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- Fear is a funny thing.
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00:00:55,006 --> 00:00:58,112
Where it begins and where it
ends is never a certainty.
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00:01:02,048 --> 00:01:04,775
Fear can form seemingly out of
nowhere
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00:01:04,808 --> 00:01:07,052
and then disappear just as
quickly
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00:01:07,087 --> 00:01:08,917
and we might never really know
why.
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00:01:19,203 --> 00:01:22,965
Some fears develop over
days, weeks, or years,
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00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,209
sown from the time we're young,
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00:01:25,243 --> 00:01:27,314
eventually bursting forth from
the seeds
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00:01:27,349 --> 00:01:30,007
that were planted when we were
children.
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00:01:36,081 --> 00:01:38,152
But where did the seeds come
from?
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00:01:38,188 --> 00:01:39,360
Who first planted them?
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00:01:48,198 --> 00:01:50,579
Were they simply groomed over
centuries,
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00:01:50,614 --> 00:01:52,856
or are they unique to each
generation?
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00:01:56,930 --> 00:01:59,311
A story is a powerful thing,
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00:01:59,347 --> 00:02:01,763
it can move us in unexpected
ways.
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00:02:02,659 --> 00:02:05,421
It can inspire hope or
create a sense of longing.
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00:02:10,736 --> 00:02:13,843
A story can manifest
sadness or depression,
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00:02:13,877 --> 00:02:15,914
laughter or tears.
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00:02:15,949 --> 00:02:19,056
And yes, a story can instill
fear.
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00:02:29,894 --> 00:02:32,586
The question we might
begin to ask ourselves
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00:02:32,621 --> 00:02:35,140
is not who put the fear there orwhy,
22
00:02:39,007 --> 00:02:40,146
but what if the stories
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00:02:40,180 --> 00:02:43,114
that instilled it to begin withare true,
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00:02:46,670 --> 00:02:49,500
not simply fables, but somethingmore,
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00:02:54,159 --> 00:02:58,646
something primal and ageless.
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00:02:59,820 --> 00:03:03,133
A something whose very survivaldepends
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00:03:03,169 --> 00:03:05,585
on our telling of tales.
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00:06:52,086 --> 00:06:53,409
- Well, when the Silver Bridge
collapsed
29
00:06:53,433 --> 00:06:57,471
in December of 1967,
everybody'sattention immediately went
30
00:06:57,507 --> 00:07:01,613
to the recovery effort, the
rescue effort.
31
00:07:01,649 --> 00:07:04,478
People weren't really
interested in lookin' for UFOs
32
00:07:04,514 --> 00:07:06,930
or Mothman, even though they
did.
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00:07:13,454 --> 00:07:16,629
But it was such a horrible
tragedy
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00:07:16,663 --> 00:07:20,391
that the local population was
grieving
35
00:07:20,425 --> 00:07:22,151
and mourning the loss of, you
know,
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00:07:22,185 --> 00:07:24,360
family members and friends
and things like that.
37
00:07:24,394 --> 00:07:28,745
So the attention went from
the weird stuff in the sky
38
00:07:28,778 --> 00:07:32,403
or the Mothman sightings to
recovering bodies and cars
39
00:07:32,437 --> 00:07:33,612
from the Ohio River.
40
00:07:34,577 --> 00:07:38,029
- You know Main Street used
to be very hustle and bustle.
41
00:07:38,064 --> 00:07:41,447
And after the bridge fell in the'60s,
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00:07:41,481 --> 00:07:44,242
that kind of broke off that
connection
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00:07:44,276 --> 00:07:47,798
and so a lot of businesses
started to close
44
00:07:47,832 --> 00:07:50,800
and it became kind of a ghost
town
45
00:07:53,803 --> 00:07:56,634
until basically the museum
and the festival took off.
46
00:07:56,668 --> 00:07:59,292
And then, you know, during
the Mothman Festival
47
00:08:00,223 --> 00:08:03,124
you can't hardly move
there's so many people.
48
00:08:03,158 --> 00:08:05,988
You'd bring in like eight
to 10,000 people to a town
49
00:08:06,023 --> 00:08:08,024
with a population of less than
5,000.
50
00:08:10,338 --> 00:08:14,237
- Between the years of 1966 and1967,
51
00:08:14,273 --> 00:08:17,862
sightings of a red-eyed
monster, dubbed the Mothman,
52
00:08:17,896 --> 00:08:20,555
helped put the town of Point
Pleasant, West Virginia
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00:08:20,589 --> 00:08:21,970
on the map.
54
00:08:22,004 --> 00:08:24,454
However, it was the collapse ofa bridge
55
00:08:24,490 --> 00:08:28,389
spanning the Ohio River
in December of 1967
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00:08:28,425 --> 00:08:31,738
that brought the town to a
tragic sort of prominence.
57
00:08:31,773 --> 00:08:33,085
Since that time,
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00:08:33,119 --> 00:08:35,950
this sleepy hamlet on the
banks of the mighty Ohio
59
00:08:35,984 --> 00:08:39,573
and the Kanawha Rivers
has adopted a strange fame
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00:08:39,609 --> 00:08:43,059
bolstered by their mostrenowned
resident, the Mothman.
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00:08:44,441 --> 00:08:46,374
Now over 50 years
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00:08:46,408 --> 00:08:49,619
since the Silver Bridge
tumbled into the icy waters
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00:08:49,653 --> 00:08:52,068
and took with it 47 lives,
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00:08:52,104 --> 00:08:54,933
Point Pleasant has begun to
rebuild.
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00:08:56,279 --> 00:08:58,835
- Life here in Point
Pleasant is laid back.
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00:08:58,869 --> 00:09:03,149
I mean, you know, it's not
yourhustle bustle of a big city
67
00:09:03,183 --> 00:09:06,669
and I think that's why a lot
of people choose to stay here.
68
00:09:06,705 --> 00:09:08,602
- My dad is is Jeff Wamsley,
69
00:09:08,638 --> 00:09:11,364
the owner of the Mothman Museum.
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00:09:11,399 --> 00:09:13,918
So basically from my young
adulthood up,
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00:09:13,952 --> 00:09:18,682
Mothman pretty much
surrounds a lot of my life.
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00:09:18,716 --> 00:09:21,374
- You know, it's just a
little Main Street town
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00:09:21,408 --> 00:09:25,481
that just happens to have
a monster in it's history
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00:09:25,515 --> 00:09:28,899
and it's a nice calling card.
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00:09:28,933 --> 00:09:31,798
- Mothman became something
they fell in love with
76
00:09:31,832 --> 00:09:34,456
and then it was the town they
really fell in love with.
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00:09:34,490 --> 00:09:37,597
And I ultimately believeMothman
is what gets them here,
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00:09:37,631 --> 00:09:40,669
but it's Point Pleasant that
brings them back every time.
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00:09:50,610 --> 00:09:53,234
- West Virginia is a jewel in
the rough, I always thought,
80
00:09:53,268 --> 00:09:56,236
because you know the
landscape and the beauty.
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00:09:57,375 --> 00:09:59,620
You've got all kinds of
different areas
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00:09:59,653 --> 00:10:04,625
like the mountains, the
streams, the river towns,
83
00:10:04,831 --> 00:10:08,663
the ski lodges, all
kinds of different things
84
00:10:08,697 --> 00:10:10,123
and I think they've done a
pretty good job
85
00:10:10,147 --> 00:10:12,597
as far as capitalizing
on the tourism aspect.
86
00:10:12,633 --> 00:10:17,602
- West Virginia is rolling
hills and beautiful creeks
87
00:10:18,604 --> 00:10:23,573
and green pastures and
football Friday night.
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00:10:24,713 --> 00:10:27,855
Isolated, at times boring.
89
00:10:27,889 --> 00:10:29,131
It's very beautiful.
90
00:10:30,270 --> 00:10:31,721
Not much happens,
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00:10:31,754 --> 00:10:35,447
which allows being tuned
into certain things
92
00:10:35,482 --> 00:10:37,519
and also noticing things maybe
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00:10:37,553 --> 00:10:40,245
that people in other areas may
not notice.
94
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,422
It's a quiet, placid kind of
upbringing.
95
00:10:43,456 --> 00:10:46,735
Very beautiful, beautifulmountains
and trees and streams.
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00:10:46,769 --> 00:10:49,186
So that part is of course,
excellent.
97
00:10:53,743 --> 00:10:55,088
- Point Pleasant sits on the
edge
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00:10:55,123 --> 00:10:57,366
of what is known as Appalachia.
99
00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,230
The Appalachian Mountains are arange
100
00:10:59,264 --> 00:11:02,889
that stretches from Canada,
all the way down to Alabama.
101
00:11:02,923 --> 00:11:06,721
Rugged and rural, with a
landscape defined by jutting
rocks
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00:11:06,755 --> 00:11:08,308
and dense forestry.
103
00:11:08,342 --> 00:11:10,034
The mountains are an essential
part
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00:11:10,068 --> 00:11:11,864
of the Eastern United States.
105
00:11:13,278 --> 00:11:16,350
Appalachia derives its name
from the local inhabitants,
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00:11:16,385 --> 00:11:18,456
as well as the mountains.
107
00:11:18,490 --> 00:11:20,009
It's a cultural statement
108
00:11:20,044 --> 00:11:22,841
as much as it is a geographicalone.
109
00:11:22,875 --> 00:11:24,152
A culture informed
110
00:11:24,187 --> 00:11:26,567
by the people who journeyed
through these lands
111
00:11:26,602 --> 00:11:28,432
and who settled these lands,
112
00:11:28,466 --> 00:11:31,193
not to mention the lands
themselves,
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00:11:31,227 --> 00:11:34,610
from Scotch-Irish immigrants
to the First Nations tribes
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00:11:34,644 --> 00:11:35,854
who occasionally traveled
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00:11:35,888 --> 00:11:38,822
through what is now
known as West Virginia.
116
00:11:38,856 --> 00:11:41,582
These places are still
alive with a history
117
00:11:41,618 --> 00:11:44,725
that is passed down from
generation to generation.
118
00:11:46,380 --> 00:11:48,866
- The Scots-Irish settled West
Virginia.
119
00:11:48,900 --> 00:11:52,456
So about 250,000 of them
120
00:11:52,490 --> 00:11:53,561
got on a boat
121
00:11:53,595 --> 00:11:55,389
and came over to the United
States.
122
00:11:55,424 --> 00:11:57,047
Once they got here,
123
00:11:57,081 --> 00:11:59,153
the colonies were kind
of already established
124
00:11:59,187 --> 00:12:01,293
and these were sort of
outsiders,
125
00:12:01,326 --> 00:12:04,467
so they started to push them
closer to the mountains,
126
00:12:04,503 --> 00:12:06,850
the Appalachian Mountains.
127
00:12:06,884 --> 00:12:09,818
Technically the English
didn't want anybody
128
00:12:09,852 --> 00:12:11,441
moving past the mountains
129
00:12:11,475 --> 00:12:13,615
because there was an
agreement with the French.
130
00:12:13,649 --> 00:12:15,514
But we started chipping away atthat
131
00:12:15,548 --> 00:12:18,793
and that ultimately led to
the French and Indian War.
132
00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,899
- Well, the Natives
were kind of frightened
133
00:12:21,933 --> 00:12:23,315
of West Virginia.
134
00:12:23,349 --> 00:12:25,144
They thought West Virginia was
cursed
135
00:12:25,178 --> 00:12:28,769
and they only used West
Virginia mostly as hunting.
136
00:12:30,046 --> 00:12:32,495
So the Shawnee were here quite abit.
137
00:12:32,530 --> 00:12:35,153
The Saponi were kind of
like in the mountains
138
00:12:35,188 --> 00:12:38,605
is where the Blackfoot
Saponi Indians were all
139
00:12:38,639 --> 00:12:41,195
in the southern part of the
state, down into Virginia.
140
00:12:42,368 --> 00:12:45,543
- When we started pushing into
the region
141
00:12:45,577 --> 00:12:46,889
across the Appalachians,
142
00:12:46,924 --> 00:12:51,342
the Natives chose to fight
on the side of the French.
143
00:12:51,376 --> 00:12:53,793
When the English colonists
werecoming in, it was a threat,
144
00:12:53,827 --> 00:12:55,209
so the Native sided with French.
145
00:12:55,243 --> 00:12:57,831
Well, ultimately that did not gowell
146
00:12:57,866 --> 00:12:59,834
and the French left the region,
147
00:13:01,422 --> 00:13:03,803
leaving the Natives kind of on
their own.
148
00:13:03,837 --> 00:13:05,840
The different tribes tried to
get together
149
00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:08,774
to form alliances to fightagainst
the English if need be.
150
00:13:10,017 --> 00:13:15,125
- The Confederacy's made
up of many, many tribes
151
00:13:15,159 --> 00:13:17,644
and they were all in
and out of West Virginia
152
00:13:17,678 --> 00:13:19,750
throughout the years.
153
00:13:19,784 --> 00:13:22,408
The Shawnee were big here,
the Cherokee were here,
154
00:13:23,270 --> 00:13:24,616
Lenape, Ojibwe.
155
00:13:25,826 --> 00:13:27,861
There were many, 31 tribes.
156
00:13:27,897 --> 00:13:30,312
There were villages, there werefamilies.
157
00:13:30,346 --> 00:13:32,384
- Once the French left,
158
00:13:32,418 --> 00:13:34,799
they were really kind of left ontheir own
159
00:13:34,835 --> 00:13:36,422
and it ultimately was not
something
160
00:13:36,456 --> 00:13:38,562
that they could withstand
161
00:13:38,596 --> 00:13:41,634
and so they slowly got
pushed out of the area.
162
00:13:42,773 --> 00:13:45,706
- The traditions were
extremelyimportant to pass down.
