00:52:09,436 And it had taken its wings and wrapped around itself. 989 00:52:12,439 --> 00:52:13,406 - A few years after that, 990 00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:15,718 I found the newspaper clipping 991 00:52:15,753 --> 00:52:20,171 of a police officer in Charleston, West Virginia, 992 00:52:20,206 --> 00:52:23,588 who took a phone call from someone 993 00:52:23,623 --> 00:52:25,832 who was looking out their window 994 00:52:25,866 --> 00:52:28,075 to the roof facade of their house 995 00:52:28,110 --> 00:52:30,423 and they described it the exactsame way. 996 00:52:30,457 --> 00:52:33,564 And the police officer said, you know, "What is it doing 997 00:52:33,598 --> 00:52:34,392 and where's it at?" 998 00:52:34,427 --> 00:52:35,669 And the person said, 999 00:52:35,704 --> 00:52:38,879 "It's sitting on our roof, justright outside of our window 1000 00:52:38,914 --> 00:52:40,674 and I'm starin' at it." 1001 00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:46,715 - You know, is it possible thatLinda, 1002 00:52:46,749 --> 00:52:48,682 I mean she had a traumatic experience, 1003 00:52:48,717 --> 00:52:51,547 is it possible some of this wasimagined? 1004 00:52:51,582 --> 00:52:55,172 I've spoken to Linda Scarberry, very credible lady, 1005 00:52:55,206 --> 00:52:57,139 and I don't think she made up any of this. 1006 00:52:57,174 --> 00:52:58,589 Even I would have to wonder, 1007 00:52:58,623 --> 00:53:01,143 if I had that original experience 1008 00:53:01,178 --> 00:53:04,215 and then saw it again afterwards, am I really seeing it 1009 00:53:04,250 --> 00:53:06,735 or is it something, a sort of artifact 1010 00:53:06,769 --> 00:53:07,977 of what happened before? 1011 00:53:09,186 --> 00:53:11,222 - I think even up to when she passed away, 1012 00:53:11,257 --> 00:53:13,776 she was always very wary 1013 00:53:15,295 --> 00:53:16,503 of things around her. 1014 00:53:16,538 --> 00:53:19,299 You know, she seemed like she was always on the lookout. 1015 00:53:33,934 --> 00:53:37,697 - I would say I was probably 10, 11 at the time 1016 00:53:37,731 --> 00:53:39,837 and the holler that we lived in, 1017 00:53:39,871 --> 00:53:42,149 like the last street light was probably, 1018 00:53:42,184 --> 00:53:44,807 I'd say 100 feet away from where the house was 1019 00:53:44,842 --> 00:53:46,602 that I saw the Mothman. 1020 00:53:47,638 --> 00:53:50,227 I knew to be home before dark, but I wasn't. 1021 00:53:50,261 --> 00:53:53,264 So when I was pushin' my bike up to the holler, 1022 00:53:53,299 --> 00:53:54,886 the asphalt ended, the gravel started, 1023 00:53:54,921 --> 00:53:56,302 that's where that house was. 1024 00:53:56,336 --> 00:53:58,269 The house was abandoned. 1025 00:53:58,304 --> 00:54:00,585 The guy that lived there, he got killed in the coal mines. 1026 00:54:01,410 --> 00:54:02,560 And I happened to hear a noise 1027 00:54:02,584 --> 00:54:03,837 and I just happened to look over 1028 00:54:03,861 --> 00:54:06,898 and I seen somethin' standing doorway and it had red eyes. 1029 00:54:08,935 --> 00:54:09,901 It was really tall. 1030 00:54:09,936 --> 00:54:11,696 I really remember the eyes, 1031 00:54:11,731 --> 00:54:14,112 like the reddest red you'd eversee. 1032 00:54:14,147 --> 00:54:15,942 He was at least seven foot tall. 1033 00:54:18,116 --> 00:54:21,258 So I started cryin' and I felt like I stood there cryin' 1034 00:54:21,292 --> 00:54:24,468 and lookin' at it for like at least 15 minutes. 1035 00:54:24,502 --> 00:54:26,849 And here come my brother's friend, actually, 1036 00:54:26,884 --> 00:54:29,127 out of the holler and he'd seenit, too. 1037 00:54:29,162 --> 00:54:31,716 He picked up a rock, threw it atit 1038 00:54:31,751 --> 00:54:34,271 and it just kind of vanished. 1039 00:54:37,895 --> 00:54:40,138 I would say probably, maybe a year later, 1040 00:54:41,001 --> 00:54:43,349 that me and one of my buddies went in that house 1041 00:54:44,384 --> 00:54:45,465 we went in the basement part 1042 00:54:45,489 --> 00:54:47,076 and there was these weird footprints. 