Point Pleasant, West Virginia

For those who do not know me, I will say that I am a rational person. I see no convincing evidence of the supernatural, not of any sort. I know there are things that are not understood - yet. And I do not mean to say that those who have had paranormal experiences are lying or mistaken; only that one need not invoke nonexistent things like magic and spirits to explain what they actually encountered. To these people, something happened, but no one is sure what.

Hence the mystery of Mothman. John Keel's book, The Mothman Prophecies, details high strangeness occurring in the area in the latter half of the 1960s. All kinds of paranormal episodes were reported. UFOs, poltergeist incidents, prophetic dreams, the appearance of strange "men in black", mysterious buildings that appeared one day and gone the next, and even a flying craft that tried to raid a bloodmobile are some of these things. The book's titular character, Mothman, was reportedly able to fly at incredible speeds without even using its wings, and it possibly interfered with and manipulated radio and telephone communication, and most bizarre of all, seemed to have possessed detailed knowledge of future events, supposedly predicting the collapse of the Silver Bridge. After the bridge collapse, Mothman was never seen again.

One could ask why I would believe this but discount other things. I say it is not a question of belief. I do not believe anything in particular regarding these events, except that the dozens of witnesses to various phenomena reported their experiences as they understood them. So what then, if just one of them was accurate? Then something amazing that is currently unexplained was happening. The absolute strangeness of the reported events is what keeps me fascinated in this place and its lore.

The sculpture here actually looks unlike Mothman as reported, but it certainly stimulates the imagination. I have included a depiction of Mothman as reported by some of the witnesses. Other than all this, Point Pleasant is a small river town with little else. I took just a peek into the area where I believe many of the sightings had been before I moved on.

I planned to return once I was back on the road in a car of my own. There was so much more to see, not just here, but everywhere. At this point I knew I was not finished, and I would be back at it no matter what it took. On that sunny, cool August morning, I resolved that I would complete the journey as planned after this little disruption. Though autumn was coming, and just a taste of it was on the wind, I saw nothing but new opportunities. I turned my little car west and made for Illinois, not stopping but for fuel until I finally crossed through my front door, ready to tell these wondrous stories of what I had seen and done.