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Mothman

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A sketch of the Mothman

A sketch of the Mothman

Case File: Mothman
Location: Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Date: November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967
Description: Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mason County and was the final home of Confederate Brigadier General John McCausland, the next-to-last Confederate General to die, who died at his farm at Grimm's Landing on January 23, 1927 and was buried in nearby Henderson. Point Pleasant is most famous for the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, which killed 46 people.

Case[]

History: The Mothman is an reputed unknown creature that has been reported around the city of Point Pleasant, West Virginia during the late 1960s. Countless theories regarding its origins have been offered, ranging from the far-fetched to the credible.
The sightings began on November 15, 1966, two young couples – Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette – left Point Pleasant in the Scarberrys' car and drove to the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, also known as the TNT area. During World War II, the military turned the area into the West Virginia Ordnance Works, a munitions factory and storage facility. After the war ended, the area was abandoned. It later became a popular hangout spot for local youth.
Around midnight, as the Scarberrys and Mallettes drove near an old power plant, they saw the Mothman standing on the side of the road. They described it as a large, black, half-man/half-bird creature. It had a human-like torso with wings that protruded from the center of its back. It was about six feet tall with a ten-foot wingspan.
When the car's headlights hit the Mothman, its glowing red eyes were prominent. The eyes were two inches in diameter and six inches apart. Linda could not see its face because its eyes had a "hypnotic effect". It seemed to want to get away from the light. It walked "like a penguin".
When the Mothman made a horrific screech, the Scarberrys and Mallettes fled in a panic down State Route 62. Even though their car approached 100 miles per hour, it became apparent that they had not escaped. They heard its wings flapping and saw its shadow cover the rear window. Then, it hit the car's roof. It glided from one side to the other. However, it never went in front of them.
The Mothman finally backed off when the Scarberrys and Mallettes approached the city lights. They watched as it rose straight up like a helicopter. They then drove to a nearby courthouse and reported their encounter to Deputy Sheriff Millard Halstead. He knew both couples and believed their story. He and several other officers went with them to the TNT area. He saw a cloud of dust rise from an adjacent coal yard, which he thought could have been from the Mothman. He also found four-and-a-half-inch oval-shaped footprints.
The next day, November 16, the sheriff held a press conference to discuss the Scarberry and Mallettes' encounter. But the Mothman sightings were only beginning. That evening, Marcella Bennett, her four-year-old daughter Tina, her brother Raymond Wamsley, and Raymond's wife Cathy visited Ralph Thomas and his family, who lived near the TNT area. When they arrived there, they noticed strange lights in the sky.
At around 9pm, as Marcella and her family left, she saw what she thought was a man leaning against her car. While holding Tina, she reached for the car door handle and saw the "man's" legs in front of her. But as she looked from the feet up, she noticed that the "man" was over six feet tall, had glaring red eyes, and had feathers instead of skin.
Marcella could feel the Mothman's presence. As it moved towards her, she froze in fear. She then fell on top of Tina and could not get herself up. She felt she was in a "trance". A few moments later, she regained her composure and took Tina back to the Thomas home.
Once Marcella and her family were inside, they turned off the lights and closed the drapes. The Mothman came up to the house and looked through the windows. It walked back and forth on the porch and screeched repeatedly. Ralph called the police. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the Mothman vanished. Marcella was so traumatized by her encounter that she sought medical attention and spent months in intensive therapy.
Over the next few weeks, the police and residents searched the woods for the Mothman. Meanwhile, the sightings increased in frequency. On the night of November 17, the Mothman chased a teenage boy along Route 7 near Cheshire, Ohio. On the night of November 18, Point Pleasant volunteer firemen Paul Yoder and Benjamin Enochs visited the TNT area and saw the Mothman. A week later, on the night of November 24, an out-of-state family saw the Mothman near Krodel Park in Point Pleasant.
At 7:15am on November 25, shoe salesman Tom Ury was driving on State Route 62 near the TNT area when he saw what he thought was a helicopter flying over the trees. Looking closer, he realized it was a large "bird". It was the biggest and ugliest "bird" he had ever seen. It had an eleven-foot wingspan.