1043 00:54:47,111 --> 00:54:50,010 It looked like they was burnt into the concrete. 1044 00:54:50,045 --> 00:54:52,634 The best I can describe it, they was in a Y shape 1045 00:54:52,668 --> 00:54:56,879 and like, they had blackaround them, like they got hot. 1046 00:54:59,019 --> 00:55:00,676 Yeah, I've thought about it fora lot, 1047 00:55:02,299 --> 00:55:05,302 I never really did go out into the bottom by myself, 1048 00:55:05,336 --> 00:55:07,787 I was always home before dark after that. 1049 00:55:07,821 --> 00:55:09,133 I was scared of that house 1050 00:55:09,167 --> 00:55:11,515 and finally, when they tore it down, I was pretty happy. 1051 00:55:11,549 --> 00:55:13,827 If somebody talks about the Mothman, 1052 00:55:13,862 --> 00:55:15,726 I'll tell my story, you know? 1053 00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:18,625 I always tell everybody, "Hey, I've seen that thing." 1054 00:55:21,628 --> 00:55:26,150 - If the 1980s and '90s were a down time regarding Mothman, 1055 00:55:26,184 --> 00:55:29,429 then the 2000s were to be the creature's come-back tour. 1056 00:55:29,464 --> 00:55:31,914 In the year 2000, Jeff Wamsley 1057 00:55:31,949 --> 00:55:34,917 and fellow Mothman enthusiast, Donnie Sergeant, 1058 00:55:34,952 --> 00:55:38,680 started a website dedicated to tracking the Mothman legend, 1059 00:55:38,714 --> 00:55:40,923 called "Mothman Lives." 1060 00:55:40,958 --> 00:55:43,029 The website served to answer questions 1061 00:55:43,063 --> 00:55:46,101 regarding the initial wave of Mothman sightings 1062 00:55:46,135 --> 00:55:49,898 and was as much about promotingthe town and the TNT Area 1063 00:55:49,932 --> 00:55:51,451 as it was the creature. 1064 00:55:52,418 --> 00:55:54,799 However, the Mothman's popularity 1065 00:55:54,834 --> 00:55:56,767 was just beginning to grow. 1066 00:55:56,801 --> 00:55:59,770 In 2002, a feature film adaptation 1067 00:55:59,804 --> 00:56:02,013 of "The Mothman Prophecies" would see 1068 00:56:02,048 --> 00:56:05,465 a successful theatrical launch in North America. 1069 00:56:05,500 --> 00:56:08,710 While the movie would bolster the title character's stardom, 1070 00:56:08,744 --> 00:56:11,678 it would also serve to enhance ongoing reports 1071 00:56:11,713 --> 00:56:13,162 of its presence. 1072 00:56:13,197 --> 00:56:15,786 - When I read the book, "The Mothman Prophecies," 1073 00:56:15,820 --> 00:56:19,272 I immediately knew that it was addressing something 1074 00:56:19,306 --> 00:56:22,551 that had been brewing inside me for a while, which was, 1075 00:56:22,586 --> 00:56:24,450 is there a way to write a movie 1076 00:56:24,484 --> 00:56:27,038 in which someone experiences the paranormal, 1077 00:56:27,073 --> 00:56:31,698 but does not come away solving a mystery or a crime? 1078 00:56:31,733 --> 00:56:35,633 Where they are left as destabilized, to a certain degree, 1079 00:56:35,668 --> 00:56:37,566 as real people are 1080 00:56:37,601 --> 00:56:39,499 when they typically experienced the paranormal. 1081 00:56:39,534 --> 00:56:42,260 The arc of John Keel's experience 1082 00:56:42,295 --> 00:56:45,712 and his trying to make senseof the events in Point Pleasant 1083 00:56:45,747 --> 00:56:48,335 and ultimately not being able to, 1084 00:56:48,370 --> 00:56:52,443 and then having to simply take a step back, 1085 00:56:52,478 --> 00:56:55,032 accept that there are things he's not ever going to be able 1086 00:56:55,066 --> 00:56:56,758 to totally understand, 1087 00:56:56,792 --> 00:56:58,415 and then go on with the rest ofhis life, 1088 00:56:58,449 --> 00:57:00,451 which is essentially what he did. 1089 00:57:00,486 --> 00:57:03,350 - When Keel first found out about the screenplay 1090 00:57:03,385 --> 00:57:06,457 for the film that was actually made, he was actually giddy. 1091 00:57:06,492 --> 00:57:08,252 He had held off for a long time. 1092 00:57:09,771 --> 00:57:13,533 He felt that finally somebody was kind of getting the, 1093 00:57:13,568 --> 00:57:15,742 sort of the underlying ideas orthemes 1094 00:57:15,777 --> 00:57:17,054 of "The Mothman Prophecies." 