The Why Files: Operation Podcast - Mothman Returns: Point Pleasant Legend to Chicago Terror

Episode Date: April 21, 2023

This legend beings as so many do. Three gravediggers, working in a cemetery hear something overhead. They look up and see a creature: almost ten feet tall with massive wings perched on a high tree branch; staring at them with glowing red eyes. Then in an instant, it's gone. Three days later, just a few miles away, two young couples burst into the local police station. Terrified, they report being chased by a tall man with wings and glowing red eyes. More and more people would report seeing a creature that stood on two legs, was at least 8 feet tall, and had wings. Some said it was half-man, half-bird; others said half-man, half-bat. But that name that stuck was "The Mothman". Though The Mothman terrorized hundreds of people for a year, it never physically harmed anyone. But 13 months later, that would change. And 46 men, women, and children would end up at the bottom of the Ohio River. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Hey, it's your buddy AJ from the Y-Files. And Hecklefish.

Right, and Hecklefish. We just wanted to tell you that if you want to start a podcast, Spotify makes it easy. It'd have to be easy for humans to understand it. Will you stop that? I'm just saying. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts from your computer. I don't have a computer. Do you have a phone? Of course

I have a phone. I'm not a savage. Well, with Spotify, you can record podcasts from your phone, too. Spotify makes it easy to distribute your podcast to every platform and you can even earn money. I do need money. What do you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive.

You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down? I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial.

I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This will go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. This legend begins as so many do. Three gravediggers working in a cemetery hear something overhead. They look up and see a creature.

It's almost 10 feet tall with massive wings. It's perched on a high tree branch, staring at them with glowing red eyes. Then, in an instant, it's gone. Three days later, just a few miles away, two young couples burst into the local police station. Terrified, they report being chased by a tall man with wings and glowing red eyes. More and more people would report seeing a creature that stood on two legs, was at least eight feet tall, and had wings. Some said it was half man, half bird. Others said it was half man, half bat.

But the name that stuck was the Mothman. Though the Mothman terrorized hundreds of people for a year, it never physically harmed anyone. But 13 months later, that would change, and 46 men, women, and children would end up at the bottom of the Ohio River. Nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, Point Pleasant, West Virginia is... Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong. West Virginia, now I'm a mama. Okay, okay, that's enough.

Take me home, country roads. I'm sorry, but if I don't finish it, that song will be stuck in my head all day. Less than three miles from one end to the other, Point Pleasant is the type of town where everybody knows everybody. It's a peaceful place, quiet, but Point Pleasant has a dark and bloody past. In 1774, a few local tribes, including the Mingo and the Shawnee, tried to stop American settlers from encroaching on their territory. On October 10th, a fierce battle was fought between the tribes, led by Chief Cornstalk, against about a thousand Virginia militia, led by Colonel Andrew Lewis. The battle raged for hours and eventually became hand-to-hand combat.

The Shawnee warriors fought bravely, but they were outnumbered two to one. Cornstalk had no choice but to surrender and sign a peace treaty with the militia. Three years later, in the fall of 1777, Cornstalk and his son traveled to Fort Randolph, which had been built at the site of the battle. Cornstalk wanted to inform the fort's commander, Captain Matthew Arbuckle, that colonists were violating the treaty, and to warn Arbuckle that the British were trying to recruit the tribes to fight against the American settlers. Arbuckle placed Cornstalk and his son under arrest. They were imprisoned along with two other Shawnees that were taken hostage a few weeks earlier. The four Shawnees were well treated, but they were not permitted to leave.

Arbuckle felt that as long as he had the hostages, the Shawnee wouldn't attack the fort. A few weeks later, a young American was killed by natives nearby, though nobody knows why or what tribe did it. When word reached the fort, a mob of militiamen shoved Captain Arbuckle aside and stormed the fort's jail. They brutally executed Cornstalk, his son, and the other two Shawnees.