The Mothman kept up with Tom as he drove 70 miles per hour. It circled his car, flying lower with each loop. He feared it would try to attack or eat him. But a few minutes later, it flew to the left and went over the banks of the Ohio River. He then went to the Sheriff's Department in Point Pleasant to report his sighting. He is one of the few people to have seen the Mothman during the day.
Two days later, on November 27, Connie Carpenter was driving home from school near New Haven, West Virginia, when she saw the Mothman on the side of the road. When she slowed down, its wings came out, and it flew straight towards her. All she saw were its red eyes. It then disappeared. She was so scared that she refused to leave her room that night. When her boyfriend, Keith Aeiker, visited her, he noticed her eyes were red and swollen. Other witnesses were also affected physically, some with strange burns.
A week later, on December 4, pilot Everett Wedge was with four other pilots at a local airport when they saw the Mothman flying above them. He said it was so big that it could have carried him away. He had never seen anything like it before.
Contractor Newell Partridge lived in Salem, West Virginia, two hours from Point Pleasant. At around 10:30pm one night, his television started making a loud, metallic, whining sound, similar to the sound of a generator starting up. The noise was so severe that he had to turn it off.
Newell's German Shepherd, Bandit, barked and ran to the door. They went outside and shined a flashlight in a nearby meadow. The light hit the Mothman's red eyes, which glowed like "bicycle reflectors". Bandit ran after it and never returned. The next morning, Newell searched the area but only found paw prints that went in circles.
On another night, Kenneth Duncan and several other men were digging his brother-in-law's grave in Clendenin, West Virginia, when the Mothman flew past them. It glided through the trees and then disappeared about a minute later. Surprisingly, the other men did not see it.
The Mothman also chased a local Red Cross bloodmobile. The drivers first "sensed" it before they saw it hovering over them. When it flew towards them, they feared it would try to grab them. So, they drove away.
Over the next year, over 100 people reported Mothman sightings, most of which occurred at night. It was believed that others were afraid to report their sightings. The descriptions of the creature were eerily similar: large (about seven feet tall), part-man/part-bird, with huge bat-like wings, man-like legs, and hypnotic glowing red eyes.
The national media descended on Point Pleasant. Thousands swarmed the TNT area, hoping to spot the Mothman. According to author Jeff Wamsley, it was sheer pandemonium. The press was everywhere. Residents were on edge, as they did not know what would happen next.
As everyone searched for the Mothman, other weird occurrences began. Point Pleasant farmers found their animals dead and mutilated. Some were drained of blood; others had their hearts removed. Meanwhile, witnesses started having dreams and nightmares about the Mothman. Some had dark premonitions about something bad happening in Point Pleasant.
Residents also reported seeing UFOs. Doris Deweese saw them flying over her house "every night". Bob Elliott saw one outside his home. It was silent, about six feet wide, four feet tall, and had multicolored lights. Dottie Campbell saw a silent, cigar-shaped object with lights on the side. Others saw red and orange lights shining above the Ohio River.
Journalist John Keel went to Point Pleasant to investigate the Mothman. He was known for writing about UFOs and other "abnormal" stories. He interviewed over 100 witnesses. Many were afraid to leave their homes at night. He soon connected the Mothman sightings with the UFO reports and the animal mutilations. He also started seeing UFOs.
Reporter Mary Hyre covered the Mothman sightings from the beginning. She helped Keel with his investigation. She received many calls from people with theories, sightings, and questions. She started having nightmares where she would see people drowning and Christmas packages floating in the water. She felt there was going to be a major disaster.
As Keel continued his investigation, he started receiving anonymous phone calls that warned him not to return to Point Pleasant. One caller, "Indrid Cold", warned that something bad would happen there. Woodrow Derenberger claimed to have encountered Cold while driving home one night along Interstate 77 northeast of Point Pleasant. Cold's vehicle pulled out in front of him, causing him to slam on his brakes. He described Cold as a "human-like alien" with a permanent smile. Cold communicated with him "telepathically" on several occasions.
Point Pleasant also received visits from the Men In Black. According to Jeff Wamsley, they wanted to quiet everything down. They showed up on people's doorsteps at night and told them to "keep quiet". They terrified many of the original witnesses. They visited Dottie Campbell at her home and told her, "We don't want to hear any more about [her sighting]". As a result, she did not talk about it for a while.