1095 00:57:17,088 --> 00:57:19,919 - I mean it was not a huge hit when it came out by any means 1096 00:57:19,953 --> 00:57:22,715 and yet I do hear from people who have seen it 1097 00:57:22,749 --> 00:57:25,269 and the ones who saw it 1098 00:57:25,303 --> 00:57:26,303 and 1099 00:57:26,995 --> 00:57:27,858 "liked it," 1100 00:57:27,892 --> 00:57:29,135 They had a reaction to it. 1101 00:57:29,169 --> 00:57:32,587 The reaction, the one I hear most often is, 1102 00:57:32,621 --> 00:57:37,626 "That was so scary and I don't even know why." 1103 00:57:38,178 --> 00:57:40,802 - Following the release of "The Mothman Prophecies," 1104 00:57:40,836 --> 00:57:42,769 Point Pleasant found itself at the center 1105 00:57:42,804 --> 00:57:45,496 of a second wave of Mothman sightings. 1106 00:57:45,531 --> 00:57:46,601 As new encounters 1107 00:57:46,635 --> 00:57:49,500 with Appalachia's infamous legend came to light, 1108 00:57:49,535 --> 00:57:52,503 Jeff Wamsley set aboutdocumenting as much information 1109 00:57:52,538 --> 00:57:56,921 about the 1966 and '67 sightings as possible. 1110 00:57:56,956 --> 00:58:00,200 He interviewed witnesses and unraveled long-buried accounts 1111 00:58:00,235 --> 00:58:03,583 for publication in two books he would eventually publish, 1112 00:58:03,618 --> 00:58:06,517 "Mothman, The Facts Behind the Legend," 1113 00:58:06,552 --> 00:58:09,037 and "Behind the Red Eyes." 1114 00:58:09,071 --> 00:58:12,799 He also compiled physical artifacts relating to the Mothman 1115 00:58:12,834 --> 00:58:16,009 and in 2005, he opened his collection to the public 1116 00:58:16,044 --> 00:58:19,288 inside the walls of what would auspiciously become 1117 00:58:19,323 --> 00:58:22,533 the world's only Mothman Museum. 1118 00:58:23,500 --> 00:58:25,709 Meanwhile, the TNT Area itself 1119 00:58:25,743 --> 00:58:28,263 became a hub of activity once again, 1120 00:58:28,297 --> 00:58:29,471 whether through chance 1121 00:58:29,506 --> 00:58:31,680 or due to the new found attention brought on 1122 00:58:31,715 --> 00:58:33,061 by the release of the film. 1123 00:58:34,234 --> 00:58:36,789 In 2001, a paramedic driving 1124 00:58:36,823 --> 00:58:38,860 along the Kanawha River near Leon 1125 00:58:38,894 --> 00:58:40,827 sighted a large winged creature 1126 00:58:40,862 --> 00:58:42,657 following the path of the water. 1127 00:58:44,797 --> 00:58:48,041 Four years later, a structural engineer saw a creature 1128 00:58:48,076 --> 00:58:50,354 he described as having no arms, 1129 00:58:50,388 --> 00:58:52,805 but wings that bent and folded inward 1130 00:58:52,839 --> 00:58:55,842 with a gray skin stretched overthe bone. 1131 00:58:55,877 --> 00:58:57,326 He claimed the creature attempted 1132 00:58:57,361 --> 00:58:59,466 to communicate telepathically with him 1133 00:58:59,501 --> 00:59:03,091 before taking to the sky at a speed he estimated to be 1134 00:59:03,125 --> 00:59:05,300 over 50 miles per hour. 1135 00:59:06,715 --> 00:59:08,786 Hunter Bellamy, a Point Pleasantlocal, 1136 00:59:08,821 --> 00:59:10,995 recalled seeing red eyes in a tree 1137 00:59:11,030 --> 00:59:13,584 as he drove within the TNT Area. 1138 00:59:13,619 --> 00:59:16,276 Eventually, a shadowy being could be seen 1139 00:59:16,311 --> 00:59:18,555 as it took to the skies. 1140 00:59:18,589 --> 00:59:20,384 Two reports from hunters came in 1141 00:59:20,418 --> 00:59:24,181 during the years of 2009 and 2013. 1142 00:59:24,215 --> 00:59:27,805 They both claimed to have seen a creature in the TNT Area. 1143 00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:30,428 In one case, it was spotted directly behind 1144 00:59:30,463 --> 00:59:32,672 one of the abandoned munitions bunkers. 1145 00:59:33,570 --> 00:59:35,433 As the 2000s ticked by, 1146 00:59:35,468 --> 00:59:38,195 a new element was added to the Mothman lore, 1147 00:59:38,229 --> 00:59:41,819 one that was as rooted in the original 1960 sightings 1148 00:59:41,854 --> 00:59:44,546 as it was in the current activity. 