But just before Cornstalk died, he cursed the settlers and the land. I came to the fort as your friend, and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side my young son. For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in its hopes. May the strength of its peoples be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.

Soon, a town emerged in the area, but few settlers knew their homes were built on top of mass graves, the skeletons of the Battle of Point Pleasant, nor did they realize their land was cursed. Over the years, Point Pleasant would indeed be hit with natural disasters, but it would be in December 1967

when Chief Cornstalk, murdered while on a mission of peace, would take his ultimate revenge. The Silver Bridge was a marvel of engineering and a source of pride for the local community. It connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio, and thousands of vehicles crossed every day. It was rush hour on December 15th, 1967, and the bridge was packed. It was Friday night, and commuters were rushing home to get a jump on the weekend. Holiday shoppers had cars filled with Christmas gifts. As the sun set and twilight descended over the bridge, traffic slowed to a halt. Suddenly, a loud crack was heard,

and then an unnatural screeching sound. Before anyone realized what happened... People in their cars watched in horror as the bridge buckled and began to shake violently. The sound of steel twisting and tearing to shake violently. The sound of steel twisting and tearing was deafening. The scene was something out of a nightmare. People screamed and ran in all directions, desperately trying to escape the chaos. But for people on the bridge, it was too late. In just a few moments, the entire bridge collapsed into the icy waters of the Ohio River. 36 cars and trucks fell into the river, dragging their passengers down with them.

The water was freezing and the current was strong. Rescue attempts were almost impossible. We heard this terrible boom and my boys looked around and saw the bridge starting to fall. In the aftermath, 44 bodies of men, women, and children were pulled from the river and another two people were never found. In the days leading up to the Silver Bridge collapse, people in the area reported a feeling of unease that they couldn't quite explain. Two photos of the bridge were taken about a week before the disaster. Whoa, what the hell is that? People passing through the area saw a bat-like creature hovering near the bridge, a creature that locals called the Mothman. The TNT area of Point Pleasant got its name because during World War II,

it was the location of the West Virginia Ordnance Works, a large weapons factory. After the war, the factory was abandoned. And not long after that, the area became a dumping ground for toxic waste and dangerous chemicals. And not long after that, the area became a center of strange activity. UFOs were often seen in the area. Some people's dogs would become agitated by something, run out to the woods to investigate, and then disappear. On November 2nd, 1966, Woodrow Derenberger is driving through the area on his way home. He sees some kind of craft landed in the middle of the road. Derenberger stops his car and a door on the craft opens. Out walks an ordinary man.

Derenberger describes him as having average height and build and dark hair, but he did wear an unusual and unnatural-looking broad grin. The strange man tells Derenberger, telepathically, that his name is Indrid Cold from a planet called Lanulus. Over the next few years, Indrid Cold would visit Woodrow Derenberger several more times. That very same night, two men had to stop their vehicle when a craft landed in the road directly in front of them. That craft opened and out walked an ordinary man with a wide grin.

The men said the stranger asked them odd questions, then got back in the craft and took off into the sky. Again, on that same night, a woman in the next town over sees a bright flash in the sky. Then a cylinder-shaped craft lands in a parking lot. It opens and two men come out. They asked her strange questions in an odd dialect. Then they got back in their ship and flew away. All these people seem to be describing Indrid Cold.

And the story of Indrid Cold is a wild one, so let me know if you want me to cover it. The area around Point Pleasant was suddenly flooded with paranormal activity. Not just UFOs, but other lights in the sky. Poltergeists and ghosts were being seen. Electrical disturbances were burning out people's televisions. Telephones were ringing at all hours, day and night. But there was nothing on the line but static. And it all started happening when, on November 1st, 1966, the night before the Grinning Man appeared,

a National Guardsman reported seeing a half-man, half-bird watching him from high in a tree. After a minute, it disappeared. Two weeks later, the Birdman was seen again. Four men were working in a cemetery digging a grave. As the sun set, they saw a flying man hovering right over the cemetery. Three days later, on November 15th, Roger and Linda Scarberry decided to go for a drive. They picked up their friends Steve and Mary Millett and cruised through the TNT area. Driving past an old power plant, they saw a tall man standing in the road. But as they got closer, they realized it wasn't a man. At least, not a normal man.