163
00:13:45,741 --> 00:13:47,709
Our elders' pasts
164
00:13:48,883 --> 00:13:49,952
were lost.
165
00:13:50,884 --> 00:13:54,577
It was extremely important to
listen and to pay attention
166
00:13:54,613 --> 00:13:56,510
and to follow the traditions.
167
00:13:56,546 --> 00:13:58,616
- We do hold onto our stories.
168
00:13:58,650 --> 00:14:00,894
You know it might be genetic aswell
169
00:14:00,929 --> 00:14:03,966
because if you look into the
Celts,
170
00:14:04,001 --> 00:14:05,899
West Virginia is mostly Celtic.
171
00:14:05,934 --> 00:14:09,490
We do have some Pennsylvania
Dutch Germans here as well,
172
00:14:09,524 --> 00:14:11,802
but that's like a natural
thing with the Celts
173
00:14:11,836 --> 00:14:14,322
and I think it's passed down
that way.
174
00:14:14,356 --> 00:14:17,532
Plus, that little bit of
Native American ancestry.
175
00:14:17,567 --> 00:14:21,294
- Well I mean there's, again
a love of music and singing
176
00:14:21,328 --> 00:14:23,227
and passing stories through thatway.
177
00:14:23,261 --> 00:14:26,057
It's more of a human
characteristic
to want to tell stories
178
00:14:26,092 --> 00:14:28,750
and make sure that your
legacy is passed on
179
00:14:28,784 --> 00:14:30,614
in one way or another.
180
00:14:30,649 --> 00:14:33,686
- As Appalachia began to
see more and more settlers,
181
00:14:33,721 --> 00:14:36,481
traditions and stories started
to merge,
182
00:14:36,517 --> 00:14:39,174
just as the remaining
Natives begin to exist
183
00:14:39,209 --> 00:14:42,246
alongside the Scotch-Irish
settlers inhabiting a land
184
00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:43,972
they once called their own.
185
00:14:44,006 --> 00:14:47,389
So too, did stories and
cultures begin to meld
186
00:14:47,423 --> 00:14:51,566
and what was born of this
blendwas something wholly unique,
187
00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,051
Appalachian culture.
188
00:14:54,017 --> 00:14:56,467
Folktales and lore were
absorbed and transmitted
189
00:14:56,501 --> 00:14:58,952
from one generation to the next.
190
00:14:58,988 --> 00:15:02,231
Now the region was defined
as much by tales of ghosts,
191
00:15:02,267 --> 00:15:04,337
witches and red-eyed banshees
192
00:15:04,371 --> 00:15:06,684
as it was the rugged wildernessbackdrop
193
00:15:06,719 --> 00:15:08,341
where they were told.
194
00:15:08,375 --> 00:15:11,724
When 1966 saw the rise of the
Mothman,
195
00:15:11,759 --> 00:15:15,418
it was strangely familiar
despite its unique appearance.
196
00:15:15,451 --> 00:15:19,456
After all, it was simply
one more tale to be told
197
00:15:19,490 --> 00:15:22,735
as if a new face had been
put on an old legend.
198
00:15:31,503 --> 00:15:33,677
- I grew up in Southeastern Ohio
199
00:15:33,711 --> 00:15:37,818
and during the original
sightings of the Mothman,
200
00:15:37,854 --> 00:15:40,856
I was about 10 years old.
201
00:15:47,828 --> 00:15:51,661
Whenever I first heard about
Mothman
202
00:15:51,695 --> 00:15:54,767
was through my older male
cousins.
203
00:15:54,802 --> 00:15:56,907
One night they came over to
visit my dad
204
00:15:56,942 --> 00:15:59,772
and wanted to have a private
conversation with him.
205
00:15:59,807 --> 00:16:02,879
And they seemed very concerned,
206
00:16:02,913 --> 00:16:07,365
so of course I needed to know
what they were talking about.
207
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:11,818
My cousins were concerned
about going night fishing
208
00:16:11,852 --> 00:16:14,442
and they were afraid that if
they did,
209
00:16:14,476 --> 00:16:18,721
that they might see or
be taken by Mothman.
210
00:16:18,756 --> 00:16:21,346
So I listened in on the
conversation
211
00:16:21,379 --> 00:16:23,933
and that's how I first
heard about Mothman.
212
00:16:29,077 --> 00:16:32,115
Later in the summer,
213
00:16:32,149 --> 00:16:34,566
I was asleep one night,
214
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,085
I heard something outside.
215
00:16:36,119 --> 00:16:39,121
I woke up.
216
00:16:39,157 --> 00:16:40,881
I went over to the window,
217
00:16:40,917 --> 00:16:45,438
looked out and I saw red eyes inthe yard.
218
00:16:45,472 --> 00:16:48,028
Whatever it was could
have been, I don't know,
219
00:16:48,062 --> 00:16:51,307
maybe six feet or more in
height.
220
00:16:51,341 --> 00:16:54,654
And so I ran to my parents'
bedroom.
221
00:16:54,688 --> 00:16:58,865
My dad, I told him, I
thought Mothman was outside
222
00:16:58,899 --> 00:17:01,971
and he tried to tell me he
didn't think
223
00:17:02,006 --> 00:17:03,732
that that was probably Mothman.
224
00:17:04,836 --> 00:17:07,115
Now, you know, like sometimes
they'll say
225
00:17:07,150 --> 00:17:11,326
that Mothman's there to
either mourn you or whatever.
226
00:17:11,361 --> 00:17:15,502
Like just a few months
after I saw those red eyes,
227
00:17:15,538 --> 00:17:18,126
my dad was in an airplane
accident.
228
00:17:19,093 --> 00:17:21,854
He was one of 16 people that
survived.
229
00:17:21,888 --> 00:17:24,339
It happened in Cincinnati.
230
00:17:24,374 --> 00:17:26,066
It was like TWA 128.
231
00:17:27,445 --> 00:17:31,346
It was a flight coming
from San Diego, California
232
00:17:31,381 --> 00:17:35,247
going to Boston, but it
stopped in Cincinnati
233
00:17:35,281 --> 00:17:39,009
and there wasn't enough
runway for the jet.
234
00:17:39,044 --> 00:17:44,117
And so it went on and went
intoa orchard and caught on fire
235
00:17:44,153 --> 00:17:46,603
and just like threw
people out of the plane
236
00:17:46,637 --> 00:17:47,638
all over the place.
237
00:17:47,673 --> 00:17:50,573
My dad, the seat that he was in,
238
00:17:50,606 --> 00:17:53,265
the seat right beside him was onfire
239
00:17:53,299 --> 00:17:56,923
and there was a husband
and wife behind him.
240
00:17:56,958 --> 00:17:59,478
The wife was killed and
my dad turned around
241
00:17:59,512 --> 00:18:00,961
and grabbed this guy by the hand
242
00:18:00,997 --> 00:18:03,309
and said, "If you want
to live, come with me."
243
00:18:08,970 --> 00:18:11,972
- Flight TWA 128 crashed on
approach
244
00:18:12,008 --> 00:18:16,564
to the Cincinnati airport
on November 20th, 1967,
245
00:18:16,598 --> 00:18:18,531
just shy of one month prior
246
00:18:18,566 --> 00:18:20,326
to the collapse of the Silver
Bridge
247
00:18:20,361 --> 00:18:23,156
in nearby Point Pleasant, West
Virginia.
248
00:18:23,192 --> 00:18:25,332
If there was one overwhelming
takeaway
249
00:18:25,365 --> 00:18:26,988
from the activity running
rampant
250
00:18:27,022 --> 00:18:31,164
around Point Pleasant
during 1966 and 1967,
251
00:18:32,096 --> 00:18:35,375
it was the feeling that
everything was accelerating,
252
00:18:35,411 --> 00:18:37,930
heading towards some inevitableconclusion
253
00:18:37,964 --> 00:18:40,311
that couldn't be avoided.
254
00:18:40,346 --> 00:18:44,903
When the Silver Bridge
collapsedon December 15th, 1967,
255
00:18:44,936 --> 00:18:48,458
it seemed that the unavoidable
collision had been reached
256
00:18:48,492 --> 00:18:52,289
and with it, the story
of the Mothman had ended.
257
00:18:52,324 --> 00:18:54,532
The book had closed.
258
00:18:54,567 --> 00:18:55,707
For the next few months,
259
00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:58,916
stories of encounters with
the creature were absent.
260
00:18:58,951 --> 00:19:00,988
It seemed that the bridge
collapse had led
261
00:19:01,021 --> 00:19:03,093
to the departure of the being.
262
00:19:03,127 --> 00:19:06,890
However, nothing could have
been further from the truth.
263
00:19:06,924 --> 00:19:08,961
The book had never closed
264
00:19:08,996 --> 00:19:13,207
and in some ways the Mothman
story was just beginning.
265
00:19:13,241 --> 00:19:16,486
- I've read and collected
several newspaper articles
266
00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,108
from the late '60s, early '70s.
267
00:19:19,144 --> 00:19:21,318
I've talked to people
that were still seeing
268
00:19:21,353 --> 00:19:24,148
whatever this thing was in the
TNT Area
269
00:19:24,183 --> 00:19:27,256
and it was well after 1966, '67.
270
00:19:27,289 --> 00:19:28,849
A lot of the people that I've
talked to,
271
00:19:28,877 --> 00:19:32,156
I will specifically ask
them what the timeframe was
272
00:19:32,192 --> 00:19:37,197
and you know, '71, '73, '75.
273
00:19:37,576 --> 00:19:39,375
- The Mothman frenzy
went from 1966 into 1967,
274
00:19:41,648 --> 00:19:43,410
but the activity continued.
275
00:19:43,443 --> 00:19:45,688
We lived close to the
Scarberrys.
276
00:19:45,721 --> 00:19:49,932
I grew up on a hillside in
WestUnion called Shannon's Knob
277
00:19:49,968 --> 00:19:51,244
and late at night,
278
00:19:51,279 --> 00:19:55,663
it would sound like someonehad
jumped out of a helicopter.
279
00:19:56,663 --> 00:19:59,183
The roof would go, boom, just
like that.
280
00:20:01,428 --> 00:20:04,948
There would be a pause
and then these footsteps,
281
00:20:04,982 --> 00:20:07,674
somebody was walking on our
roof.
282
00:20:19,686 --> 00:20:22,310
And they might be up
there at 10, 15 minutes
283
00:20:22,345 --> 00:20:25,865
and the footsteps would stopas
if something had flown away.
284
00:20:25,900 --> 00:20:28,351
And of course my parents
did not believe me,
285
00:20:28,385 --> 00:20:30,422
you know, when
I kept telling them
286
00:20:30,457 --> 00:20:31,803
about these footsteps.
287
00:20:31,836 --> 00:20:33,942
Until I woke up early one
morning
288
00:20:33,977 --> 00:20:36,497
and I heard them talking to eachother,
289
00:20:36,531 --> 00:20:39,604
saying, "Wonder what those
footsteps are on the roof?"
290
00:20:39,637 --> 00:20:43,055
And I was pretty small,
Iwasn't even quite in school yet
291
00:20:43,089 --> 00:20:46,195
and I was thinking, "I want to
go outside.
292
00:20:46,230 --> 00:20:49,890
I want to go outside and,
you know, and hide the bushes
293
00:20:49,923 --> 00:20:52,512
and see if I can see the
Mothman."
294
00:20:52,548 --> 00:20:54,826
But I never developed
the courage to do that.
295
00:21:01,349 --> 00:21:02,903
- I talked to one lady,
296
00:21:02,936 --> 00:21:05,663
and she specifically mentioned
early '70s,
297
00:21:05,699 --> 00:21:09,288
who had a morning paper
route in the Gallipolis area.
298
00:21:09,323 --> 00:21:11,876
She'd deliver papers
about five in the morning
299
00:21:11,912 --> 00:21:16,329
and she told me that as she
was coming down the street,
300
00:21:16,365 --> 00:21:18,643
on the other side of the
street was like a guard rail,
301
00:21:18,676 --> 00:21:20,748
right beside the Ohio River.
302
00:21:20,782 --> 00:21:23,372
There's a little island that's
right off of that guard rail
303
00:21:23,405 --> 00:21:25,442
that goes out into the Ohio
River
304
00:21:25,477 --> 00:21:26,961
and she said she looked up
305
00:21:26,996 --> 00:21:29,549
and saw the biggest bird that
she'd ever seen in her life,
306
00:21:29,585 --> 00:21:31,240
sittin' there starin' at her.
307
00:21:31,276 --> 00:21:34,659
And she said it scared
her and she turned to run
308
00:21:34,692 --> 00:21:37,489
and she said, the bird
raised up, flew across
309
00:21:37,523 --> 00:21:39,732
and landed in the trees
over on this island.
310
00:21:39,767 --> 00:21:41,320
She said it was enormous.
311
00:21:41,355 --> 00:21:43,080
She was very detailed about it.
312
00:21:43,115 --> 00:21:46,635
And I asked her specifically,
you know, when this happened
313
00:21:46,671 --> 00:21:50,468
and she said, it was the
late '60s, early '70s era.
314
00:21:50,501 --> 00:21:54,436
- In the 1970s, I met my
husband and married him
315
00:21:54,471 --> 00:21:56,369
and he is from Point Pleasant.
316
00:21:56,404 --> 00:21:59,579
He and his dad were
actually out in their car,
317
00:21:59,615 --> 00:22:01,788
driving around and looking for
Mothman.
318
00:22:02,686 --> 00:22:04,413
And he was camping out in his
backyard
319
00:22:04,446 --> 00:22:08,278
hoping to find Mothman,
where I was, you know,
320
00:22:08,313 --> 00:22:11,626
40 miles away, terrified at thesame time.