1149 00:59:44,581 --> 00:59:46,479 A piece of the legend that had been added 1150 00:59:46,513 --> 00:59:49,344 by none other than John Keel. 1151 00:59:55,937 --> 00:59:58,491 - There's the idea that Mothman was a harbinger 1152 00:59:58,525 --> 01:00:01,011 and that it culminated 1153 01:00:01,045 --> 01:00:04,428 with the collapse of the SilverBridge in December of '67. 1154 01:00:04,462 --> 01:00:07,673 - Over the years, you know, the Mothman sightings 1155 01:00:07,707 --> 01:00:10,641 and the Mothman activity has brought up the subject of, 1156 01:00:10,676 --> 01:00:12,332 was it a harbinger of doom? 1157 01:00:12,367 --> 01:00:15,957 Was it here to warn people of the Silver Bridge collapse? 1158 01:00:15,991 --> 01:00:17,752 Honestly, a lot of the people, you know, 1159 01:00:17,786 --> 01:00:19,201 when the bridge fell, 1160 01:00:19,236 --> 01:00:21,445 nobody really talked about that a whole lot. 1161 01:00:21,479 --> 01:00:23,723 They were shocked the bridge had collapsed, 1162 01:00:23,758 --> 01:00:26,484 but then, you know, the movies were comin' out, 1163 01:00:26,519 --> 01:00:28,038 John Keel's book 1164 01:00:28,072 --> 01:00:30,385 and different little things were poppin' up sayin', 1165 01:00:30,419 --> 01:00:32,905 hey, you know, every time somethin' bad happens, 1166 01:00:32,939 --> 01:00:34,941 you know, there's a sighting of this creature. 1167 01:00:34,976 --> 01:00:37,806 - The idea that it was a harbinger of doom 1168 01:00:37,841 --> 01:00:39,912 was sort of baked into the book. 1169 01:00:39,946 --> 01:00:44,502 And then as I was adapting it for the movie, 1170 01:00:44,537 --> 01:00:47,402 that also seemed a link I wantedto make, 1171 01:00:47,436 --> 01:00:49,507 that there was, you know, I mean, obviously that 1172 01:00:49,542 --> 01:00:52,372 that sort of gives the story the propulsion that it had, 1173 01:00:52,407 --> 01:00:55,893 the feeling that all of thisstuff was leading to something. 1174 01:00:55,928 --> 01:01:00,760 - Because of circumstantial events that happened, 1175 01:01:00,795 --> 01:01:04,453 Mothman has been kind of labeledas this harbinger of doom. 1176 01:01:04,488 --> 01:01:07,284 You know, he's been allegedly sighted 1177 01:01:07,318 --> 01:01:11,322 before Chernobyl happened and I've heard 9/11, 1178 01:01:12,496 --> 01:01:14,370 you know, and of course that here in Point Pleasant 1179 01:01:14,394 --> 01:01:15,844 before the bridge collapsed. 1180 01:01:15,879 --> 01:01:17,684 - I've talked to some of the original witnesses 1181 01:01:17,708 --> 01:01:20,677 and some of them firmly believe that that's true. 1182 01:01:20,711 --> 01:01:24,784 Some people believe that it created the disaster. 1183 01:01:24,819 --> 01:01:27,097 Others say, no, it just coincided with it. 1184 01:01:27,131 --> 01:01:29,478 - The notion that the Mothman isseen 1185 01:01:29,513 --> 01:01:33,068 at the site of later disasters is something 1186 01:01:33,103 --> 01:01:34,863 that I'm pretty sure I made up. 1187 01:01:34,898 --> 01:01:38,315 But again, because it was part of the original story, 1188 01:01:38,349 --> 01:01:41,007 it felt like let's extrapolate this outward. 1189 01:01:41,042 --> 01:01:43,113 I almost get the feeling that once it was suggested 1190 01:01:43,147 --> 01:01:46,703 in the movie that people had seen the Mothman at Chernobyl, 1191 01:01:46,737 --> 01:01:50,361 I think it became sort of part of urban legend 1192 01:01:50,396 --> 01:01:51,811 because then I began to hear 1193 01:01:51,846 --> 01:01:54,745 that story being reported back to me from other sources. 1194 01:01:54,780 --> 01:01:56,126 - People will compare it to, 1195 01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:59,854 obviously the banshee wailing before someone's about to die 1196 01:01:59,888 --> 01:02:02,235 and there are several traditions like that. 1197 01:02:02,270 --> 01:02:05,480 - The banshees are part of Irishfolklore. 