It was a humanoid creature, at least seven feet tall, pale, with wings folded on its back. One of the witnesses, Linda Scarberry, said its eyes glowed red and were hypnotic and disturbing. As they got closer, it ran toward the power plant and disappeared. In a panic, Roger floored it

and tore away down the dark country road. Country roads! Take me home! I'm trying to build tension and you're making it really hard, pal. I know, I'm sorry, but it's stuck in my head now. You have to admit that song is a bit of an earworm. It is, but we have work to do. Can we try

to get back to the drama? You're right, you're right. That's my fault. Keep going. All right. Uh, where am I? You made me lose my place. Uh, they were flying down the dark country road. Right. Okay. Uh, Roger floored it and tore away down the dark country road. What now? You were humming. Was I? Damn you, John Denver. Damn you and your catchy music and affable demeanor.

Well, they lost the creature and had a second to gather their thoughts. Roger, Linda, and their friends decided to go to the sheriff's department to warn the town. They didn't expect anyone to believe them, but they felt they had to try. Then, a few miles down the road, they couldn't believe their eyes. Perched on a billboard was the creature. It was following them. When they drove past it, the creature spread its wings and launched straight up into the air. And no matter how fast they drove or what turns they made, the creature stayed with them. They hit a straight away and gunned the engine. 70 miles an hour, the creature could keep up. 80 miles an hour,

and it was still with them. Every so often it would swoop down toward their car and let out a terrifying screech. They had to go faster. When they hit 90, they thought they lost it, but a few minutes later they heard the screech. It was flying about 50 feet behind them, but gaining. They had to go faster.

Now pushing 100 miles an hour on a dark road, they were worried about crashing or flipping the car. But as they approached the lights of the town, the creature slowed its chase and disappeared. When they arrived at the sheriff's department, they were surprised to hear that people were seeing the creature all over the area. And this was only the beginning. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map.

You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You searched for your informant,

who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. The day after the flying creature chased the scarberries and the mullets away from the power plant, Marcella Bennett was visiting her brother in the same area. Around

9pm, Marcella left her brother's house with her four-year-old daughter. When she reached for the handle of the car door, she saw what looked like legs. Then she heard her brother yelling for her to get back in the house. As her eyes slowly moved up, she saw a humanoid creature at least seven feet tall with wings. As soon as Marcella saw its red eyes, she was frozen.

Her brother kept yelling, but she couldn't move. After a couple of seconds, she snapped out of it, stumbled, dropped her daughter, and fell. Her brother ran out, grabbed them both, and bolted for the door. The creature unfurled its wings and pursued, but they were able to make it inside. They locked the door. The creature banked on the door a few times and even tried the doorknob. A few seconds later, it was gone. Word quickly got around, and the local papers picked up the story. They called this tall, human-like creature with wings and red eyes the Mothman. On November 20th, 15 people saw the Mothman on four different occasions. On November 21st, another sighting. On the 25th, another. On the 26th, seven people saw the Mothman on five

different occasions. On November 28th, Faye Laporte and her brother drove out to the TNT area. They stopped at the old power plant to see if they could find the Mothman. And did they find it? Well, it found them first. Now Faye was face-to-face with the Mothman, a few feet from the car window. Careful what you wish for, huh? Yep.

She said it had glowing red eyes, nothing like she'd ever seen. She didn't see any wings, but it was running fast enough to keep up with the car. Faye screamed at her brother to drive faster, but no matter how fast they went, they couldn't lose it. They whipped around a turn, slammed on the brakes, and the Mothman jumped on the hood of their car and stared at them. Faye and her brother stayed completely still, terrified to move. Faye and her brother looked for the Mothman, but they didn't see it.