321
00:22:11,661 --> 00:22:13,051
- You know there were sightingsin Ohio,
322
00:22:13,076 --> 00:22:14,940
there were sightings in West
Virginia,
323
00:22:14,974 --> 00:22:16,977
Pennsylvania, Kentucky.
324
00:22:17,010 --> 00:22:20,256
It's just that that rash
of sightings didn't last
325
00:22:20,289 --> 00:22:23,327
nearly as long as it did
here in Point Pleasant.
326
00:22:23,363 --> 00:22:25,365
- Major players in the Mothman
story
327
00:22:25,398 --> 00:22:28,816
during the 1960s and
'70s included the likes
328
00:22:28,851 --> 00:22:32,923
of West Virginia UFO author
and investigator, Gray Barker
329
00:22:32,958 --> 00:22:34,304
and a newspaper reporter
330
00:22:34,338 --> 00:22:37,376
and Point Pleasant local, Mary
Hyre.
331
00:22:37,411 --> 00:22:40,345
Hyre chronicled the ongoing
activity taking place
332
00:22:40,380 --> 00:22:42,933
following the collapse
of the Silver Bridge,
333
00:22:42,968 --> 00:22:45,936
relaying sightings of Mothman,
UFOs
334
00:22:45,971 --> 00:22:48,041
and the infamous Men in Black
335
00:22:48,076 --> 00:22:50,561
in her "Athens Messenger" columntitled,
336
00:22:50,596 --> 00:22:52,770
"Where the Waters Mingle."
337
00:22:52,806 --> 00:22:55,290
Hyre herself had a run-in
with a Man in Black
338
00:22:55,325 --> 00:22:57,810
in her Point Pleasant office
following the collapse
339
00:22:57,845 --> 00:23:01,573
of the Silver Bridge in Decemberof 1967.
340
00:23:01,607 --> 00:23:04,472
However, in February of 1970,
341
00:23:04,507 --> 00:23:08,131
Hyre would pass away
after an extended illness.
342
00:23:08,165 --> 00:23:09,511
Around Point Pleasant,
343
00:23:09,547 --> 00:23:12,480
the Mothman became less
of a talking point,
344
00:23:12,515 --> 00:23:14,103
although the UFO activity,
345
00:23:14,136 --> 00:23:16,932
which accompanied the
initial wave of strangeness,
346
00:23:16,968 --> 00:23:18,417
continued unabated.
347
00:23:20,039 --> 00:23:22,249
While Hyre was tracking ongoingreports
348
00:23:22,282 --> 00:23:24,941
during the late '60s and early
'70s,
349
00:23:24,976 --> 00:23:27,150
New York based author, John
Keel,
350
00:23:27,184 --> 00:23:29,186
was laboring over his own
recounting
351
00:23:29,221 --> 00:23:32,292
of the 13-month-winged-creaturesiege.
352
00:23:32,327 --> 00:23:33,915
Keel would release his book,
353
00:23:33,950 --> 00:23:38,092
"The Mothman Prophecies" in
1975.
354
00:23:38,126 --> 00:23:40,923
The nonfiction saga
would become a bestseller
355
00:23:40,957 --> 00:23:43,683
and reignite an interest in thetopic.
356
00:23:43,719 --> 00:23:46,272
Keel continue to write about theMothman,
357
00:23:46,307 --> 00:23:49,103
but no longer made
trips to Point Pleasant.
358
00:23:49,137 --> 00:23:51,070
And with Mary Hyre no longer
around
359
00:23:51,105 --> 00:23:53,211
to update Keel on the Mothman,
360
00:23:53,244 --> 00:23:55,626
no one was keeping tabs on the
creature,
361
00:23:55,662 --> 00:23:57,767
who was now making its presencefelt
362
00:23:57,801 --> 00:23:59,113
around much of Appalachia.
363
00:24:00,493 --> 00:24:02,771
- I think the planets kind of
aligned
364
00:24:02,807 --> 00:24:04,602
with the sightings in Point
Pleasant
365
00:24:04,635 --> 00:24:08,364
because number one, you had
all these people seeing UFOs,
366
00:24:08,397 --> 00:24:11,332
the Men in Black, the Mothman,
the Silver Bridge collapse.
367
00:24:11,366 --> 00:24:13,680
John Keel comes to town
368
00:24:13,713 --> 00:24:17,131
and it isolated the
Point Pleasant sightings.
369
00:24:17,165 --> 00:24:20,065
- I came across "The Mothman
Prophecies," the book,
370
00:24:20,099 --> 00:24:24,483
in the mid-'90s and it
immediately got my attention
371
00:24:24,518 --> 00:24:26,209
'cause it sort of was my sweet
spot
372
00:24:26,243 --> 00:24:27,876
in terms of my interest in the
paranormal,
373
00:24:27,901 --> 00:24:30,351
which is, well it had
tons of phenomenon in it,
374
00:24:30,385 --> 00:24:33,769
UFOs, poltergeists, the Mothman.
375
00:24:33,802 --> 00:24:35,391
And at the same time,
376
00:24:35,424 --> 00:24:37,842
the story was told from the
point of view of John Keel,
377
00:24:37,875 --> 00:24:39,671
the guy who was there
investigating it,
378
00:24:39,705 --> 00:24:43,156
and it focused so much on his
interaction
379
00:24:43,192 --> 00:24:45,815
with the phenomenon and
theway it affected him personally,
380
00:24:45,849 --> 00:24:47,265
which I found fascinating.
381
00:24:47,298 --> 00:24:50,509
- Well "The Mothman Prophecies"
book didn't come together
382
00:24:50,544 --> 00:24:53,547
until about 10 years after the
events.
383
00:24:53,582 --> 00:24:55,721
He did do some, there was an
article
384
00:24:55,756 --> 00:24:59,208
in "The Flying Saucer Review"
and I think "Saga Magazine"
385
00:24:59,241 --> 00:25:00,727
where he did talk about it
386
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,866
and he talked about
certain elements of it.
387
00:25:02,901 --> 00:25:06,076
Apparently his publisher told
him, he said, "Hey, look,
388
00:25:06,111 --> 00:25:08,458
it's time we put together
a book on the Mothman."
389
00:25:08,492 --> 00:25:12,013
So Keel talks about how he
got his tattered briefcase out
390
00:25:12,048 --> 00:25:15,292
and went through all his notes
and articles and so forth
391
00:25:15,326 --> 00:25:17,640
and kind of pieced together a
book.
392
00:25:17,674 --> 00:25:19,573
- What was happening in Point
Pleasant
393
00:25:19,607 --> 00:25:21,712
felt extremely personal.
394
00:25:21,748 --> 00:25:22,955
And what was interesting to me
395
00:25:22,990 --> 00:25:24,991
was this sort of interactive
nature
396
00:25:25,027 --> 00:25:27,236
of his experience with the
phenomenon.
397
00:25:27,269 --> 00:25:28,443
The more he studied it
398
00:25:28,478 --> 00:25:31,791
and the more he tried
to really nail it down
399
00:25:31,826 --> 00:25:33,759
and be totally objective,
400
00:25:33,794 --> 00:25:38,798
the more the phenomenon seemed
to want to bring him on stage
401
00:25:39,109 --> 00:25:42,215
as it were and make his
experience less objective
402
00:25:42,250 --> 00:25:45,150
and more subjective and
that's exactly what happened.
403
00:25:55,194 --> 00:25:57,299
- In November of 1966,
404
00:25:57,335 --> 00:26:00,579
Roger and Linda Scarberry
and Steve and Mary Mallette
405
00:26:00,614 --> 00:26:02,926
had the first
regionally-reported encounter
406
00:26:02,961 --> 00:26:04,444
with the Mothman.
407
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,275
The incident took place in an
area
408
00:26:06,308 --> 00:26:08,587
frequently tied to Mothman lore,
409
00:26:08,622 --> 00:26:10,382
an abandoned munitions facility
410
00:26:10,416 --> 00:26:12,763
just outside of Point Pleasant.
411
00:26:12,798 --> 00:26:16,146
The area was known as the
McClintic Wildlife Management
Area
412
00:26:16,181 --> 00:26:20,599
or as locals referred to it, theTNT Area.
413
00:26:20,634 --> 00:26:23,636
While the bizarre entity would
become known as the Mothman
414
00:26:23,672 --> 00:26:25,086
a short time later,
415
00:26:25,121 --> 00:26:29,747
it was initially referred to
as the Bird or the Birdman.
416
00:26:30,748 --> 00:26:33,198
Its association with a known
avian animal
417
00:26:33,232 --> 00:26:35,648
was based in part on the
creature's wings,
418
00:26:35,683 --> 00:26:37,270
its ability to fly
419
00:26:37,306 --> 00:26:40,964
and its occasional
comparison to a large owl.
420
00:26:40,999 --> 00:26:43,760
In other words, many
encounters detailed a being
421
00:26:43,795 --> 00:26:45,901
that looked and behaved like a
bird.
422
00:26:46,763 --> 00:26:47,971
Despite stranger features
423
00:26:48,006 --> 00:26:50,490
described in later Mothman
reports,
424
00:26:50,526 --> 00:26:52,942
the ID of a man-sized winged
creature
425
00:26:52,977 --> 00:26:54,392
that descends from the sky
426
00:26:54,425 --> 00:26:57,084
to terrify people when
they least expect it
427
00:26:57,118 --> 00:27:00,811
is an ancient one and one foundworldwide.
428
00:27:02,157 --> 00:27:03,952
- John Keel, his original title,
429
00:27:03,988 --> 00:27:05,852
which never made it to press
obviously,
430
00:27:05,885 --> 00:27:07,369
was the "Year of the Garuda."
431
00:27:07,404 --> 00:27:09,509
He saw sort of a connection
432
00:27:09,545 --> 00:27:13,583
with the Hindu mythology
ofthe Garuda, this winged entity.
433
00:27:13,617 --> 00:27:15,895
Of course he was knocked
down by the publisher.
434
00:27:15,931 --> 00:27:18,484
- But the Garuda is in
multiple traditions.
435
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:22,662
In Hinduism, the Garuda
is a massive sun bird
436
00:27:22,695 --> 00:27:25,560
that ultimately becomes
the vehicle, the mount,
437
00:27:25,595 --> 00:27:26,734
for the god Vishnu.
438
00:27:26,769 --> 00:27:30,221
It is depicted as some human
features,
439
00:27:30,255 --> 00:27:32,394
sometimes two arms, sometimes
four arms,
440
00:27:32,430 --> 00:27:36,227
but the body of an eagle,
massive wings as well.
441
00:27:36,260 --> 00:27:37,434
- And you know,
442
00:27:37,469 --> 00:27:39,240
when you read some aspects
of "The Mothman Prophecies,"
443
00:27:39,263 --> 00:27:41,611
"The year of the Garuda was at
hand.
444
00:27:41,645 --> 00:27:43,717
A shadow was passing over a
little town
445
00:27:43,751 --> 00:27:46,926
I had never even heard of,
Point Pleasant, West Virginia."
446
00:27:46,961 --> 00:27:51,241
This winged apparition,
sometimes
winged-demon or whatever,
447
00:27:51,276 --> 00:27:54,555
I think it just lends it to theidea
448
00:27:54,589 --> 00:27:57,799
that whatever Mothman was,
it is kind of an archetype.
449
00:28:03,529 --> 00:28:04,772
- I remember back,
450
00:28:04,807 --> 00:28:08,190
and it started out they
didn't even call it Mothman.
451
00:28:08,223 --> 00:28:10,432
There for several months,
they called him Birdman.
452
00:28:10,468 --> 00:28:11,917
I do remember that.
453
00:28:11,951 --> 00:28:13,194
And then something went around
454
00:28:13,229 --> 00:28:17,026
that it was a sandhill
crane, the rather large crane
455
00:28:17,060 --> 00:28:19,546
that had red feathers around itseyes.
456
00:28:19,579 --> 00:28:23,170
- The kind of explanations
that get talked about a lot,
457
00:28:23,204 --> 00:28:25,517
one of them is a sandhill crane.
458
00:28:25,551 --> 00:28:27,519
A friend of mine, Forrest
Burgess,
459
00:28:27,554 --> 00:28:30,867
once said that, "The
sandhill crane is to Mothman
460
00:28:30,902 --> 00:28:33,698
what swamp gas is to UFOs."
461
00:28:33,732 --> 00:28:35,873
You know, it's the go-to
explanation
462
00:28:35,906 --> 00:28:38,115
that makes absolutely no sense.
463
00:28:38,151 --> 00:28:40,773
- Other people thought,
youknow, well, maybe it was a bird,
464
00:28:40,808 --> 00:28:42,913
but it was a mutated bird.
465
00:28:42,949 --> 00:28:45,260
You know, the TNT Area,
the waste in the TNT Area
466
00:28:45,296 --> 00:28:48,161
and the chemicals used in WorldWar II
467
00:28:48,194 --> 00:28:49,782
contaminated the ground.
468
00:28:49,817 --> 00:28:53,822
Which makes a perfect scenario
for a Boris Karloff movie.
469
00:28:53,855 --> 00:28:56,375
- I know that back in the
'80s, that they came in
470
00:28:58,343 --> 00:28:59,792
and it was an EPA disaster site
471
00:28:59,827 --> 00:29:02,451
and they had to shave two or
three inches of top soil off
472
00:29:02,484 --> 00:29:05,039
within an eight mile radius
just to clean the place up.
473
00:29:05,074 --> 00:29:07,352
- But that was maybe a way
for a lot of those people
474
00:29:07,386 --> 00:29:09,872
to validate, "Hey, yeah, it
was some sort of a monster
475
00:29:09,906 --> 00:29:12,806
because it got into this toxic
waste
476
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,118
and it resembled a monster."
477
00:29:15,153 --> 00:29:16,809
It scared people, you know,
478
00:29:16,845 --> 00:29:19,951
and it's no secret that the
TNT Area was contaminated
479
00:29:19,986 --> 00:29:21,849
with a lot of stuff.