1198 01:02:05,514 --> 01:02:08,759 They're women that appear and scream, weep, 1199 01:02:08,794 --> 01:02:10,002 whenever someone, 1200 01:02:10,036 --> 01:02:14,040 that is part of the familyline that they're connected to, 1201 01:02:14,075 --> 01:02:15,801 is doomed to die. 1202 01:02:15,835 --> 01:02:18,389 It's kind of not the thing that you want to hear. 1203 01:02:18,424 --> 01:02:22,117 - A banshee is an Irish-Scottish death fairy. 1204 01:02:22,152 --> 01:02:24,913 And even though she does not cause a death, 1205 01:02:24,948 --> 01:02:26,777 she will announce the death 1206 01:02:26,812 --> 01:02:29,918 with her high-pitched wailing cries. 1207 01:02:29,953 --> 01:02:32,162 And we've got a banshee in the Parkersburg area 1208 01:02:32,196 --> 01:02:34,095 called the Banshee of Marrtown 1209 01:02:34,129 --> 01:02:36,269 and I consider that folklore ofcourse. 1210 01:02:36,304 --> 01:02:39,548 Something happened, it's been added onto over time, 1211 01:02:39,583 --> 01:02:41,723 but it's interesting that she does have red eyes 1212 01:02:41,758 --> 01:02:44,277 and she is a harbinger of doom, 1213 01:02:44,312 --> 01:02:46,210 they say much like the Mothman. 1214 01:02:48,661 --> 01:02:50,939 - The key to the Mothman's origins may be found 1215 01:02:50,974 --> 01:02:54,011 in the Native American or Scotch-Irish oral traditions 1216 01:02:54,046 --> 01:02:56,186 of those that first inhabited Appalachia. 1217 01:02:57,359 --> 01:02:59,810 Stories of banshees, enormous owls, 1218 01:02:59,845 --> 01:03:03,055 and even the Garuda all have ancient origins. 1219 01:03:03,089 --> 01:03:05,402 Passed from generation to generation, 1220 01:03:05,436 --> 01:03:09,371 these tales bear a startling similarity to one another. 1221 01:03:09,406 --> 01:03:11,304 Their central character arrives, 1222 01:03:11,339 --> 01:03:14,791 carried on the wind by its wings to offer a warning, 1223 01:03:14,825 --> 01:03:18,415 a warning of death, destruction and tragedy. 1224 01:03:18,449 --> 01:03:21,694 Behind the red eyes of a new figure, like the Mothman, 1225 01:03:21,728 --> 01:03:24,248 might lie an ancient secret, 1226 01:03:24,283 --> 01:03:27,113 one which can still be found today, 1227 01:03:27,148 --> 01:03:31,359 though seeking it might be the last thing we should attempt. 1228 01:03:37,503 --> 01:03:39,574 - Well, five years ago, 1229 01:03:39,608 --> 01:03:43,681 my dad was diagnosed with heart disease 1230 01:03:43,716 --> 01:03:44,866 and was goin' through heart failure. 1231 01:03:44,890 --> 01:03:48,652 Then finally, the doctors got him stable. 1232 01:03:48,686 --> 01:03:52,242 It went on and then this year, Father's Day of this year, 1233 01:03:52,276 --> 01:03:54,071 we all went to the mountains. 1234 01:03:54,106 --> 01:03:55,866 The following weekend, he callsme 1235 01:03:55,901 --> 01:04:00,319 and said, "Hey, I've fallin' and I can't get back up." 1236 01:04:00,353 --> 01:04:05,013 So I go to his house and he was unable to feel his legs. 1237 01:04:05,048 --> 01:04:07,464 He spent some time in the hospital. 1238 01:04:07,498 --> 01:04:09,131 He didn't want nothin' else to do with the hospital, 1239 01:04:09,155 --> 01:04:10,501 so we brought him home. 1240 01:04:11,571 --> 01:04:13,573 We had to have two people with him at all times. 1241 01:04:13,608 --> 01:04:17,267 I was there most days and I was actually sleeping 1242 01:04:17,301 --> 01:04:19,510 on the dining room floor on an air mattress 1243 01:04:19,545 --> 01:04:20,891 and my brother was sleeping 1244 01:04:23,652 --> 01:04:26,000 on the couch beside the hospitalbed. 1245 01:04:26,034 --> 01:04:28,692 As a laid on the mattress, I'd dozed off, 1246 01:04:28,726 --> 01:04:31,971 I immediately started feeling like I was dreaming. 1247 01:04:38,426 --> 01:04:42,292 I had a dream that my son was standin' beside my bed. 1248 01:04:42,326 --> 01:04:43,120 - Daddy. 1249 01:04:43,155 --> 01:04:44,259 - There beside the bed 1250 01:04:44,294 --> 01:04:47,124 and I remember in the dream asking him, you know, 1251 01:04:47,159 --> 01:04:49,713 why he was there, who brought him there 1252 01:04:49,747 --> 01:04:50,887 and how'd he get there. 