The Men in Black confronted Mary Hyre several times and asked her about the Mothman. They never blinked their eyes. Because of these encounters, she feared for her life. One of the Men in Black tried to grab Connie Carpenter and pull her into his car. When Keith Aeiker came to see her later that day, she was cowering in her room, and her blouse was still ripped. A threatening note was later left on her porch. Who were these odd strangers? Some believe they hold the answer to the Mothman mystery.
Several theories emerged as to what the Mothman was. Some believed it was a government experiment gone awry and that the Men in Black were there to cover it up. Others thought it was merely a large bird. And some believed it was a mutant bird created from the chemicals left behind in the TNT area.
Whatever the explanation, the Mothman terrified all who saw it. Some even believe it is linked to the greatest tragedy in Point Pleasant's history. One year after the sightings began, at 5:05pm on December 15, 1967, the 700-foot Silver Bridge, which connected Point Pleasant with Gallipolis, Ohio, collapsed into the Ohio River during rush hour traffic. 46 people died and eight were injured.
Since the collapse, a debate has raged about whether the Mothman somehow played a role. Several victims were either Mothman witnesses or were related to them. One witness claimed to have seen the Mothman on the bridge just before the collapse. Others claimed they saw it earlier that day and were unexpectedly delayed when they tried to reach the bridge.
According to Jeff Wamsley, most witnesses do not believe the Mothman had anything to do with the collapse. However, others think it was a "harbinger of doom" – a bad omen that appears before a disaster. Some even believe that whoever was "behind" the Mothman caused the bridge collapse to take focus away from the creature. According to Keel, two of the Men in Black were seen climbing around the bridge before the collapse.
In the weeks following the collapse, the Department of Transportation conducted a detailed investigation. They discovered that the bridge was nearly forty years old, poorly maintained, and carried more traffic than it had been designed for. They concluded that an eyebar in one of the bridge's suspension chains failed, causing the collapse.
After the collapse, the Mothman sightings stopped in Point Pleasant. However, the UFO sightings continued. One weekend, Mary Hyre received phone calls from over 500 residents who reported seeing lights in the sky. Then, one night in January 1968, a strange man visited her office and asked about the UFO witnesses. She felt threatened by him. When he tried to move closer to her, she called out to her boss. The man laughed and then ran out of the office. He later visited the homes of several witnesses and made them feel "uncomfortable".
Today, the Silver Bridge has been rebuilt. Thousands still travel yearly to Point Pleasant, hoping to see the Mothman. Books have been written and a major motion picture made. Real or not, the Mothman is now more famous than ever. Author Donnie Sergent Jr. notes that the Mothman is a local and worldwide legend. He does not think it will ever go away.
Background: None
Investigations: Journalist John Keel and reporter Mary Hyre investigated the Mothman sightings and interviewed over 100 witnesses. He believed the Mothman was connected with UFOs or was an alien. One theory is that the Mothman was an escaped government experiment. Donnie Sergent believes the Men in Black were in Point Pleasant to capture and keep the creature a secret.
Another theory focuses on the region where many Mothman sightings occurred: the TNT area. It was originally a wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary. A munitions factory and storage facility were built there during World War II. Chemicals used at the factory were later dumped or left to seep into local ponds. According to Sergent, the theory is that a bird's genes combined with the chemical residue to create a mutant bird.
Some believe that Shawnee leader Cornstalk cursed the Point Pleasant area when he was murdered in 1777. He later sent the Mothman to "terrorize" the residents.
Others believe there was a more logical explanation for the Mothman sightings. Biology professor Dr. Robert Smith theorized that witnesses saw a large out-of-migration bird, specifically the sandhill crane. They are the second largest type of crane in the United States. They also have been known to follow cars.
According to author Robert Goerman, the sandhill crane stands nearly as tall as a person, has a seven-foot wingspan, and has two red patches of flesh around its eyes that could be mistaken for red eyes. However, according to him, the bird is smaller, has a smaller wingspan, and does not fly as fast as the Mothman. After viewing pictures of the bird, Tom Ury does not believe it was what he saw. An Ohio University biologist noted that there had never been a sighting of the bird in that region of the United States.