480
00:29:22,953 --> 00:29:25,094
- It's not a natural
creature to this area.
481
00:29:25,128 --> 00:29:27,164
There wouldn't be anything
that would match that.
482
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,410
There's no birds that would
have wings anywhere close
483
00:29:30,443 --> 00:29:33,344
to the size of Mothman,
you know, his wings.
484
00:29:33,377 --> 00:29:35,483
- Yes, there are many
researchers
485
00:29:35,518 --> 00:29:39,936
that look at the giant birds
as something very tangible.
486
00:29:39,971 --> 00:29:41,523
There have been a sightings
487
00:29:41,558 --> 00:29:43,663
that look like they were just
giant owls.
488
00:29:43,699 --> 00:29:46,322
And the Mothman, it's seen
in the dark sometimes,
489
00:29:46,356 --> 00:29:48,807
did look quite like kind of a
giant owl.
490
00:29:49,877 --> 00:29:52,363
- It's common in folklore
for a screech owl.
491
00:29:52,396 --> 00:29:54,260
In Welsh there's the Corpse
Bird.
492
00:29:54,296 --> 00:29:57,092
It's a screech owl that
comes banging at the window
493
00:29:57,125 --> 00:29:59,231
of someone who's ill or sick.
494
00:29:59,266 --> 00:30:02,614
And then that motif follows
its way into Appalachia, too.
495
00:30:02,648 --> 00:30:04,684
If you see or hear an owl
496
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,859
outside of your window
at night making a call,
497
00:30:06,894 --> 00:30:08,758
it's a sign that someone's goingto die.
498
00:30:08,792 --> 00:30:12,865
Likewise, if a bird flies in
your house,
499
00:30:12,901 --> 00:30:14,280
that's really bad news.
500
00:30:14,316 --> 00:30:17,526
Someone is probably going
to get hurt or die as well.
501
00:30:17,559 --> 00:30:21,184
- The Native American of
coursehave the Thunderbird legend,
502
00:30:21,219 --> 00:30:23,566
which some people
associate with the Mothman,
503
00:30:23,601 --> 00:30:25,775
I think maybe John Keel did
even.
504
00:30:25,809 --> 00:30:28,019
- The Thunder Bird is a
Southwest tribal,
505
00:30:28,054 --> 00:30:30,779
it is not Shawnee, it's
not Eastern Woodland.
506
00:30:30,815 --> 00:30:33,299
So it is said that the
Mothman could be tied
507
00:30:33,335 --> 00:30:36,855
to the Thunderbird, but
wedidn't have a Thunderbird here.
508
00:30:40,238 --> 00:30:42,931
- Tom Ury, one of the Mothman
witnesses,
509
00:30:42,964 --> 00:30:45,795
that's really what he
saw was a giant bird,
510
00:30:45,829 --> 00:30:48,246
about a 10 to 12 foot wingspan.
511
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,353
I was able to talk to him one
on one about his experience.
512
00:30:51,386 --> 00:30:53,217
In fact, Tom, for a while,
513
00:30:53,250 --> 00:30:55,909
thought that the other
people like Linda Scarberry
514
00:30:55,943 --> 00:30:57,980
and Marcella Bennett and so
forth,
515
00:30:58,015 --> 00:30:59,361
saw the same thing he did,
516
00:30:59,394 --> 00:31:01,777
but thought perhaps it was so
shocking
517
00:31:01,810 --> 00:31:04,434
that they've maybe added the
details.
518
00:31:05,607 --> 00:31:07,299
But the thing is about the
Mothman,
519
00:31:07,334 --> 00:31:08,508
the Mothman was a paradox.
520
00:31:08,541 --> 00:31:10,105
Some people got a pretty good
look at it,
521
00:31:10,130 --> 00:31:13,375
and it was about seven feet,
tall, dark gray, or black,
522
00:31:13,409 --> 00:31:14,824
about a 10 foot wingspan.
523
00:31:14,858 --> 00:31:17,619
A 10 foot wingspan probably
isn't gonna lift something
524
00:31:17,654 --> 00:31:18,897
that's seven foot tall.
525
00:31:18,932 --> 00:31:22,038
Just biologically it didn'twork,
but people kept seeing it.
526
00:31:30,011 --> 00:31:33,118
- While the 1980s were a dead
zone for Mothman research,
527
00:31:33,153 --> 00:31:34,948
sightings of winged humanoids
528
00:31:34,982 --> 00:31:37,295
and giant birds continued
around Appalachia.
529
00:31:38,192 --> 00:31:39,607
In Northern Pennsylvania,
530
00:31:39,642 --> 00:31:42,162
a string of reports of a
pterosaur-like creature
531
00:31:42,197 --> 00:31:45,545
made regional headlines
during the early '80s.
532
00:31:45,578 --> 00:31:48,927
Meanwhile, around Point
Pleasant and West Virginia,
533
00:31:48,961 --> 00:31:51,205
the red-eyed creature
that dominated headlines
534
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:56,038
during the late 1960s had
faded into relative obscurity.
535
00:31:56,073 --> 00:31:58,867
Despite the Mothman's lack of
popularity,
536
00:31:58,903 --> 00:32:00,490
kids still warned one another
537
00:32:00,525 --> 00:32:03,977
about venturing into
the TNT Area after dark.
538
00:32:04,011 --> 00:32:06,634
Tales also circulated amongst
the locals,
539
00:32:06,669 --> 00:32:08,222
such as one in which hunters
540
00:32:08,257 --> 00:32:10,363
encountered a mysteriously largebird
541
00:32:10,396 --> 00:32:12,468
in the early morning hours.
542
00:32:12,502 --> 00:32:15,057
A group of teenagers even
claimed to have found a pile
543
00:32:15,092 --> 00:32:16,990
of abnormally large feathers
544
00:32:17,025 --> 00:32:19,372
in one of the abandoned TNT
bunkers.
545
00:32:20,476 --> 00:32:21,925
As the years tick by,
546
00:32:21,961 --> 00:32:24,584
the reality of what was
encountered began to fade
547
00:32:24,617 --> 00:32:26,895
and was replaced by something
else,
548
00:32:26,931 --> 00:32:29,382
a modern folktale in the making.
549
00:32:29,415 --> 00:32:31,417
Still, an absence of evidence
550
00:32:31,452 --> 00:32:34,663
doesn't necessarily indicate
evidence of absence,
551
00:32:34,697 --> 00:32:38,493
as Leah Wilson discovered
in the summer of 1987.
552
00:32:38,528 --> 00:32:40,840
- I was in Calhoun County, WestVirginia,
553
00:32:40,875 --> 00:32:44,190
Leading Creek Road, it's
outside of Grantsville,
554
00:32:44,223 --> 00:32:47,538
my aunt and uncle's old farm
house.
555
00:32:47,572 --> 00:32:49,471
A few months before
that, like in the spring,
556
00:32:49,505 --> 00:32:50,517
people were talkin' about,
557
00:32:50,540 --> 00:32:53,958
like their chickens and
stuff coming up missing,
558
00:32:53,992 --> 00:32:55,165
you know overnight.
559
00:32:55,201 --> 00:32:57,410
But they would talk about weirdnoises,
560
00:32:57,443 --> 00:33:00,964
but no one had ever talkedabout
actually seein' anything.
561
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,381
The farmhouse, there's nothing
around it.
562
00:33:03,415 --> 00:33:05,970
So there's no other residents
for like a half a mile
563
00:33:06,005 --> 00:33:07,765
from the house that I was
stayin' in.
564
00:33:07,798 --> 00:33:11,044
And it was probably 1987, '88,
565
00:33:11,078 --> 00:33:12,838
somewhere around there,
summertime,
566
00:33:14,529 --> 00:33:16,049
it was like two o'clock in the
morning,
567
00:33:16,084 --> 00:33:17,118
I was just goin' to bed
568
00:33:17,153 --> 00:33:19,051
from after watching movies and
stuff.
569
00:33:21,296 --> 00:33:25,299
And across the street from
the farmhouse is a holler
570
00:33:25,334 --> 00:33:29,337
that goes up on the hill and
I started hearing this noise.
571
00:33:31,857 --> 00:33:33,272
You could tell us some kind of,
572
00:33:33,307 --> 00:33:35,034
I thought it was kind
of a bird-type thing.
573
00:33:35,067 --> 00:33:37,483
I thought maybe it was
an owl or somethin',
574
00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:40,521
but it just kept getting closerand closer
575
00:33:40,556 --> 00:33:42,695
and louder and louder.
576
00:33:43,972 --> 00:33:46,804
The only way I can describe
it is the Hollywood movies,
577
00:33:46,837 --> 00:33:48,564
the pterodactyl noises, you
know,
578
00:33:48,598 --> 00:33:49,817
that's the only way I can
describe it.
579
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,708
It was that loud and that
piercing and it kind of had,
580
00:33:55,123 --> 00:33:57,089
I don't know, kind of a
giggling,
581
00:33:57,125 --> 00:33:59,092
loud giggling noise to it, too.
582
00:33:59,126 --> 00:34:00,955
I mean, it's really hard to
describe.
583
00:34:01,990 --> 00:34:05,097
By the time I sat up
to look out the window,
584
00:34:05,133 --> 00:34:07,099
'cause I thought whatever this
was
585
00:34:07,134 --> 00:34:09,757
was gonna fly right into the
window,
586
00:34:09,791 --> 00:34:13,900
the wingspan of this covered thewindows.
587
00:34:19,007 --> 00:34:21,942
And then when it got to
that part of the house
588
00:34:21,976 --> 00:34:24,773
and went up over the house,
you actually could hear it.
589
00:34:24,806 --> 00:34:28,121
You actually heard the whoosh
sound.
590
00:34:28,155 --> 00:34:31,744
Again, not sure what I
wasgonna do or what I'd just seen.
591
00:34:31,780 --> 00:34:33,989
I turned around to the
back window of the bedroom
592
00:34:34,023 --> 00:34:36,371
and you could see the shadow
of whatever this was flyin'
593
00:34:36,405 --> 00:34:39,338
over the field to the back of
the house.
594
00:34:39,373 --> 00:34:41,271
I've never heard anything like
that.
595
00:34:41,306 --> 00:34:46,311
I have stayed at that country
house all my life, you know,
596
00:34:46,726 --> 00:34:49,072
never heard it, never seen
it, anything like that again.
597
00:34:49,108 --> 00:34:51,557
So not sure what it was,
598
00:34:51,592 --> 00:34:54,492
but it was something that was
very large
599
00:34:54,527 --> 00:34:56,769
and very loud and very fast.
600
00:34:56,804 --> 00:34:58,161
'Cause that holler that it cameout
601
00:34:58,186 --> 00:35:00,048
was probably about a mile long.
602
00:35:00,083 --> 00:35:03,362
You know, I was the first one
on that Leading Creek Road
603
00:35:03,398 --> 00:35:05,952
that actually seen somethin'.
604
00:35:09,472 --> 00:35:11,336
- You know I think there
were things going on
605
00:35:11,371 --> 00:35:13,166
all the way through the '80s and'90s.
606
00:35:13,201 --> 00:35:15,719
It's real hard to validate
a lot of that stuff
607
00:35:15,755 --> 00:35:18,827
because sometimes it
comes from other states,
608
00:35:18,860 --> 00:35:20,760
but it's hard for me to pinpointand say,
609
00:35:20,793 --> 00:35:25,661
that's exactly what they were
seeing here in 1966, '67.
610
00:35:28,905 --> 00:35:31,184
- We had that other
sighting in Parkersburg
611
00:35:31,219 --> 00:35:34,186
of the girl having seen it on
Quincy Hill.
612
00:35:34,222 --> 00:35:38,880
She said when she was
in high school in 1987,
613
00:35:38,916 --> 00:35:41,574
she and her boyfriend were
driving
614
00:35:41,608 --> 00:35:43,644
to the top of Quincy Hill,
615
00:35:43,679 --> 00:35:46,751
which is the highest
location in Parkersburg.
616
00:35:46,786 --> 00:35:48,027
Something very similar,
617
00:35:48,063 --> 00:35:51,135
they saw this huge creature
was walking across the street.
618
00:35:51,170 --> 00:35:54,621
She said, it looked like
six-and-a-half-foot insect.
619
00:35:54,655 --> 00:35:56,898
She said its knees were on
backwards,
620
00:35:56,934 --> 00:35:58,590
you know like an insect's leg
621
00:35:59,487 --> 00:36:00,972
and had these huge wings as
well.
622
00:36:01,007 --> 00:36:04,492
But she said, the thing
that stood out to her was
623
00:36:04,527 --> 00:36:07,909
this creature had a shuffling
gait,
624
00:36:07,945 --> 00:36:11,465
like it was not used
to walking on its feet.
625
00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:14,088
That told me she was tellin' thetruth
626
00:36:14,123 --> 00:36:16,402
because I had read a lot
of the written accounts
627
00:36:16,436 --> 00:36:17,782
down a Point Pleasant,
628
00:36:17,817 --> 00:36:20,543
they all described the
Mothman as walking that way.
629
00:36:21,476 --> 00:36:23,028
- In the early 1990s,
630
00:36:23,063 --> 00:36:25,237
a Point Pleasant local named
Darren Hayes
631
00:36:25,273 --> 00:36:28,172
encountered the Mothman in the
TNT Area.
632
00:36:28,206 --> 00:36:31,244
While talking to Jeff Wamsley
in an interview for his book,
633
00:36:31,278 --> 00:36:33,797
"Mothman, Behind the Red Eyes,"
634
00:36:33,833 --> 00:36:36,179
Hayes recalled while
driving into the area,
635
00:36:36,215 --> 00:36:40,184
a massive winged humanoid-bird
appeared above the car.