1253 01:04:51,818 --> 01:04:54,062 And I guess I had enough consciousness to know 1254 01:04:54,097 --> 01:04:55,995 he shouldn't be there. 1255 01:04:56,030 --> 01:04:57,238 So I immediately woke up 1256 01:04:59,240 --> 01:05:01,242 and when I did there was this, 1257 01:05:02,208 --> 01:05:05,694 the figure standing beside the bed had long arms, 1258 01:05:05,729 --> 01:05:07,489 skinny, like fingers, skinny arms, 1259 01:05:08,594 --> 01:05:12,149 skinny legs with kind of bulky lookin' feet, 1260 01:05:13,116 --> 01:05:16,567 wings above his shoulders and its face, 1261 01:05:16,602 --> 01:05:21,607 I could see like dark largecircles where its eyes would be. 1262 01:05:22,504 --> 01:05:25,093 I stared at it for probably five seconds or so 1263 01:05:25,128 --> 01:05:26,128 and then it just, 1264 01:05:27,889 --> 01:05:29,522 I don't want to say walk 'cause it didn't walk, 1265 01:05:29,546 --> 01:05:33,343 it glided quickly across the top of my feet 1266 01:05:33,377 --> 01:05:34,482 and into another room. 1267 01:05:36,794 --> 01:05:38,589 I laid there for a second, 1268 01:05:38,624 --> 01:05:41,247 tryin' to figure out what I wasseein'. 1269 01:05:41,282 --> 01:05:43,111 I got up later that morning, 1270 01:05:46,252 --> 01:05:47,391 Dad was doin' pretty good. 1271 01:05:47,426 --> 01:05:49,462 Sat there with him with my brother. 1272 01:05:49,497 --> 01:05:52,741 We got up early on the 14th, 1273 01:05:52,776 --> 01:05:54,364 or about nine o'clock on the 14th, 1274 01:05:54,398 --> 01:05:56,504 hospice called and said they were comin'. 1275 01:05:56,538 --> 01:05:58,299 I said, "Okay, he's not doin' sowell. 1276 01:05:58,333 --> 01:05:59,645 I'll see you in a little bit." 1277 01:05:59,679 --> 01:06:01,716 As soon as I hung up the phone, 1278 01:06:01,750 --> 01:06:04,339 I noticed him gaspin' for air. 1279 01:06:04,374 --> 01:06:07,515 I went in, helped him lay down on his bed, 1280 01:06:07,549 --> 01:06:09,206 held his hand and he passed away. 1281 01:06:10,276 --> 01:06:13,072 So 1282 01:06:13,107 --> 01:06:14,660 That's when I, you know, 1283 01:06:14,694 --> 01:06:18,112 we called everybody and my brothers come over. 1284 01:06:18,146 --> 01:06:19,423 I would draw all this, 1285 01:06:19,458 --> 01:06:22,495 I kept drawin' this figure thatl'd seen. 1286 01:06:22,530 --> 01:06:23,886 I couldn't figure out what it was, you know, 1287 01:06:23,910 --> 01:06:25,026 or I was tryin' to figure out itwas 1288 01:06:25,050 --> 01:06:26,637 and drawin' it was kind of helping me 1289 01:06:26,672 --> 01:06:28,846 trying to figure it out, I guess. 1290 01:06:28,881 --> 01:06:31,194 We're sitting at the table, my brothers and I, 1291 01:06:31,228 --> 01:06:34,576 and I explained to 'em what I saw 1292 01:06:34,611 --> 01:06:36,406 and my middle brother looks at me 1293 01:06:36,440 --> 01:06:39,547 and goes, "Do you remember whatdad told us five years ago? 1294 01:06:39,581 --> 01:06:41,007 You know when he was going through heart failure 1295 01:06:41,031 --> 01:06:42,031 the first time?" 1296 01:06:45,518 --> 01:06:48,832 And it was a dark figure stood in a corner. 1297 01:06:52,767 --> 01:06:55,459 - The Mothman and other strange winged creatures 1298 01:06:55,494 --> 01:06:58,566 are still seen around Appalachiatoday. 1299 01:06:58,600 --> 01:07:01,189 Jeff Wamsley's Mothman Museum continues 1300 01:07:01,224 --> 01:07:03,985 to document the original rash of sightings, 1301 01:07:04,020 --> 01:07:06,953 as well as the more modern day accounts. 1302 01:07:06,988 --> 01:07:09,853 John Keel passed away in 2009, 1303 01:07:09,887 --> 01:07:11,924 but not before he finally made areturn 1304 01:07:11,958 --> 01:07:13,615 to the town of Point Pleasant, 1305 01:07:13,650 --> 01:07:15,583 where he was able to see what had become 1306 01:07:15,617 --> 01:07:18,517 of one of the more prominent pieces of his legacy. 1307 01:07:18,551 --> 01:07:20,312 - I think John Keel was very pleased 1308 01:07:20,346 --> 01:07:21,520 with what Jeff had done. 1309 01:07:21,554 --> 01:07:25,420 He had seen the original incarnation of the museum. 