But finally, they saw it perched on the roof of an abandoned building nearby. So Faye's brother slowly gets out of the car. What? Is he nuts? And he's picking up chunks of coke. He was picking that up and just throwing it and going, shoo, shoo, shoo. Yeah, he's nuts. Then the Mothman opened its wings

and flew off into the darkness. The following week, three more separate sightings. The week after that, the Mothman is seen four times by 18 different people. I saw, you know, this big bird looking thing go over top of my car. I could see it wasn't a man, that it looked more like a bird. Instead of arms, they were like wings. I had a huge wingspan.

It was at least 10 feet. I was paralyzed. Really? And I just thought, well, you know, I'm going to die. People described the Mothman the same way. Over seven feet tall, with glowing red eyes, a grayish-brown body, and huge wings. These descriptions matched even before the news reported on the story. Speculation went wild. Nobody had ever seen a creature like this anywhere on Earth.

That's when a new theory was proposed, that the Mothman was from somewhere else. John Keel was a prominent ufologist and paranormal researcher. He's most well known for the movie, The Mothman Prophecies, which is based on his novel of the same name. When the Mothman sightings were at their height,

Keel traveled to Point Pleasant to investigate. He spent months interviewing witnesses and local reporters. He studied police reports and legends and myths from the area. John Kiel was trying to unravel the mystery of the Mothman, but he soon became a target. He started having headaches and episodes of extreme paranoia. Cryptic messages would appear on his answering machine, sometimes without the phone ever ringing.

He was constantly followed by mysterious men in dark suits. Dude, a men in black. Exactly. In fact, John Keel is the one who coined that term. He noticed his mail was being opened and resealed. His phone was tapped. Where some people theorized

that the Mothman wasn't extraterrestrial, John Keel thought the creature could be what he called an ultra-terrestrial. This is an entity that's from Earth, but lives in a different dimension. A dimension that we can't perceive and that exists outside of time. These entities can materialize and dematerialize any place and anytime they want. They do this by adjusting their energy to match different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. Keiel said these beings go by different names and different cultures. Some call them spirits or fairies or angels.

In the Middle East, they're called djinn. You may have even seen one yourself because they're also called the Dark Watchers, the Hat Man, Shadow People. Crab Cat. What? Crab Cat. It's half crab and a half cat.

I know what it is, but what is it half cat? By simply whispering its name, it can be summoned from its evil dimension where fish are used for food. I know what it is, but what is it? Fish are food in this dimension. Okay, you've hit... The area around Point Pleasant is a hotspot for paranormal phenomena like the Mothman and UFOs. John Keel said there are a few locations like this on the planet. He called them window areas. In these window areas, human consciousness itself can summon these beings or even conjure a UFO.

Some UFOs are directly related to the human consciousness, just as ghostly apparitions are often the product of the recipient's mind. There are deeply rooted psychic and psychological factors in the UFO phenomenon, and the sudden appearance of a light in the sky triggers and releases the human energy that stimulated seemingly supernatural events. This cosmological system of control has been in effect since the dawn of humanity. So humans are the ones creating all the weird stuff? Yep. And John Keel didn't just invent that theory

out of the blue. The way to conjure a jinn is to think about one. Same with shadow people. There are many theories and philosophies that say everything in the universe, including human consciousness, is energy. A few weeks ago, we did an episode on the gateway process, which is a technique to tap into this energy.

And once you're tapped in, you can conjure anything you want simply by thinking about it. Now, this may sound like hocus pocus, but the CIA and the American military spent years researching this. Well, that explains the men in black. It could. Men in dark suits were visiting local residents, asking them to describe the things they saw. John Keel also thought the Mothman and beings like it were omens of impending doom. This is why he called his book The Mothman Prophecies. These entities would often show up before a terrible event, but he didn't know if they wanted to warn people,

were simply observers, or were actually the ones causing the event. The Silver Bridge collapse was one of the worst disasters the town ever endured. Every person in Point Pleasant was affected. Everyone had a friend on the bridge, a loved one, a coworker, a child. It wasn't until after the bridge collapsed