636
00:36:40,219 --> 00:36:41,806
As Hayes stepped on the gas,
637
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,706
the creature made five or
six passes over the car
638
00:36:44,739 --> 00:36:46,983
before the vehicle eventually
outran it
639
00:36:47,018 --> 00:36:49,813
as the men headed back to PointPleasant.
640
00:36:50,746 --> 00:36:52,679
Darren's account wouldn't becomepublic
641
00:36:52,713 --> 00:36:54,887
until the publication of
Wamsley's book
642
00:36:54,922 --> 00:36:56,682
nearly a decade later.
643
00:36:56,717 --> 00:36:57,891
The story illustrates
644
00:36:57,925 --> 00:37:01,585
that the Mothman was still
making its presence felt.
645
00:37:01,619 --> 00:37:04,242
Perhaps no one felt the
creature's presence more
646
00:37:04,277 --> 00:37:06,003
than John Keel.
647
00:37:06,036 --> 00:37:08,074
Despite living states away
648
00:37:08,108 --> 00:37:10,076
and making an effort to distancehimself
649
00:37:10,110 --> 00:37:11,974
from "The Mothman Prophecies,"
650
00:37:12,009 --> 00:37:14,528
the author felt himself
pulled back to the story
651
00:37:14,563 --> 00:37:15,943
over the years.
652
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,463
- People thought he had the
answers
653
00:37:18,498 --> 00:37:20,949
because he had spent so
much time in Point Pleasant.
654
00:37:20,983 --> 00:37:23,744
He stayed with Linda's family,
Linda Scarberry's family.
655
00:37:23,778 --> 00:37:24,987
In "The Mothman Prophecies,"
656
00:37:25,021 --> 00:37:28,059
it talks about how his
life became intertwined
657
00:37:28,094 --> 00:37:29,751
with the people of the Ohio
Valley,
658
00:37:29,784 --> 00:37:31,856
especially in Point Pleasant.
659
00:37:31,891 --> 00:37:32,891
- Here's how it went.
660
00:37:32,925 --> 00:37:34,789
When John Keel was there,
661
00:37:34,824 --> 00:37:37,103
the entire town was sort of
haunted.
662
00:37:37,137 --> 00:37:41,003
The people that he was
speaking to were very scared
663
00:37:41,038 --> 00:37:42,072
about what was going on.
664
00:37:42,108 --> 00:37:43,902
There seemed to be a general
understanding
665
00:37:43,936 --> 00:37:46,836
that all of this was going
to lead to something bad,
666
00:37:46,871 --> 00:37:49,528
at least that's certainly
what John Keel felt.
667
00:37:49,563 --> 00:37:52,117
- He had proposed some
ideas for other books
668
00:37:52,152 --> 00:37:53,291
that never came about.
669
00:37:53,326 --> 00:37:56,364
He seemed to kind of move away
from it.
670
00:37:56,398 --> 00:37:58,882
I remember hearing people
that interviewed him,
671
00:37:58,918 --> 00:38:00,436
they want to talk about the
Mothman,
672
00:38:00,471 --> 00:38:01,920
he would change the subject,
673
00:38:01,954 --> 00:38:03,956
he would want to talk
about something else.
674
00:38:03,992 --> 00:38:05,349
- Because he was solving his ownmystery
675
00:38:05,373 --> 00:38:07,166
and he really wanted an answer.
676
00:38:07,202 --> 00:38:09,893
And like most of us do
when we first get involved
677
00:38:09,929 --> 00:38:12,380
in the paranormal,
678
00:38:12,414 --> 00:38:15,590
we think, on a certain level,
we're gonna figure it out.
679
00:38:15,623 --> 00:38:19,731
The experience typically
does not provide an answer
680
00:38:19,766 --> 00:38:21,561
and it certainly didn't for JohnKeel.
681
00:38:21,596 --> 00:38:24,668
- When people would ask
him, "What was the Mothman?
682
00:38:24,702 --> 00:38:25,702
What was it all about?"
683
00:38:25,737 --> 00:38:28,222
He'd have to be honest
and say he didn't know.
684
00:38:28,257 --> 00:38:29,545
I mean, he didn't have the
answers.
685
00:38:29,568 --> 00:38:32,364
He was someone that chronicled
the events.
686
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,402
A very important thing about
Keel,
687
00:38:34,436 --> 00:38:38,164
he didn't reject stuff that
didn't fit a certain paradigm.
688
00:38:38,197 --> 00:38:42,306
And that's how he became
towrite books like "Trojan Horse,"
689
00:38:42,340 --> 00:38:44,481
because he began to see
the interconnectedness
690
00:38:44,514 --> 00:38:46,172
of all paranormal activity.
691
00:39:02,429 --> 00:39:06,572
- So I grew up pretty much
right near the woodlot.
692
00:39:08,987 --> 00:39:10,472
We were the last house actually,
693
00:39:10,507 --> 00:39:12,059
before it turns into the woods
694
00:39:12,094 --> 00:39:14,233
and you know, a very small area.
695
00:39:14,268 --> 00:39:16,202
And there was a community area,
696
00:39:18,686 --> 00:39:20,447
an old community area
697
00:39:20,481 --> 00:39:23,485
and passed down, you
know, family to family,
698
00:39:23,519 --> 00:39:24,900
one of those kind of deals.
699
00:39:26,349 --> 00:39:27,603
I've been going over it in my
head
700
00:39:27,626 --> 00:39:29,027
and this is pretty much how it
went.
701
00:39:30,009 --> 00:39:32,632
We were comin' home, it
was either 1999 or 2000,
702
00:39:34,806 --> 00:39:35,807
We were comin' home
703
00:39:35,842 --> 00:39:37,222
and it was late in the evening.
704
00:39:38,534 --> 00:39:40,052
We're coming around the first
curve
705
00:39:40,088 --> 00:39:43,262
and the first curve will be
near a graveyard actually,
706
00:39:43,297 --> 00:39:46,646
it's an old family graveyard,
it's up on a hill there.
707
00:39:46,681 --> 00:39:49,925
And as we go around the
curve, we slowed down
708
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:53,652
and the headlights hit
somethin' in the road.
709
00:39:57,485 --> 00:39:59,418
What they hit was a form
710
00:40:00,590 --> 00:40:02,903
and for a split second, I
thought, "Oh, it's a large
bird,"
711
00:40:02,938 --> 00:40:04,077
and all that.
712
00:40:04,112 --> 00:40:06,458
And then, we're sitting there
you know,
713
00:40:06,494 --> 00:40:09,358
and this thing, whatever it was,
714
00:40:09,393 --> 00:40:11,257
you notice really quickly it's
not a bird
715
00:40:11,291 --> 00:40:13,121
because you can kinda
almost see through it.
716
00:40:13,155 --> 00:40:15,364
It has this weird, not
translucent,
717
00:40:15,398 --> 00:40:17,574
but almost like it was
phasing or shifting.
718
00:40:18,505 --> 00:40:20,784
It kinda stands up a little bit
719
00:40:20,818 --> 00:40:23,476
and puts out what I assume werewings,
720
00:40:23,510 --> 00:40:24,719
I mean, arms somethin'
721
00:40:24,753 --> 00:40:26,789
and they reached almost
to the sides of the road.
722
00:40:26,824 --> 00:40:30,621
But with just one movement,
it shot straight up.
723
00:40:30,655 --> 00:40:32,554
And as it's shootin'
straight up, you know,
724
00:40:32,588 --> 00:40:34,313
we're sitting there and you
could hear it
725
00:40:34,349 --> 00:40:35,487
and you can see it, too.
726
00:40:35,523 --> 00:40:37,594
There were twigs fallin', you
know?
727
00:40:37,628 --> 00:40:39,146
It made no sense.
728
00:40:39,181 --> 00:40:41,425
The speed at which it
moved, I have no idea.
729
00:40:41,460 --> 00:40:44,186
Now I never thought for one
second when this happened,
730
00:40:44,221 --> 00:40:45,773
by the way, you know,
731
00:40:45,809 --> 00:40:47,775
that was Mothman or that was
somethin'.
732
00:40:47,811 --> 00:40:52,090
Nope, what I felt was
absolute, 100% fear, terror.
733
00:40:52,125 --> 00:40:53,817
I hit the gas as hard as I
possibly could.
734
00:40:53,851 --> 00:40:56,681
I don't think I ever got
that car to go as fast
735
00:40:56,715 --> 00:40:57,958
as I did that night.
736
00:40:57,992 --> 00:40:59,063
And it weird about that,
737
00:40:59,097 --> 00:41:01,099
and I looked back at it to thisday,
738
00:41:01,134 --> 00:41:05,137
but something said, "Get
out," and I got out.
739
00:41:06,001 --> 00:41:07,313
Yeah, it was pretty scary.
740
00:41:14,733 --> 00:41:17,840
But what is really weird about
the story
741
00:41:17,875 --> 00:41:19,463
is not my sighting,
742
00:41:21,327 --> 00:41:23,536
the part that gets me is,
743
00:41:23,570 --> 00:41:25,606
where it happened is only about
744
00:41:26,539 --> 00:41:28,644
just maybe a couple hundred
yards
745
00:41:28,679 --> 00:41:31,855
from where my mom had a sighting
746
00:41:31,889 --> 00:41:34,719
and that would have been in the'50s.
747
00:41:34,753 --> 00:41:38,447
And her and four other people atthe time
748
00:41:38,481 --> 00:41:41,105
had seen what they
described as a gray ghost.
749
00:41:42,141 --> 00:41:45,902
They were walking along
the ridge line at the time.
750
00:41:45,938 --> 00:41:49,561
They said that this gray thing
appeared near the graveyard
751
00:41:50,494 --> 00:41:51,909
and
752
00:41:51,943 --> 00:41:52,737
to them,
753
00:41:52,771 --> 00:41:53,771
it just
754
00:41:55,119 --> 00:41:56,119
went up in the air.
755
00:41:56,155 --> 00:41:58,398
That was their words.
"It went up in the air."
756
00:41:59,572 --> 00:42:00,746
I didn't even, you know,
757
00:42:00,780 --> 00:42:02,574
we've heard that story so much
growin' up
758
00:42:02,610 --> 00:42:05,266
and it's just like, you
know, it never really clicked
759
00:42:05,302 --> 00:42:06,451
until that night I saw that
thing.
760
00:42:06,474 --> 00:42:08,373
I'm like, "This is where they
saw it."
761
00:42:13,413 --> 00:42:17,347
- From sandhill crane to
giant owl, to mythical birds,
762
00:42:17,382 --> 00:42:19,902
during the 1960s and up until
the release
763
00:42:19,936 --> 00:42:23,527
of John Keel's seminal book in
1975,
764
00:42:23,561 --> 00:42:26,599
the most common theories as
to what the creature might be
765
00:42:26,634 --> 00:42:30,360
all revolved around tangible
flesh and bone beings,
766
00:42:30,396 --> 00:42:33,364
animals that either existed
within known science
767
00:42:33,398 --> 00:42:35,159
or on its fringes.
768
00:42:35,193 --> 00:42:38,092
Yet with the release of
"The Mothman Prophecies,"
769
00:42:38,128 --> 00:42:39,992
something new is proposed.
770
00:42:40,025 --> 00:42:43,028
Suddenly, the answers as
to what the entity might be
771
00:42:43,063 --> 00:42:45,929
weren't being sought in
the pages of science,
772
00:42:45,963 --> 00:42:48,137
but in the realms of physics.
773
00:42:48,172 --> 00:42:51,590
As Keel put forth his own
ideasabout alternate dimensions
774
00:42:51,623 --> 00:42:54,143
and realities to explain the
Mothman,
775
00:42:54,177 --> 00:42:58,043
similar theories were
beingpresented for various phenomena.
776
00:42:58,079 --> 00:42:59,597
Could the Mothman be a visitor
777
00:42:59,632 --> 00:43:01,737
from another plane of existence,
778
00:43:01,771 --> 00:43:03,842
one beyond our own?
779
00:43:03,878 --> 00:43:06,846
If so, was there something
about Point Pleasant,
780
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:08,467
or even all of Appalachia,
781
00:43:08,503 --> 00:43:12,057
that acted as a gateway
between these realities?
782
00:43:12,092 --> 00:43:14,094
Legends suggest that Native
Americans
783
00:43:14,128 --> 00:43:17,443
avoided much of the land
where West Virginia now sits,
784
00:43:17,476 --> 00:43:18,686
leading to speculation
785
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:22,068
that the earth itself in
this place was cursed.
786
00:43:22,103 --> 00:43:24,414
In later years, an unfounded
story
787
00:43:24,449 --> 00:43:27,384
regarding a supposed curse
placed on Point Pleasant
788
00:43:27,418 --> 00:43:29,074
began to circulate.
789
00:43:29,110 --> 00:43:30,731
It involved the real life murder
790
00:43:30,766 --> 00:43:33,769
of a Native chief named
Cornstalk.
791
00:43:33,804 --> 00:43:36,668
Though likely having
little basis in reality,
792
00:43:36,704 --> 00:43:39,188
it is possible that some kernelof truth
793
00:43:39,222 --> 00:43:41,501
does exist in the story.
794
00:43:41,536 --> 00:43:44,987
Perhaps the curse in question
was simply a word ascribed
795
00:43:45,021 --> 00:43:48,646
to a location that seemed
to invite strangeness,
796
00:43:48,681 --> 00:43:49,958
if not tragedy.
797
00:43:58,621 --> 00:43:59,864
- What I have gathered
798
00:43:59,898 --> 00:44:02,590
is that there are parts in the
Ohio Valley
799
00:44:02,626 --> 00:44:05,041
that are kind of believed to becursed.
800
00:44:05,077 --> 00:44:06,250
They're a land of the dead.