1310 01:07:25,455 --> 01:07:28,251 It's there because of him, because of his efforts. 1311 01:07:28,285 --> 01:07:31,944 Something he did years ago is finally coming to fruition. 1312 01:07:31,978 --> 01:07:34,153 So I think that he was very pleased. 1313 01:07:34,188 --> 01:07:36,880 He warned the people of Point Pleasant early on 1314 01:07:36,914 --> 01:07:40,125 about this idea that this is folklore in the making 1315 01:07:40,159 --> 01:07:42,920 and this little town may not be prepared for it. 1316 01:07:42,955 --> 01:07:45,923 And he gave the warning again when the film came out, 1317 01:07:45,958 --> 01:07:49,030 to just a small town of just several thousand, 1318 01:07:49,065 --> 01:07:53,172 and the film may be bringing a lot more people in droves 1319 01:07:53,207 --> 01:07:54,277 than they're used to. 1320 01:07:56,831 --> 01:07:59,937 - It is a very personal movie tome, 1321 01:07:59,972 --> 01:08:01,215 but what's odd about it 1322 01:08:01,249 --> 01:08:05,736 is that I have never experiencedanything. 1323 01:08:05,771 --> 01:08:07,945 I've never seen a UFO, I've never seen a ghost, 1324 01:08:07,980 --> 01:08:10,500 I've never had a weird phone call, I mean, none of it. 1325 01:08:10,534 --> 01:08:12,191 When I talk about the supernatural, 1326 01:08:12,226 --> 01:08:15,401 I say, "You've got the Mozarts and the Salieris. 1327 01:08:15,436 --> 01:08:17,576 You know, the guys who actually experience it 1328 01:08:17,610 --> 01:08:20,406 and the guys that wish they could, but haven't 1329 01:08:20,441 --> 01:08:22,132 and can only stare at those 1330 01:08:22,167 --> 01:08:25,031 who have seen behind the veil ofreality 1331 01:08:25,066 --> 01:08:26,757 and look upon them with envy." 1332 01:08:26,792 --> 01:08:28,873 And I used to look upon them with envy and I used to think, 1333 01:08:28,897 --> 01:08:31,486 "Wow, as soon as have a few bucks in my pocket, 1334 01:08:31,521 --> 01:08:34,696 I'm gonna give it all, you know, get out of LA, 1335 01:08:34,731 --> 01:08:37,906 go investigate the hauntedhouses and the haunted places," 1336 01:08:37,941 --> 01:08:40,944 and now I don't feel that way anymore at all. 1337 01:08:40,978 --> 01:08:44,913 I say, let the Mozart's deal with their experiences, 1338 01:08:44,948 --> 01:08:47,157 I'm happy to be a Salieri. 1339 01:08:47,192 --> 01:08:50,056 - Like Keel, Jeff Wamsley's research continues 1340 01:08:50,091 --> 01:08:53,059 to keep Point Pleasant on the international stage. 1341 01:08:53,094 --> 01:08:56,132 Thousands attend the Mothman Festival each year, 1342 01:08:56,166 --> 01:08:58,444 making it one of the two best attended events 1343 01:08:58,479 --> 01:09:00,688 in the state of West Virginia. 1344 01:09:00,722 --> 01:09:02,276 The museum, meanwhile, 1345 01:09:02,310 --> 01:09:05,348 continues to grow, attracting scores of people 1346 01:09:05,382 --> 01:09:08,213 to a town they might never have even heard of 1347 01:09:08,247 --> 01:09:10,007 were it not for the Mothman. 1348 01:09:10,905 --> 01:09:13,597 The museum acts as a sort of living story, 1349 01:09:13,632 --> 01:09:16,428 part of a tradition of storytelling come to life 1350 01:09:16,462 --> 01:09:19,776 that is rooted in the cultural heritage of the region. 1351 01:09:19,810 --> 01:09:23,228 A tradition that stretches back far beyond North America 1352 01:09:23,262 --> 01:09:25,333 and helps to highlight today, 1353 01:09:25,368 --> 01:09:29,372 this lone page among the centuries of Appalachian history. 1354 01:09:29,406 --> 01:09:31,822 - What Jeff did was he went back 1355 01:09:31,857 --> 01:09:34,239 and he interviewed some of the original witnesses. 1356 01:09:34,273 --> 01:09:36,793 And the thing is that it had been, at that point in time, 1357 01:09:36,827 --> 01:09:39,968 it had been 35, 40 years after the events 1358 01:09:40,003 --> 01:09:41,522 and he corrected some of the things 1359 01:09:41,556 --> 01:09:44,939 that were not quite right in "The Mothman Prophecies." 