that people started connecting the event to the Mothman. In the days and weeks leading up to the disaster, Mothman sightings were becoming more and more frequent. And as soon as the bridge came down and dragged 46 people to icy graves, sightings of the Mothman stopped. Did the Mothman accomplish what it set out to do? Nobody really knows why the creature arrived or why it left. The fact that it was finally gone was good news for the people of Point Pleasant,

but it was bad news for the people of Binghamton, New York, because eight years later, the Mothman was back. After the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967, the people in Point Pleasant stopped seeing the Mothman. UFO encounters, reports of ghosts, the men in black, all these suddenly stopped. Whatever the Mothman was doing in West Virginia, it must have served its purpose. But that wouldn't be the last we hear of the Mothman.

Not even close. In 1975, in Binghamton, New York, a group of children reported seeing a large creature they described as a man with bat wings and glowing red eyes. Three years later, a group of miners in Freiburg, Germany came face to face with a creature with glowing red eyes. At first, they thought it was a man in a trench coat, but then it unfurled large black wings. The men stared in stunned silence until the creature let out a blood-curdling screech that sent the miners running.

About an hour later, the men felt the earth shake. Then a plume of dust shot from the mine as it collapsed. If the men had gone to their stations as usual, most of them would have been killed. The creature they called the Freiburg Shrieker actually saved their lives. Throughout 1985, workers at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl claimed to see a huge black bird-like creature flying around the plant.

It had the body of a man and red eyes. They called it the Blackbird of Chernobyl. People in the area started receiving strange phone calls with nothing on the line but static. Even more people had nightmares. And these incidents got worse and worse until the Chernobyl explosion in April 1986. There was a Mothman seen and photographed near the Twin Towers in 2001 before the 9-11 attack.

In August 2007, after a month of Mothman sightings, the I-35 bridge collapsed during rush hour. A large red-eyed creature terrorized the people of La Junta, Mexico in 2009. Shortly after, there was a swine flu outbreak. In 2011, people started seeing a giant flying humanoid creature all over the Chicago area. Like all over. For example, what the heck is this? Since 2011, there have been hundreds of Mothman sightings around the airport, including photos and some crazy video.

What the hell is that? It looks like Khaleesi is coming to Burn King's Landing. Whatever it is, the way it's flying, it's big. Skeptics say that's a bird, but it doesn't look like a bird to me. The website phantomsandmonsters.com has been tracking all the sightings in the area. They even have an interactive map, and I'll link it below if you want to check it out. They've been compiling emails, phone calls, and interviews from eyewitnesses working at the airport. I had just left work at the USPS sorting facility at O'Hare International Airport.

I was walking out to my car when I saw something standing at the far end of the parking lot where I usually park. At first, I thought it was a very tall person with a long coat. As I got closer to my car, I unlocked my car, which caused my headlights to come on. My headlights hit the person standing about 20 to 25 feet from my car, causing it to turn and look right at me. I saw that this was not some person, but some red-eyed being, and what appeared to be a coat were actually wings, which had spread out as it turned to look at me. This thing then started making some kind of chirping sound, almost a half chirp and half click, like someone was clicking their tongue but much faster. It then made some type of screeching

sound and took off running toward me. It got to within 10 feet of me and took off into the air and flew above me. I got home and told my husband, who also works at the same facility, and he was There are all kinds of stories like this, by reliable witnesses, including airport security officers who have a lot to lose by sounding crazy. My name is and I'm a security guard at O'Hare. I'm reluctantly writing to you to report something that I saw a week ago. On the night of Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019, I was heading toward one of the airport cargo hubs. I was approaching the creek and headed toward Montrose Avenue, but I saw this large person standing down in the creek bed. I stopped thinking it was maybe a trucker who decided to wander down there to relieve himself. I put on my lights and stopped my vehicle and was preparing to get out when this man

turned toward me and I saw two very bright red eyes. This thing appeared to be looking straight at me, then it turned away and walked away. As it did, it unfurled a set of wings. It took off into the air and was gone into the darkness. I was left there wondering what in the hell had just happened and what I had just seen. I'm going to be blunt here. I don't believe in hobgoblins and little green men. And I'm sure that there must be a rational explanation for this. I have worked too hard to get where I am and to have all that trash by saying that I saw a red-eyed flying man. Yet that is what I saw.