801
00:44:06,284 --> 00:44:09,184
It was common for people
to be buried closer
802
00:44:09,219 --> 00:44:10,081
to bodies of water.
803
00:44:10,115 --> 00:44:11,675
That's where we find some of themounds.
804
00:44:11,704 --> 00:44:13,153
It's a valley of the dead,
805
00:44:13,188 --> 00:44:16,882
so I would think that
any place along a river
806
00:44:16,916 --> 00:44:18,054
is kind of the same thing.
807
00:44:18,090 --> 00:44:19,650
There's probably a lot of
burials there.
808
00:44:19,677 --> 00:44:22,163
Different Native American
tribes believed so strongly
809
00:44:22,197 --> 00:44:23,681
that they wouldn't come at
night.
810
00:44:23,715 --> 00:44:24,579
They would not.
811
00:44:24,612 --> 00:44:25,797
- There's a lot of people that
believed
812
00:44:25,822 --> 00:44:27,686
the movement of water is
conducive
813
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:31,793
to helping to produce
some of this activity.
814
00:44:31,827 --> 00:44:33,898
And yes, I find it easy to
believe
815
00:44:33,932 --> 00:44:35,934
that there is something
about the confluence
816
00:44:35,969 --> 00:44:38,213
of the rivers coming together.
817
00:44:38,248 --> 00:44:40,250
There's even the lore
about crossroads, you know,
818
00:44:40,284 --> 00:44:41,940
the Devil's Crossroads or
whatever,
819
00:44:41,976 --> 00:44:45,358
and that's where Indrid Cold
was supposed to have shown up
820
00:44:45,393 --> 00:44:47,152
along Route 77 there.
821
00:44:48,914 --> 00:44:51,536
- That's common in a lot
of different cultures.
822
00:44:51,570 --> 00:44:53,987
The idea that a river or a
confluence
823
00:44:54,021 --> 00:44:57,543
of bodies of water is a
gateway somewhere, yes.
824
00:45:01,166 --> 00:45:02,202
- Keel did not believe
825
00:45:02,237 --> 00:45:04,688
that we were interacting
with extraterrestrials.
826
00:45:04,722 --> 00:45:06,552
He called them
ultra-terrestrials.
827
00:45:06,585 --> 00:45:08,795
In other words, something
that is earth bound,
828
00:45:08,829 --> 00:45:12,005
some sort of phenomenon
that originates on earth
829
00:45:12,039 --> 00:45:15,353
that we can sometimes
see and interact with.
830
00:45:15,387 --> 00:45:18,978
And it might be from another
dimension,
831
00:45:19,012 --> 00:45:22,153
or it might simply be a little
bit outside
832
00:45:22,188 --> 00:45:25,777
our normal perceptual abilities.
833
00:45:25,813 --> 00:45:28,159
- Keel used the term
ultra-terrestrial
834
00:45:28,193 --> 00:45:29,677
and he revealed in later years,
835
00:45:29,713 --> 00:45:31,577
he used it as a literary device.
836
00:45:32,820 --> 00:45:34,235
Again, he wasn't really fixed
837
00:45:34,268 --> 00:45:35,626
in his thinking about these
things.
838
00:45:35,650 --> 00:45:39,791
It was really a term used to
suggest that these entities,
839
00:45:39,827 --> 00:45:42,726
whatever they are, wherever
they actually come from,
840
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:44,831
may be a natural condition of
the planets,
841
00:45:44,865 --> 00:45:47,972
suggesting that they're not
necessarily from off world
842
00:45:48,007 --> 00:45:50,320
or are even necessarily
from another dimension.
843
00:45:50,353 --> 00:45:54,012
- They're your radio
waves and ultraviolet rays
844
00:45:54,047 --> 00:45:56,878
and various things that
exist and we know they exist,
845
00:45:56,913 --> 00:45:58,052
but we can't see them.
846
00:45:58,085 --> 00:46:00,847
But what if under
somecircumstances we could see them,
847
00:46:00,882 --> 00:46:02,572
what else would we see?
848
00:46:02,608 --> 00:46:04,643
And I think his notion was that
849
00:46:04,679 --> 00:46:09,269
what we might see is
Indrid Cold or the Mothman.
850
00:46:09,304 --> 00:46:10,512
- So the idea would be
851
00:46:10,547 --> 00:46:14,516
that perhaps we can't really
conceive of other dimensions
852
00:46:14,550 --> 00:46:18,519
and these creatures or
whatever, while they exist with us,
853
00:46:18,554 --> 00:46:21,282
can hide or pass into
these other dimensions.
854
00:46:21,315 --> 00:46:24,492
People will use the
term vortex or a portal
855
00:46:24,525 --> 00:46:26,458
or a window area.
856
00:46:27,494 --> 00:46:31,429
- I do know that in the
1980s and even before,
857
00:46:31,463 --> 00:46:36,469
the TNT Area was a hub for a
lot of occult type activity,
858
00:46:36,849 --> 00:46:40,231
you know, the activity in the
TNT Area for all those years.
859
00:46:40,266 --> 00:46:42,786
Is it possible that maybe
somebody did something
860
00:46:42,820 --> 00:46:45,961
to open up some kind of portal
861
00:46:45,996 --> 00:46:47,963
to let some kind of activity in?
862
00:46:47,998 --> 00:46:49,793
Why would it just choose Point
Pleasant?
863
00:46:49,827 --> 00:46:51,829
Or there's all kinds of
questions
864
00:46:51,864 --> 00:46:53,728
and even John Keel himself
thought
865
00:46:53,762 --> 00:46:56,041
that there was some kind
of portal in the TNT Area.
866
00:46:56,074 --> 00:46:58,181
And if you've ever been to the
TNT Area,
867
00:46:58,215 --> 00:47:00,630
there very well could
be, you'd never know it,
868
00:47:00,666 --> 00:47:03,806
if you believe in that kind
of thing because it's so vast.
869
00:47:05,670 --> 00:47:07,362
I've talked to several people
870
00:47:07,396 --> 00:47:11,056
that have seen hooded figures upthere.
871
00:47:11,090 --> 00:47:12,195
When I was a kid,
872
00:47:12,228 --> 00:47:13,240
there was a rumor going around
873
00:47:13,264 --> 00:47:15,507
that the 13th gate to
hell was in the TNT area
874
00:47:15,543 --> 00:47:17,786
and that's what I remember
about my childhood.
875
00:47:17,820 --> 00:47:19,615
Kind of makes you want to stay
away.
876
00:47:21,099 --> 00:47:23,170
My dad's sister, I'm gonna out
her,
877
00:47:23,206 --> 00:47:26,760
but she snuck out in highschool
with a bunch of friends,
878
00:47:26,795 --> 00:47:28,072
went up to the TNT Area.
879
00:47:28,106 --> 00:47:29,108
That's not unusual,
880
00:47:29,143 --> 00:47:30,914
a lot of people used to
do that kind of thing.
881
00:47:30,938 --> 00:47:32,456
Inside the igloos that are up
there,
882
00:47:32,490 --> 00:47:35,320
there's like 100 of these
bunkers.
883
00:47:35,356 --> 00:47:38,083
Well, there's just a few of
those that are open today,
884
00:47:38,117 --> 00:47:40,532
but people like to go
up there and investigate
885
00:47:40,568 --> 00:47:42,018
and all that kind of stuff.
886
00:47:42,052 --> 00:47:43,882
Well, they had went into one
887
00:47:43,916 --> 00:47:45,952
and said that there was all
these symbols
888
00:47:45,987 --> 00:47:48,369
written all over the walls
889
00:47:48,402 --> 00:47:52,338
and there was a table with a
outline
890
00:47:52,373 --> 00:47:53,925
of a cat,
891
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:55,893
where somebody had sacrificed acat.
892
00:47:55,927 --> 00:47:58,757
There was always stories
that, once a year,
893
00:47:58,793 --> 00:48:01,692
that there was a large group ofoccultists
894
00:48:01,726 --> 00:48:03,108
that would come and meet.
895
00:48:03,141 --> 00:48:05,282
I know another girl that
was one of my neighbors
896
00:48:05,317 --> 00:48:07,043
that lived up in that area
897
00:48:07,077 --> 00:48:10,114
that said that she was
walking in the TNT Area
898
00:48:10,148 --> 00:48:11,840
with her parents one day
899
00:48:11,875 --> 00:48:13,393
and said that she'd looked over
900
00:48:13,427 --> 00:48:16,190
and she'd seen this giant fire
901
00:48:16,224 --> 00:48:18,157
and there was all these
people in these hoods
902
00:48:18,192 --> 00:48:20,815
just like standing there aroundit.
903
00:48:20,849 --> 00:48:23,023
And she said she freaked out andran off.
904
00:48:25,992 --> 00:48:27,762
- You know, some of the
people that encountered this,
905
00:48:27,786 --> 00:48:31,170
you know, Mothman,
giant bird-type creature
906
00:48:31,204 --> 00:48:35,208
that said it was more on a
supernatural type of basis.
907
00:48:35,242 --> 00:48:37,175
They felt that what they were
seeing
908
00:48:37,210 --> 00:48:41,179
was not a tangible thing they
could reach out and touch,
909
00:48:41,215 --> 00:48:43,838
but it was more of a vision of
evil.
910
00:48:43,871 --> 00:48:44,873
They said, you know,
911
00:48:44,907 --> 00:48:47,737
"This wasn't an animal
or anything like that,
912
00:48:47,773 --> 00:48:50,740
it was more of somethin'
that just popped up
913
00:48:50,775 --> 00:48:52,364
and I couldn't explain it."
914
00:48:53,675 --> 00:48:56,092
I think there's a lot of
people that tend to think
915
00:48:56,126 --> 00:48:58,922
that it was more of a
vision or a spiritual thing.
916
00:48:58,956 --> 00:49:00,451
- Well I think the Mothman is
some kind
917
00:49:00,474 --> 00:49:02,132
of an inter-dimensional being
918
00:49:02,166 --> 00:49:05,548
and I think it's very
odd that he is described
919
00:49:05,583 --> 00:49:08,586
as being a flesh and blood
creature.
920
00:49:08,621 --> 00:49:12,072
Some people describe the wings
as looking like bat wings.
921
00:49:12,108 --> 00:49:15,144
Some describe him as having
feathers.
922
00:49:15,179 --> 00:49:16,905
He looked flesh and blood,
923
00:49:16,940 --> 00:49:20,047
but yet his eyes looked
electrical.
924
00:49:20,081 --> 00:49:23,704
I guess he could be from
either another planet
925
00:49:23,739 --> 00:49:26,811
or another dimension that
sort of slipped through.
926
00:49:26,846 --> 00:49:29,849
- There really is no
explanation as far as I know.
927
00:49:29,884 --> 00:49:34,405
I don't know if there's
aparticular unconscious archetype
928
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:36,510
that's being accessed.
929
00:49:36,545 --> 00:49:39,686
I have a general theory of the
paranormal,
930
00:49:39,721 --> 00:49:42,034
which is if it does exist,
931
00:49:42,068 --> 00:49:44,277
if there is an exterior force atwork,
932
00:49:44,311 --> 00:49:46,797
that it might be presenting
itself
933
00:49:46,831 --> 00:49:50,284
as almost just as a sort of
incoet energy,
934
00:49:50,318 --> 00:49:52,596
almost like snow on a TV.
935
00:49:52,630 --> 00:49:54,909
And as people experience it,
936
00:49:54,943 --> 00:49:58,016
whatever that energy is that
they're interacting with,
937
00:49:58,050 --> 00:49:59,396
interacts with their mind
938
00:49:59,431 --> 00:50:03,675
and as human beings we try
to unscramble the signal.
939
00:50:03,710 --> 00:50:05,436
It's like a Rorschach test.
940
00:50:05,471 --> 00:50:07,507
Here's this thing, but what do
you see?
941
00:50:07,541 --> 00:50:08,956
Some people will see Mothman,
942
00:50:08,992 --> 00:50:11,994
other people will maybe
see a dead relative,
943
00:50:12,030 --> 00:50:13,409
other people will see aliens.
944
00:50:13,445 --> 00:50:16,550
It's just sort of your mind
flipping through things,
945
00:50:16,585 --> 00:50:18,414
trying to attach to something.
946
00:50:18,449 --> 00:50:21,556
Maybe that exterior energy
is interacting with your mind
947
00:50:21,590 --> 00:50:24,525
and helping you select
something that works for you
948
00:50:24,559 --> 00:50:26,572
and then you move on to
phase two of the experience,
949
00:50:26,596 --> 00:50:29,737
which is whatever the content
of the communication is.
950
00:50:31,117 --> 00:50:32,463
- As decades passed,
951
00:50:32,498 --> 00:50:34,949
the effects of the initial
events still lingered
952
00:50:34,983 --> 00:50:36,985
with some of the original
witnesses.
953
00:50:37,019 --> 00:50:40,057
Marcella Bennett and Linda
Scarberry were among those
954
00:50:40,092 --> 00:50:41,920
who saw the Mothman for
themselves
955
00:50:41,956 --> 00:50:45,994
during the 1966-67 wave of
sightings.
956
00:50:46,028 --> 00:50:48,652
As time went on, their
recollections of who
957
00:50:48,686 --> 00:50:50,722
or what the Mothman might have
been
958
00:50:50,757 --> 00:50:53,208
couldn't have been further
apart.
959
00:50:54,141 --> 00:50:55,969
Marcella Bennett encountered theMothman
960
00:50:56,003 --> 00:50:58,766
outside the home of a
friend late one evening.
961
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:00,733
Her encounter took a turn for
the worst
962
00:51:00,768 --> 00:51:02,286
when she dropped her infant
daughter
963
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,391
and fell on top of her in terror
964
00:51:04,427 --> 00:51:07,739
as she claimed the Mothmanswooped
toward them from above.
