The Mothman of Point Pleasant
📅 November 1966 – December 1967 · 📍 Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA
Two young couples reported a huge grey winged figure with glowing red eyes near an old munitions site. Dozens more sightings followed, ending with a tragic bridge collapse.
What happened
On the night of 15 November 1966, two young couples driving near a former World War II explosives plant outside Point Pleasant, West Virginia, reported a man-sized grey creature with huge wings and glowing red eyes. They said it chased their car at high speed.
The press nicknamed it “Mothman”, a play on the hugely popular Batman TV series, and over the next year dozens of people reported seeing it. Reports of strange lights and visitors in black added to the mystery.
On 15 December 1967 the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed during rush hour, killing 46 people. Legend links Mothman to the disaster. Author John Keel’s 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, and the 2002 film, made the story famous. The town now has a Mothman statue, museum and annual festival.
Timeline
- 15 November 1966The first widely reported sighting near the “TNT area”.
- 1966–1967Dozens of further sightings in the area.
- 15 December 1967The Silver Bridge collapses, killing 46 people.
- 1975John Keel publishes The Mothman Prophecies.
🔍 The evidence
- Contemporary newspaper reports and police statements from the first witnesses.
🤨 The skeptic’s view
- A wildlife biologist suggested a sandhill crane, a tall grey bird with red patches around its eyes, wandering outside its usual range.
- Others suggest a large owl caught in headlights.
Related reports on the map
News stories that mention this case and reports from the area around Point Pleasant.
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