I'm torn between reporting this and keeping my mouth shut to protect my retirement. If I do report this, I want everything to be done to protect my identity. Pilots even saw it. My name is Bruce and I'm a pilot for and I've been with since 2008. The incident I'm about to tell you happened on Thursday, August 8th, 2019 at O'Hare International Airport at approximately 1800. I'd flown into O'Hare the previous day and had stayed at a hotel for the night. I was due to fly out at 2000 to the UK. I was taking the airport shuttle toward the terminal.

As I looked out the window, I saw a large human with enormous wings and glowing red eyes perched upon a rail and looking straight at me. I was startled and, I'll admit it, very frightened. It did not move or attempt to hide itself as we approached, knowing that it could be clearly seen. It just stayed put and watched as we passed. When we passed, I attempted to look back and see if we still perched there. I saw nothing and can only assume that it must have flown off when we passed. It's even been seen by air traffic control. I've worked at O'Hare for the last seven years as a member of the air traffic control team. I was working the late evening at TRACON and had just walked away for one of our mandatory breaks. I was walking toward one of the terminal buildings when I noticed some

movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned in the direction of the movement and noticed a large black shape coming to a rest on the ground near a white pole. This thing was at least 6 to 7 feet tall and jet black, and it looked like a very big bat, but was also very human-like in appearance. It sported a large set of black wings that also looked like the wings of a bat. They were open to their full length and must have been at least 12 feet. It kept its head down, looking at the ground, until an approaching vehicle startled it. That is where I saw that its head was short and squat, but had a pair of piercing red eyes. It looked in the direction of the approaching vehicle, and then began to flap its wings and took to the air.

It disappeared above the building in the span of one to two seconds and was gone out of sight. I personally know of three other controllers who have had sightings of this thing, and just as many pilots who have either reported sightings in and around the airport. And the Chicago Mothman sightings are still coming in. As recently as a few weeks ago, multiple witnesses reported a red-eyed humanoid with wings. It was pursed on top of a building staring at them. When it spread its wings, its wingspan was, according to the witnesses, wider than a car. It made a chirping sound, then flew over them and up and out of sight. Now, the Chicago Mothman has been seen for at least 12 years,

so luckily it doesn't seem to be predicting doom for the city. Oh, I take it you haven't been to Chicago recently. The Mothman is one of the most seen, most widely reported cryptids in the world. It's been seen in every country, and often by reliable witnesses. So what is the Mothman? Is it really a flying humanoid with glowing red eyes and giant wings? Well, there are a few theories. One is, it's an alien. I like it. In the Point Pleasant area, Mothman sightings coincided with UFO reports. So naturally,

people connected them. That would also explain why the men in black showed up. Some locals thought the Mothman was an angel. I like it. Trying to warn people about the bridge collapse. An interesting theory is that the Mothman is a new species, one that mutated from the toxic waste and chemicals dumped in the TNT area. I love it. To skeptics, this may sound unlikely, but scientists recently discovered that wild dogs in the Chernobyl area are mutating and evolving faster than other dogs.

You know what they say, ex-dogs are an ex-man's best friend. Well, I don't know if any dogs have been discovered with superpowers, but exposure to radiation has made their DNA different and distinct from regular dogs. In an area that's supposed to be highly toxic, these ex-dogs are flourishing. But there are a few non-supernatural explanations.