965
00:51:08,603 --> 00:51:09,742
Bennett, in later years,
966
00:51:09,777 --> 00:51:12,123
would recall the creature
as looking every bit
967
00:51:12,159 --> 00:51:14,195
like the devil himself.
968
00:51:14,230 --> 00:51:17,025
Meanwhile, Linda Scarberry
would recount the being
969
00:51:17,059 --> 00:51:20,097
in a way that painted it
in a sympathetic light,
970
00:51:20,132 --> 00:51:23,480
as an entity lost in a
place it did not recognize
971
00:51:23,514 --> 00:51:27,552
with no way to communicate
or relay a cry for help.
972
00:51:27,588 --> 00:51:29,728
- After Linda Scarberry,
973
00:51:29,762 --> 00:51:31,902
her initial sightings in '66,
974
00:51:31,936 --> 00:51:36,251
you know for years after,
she told me and others that,
975
00:51:36,286 --> 00:51:39,081
you know, weird things
happened in her house.
976
00:51:39,117 --> 00:51:42,222
She always had this premonitionof
somethin' watching her.
977
00:51:42,257 --> 00:51:43,293
In later years,
978
00:51:43,327 --> 00:51:46,054
she lived in the downtown
area in an apartment
979
00:51:46,088 --> 00:51:48,574
above just a vacant building orwhatever.
980
00:51:48,608 --> 00:51:49,989
- She said it was winter,
981
00:51:50,023 --> 00:51:53,545
it was like really,
really cold, like January.
982
00:51:53,579 --> 00:51:55,581
And she heard a thump
983
00:51:55,615 --> 00:51:57,065
and she had one of those roof
lines
984
00:51:57,099 --> 00:52:00,103
like came right up to the
window, two story house.
985
00:52:00,137 --> 00:52:02,347
And said she opened up
the window and she looked
986
00:52:02,380 --> 00:52:04,038
and it was sittin' there.
987
00:52:04,072 --> 00:52:06,108
And it was cold and it was
shivering.
988
00:52:06,143 --> 00:52:09,456
And it had taken its wings
and wrapped around itself.
989
00:52:12,460 --> 00:52:13,427
- A few years after that,
990
00:52:13,460 --> 00:52:15,739
I found the newspaper clipping
991
00:52:15,773 --> 00:52:20,192
of a police officer in
Charleston, West Virginia,
992
00:52:20,226 --> 00:52:23,608
who took a phone call from
someone
993
00:52:23,643 --> 00:52:25,853
who was looking out their window
994
00:52:25,887 --> 00:52:28,096
to the roof facade of their
house
995
00:52:28,130 --> 00:52:30,443
and they described it the exactsame way.
996
00:52:30,478 --> 00:52:33,585
And the police officer said,
you know, "What is it doing
997
00:52:33,619 --> 00:52:34,413
and where's it at?"
998
00:52:34,447 --> 00:52:35,690
And the person said,
999
00:52:35,724 --> 00:52:38,900
"It's sitting on our roof,
justright outside of our window
1000
00:52:38,934 --> 00:52:40,695
and I'm starin' at it."
1001
00:52:44,940 --> 00:52:46,735
- You know, is it possible thatLinda,
1002
00:52:46,769 --> 00:52:48,702
I mean she had a traumatic
experience,
1003
00:52:48,737 --> 00:52:51,568
is it possible some of this wasimagined?
1004
00:52:51,603 --> 00:52:55,193
I've spoken to Linda
Scarberry, very credible lady,
1005
00:52:55,226 --> 00:52:57,159
and I don't think she made up
any of this.
1006
00:52:57,195 --> 00:52:58,610
Even I would have to wonder,
1007
00:52:58,643 --> 00:53:01,164
if I had that original
experience
1008
00:53:01,199 --> 00:53:04,235
and then saw it again
afterwards, am I really seeing
it
1009
00:53:04,271 --> 00:53:06,755
or is it something, a sort of
artifact
1010
00:53:06,789 --> 00:53:07,998
of what happened before?
1011
00:53:09,206 --> 00:53:11,242
- I think even up to when she
passed away,
1012
00:53:11,277 --> 00:53:13,797
she was always very wary
1013
00:53:15,315 --> 00:53:16,523
of things around her.
1014
00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:19,320
You know, she seemed like she
was always on the lookout.
1015
00:53:33,954 --> 00:53:37,717
- I would say I was
probably 10, 11 at the time
1016
00:53:37,751 --> 00:53:39,858
and the holler that we lived in,
1017
00:53:39,891 --> 00:53:42,170
like the last street light was
probably,
1018
00:53:42,204 --> 00:53:44,827
I'd say 100 feet away
from where the house was
1019
00:53:44,862 --> 00:53:46,623
that I saw the Mothman.
1020
00:53:47,659 --> 00:53:50,248
I knew to be home before
dark, but I wasn't.
1021
00:53:50,282 --> 00:53:53,284
So when I was pushin' my
bike up to the holler,
1022
00:53:53,320 --> 00:53:54,907
the asphalt ended, the gravel
started,
1023
00:53:54,942 --> 00:53:56,322
that's where that house was.
1024
00:53:56,356 --> 00:53:58,289
The house was abandoned.
1025
00:53:58,324 --> 00:54:00,606
The guy that lived there, he
got killed in the coal mines.
1026
00:54:01,431 --> 00:54:02,581
And I happened to hear a noise
1027
00:54:02,605 --> 00:54:03,858
and I just happened to look over
1028
00:54:03,882 --> 00:54:06,918
and I seen somethin' standing
doorway and it had red eyes.
1029
00:54:08,956 --> 00:54:09,922
It was really tall.
1030
00:54:09,956 --> 00:54:11,717
I really remember the eyes,
1031
00:54:11,751 --> 00:54:14,132
like the reddest red you'd eversee.
1032
00:54:14,168 --> 00:54:15,963
He was at least seven foot tall.
1033
00:54:18,137 --> 00:54:21,278
So I started cryin' and I
felt like I stood there cryin'
1034
00:54:21,313 --> 00:54:24,489
and lookin' at it for
like at least 15 minutes.
1035
00:54:24,523 --> 00:54:26,869
And here come my brother's
friend, actually,
1036
00:54:26,905 --> 00:54:29,148
out of the holler and he'd seenit, too.
1037
00:54:29,182 --> 00:54:31,737
He picked up a rock, threw it atit
1038
00:54:31,771 --> 00:54:34,291
and it just kind of vanished.
1039
00:54:37,916 --> 00:54:40,159
I would say probably, maybe a
year later,
1040
00:54:41,021 --> 00:54:43,369
that me and one of my
buddies went in that house
1041
00:54:44,405 --> 00:54:45,485
we went in the basement part
1042
00:54:45,510 --> 00:54:47,097
and there was these weird
footprints.
1043
00:54:47,132 --> 00:54:50,030
It looked like they was
burnt into the concrete.
1044
00:54:50,065 --> 00:54:52,655
The best I can describe
it, they was in a Y shape
1045
00:54:52,688 --> 00:54:56,900
and like, they had blackaround
them, like they got hot.
1046
00:54:59,039 --> 00:55:00,697
Yeah, I've thought about it fora lot,
1047
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,322
I never really did go out
into the bottom by myself,
1048
00:55:05,356 --> 00:55:07,807
I was always home before dark
after that.
1049
00:55:07,842 --> 00:55:09,153
I was scared of that house
1050
00:55:09,188 --> 00:55:11,536
and finally, when they tore
it down, I was pretty happy.
1051
00:55:11,570 --> 00:55:13,847
If somebody talks about the
Mothman,
1052
00:55:13,882 --> 00:55:15,746
I'll tell my story, you know?
1053
00:55:15,780 --> 00:55:18,646
I always tell everybody,
"Hey, I've seen that thing."
1054
00:55:21,648 --> 00:55:26,170
- If the 1980s and '90s were
a down time regarding Mothman,
1055
00:55:26,204 --> 00:55:29,449
then the 2000s were to be the
creature's come-back tour.
1056
00:55:29,485 --> 00:55:31,934
In the year 2000, Jeff Wamsley
1057
00:55:31,969 --> 00:55:34,938
and fellow Mothman
enthusiast, Donnie Sergeant,
1058
00:55:34,972 --> 00:55:38,701
started a website dedicated to
tracking the Mothman legend,
1059
00:55:38,735 --> 00:55:40,943
called "Mothman Lives."
1060
00:55:40,978 --> 00:55:43,050
The website served to answer
questions
1061
00:55:43,083 --> 00:55:46,121
regarding the initial
wave of Mothman sightings
1062
00:55:46,155 --> 00:55:49,918
and was as much about
promotingthe town and the TNT Area
1063
00:55:49,952 --> 00:55:51,472
as it was the creature.
1064
00:55:52,438 --> 00:55:54,820
However, the Mothman's
popularity
1065
00:55:54,855 --> 00:55:56,788
was just beginning to grow.
1066
00:55:56,822 --> 00:55:59,791
In 2002, a feature film
adaptation
1067
00:55:59,824 --> 00:56:02,034
of "The Mothman Prophecies"
would see
1068
00:56:02,068 --> 00:56:05,485
a successful theatrical
launch in North America.
1069
00:56:05,521 --> 00:56:08,731
While the movie would bolster
the title character's stardom,
1070
00:56:08,764 --> 00:56:11,699
it would also serve to
enhance ongoing reports
1071
00:56:11,733 --> 00:56:13,182
of its presence.
1072
00:56:13,217 --> 00:56:15,806
- When I read the book,
"The Mothman Prophecies,"
1073
00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:19,293
I immediately knew that it
was addressing something
1074
00:56:19,327 --> 00:56:22,572
that had been brewing inside
me for a while, which was,
1075
00:56:22,606 --> 00:56:24,471
is there a way to write a movie
1076
00:56:24,505 --> 00:56:27,059
in which someone
experiences the paranormal,
1077
00:56:27,094 --> 00:56:31,719
but does not come away
solving a mystery or a crime?
1078
00:56:31,753 --> 00:56:35,653
Where they are left as
destabilized, to a certain
degree,
1079
00:56:35,688 --> 00:56:37,586
as real people are
1080
00:56:37,621 --> 00:56:39,519
when they typically
experienced the paranormal.
1081
00:56:39,554 --> 00:56:42,280
The arc of John Keel's
experience
1082
00:56:42,315 --> 00:56:45,733
and his trying to make senseof
the events in Point Pleasant
1083
00:56:45,768 --> 00:56:48,356
and ultimately not being able
to,
1084
00:56:48,391 --> 00:56:52,463
and then having to
simply take a step back,
1085
00:56:52,498 --> 00:56:55,052
accept that there are things
he's not ever going to be able
1086
00:56:55,086 --> 00:56:56,778
to totally understand,
1087
00:56:56,813 --> 00:56:58,436
and then go on with the rest ofhis life,
1088
00:56:58,469 --> 00:57:00,472
which is essentially what he
did.
1089
00:57:00,507 --> 00:57:03,371
- When Keel first found
out about the screenplay
1090
00:57:03,405 --> 00:57:06,478
for the film that was actually
made, he was actually giddy.
1091
00:57:06,512 --> 00:57:08,273
He had held off for a long time.
1092
00:57:09,791 --> 00:57:13,554
He felt that finally somebody
was kind of getting the,
1093
00:57:13,588 --> 00:57:15,762
sort of the underlying ideas orthemes
1094
00:57:15,797 --> 00:57:17,074
of "The Mothman Prophecies."
1095
00:57:17,108 --> 00:57:19,940
- I mean it was not a huge hit
when it came out by any means
1096
00:57:19,974 --> 00:57:22,735
and yet I do hear from
people who have seen it
1097
00:57:22,769 --> 00:57:25,289
and the ones who saw it
1098
00:57:25,324 --> 00:57:26,324
and
1099
00:57:27,016 --> 00:57:27,878
"liked it,"
1100
00:57:27,913 --> 00:57:29,155
They had a reaction to it.
1101
00:57:29,190 --> 00:57:32,608
The reaction, the one
I hear most often is,
1102
00:57:32,641 --> 00:57:37,646
"That was so scary and
I don't even know why."
1103
00:57:38,199 --> 00:57:40,822
- Following the release of
"The Mothman Prophecies,"
1104
00:57:40,856 --> 00:57:42,789
Point Pleasant found itself at
the center
1105
00:57:42,824 --> 00:57:45,516
of a second wave of Mothman
sightings.
1106
00:57:45,552 --> 00:57:46,621
As new encounters
1107
00:57:46,655 --> 00:57:49,521
with Appalachia's infamous
legend came to light,
1108
00:57:49,556 --> 00:57:52,523
Jeff Wamsley set aboutdocumenting
as much information
1109
00:57:52,559 --> 00:57:56,942
about the 1966 and '67
sightings as possible.
1110
00:57:56,976 --> 00:58:00,221
He interviewed witnesses and
unraveled long-buried accounts
1111
00:58:00,255 --> 00:58:03,603
for publication in two books
he would eventually publish,
1112
00:58:03,639 --> 00:58:06,538
"Mothman, The Facts Behind the
Legend,"
1113
00:58:06,572 --> 00:58:09,057
and "Behind the Red Eyes."
1114
00:58:09,092 --> 00:58:12,820
He also compiled physical
artifacts relating to the
Mothman
1115
00:58:12,855 --> 00:58:16,030
and in 2005, he opened his
collection to the public
1116
00:58:16,065 --> 00:58:19,309
inside the walls of what
would auspiciously become
1117
00:58:19,344 --> 00:58:22,554
the world's only Mothman Museum.
1118
00:58:23,521 --> 00:58:25,730
Meanwhile, the TNT Area itself
1119
00:58:25,764 --> 00:58:28,284
became a hub of activity once
again,
1120
00:58:28,318 --> 00:58:29,492
whether through chance
1121
00:58:29,527 --> 00:58:31,701
or due to the new found
attention brought on
1122
00:58:31,735 --> 00:58:33,081
by the release of the film.