Mason County Sheriff George Johnson suggested that witnesses saw a great blue heron. However, he could not explain how it flew at 100 miles per hour. Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell believes witnesses saw a barred owl. They are large and have a loud, deep, echoing hoot. He notes the Mothman's shape is "owl-like", with a head and body that blend.
Nickell believes eyeshine caused the "glowing red eyes". Eyeshine occurs when a bird's eyes are caught in a light beam at night and shine bright red. The barred owl has a strong eyeshine due to the amount of blood vessels around its eyes. TNT area officials told Nickell that a population of barred owls live there. He believes the witnesses miscalculated the Mothman's height because it was dark and the creature was an unknown distance away.
In late 1966, a local man shot and killed a large white owl near his home a few miles south of Point Pleasant. It had a large wingspan and "weird-looking claws". Some believed that this owl was what the witnesses had seen. However, when Mary Hyre questioned the Scarberrys and Mallettes, they said the dead owl did not match what they saw.
Some believe the Mothman was a hoax. According to Nickell, several hoaxes were committed after the initial Mothman reports. One night, construction workers released helium balloons with red flashlights tied to them. A private plane reportedly flew back and forth across the Ohio River for several nights to scare locals. Others believe the sightings were exaggerated or a mass hallucination.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the July 29, 2002 episode. It was updated in an episode first released on July 31, 2024 as a part of the fourth volume of the Netflix reboot.
  • Several books, movies, documentaries, and shows have been made about this case. The first, The Silver Bridge by Gray Barker, was released in 1970 and brought the story to a wider audience. The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel was released in 1975 and adapted into the 2002 movie of the same name. Donnie Sergent and Jeff Wamsley wrote the book Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend. Wamsley also wrote the book Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes.
  • Since 2002, Point Pleasant has held an annual Mothman festival. About 10,000 people attend each year. In 2003, a twelve-foot metallic statue of the Mothman was unveiled in Point Pleasant. In 2006, Wamsley opened the Mothman Museum.
  • The TNT area was once considered one of the most polluted sites in the United States. Since the 1980s, portions of it have been cleaned up or decontaminated.
  • Some sources state: that the Mothman's name came from a character in the Batman comics; the Scarberrys and Mallettes saw it three times that night; they first saw its eyes in some bushes; they saw it entangled in a fence; they saw it at a traffic circle; they last saw it at the gate of a local farm; they returned to the TNT area, and it was still there; Marcella Bennett was visiting her brother when she saw the Mothman; she and her family were playing a prank on the Thomas family that night; she and her family went there after seeing lights in the sky; she encountered the Mothman when she first arrived at the Thomas home; the men with Kenneth Duncan also saw it; Newell Partridge saw it in his barn; and the sandhill crane was indigenous to the area.
  • In the original segment, Point Pleasant was incorrectly said to be in Virginia.

Results: Unsolved - Several new sightings of the Mothman have been reported since the broadcast. Some have taken place near Point Pleasant. However, most of the sightings have occurred in and around Chicago, Illinois. Since 2011, paranormal investigator Lon Strickler has tracked the Chicago sightings on his website, "Phantoms and Monsters". Based on the number of sightings reported, he believes Chicago is a "paranormal hotspot". He considers the sightings unique because they normally do not occur in urban areas.
According to paranormal investigator Tobias Wayland, the witnesses consistently describe the Mothman as a large, winged, human-like creature, around eight feet tall with a thirteen-foot wingspan. It is black and shiny with leather-like skin, fur, or feathers. It has bat-like wings and human-like legs. Its eyes are usually red. Some say it looks like a large owl or a gargoyle. Others say it has a jutting tailbone, a slender head, a short neck, and human-like arms.
The Mothman is usually seen at night, but it has also been seen during the day. Some say it has an ear-piercing screech and a "sinister" presence. The sightings are usually brief. Although most have seen it flying in the air, some have seen it drop onto car roofs, peer through windows, and swoop down at people.
Initially, Strickler referred to the creature as the "Chicago Phantom". However, the local press called it the "Chicago Mothman" due to its similarities with the Mothman of Point Pleasant. Strickler created a Google Map to track the documented sightings. Since 2011, there have been 161 viable sightings within 250 miles of Chicago. There appears to be a cluster of them around Chicago and Lake Michigan. Based on the number of sightings in varied locations, Wayland believes there may be more than one Mothman-type creature.
