ON AIRTerminal of Terror

🦋 The Mothman

A winged, red-eyed figure that haunted Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966 and 1967

Also known as Mothman

📺 "Tonight's guest has red eyes, grey wings and terrible timing. If you see him outside your window, check the bridges before you check the locks."

💀 Facts

  • The first sighting was reported on 15 November 1966 near the TNT area outside Point Pleasant
  • A newspaper copy editor named the creature after the Batman TV series
  • Witnesses said it followed their car at 100 miles an hour
  • The Silver Bridge collapsed on 15 December 1967, killing 46 people
  • The bridge fell because a single corroded eyebar cracked
  • Sceptics suggest the creature was a sandhill crane far from its usual range
  • Point Pleasant unveiled a stainless-steel Mothman statue in 2003

📜 Legend

On the night of 15 November 1966, two young couples, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, drove out to the 'TNT area', an abandoned Second World War munitions works north of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. They told police they had seen a grey, man-sized creature with ten-foot wings and glowing red eyes, and that it had followed their car at speeds they put at 100 miles an hour. The Point Pleasant Register ran the story the next day, and a copy editor, with the Batman TV series in mind, christened it Mothman. Dozens of sightings followed over the next thirteen months, along with reports of strange lights and men in black. Then on 15 December 1967 the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed in rush-hour traffic, killing 46 people. The sightings stopped, and journalist John Keel's 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies tied the two together as omen and disaster. Engineers found the bridge fell because a single corroded eyebar cracked. Wildlife biologists suggested the creature was a sandhill crane, a bird with a seven-foot wingspan and red skin around its eyes, well off its usual route. Point Pleasant has embraced its monster all the same.

🎭 Myth vs Movie

True or false? Make your guess, then click a card (or press r) for the verdict.

  • The first Mothman sighting was near an old munitions works.

    ✔ TRUE

    The TNT area, a disused Second World War explosives plant north of Point Pleasant, is where the two couples reported the creature on 15 November 1966.

  • The witnesses chose the name Mothman.

    ✘ FALSE

    A newspaper copy editor coined it, riffing on the Batman TV series that was a hit at the time.

  • The Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967.

    ✔ TRUE

    It fell into the Ohio River on 15 December 1967, killing 46 people. The cause was a crack in a single corroded eyebar.

  • Mothman was proven to be a sandhill crane.

    ✘ FALSE

    Nothing has been proven. The crane is the explanation sceptics like best, but no bird was ever caught.

  • Point Pleasant holds a Mothman Festival every year.

    ✔ TRUE

    The festival has run every September since 2002, with a statue and a museum to go with it.

🃏 Stat Card

Strength
6
Speed
9
Cunning
7
Dread
8

⚡ Powers

  • Ten-foot wings
  • Keeping pace with a car at 100 miles an hour
  • Glowing red eyes
  • Arriving before disaster

🧄 Weaknesses

  • Bright headlights
  • Ornithologists
  • Being mistaken for a crane
  • A town that would rather sell T-shirts than be afraid

Stats power the Monster Mash: terminal-of-terror mash mothman

🎞️ Legacy

  • John Keel's book The Mothman Prophecies (1975)
  • The Mothman Prophecies (2002), with Richard Gere
  • The Mothman Festival, held in Point Pleasant every September since 2002
  • Bob Roach's stainless-steel Mothman statue, unveiled in 2003
  • The Mothman Museum, opened in 2005

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