1360 01:09:44,973 --> 01:09:47,286 That was so, so valuable. 1361 01:09:49,599 --> 01:09:52,326 - Dad's legacy, 1362 01:09:52,360 --> 01:09:55,743 I just, I would say it's gotta be Mothman. 1363 01:09:55,777 --> 01:09:57,952 I mean, it is bigger than that though. 1364 01:09:57,986 --> 01:10:00,610 Whether locals or whatever want to admit it or not, 1365 01:10:00,644 --> 01:10:04,407 Mothman has really reversed a lot of the negative stuff 1366 01:10:04,441 --> 01:10:05,339 of Point Pleasant. 1367 01:10:05,373 --> 01:10:07,617 What I mean is lack of business, 1368 01:10:07,651 --> 01:10:09,929 lack of interest, lack of opportunity. 1369 01:10:11,276 --> 01:10:15,245 It's kind of just blossomed overtime. 1370 01:10:15,280 --> 01:10:17,143 That in itself is major. 1371 01:10:20,146 --> 01:10:24,220 - I'm a grandfather now, so I think, you know, 1372 01:10:24,254 --> 01:10:26,705 if I left a legacy, it would be, 1373 01:10:26,739 --> 01:10:30,156 be motivated, go out and chase your dreams. 1374 01:10:30,191 --> 01:10:32,124 I mean, you know, I've done that all my life 1375 01:10:32,158 --> 01:10:34,920 and some have come true and some you know have not. 1376 01:10:34,954 --> 01:10:37,992 But you know, be creative and be nice to other people. 1377 01:10:38,026 --> 01:10:39,856 That's probably the bottom line is, you know, 1378 01:10:39,890 --> 01:10:41,409 be nice to other people. 1379 01:10:41,444 --> 01:10:43,342 I learned that from my parents though. 1380 01:10:44,999 --> 01:10:47,001 Well, my daughter, Ashley, you know, 1381 01:10:47,035 --> 01:10:50,004 from a young age was brought up a lot differently probably 1382 01:10:50,038 --> 01:10:51,177 than most kids. 1383 01:10:51,212 --> 01:10:52,465 I always tell her, I'll say, youknow, 1384 01:10:52,489 --> 01:10:55,527 "I'm retirin' here in a year, you can have all this 1385 01:10:55,561 --> 01:10:57,598 and take care of all the museum 1386 01:10:57,632 --> 01:11:00,048 and the festival and all that,"you know. 1387 01:11:06,434 --> 01:11:10,956 - It's very important to hold onto these old tales, legends. 1388 01:11:10,990 --> 01:11:15,788 I think Mothman has kinda movedinto the area of folklore, 1389 01:11:15,823 --> 01:11:19,205 where people are continuing to add to the story. 1390 01:11:19,240 --> 01:11:23,279 The folktales tell us who we are. 1391 01:11:23,313 --> 01:11:26,074 It helps us remember who we are. 1392 01:11:26,109 --> 01:11:28,939 It helps us remember those Celtic roots, 1393 01:11:28,974 --> 01:11:33,979 those Native American roots, so we know who we are. 1394 01:11:34,013 --> 01:11:36,844 And really, that's an importantthing for every person 1395 01:11:36,878 --> 01:11:40,744 is to know who you are, to know what your talents are. 1396 01:11:40,779 --> 01:11:41,987 That's very important 1397 01:11:42,021 --> 01:11:45,887 and I think it's a good reason to remember these stories. 1398 01:11:54,517 --> 01:11:56,519 - Fear is a funny thing. 1399 01:11:56,553 --> 01:11:59,694 In the end, it's part of our life. 1400 01:11:59,729 --> 01:12:02,697 You can't outrun it or hide fromit. 1401 01:12:02,732 --> 01:12:07,012 All we can do is name it, embrace it and learn from it. 1402 01:12:08,185 --> 01:12:11,016 Maybe the true power of an event isn't fully realized 1403 01:12:11,050 --> 01:12:12,845 until it's retold. 1404 01:12:12,880 --> 01:12:15,917 Until we can put into words our own experiences 1405 01:12:15,952 --> 01:12:17,333 and share them with others. 1406 01:12:18,299 --> 01:12:22,579 What we share might be laughteror tears, joy or sorrow. 1407 01:12:23,615 --> 01:12:25,271 Occasionally though, 1408 01:12:25,306 --> 01:12:30,173 it's something more, something primal and ageless. 1409 01:12:33,659 --> 01:12:37,939 Sometimes what we share is nothing more than our fear, 1410 01:12:39,009 --> 01:12:42,323 but at least for a moment, we are together 1411 01:12:43,738 --> 01:12:45,084 in the dark. 1412 01:15:58,888 --> 01:16:00,888 >>>>oakislandtk<<<<< www.opensubtitles.org 113556

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