To determine a sighting's credibility, Wayland and Strickler try to verify the details of the witness's account. They view historical weather and geographic data, looking for inconsistencies in the witness's story. Strickler has investigated many different paranormal phenomena, and he usually gets a feeling when someone is lying. However, he feels that most of the Chicago Mothman witnesses have been truthful.
One sighting occurred in August 2016 in Rockford, Illinois. At around 10:30pm, Jonathan Lane was outside his house when he heard an ear-piercing, screeching sound coming from two trees in his front yard. It was so loud that he could not hear anything else. He looked at the trees and saw the Mothman's giant red eyes. Once he made eye contact with the creature, it made the sound again. He immediately ran inside.
Jonathan, an avid birdwatcher, was certain the creature was not some kind of bird. He cannot think of any bird in North America that resembles what he saw and heard. Initially, he tried to "shrug off" his sighting. However, it stuck with him. He later did some research and learned about the other sightings.
Starting in the spring of 2017, the Chicago Mothman sightings increased in frequency. On April 7, a woman was walking her dog in Oz Park when she encountered the creature standing before her. She was terrified and felt like it was staring into her soul and reading her mind. It looked at her, spread its wings, and flew off.
At around 5am on April 20, Paula Solimini took her garbage to her curb in Wauconda, Illinois, fifty miles northwest of Chicago. Suddenly, the Mothman appeared across the street, making guttural noises. She believed it was trying to get her to come to it. She was so afraid that she ran to her house. She did not turn around, but she felt it was following her. Once inside, she closed the door and looked out the window. It had vanished. She later did some research and learned about the other sightings.
At around 7:30pm on April 30, a man fishing with his son along the Little Calumet River in Hegewisch Park saw the Mothman. At around 8pm on May 5, a man walking with his six-year-old son in Calumet Park saw it. On May 19, two "giant bats" were seen "dancing and doing figure eights" near Adler Planetarium. On June 23, another group near the planetarium saw the Mothman.
At around 11:15pm on June 29, two Chicago police officers were on patrol in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood when a group flagged them down. The Mothman was on top of a nearby apartment building. When they shined flashlights on it, it jumped off and flew away. Witnesses said they had seen the creature flying around the previous two nights.
At around 10:30pm on June 30, security guard John Amitrano was outside The Owl in Logan Square when he saw the Mothman flying in the sky. It flew in a strange swooping motion, undulating up and down. It then flew away. At around 5pm on July 24, a witness standing outside a tavern saw the Mothman perched near the top of Willis Tower. It leaped off the building and flew north.
On August 2, a woman and her son saw the Mothman as it made a "sucking and slobbering sound" in Bolingbrook's Indian Boundary Park. At around 9:20pm on August 9, a couple was walking along North Lake Shore Drive when they saw the Mothman fly towards them. It hovered five feet above the sidewalk and looked at them with large, bright red eyes. After hovering for about ten seconds, it pulled its wings inward and shot up into the sky.
On August 21, a group was on Northerly Island to watch the solar eclipse when they heard a scream that sounded like "squeaky truck brakes". One of the group members saw the Mothman flying low over the docks in nearby Burnham Harbor.
Several Mothman sightings were reported in Little Village, a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago. Their descriptions of the creature were similar: large, black, winged, with glowing red eyes. Many were afraid of it. Several said it was a Lechuza – an evil witch from Mexican folklore that can turn into an owl or an eagle.
At 9:15pm on September 26, a Little Village resident and her son heard their neighbor's dog barking. They looked outside and saw the Mothman in front of their garage. Its wings were spread out. She fainted at the sight of it. She and her son thought it was the devil. According to Strickler, that was a common reaction from Little Village witnesses.
On October 26, "Jeff" was in the Fulton Market District neighborhood when he saw the Mothman. He first thought it was a bird. However, as he looked closer, he realized it was not a bird. It was huge and flapped its wings oddly. He was "freaked out" by it.
On February 22, 2019, "TM" saw the Mothman walking across a road in Woodstock, Illinois. He first thought it was Bigfoot until he noticed it had a large set of wings attached to its back. Then, in October 2019, Strickler received nine reported Mothman sightings at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. He also received about 60 sightings from the surrounding neighborhoods. Witnesses at the airport included cargo workers, TSA security, and airline pilots.