In the Point Pleasant area, specifically during the first Mothman sightings, Sandhill cranes were migrating. Sandhill cranes are big birds. They can grow to almost five feet tall, and their wingspans can easily reach six feet or more. They also have red markings on their heads, which could explain why people see what they think are red eyes. But even the biggest crane is not big enough to fit the description of the witnesses. Unless it's a mutant expert. Right, unless it's that. Another common explanation is that what people thought was the Mothman

was an unusually large barn owl. Barn owls have large eyes, and in the dark, their eyes shine red. This is from a layer of eye tissue that reflects light around the retina multiple times, allowing them to see extremely well in the dark. It's called tapetum lucidum. In fact, almost all nocturnal creatures emit an eyeshine. Headlights on dark roads in the woods would reveal all kinds of animals with eyeshine, from something as large as a bear all the way down to a spider. Now, barn owls don't get anywhere

close to large enough to fit the description, but there have been studies that show when humans are in motion, it's difficult for us to determine the size of an object. The faster we're moving, the harder it is. Zooming along at 70 miles an hour past a five-foot tall bird with a 10-foot wingspan, that bird might look huge. And in forensic psychology, there's something called the weapon focus effect. It says that when people are under stress, specifically fear, their memories are unreliable. For example, when someone is a victim of armed robbery, they tend to focus on the weapon and not other details of the scene. Well, that would explain all the sightings in Chicago.

Marseilleck found that when people view a disturbing image, they were highly confident in their memory of that image, even if their memory was wrong. We know that human memory is already unreliable. If we recall an event a certain way, our brains will eventually create the memories to fit, even if our recollection is completely wrong. So when four people start telling each other they saw a seven foot tall mothman, it won't take long for the memories to be created. When these false memories are shared by multiple people, it's called a transactive memory. And then you have mass hallucination and

mass hysteria, where people think they're seeing a threat, but they only see it because they were already afraid of it. So we have all these Mothman sightings happening around Point Pleasant, and then John Keel comes along and writes a book about it. The book becomes a runaway hit. The information in the book then adds to the group's memory. The problem with that is, John Keel's book was a fiction novel. The connection of the Mothman to the Silver Bridge? Keel made that up because it makes the story more interesting.

Same with the weird phone calls and electronic disturbances. Keel invented those too. Mothman to the Silver Bridge? Kiel made that up because it makes the story more interesting. Same with the weird phone calls and electronic disturbances. Kiel invented those too. If you go back and read eyewitness testimony, you'll see that nobody reported weird phone calls until after the book came out. John Kiel also made up the part about the Men in Black. The witnesses who say they saw Men in Black, they didn't mention it before the book's release. John Kiel's notes and letters have been thoroughly analyzed.

The information in the Mothman prophecies is vastly different than the notes he took during his investigation. Now, the legend says that over 100 people saw the Mothman in Point Pleasant, but the actual number of incidents is just six or seven. Now, that's still something, but clearly lots of people wanted to jump on the attention bandwagon. If you read the later witness reports, some of them are ripped right out of scary children's stories and other urban legends. Now, why did the Mothman sighting stop right after the collapse of the Silver Bridge? Because the people in Point Pleasant now had a real tragedy to deal with. It snapped them out of their group memory and gave them something very real to focus on.

But even with all these attempts to explain the Mothman, skeptics still come up short. The sightings in Chicago are real. Maybe not all of them, but some of them are. And back in Point Pleasant, before the newspaper reported anything about the Mothman, eyewitnesses who didn't know each other described the creature the same way.

Now if you follow this channel, you know I don't like doing stories about cryptids. This is because there's rarely compelling evidence, and there are never any good pictures. But in the process of researching the Mothman, I might have come around. If just a little. I don't know if the Mothman exists, but people are seeing something. So if you're ever driving at night through the rolling hills of West Virginia, or stumbling to the car rental after a red-eye to O'Hare, pay close attention.

Listen for an odd clicking or chirping sound coming from the shadows. Look for two glowing red eyes watching you from the dark. But don't be afraid, the Mothman has never hurt anyone. But if I were you, I'd stay away from bridges for a while. Just in case. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. My name is AJ. There's Hacklefish.

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