The first airport sighting involved two pilots who were taxiing to the terminal. The Mothman flew in front of their cockpit. An air traffic controller saw the Mothman and its piercing red eyes near the tarmac. It moved closer to him, but not in an "aggressive" manner. It then flew away. A cargo employee saw the Mothman standing in a field near the cargo area. It stretched out and flapped its wings. Many airport employees were reluctant to come forward or use their names because they feared losing their jobs.
After the news spread about the airport sightings, other witnesses came forward. At around 10pm one night in October 2019, Anna drove to a friend's house. She parked in a "creepy" area a couple of blocks away. While walking down the sidewalk, she saw a "man" standing under a bridge in the middle of a road.
As she looked closer, Anna realized the "man" was about seven feet tall and had wings. It was standing there and staring at her. She felt uncomfortable. She did not think it would hurt her, but she knew it was not normal. She quickly walked away. She did not tell her friend about it because she thought she was going crazy. About a week later, her life went "downhill". She moved out of Chicago and went back to her hometown.
In May 2020, Stacey Ahern and her mother, Sandra Styden, drove her nieces and nephews to an abandoned area in Waukegan, Illinois. While on a dirt road, Sandra looked out the front window and saw the Mothman floating above some power lines. At first, she thought it was a black, human-shaped balloon.
Sandra told everyone to look up in the sky. Stacey looked up and saw the Mothman's silhouette. She thought it looked like Iron Man. She could see its face, pectoral muscles, and defined arms. It had a shine to it. According to Sandra, it stayed straight and did not move. As soon as it hit a patch of white clouds, it disappeared "like a mist". Stacey thinks it vanished because it realized they had seen it.
After the sighting, the Mothman was "burned" into Stacey's mind, so she sketched it. Sandra wanted to get the image out of her mind, so she had a coworker sketch it. The two sketches were almost identical. To them, the Mothman seemed to fly without wings. According to Strickler, several witnesses reported seeing the Mothman glide without using its wings. He considers Stacey and Sandra credible.
At around 1am on June 20, 2022, Barbera Clippert and her daughter, Shana, sat in their car in the parking lot behind their apartment in Rockford, Illinois. Barbera was in the driver's seat while Shana was in the passenger's. While talking, they heard a loud screeching noise. It did not sound like a bird, fox, coyote, or any other animal known to them.
When Shana looked to her right, she saw the Mothman crawling on all fours out of a canal and up an embankment. It startled Barbera. Despite Shana's protests, Barbera exited the car to get a better look. Shana followed Barbera and went towards the canal. As Barbera looked over, she saw the creature taking flight. They heard its wings flapping. It then disappeared.
Wayland considers Barbera and Shana credible witnesses. He did not find any discrepancies between their accounts. Strickler notes that any sightings with multiple witnesses are usually taken more seriously.
According to Strickler, Mothman witnesses often have lingering feelings of fear and dread. Jonathan Lane thinks about his sighting every time he goes out at night. He is still scared and anxious about it. Paula Solimini is still afraid to go outside at night. Some witnesses have called Strickler crying and asking, "What's going to happen to me? Is my family in danger?"
One witness, Roxanne, was so scared that she did not come forward with her sighting for twenty years. She still has nightmares about it. However, she decided to come forward because she did not want to live in fear anymore. Her sighting occurred around Labor Day 2001 in Berwyn, a suburb of Chicago.
That night, Roxanne and her family had a backyard barbecue. At around 10pm, she sent her children inside. While cleaning up, she heard a "whoosh" sound. She looked up in the sky and saw four large Mothman-like creatures with bright red eyes. They were not flying like birds would. They looked like they were standing. When she locked eyes with the third creature, she became scared. She felt they were "not good".
Roxanne dropped the plates she was holding and ran inside. She went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. She went into shock. She started shaking so badly that her teeth were chattering. She could not believe what she had seen. Her sighting was unique because she saw multiple Mothman-like creatures. Wayland considers her sighting credible because her observations were specific, and she seemed genuinely frightened.
Strickler believes there could be thousands of Mothman witnesses, but many are unwilling to come forward. According to Wayland, when many witnesses told people about their sightings, they were laughed at or not taken seriously. Wayland notes that the experience can be traumatic and may prevent them from sharing their story later.
When Jonathan Lane told his father about his sighting, his father criticized and made fun of him. Jonathan thinks it is normal for someone to invalidate something they do not understand. Because of his father's reaction, he was uncomfortable sharing his story. Paula Solimini told several loved ones about her sighting, but they either did not seem interested or did not believe her. Eventually, she stopped telling people about it.
Roxanne was afraid to tell anyone about her sighting because she did not want herself or her children to be made fun of. Sandra Styden did not tell her coworkers about her sighting because she did not want to be labeled "crazy". Strickler understands why they want to avoid ridicule. But he thinks they should talk about their sightings so they can understand what happened.
There are many theories regarding the Mothman. One is that it is a harbinger of doom. According to Strickler, several "bad incidents" have been associated with it. It has been seen in certain areas before a disaster struck. The most famous example is the sightings in Point Pleasant before the Silver Bridge collapse.
Mothman-type creatures were also seen in Mexico City before a 1985 earthquake; near Chernobyl before the 1986 disaster; in Moscow before the 1999 apartment bombings; in western Pennsylvania before the 9/11 attacks; in Minneapolis before the 2007 1-35 bridge collapse; and in Fukushima before the 2011 earthquake. However, Strickler does not believe that the Chicago Mothman is a harbinger of doom.
Strickler wonders where the Mothman came from and what it is doing in Chicago. Some think it is an alien. Others believe it is from a parallel universe. And some think it is an "interdimensional creature" that pops in and out of our dimension.
Strickler believes the Mothman may be an interdimensional creature because many witnesses have seen it suddenly disappear. No one has taken a decent photograph of it. According to Strickler, several sightings have occurred in and around Resthaven Cemetery near O'Hare International Airport. He wonders if the cemetery is an "access point" for the creature.
Strickler notes that Chicago has a well-known paranormal history. Some believe it is due to its proximity to Lake Michigan. Over the years, several paranormal occurrences have happened in and around the area. One example is the 1994 Lake Michigan UFO sightings. Serpent creatures like the Loch Ness Monster have been seen in the lake. Some believe that the Mothman is drawn to Lake Michigan because of the paranormal activity.
While Wayland and Strickler believe the Chicago Mothman is something paranormal, others think there are rational explanations for the sightings. One day in May 2018, a man was bicycling to work. He attached a GoPro camera to his helmet to record his rides. That day, he saw a large winged creature. However, when Wayland enlarged the video's frames, he determined it was the silhouette of a bird, possibly a great blue heron.
Since 2010, the number of herons roosting in urban areas such as Chicago has exploded. This is largely due to the destruction of their natural habitat and climate change. Wayland notes that, under the right circumstances, a heron could be mistaken for the Mothman.
Others have suggested that the Chicago Mothman is a large owl, a man in a winged suit, or a drone decorated to look like the Mothman. However, Strickler claims that these theories do not match the witness descriptions of the creature.
Psychologist Dr. David Gallo believes the previous Mothman sightings have unintentionally influenced the Chicago Mothman witnesses, causing them to add details that match the original sightings. Dr. Gallo notes that many of the witnesses have visited Strickler's website. Dr. Gallo theorizes that they are more inclined to believe in the paranormal and therefore more likely to "witness" something paranormal like the Mothman. Strickler and Wayland disagree. They have scrutinized the witnesses and believe they are credible.
Strickler and Wayland feel they need to investigate the Mothman sightings and inform the public about them. They also want to help people understand their sightings and experiences. When Roxanne talked with Wayland, she felt good because he listened and did not make her feel bad about it. She wants others to come forward with their experiences.
When Stacey Ahern heard about other people's Mothman experiences, she felt she belonged. Sandra Styden wants others to listen and believe their sightings. Jonathan Lane feels validated knowing that others have seen the Mothman. Strickler, Wayland, and the witnesses want to know what the Mothman is and what it wants. As of yet, no one has figured it out.
Sadly, several witnesses, including Marcella Bennett, Linda Scarberry, and author John Keel, have since passed away.
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