1123
00:58:34,255 --> 00:58:36,809
In 2001, a paramedic driving
1124
00:58:36,844 --> 00:58:38,880
along the Kanawha River near
Leon
1125
00:58:38,914 --> 00:58:40,847
sighted a large winged creature
1126
00:58:40,882 --> 00:58:42,677
following the path of the water.
1127
00:58:44,818 --> 00:58:48,061
Four years later, a structural
engineer saw a creature
1128
00:58:48,097 --> 00:58:50,375
he described as having no arms,
1129
00:58:50,409 --> 00:58:52,826
but wings that bent and folded
inward
1130
00:58:52,860 --> 00:58:55,862
with a gray skin stretched overthe bone.
1131
00:58:55,898 --> 00:58:57,347
He claimed the creature
attempted
1132
00:58:57,382 --> 00:58:59,487
to communicate telepathically
with him
1133
00:58:59,521 --> 00:59:03,112
before taking to the sky at
a speed he estimated to be
1134
00:59:03,146 --> 00:59:05,320
over 50 miles per hour.
1135
00:59:06,735 --> 00:59:08,806
Hunter Bellamy, a Point Pleasantlocal,
1136
00:59:08,842 --> 00:59:11,016
recalled seeing red eyes in a
tree
1137
00:59:11,050 --> 00:59:13,605
as he drove within the TNT Area.
1138
00:59:13,639 --> 00:59:16,297
Eventually, a shadowy being
could be seen
1139
00:59:16,331 --> 00:59:18,576
as it took to the skies.
1140
00:59:18,610 --> 00:59:20,405
Two reports from hunters came in
1141
00:59:20,438 --> 00:59:24,202
during the years of 2009 and
2013.
1142
00:59:24,235 --> 00:59:27,826
They both claimed to have seen
a creature in the TNT Area.
1143
00:59:27,860 --> 00:59:30,449
In one case, it was
spotted directly behind
1144
00:59:30,483 --> 00:59:32,693
one of the abandoned munitions
bunkers.
1145
00:59:33,590 --> 00:59:35,454
As the 2000s ticked by,
1146
00:59:35,489 --> 00:59:38,215
a new element was added
to the Mothman lore,
1147
00:59:38,250 --> 00:59:41,840
one that was as rooted in
the original 1960 sightings
1148
00:59:41,875 --> 00:59:44,567
as it was in the current
activity.
1149
00:59:44,601 --> 00:59:46,500
A piece of the legend that had
been added
1150
00:59:46,534 --> 00:59:49,364
by none other than John Keel.
1151
00:59:55,958 --> 00:59:58,512
- There's the idea that
Mothman was a harbinger
1152
00:59:58,545 --> 01:00:01,032
and that it culminated
1153
01:00:01,065 --> 01:00:04,449
with the collapse of the
SilverBridge in December of '67.
1154
01:00:04,483 --> 01:00:07,693
- Over the years, you
know, the Mothman sightings
1155
01:00:07,728 --> 01:00:10,661
and the Mothman activity has
brought up the subject of,
1156
01:00:10,697 --> 01:00:12,353
was it a harbinger of doom?
1157
01:00:12,387 --> 01:00:15,978
Was it here to warn people of
the Silver Bridge collapse?
1158
01:00:16,012 --> 01:00:17,773
Honestly, a lot of the people,
you know,
1159
01:00:17,806 --> 01:00:19,222
when the bridge fell,
1160
01:00:19,257 --> 01:00:21,465
nobody really talked
about that a whole lot.
1161
01:00:21,500 --> 01:00:23,744
They were shocked the
bridge had collapsed,
1162
01:00:23,778 --> 01:00:26,505
but then, you know, the
movies were comin' out,
1163
01:00:26,539 --> 01:00:28,059
John Keel's book
1164
01:00:28,092 --> 01:00:30,405
and different little things
were poppin' up sayin',
1165
01:00:30,440 --> 01:00:32,925
hey, you know, every time
somethin' bad happens,
1166
01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:34,961
you know, there's a
sighting of this creature.
1167
01:00:34,996 --> 01:00:37,827
- The idea that it was a
harbinger of doom
1168
01:00:37,862 --> 01:00:39,932
was sort of baked into the book.
1169
01:00:39,967 --> 01:00:44,523
And then as I was
adapting it for the movie,
1170
01:00:44,557 --> 01:00:47,422
that also seemed a link I wantedto make,
1171
01:00:47,456 --> 01:00:49,527
that there was, you know,
I mean, obviously that
1172
01:00:49,563 --> 01:00:52,393
that sort of gives the story
the propulsion that it had,
1173
01:00:52,427 --> 01:00:55,914
the feeling that all of thisstuff
was leading to something.
1174
01:00:55,949 --> 01:01:00,780
- Because of circumstantial
events that happened,
1175
01:01:00,815 --> 01:01:04,474
Mothman has been kind of
labeledas this harbinger of doom.
1176
01:01:04,509 --> 01:01:07,304
You know, he's been allegedly
sighted
1177
01:01:07,338 --> 01:01:11,342
before Chernobyl happened
and I've heard 9/11,
1178
01:01:12,516 --> 01:01:14,391
you know, and of course
that here in Point Pleasant
1179
01:01:14,414 --> 01:01:15,864
before the bridge collapsed.
1180
01:01:15,900 --> 01:01:17,704
- I've talked to some of
the original witnesses
1181
01:01:17,728 --> 01:01:20,697
and some of them firmly
believe that that's true.
1182
01:01:20,731 --> 01:01:24,804
Some people believe that
it created the disaster.
1183
01:01:24,840 --> 01:01:27,117
Others say, no, it just
coincided with it.
1184
01:01:27,152 --> 01:01:29,498
- The notion that the Mothman isseen
1185
01:01:29,534 --> 01:01:33,088
at the site of later
disasters is something
1186
01:01:33,123 --> 01:01:34,884
that I'm pretty sure I made up.
1187
01:01:34,918 --> 01:01:38,335
But again, because it was
part of the original story,
1188
01:01:38,369 --> 01:01:41,027
it felt like let's
extrapolate this outward.
1189
01:01:41,063 --> 01:01:43,134
I almost get the feeling
that once it was suggested
1190
01:01:43,168 --> 01:01:46,724
in the movie that people had
seen the Mothman at Chernobyl,
1191
01:01:46,757 --> 01:01:50,382
I think it became sort
of part of urban legend
1192
01:01:50,416 --> 01:01:51,831
because then I began to hear
1193
01:01:51,867 --> 01:01:54,766
that story being reported
back to me from other sources.
1194
01:01:54,800 --> 01:01:56,146
- People will compare it to,
1195
01:01:56,181 --> 01:01:59,875
obviously the banshee wailing
before someone's about to die
1196
01:01:59,909 --> 01:02:02,255
and there are several
traditions like that.
1197
01:02:02,291 --> 01:02:05,501
- The banshees are part of Irishfolklore.
1198
01:02:05,534 --> 01:02:08,780
They're women that
appear and scream, weep,
1199
01:02:08,815 --> 01:02:10,023
whenever someone,
1200
01:02:10,056 --> 01:02:14,061
that is part of the familyline
that they're connected to,
1201
01:02:14,096 --> 01:02:15,822
is doomed to die.
1202
01:02:15,856 --> 01:02:18,409
It's kind of not the thing
that you want to hear.
1203
01:02:18,445 --> 01:02:22,137
- A banshee is an
Irish-Scottish death fairy.
1204
01:02:22,172 --> 01:02:24,934
And even though she
does not cause a death,
1205
01:02:24,969 --> 01:02:26,797
she will announce the death
1206
01:02:26,833 --> 01:02:29,938
with her high-pitched wailing
cries.
1207
01:02:29,974 --> 01:02:32,182
And we've got a banshee
in the Parkersburg area
1208
01:02:32,217 --> 01:02:34,115
called the Banshee of Marrtown
1209
01:02:34,150 --> 01:02:36,289
and I consider that folklore ofcourse.
1210
01:02:36,324 --> 01:02:39,568
Something happened, it's
been added onto over time,
1211
01:02:39,603 --> 01:02:41,744
but it's interesting that
she does have red eyes
1212
01:02:41,778 --> 01:02:44,297
and she is a harbinger of doom,
1213
01:02:44,333 --> 01:02:46,231
they say much like the Mothman.
1214
01:02:48,681 --> 01:02:50,960
- The key to the Mothman's
origins may be found
1215
01:02:50,994 --> 01:02:54,032
in the Native American or
Scotch-Irish oral traditions
1216
01:02:54,067 --> 01:02:56,206
of those that first inhabited
Appalachia.
1217
01:02:57,380 --> 01:02:59,831
Stories of banshees, enormous
owls,
1218
01:02:59,865 --> 01:03:03,076
and even the Garuda all
have ancient origins.
1219
01:03:03,110 --> 01:03:05,422
Passed from generation to
generation,
1220
01:03:05,456 --> 01:03:09,391
these tales bear a startling
similarity to one another.
1221
01:03:09,427 --> 01:03:11,324
Their central character arrives,
1222
01:03:11,360 --> 01:03:14,811
carried on the wind by its
wings to offer a warning,
1223
01:03:14,846 --> 01:03:18,436
a warning of death,
destruction and tragedy.
1224
01:03:18,469 --> 01:03:21,715
Behind the red eyes of a new
figure, like the Mothman,
1225
01:03:21,748 --> 01:03:24,268
might lie an ancient secret,
1226
01:03:24,304 --> 01:03:27,134
one which can still be found
today,
1227
01:03:27,168 --> 01:03:31,380
though seeking it might be the
last thing we should attempt.
1228
01:03:37,523 --> 01:03:39,594
- Well, five years ago,
1229
01:03:39,628 --> 01:03:43,702
my dad was diagnosed with heart
disease
1230
01:03:43,737 --> 01:03:44,887
and was goin' through heart
failure.
1231
01:03:44,911 --> 01:03:48,672
Then finally, the doctors got
him stable.
1232
01:03:48,706 --> 01:03:52,262
It went on and then this year,
Father's Day of this year,
1233
01:03:52,297 --> 01:03:54,092
we all went to the mountains.
1234
01:03:54,126 --> 01:03:55,887
The following weekend, he callsme
1235
01:03:55,922 --> 01:04:00,340
and said, "Hey, I've fallin'
and I can't get back up."
1236
01:04:00,373 --> 01:04:05,034
So I go to his house and he
was unable to feel his legs.
1237
01:04:05,068 --> 01:04:07,485
He spent some time in the
hospital.
1238
01:04:07,518 --> 01:04:09,152
He didn't want nothin' else
to do with the hospital,
1239
01:04:09,175 --> 01:04:10,521
so we brought him home.
1240
01:04:11,592 --> 01:04:13,594
We had to have two people
with him at all times.
1241
01:04:13,628 --> 01:04:17,288
I was there most days and
I was actually sleeping
1242
01:04:17,322 --> 01:04:19,530
on the dining room
floor on an air mattress
1243
01:04:19,565 --> 01:04:20,911
and my brother was sleeping
1244
01:04:23,672 --> 01:04:26,021
on the couch beside the hospitalbed.
1245
01:04:26,054 --> 01:04:28,713
As a laid on the mattress, I'd
dozed off,
1246
01:04:28,746 --> 01:04:31,992
I immediately started
feeling like I was dreaming.
1247
01:04:38,447 --> 01:04:42,313
I had a dream that my son
was standin' beside my bed.
1248
01:04:42,347 --> 01:04:43,141
- Daddy.
1249
01:04:43,175 --> 01:04:44,280
- There beside the bed
1250
01:04:44,315 --> 01:04:47,144
and I remember in the
dream asking him, you know,
1251
01:04:47,179 --> 01:04:49,733
why he was there, who brought
him there
1252
01:04:49,768 --> 01:04:50,907
and how'd he get there.
1253
01:04:51,838 --> 01:04:54,083
And I guess I had enough
consciousness to know
1254
01:04:54,117 --> 01:04:56,016
he shouldn't be there.
1255
01:04:56,050 --> 01:04:57,259
So I immediately woke up
1256
01:04:59,260 --> 01:05:01,262
and when I did there was this,
1257
01:05:02,228 --> 01:05:05,715
the figure standing beside
the bed had long arms,
1258
01:05:05,750 --> 01:05:07,510
skinny, like fingers, skinny
arms,
1259
01:05:08,614 --> 01:05:12,170
skinny legs with kind
of bulky lookin' feet,
1260
01:05:13,137 --> 01:05:16,588
wings above his shoulders and
its face,
1261
01:05:16,623 --> 01:05:21,628
I could see like dark largecircles
where its eyes would be.
1262
01:05:22,525 --> 01:05:25,114
I stared at it for
probably five seconds or so
1263
01:05:25,148 --> 01:05:26,148
and then it just,
1264
01:05:27,909 --> 01:05:29,543
I don't want to say walk
'cause it didn't walk,
1265
01:05:29,567 --> 01:05:33,364
it glided quickly across
the top of my feet
1266
01:05:33,398 --> 01:05:34,503
and into another room.
1267
01:05:36,815 --> 01:05:38,610
I laid there for a second,
1268
01:05:38,644 --> 01:05:41,268
tryin' to figure out what I wasseein'.
1269
01:05:41,302 --> 01:05:43,132
I got up later that morning,
1270
01:05:46,273 --> 01:05:47,411
Dad was doin' pretty good.
1271
01:05:47,447 --> 01:05:49,483
Sat there with him with my
brother.
1272
01:05:49,518 --> 01:05:52,762
We got up early on the 14th,
1273
01:05:52,797 --> 01:05:54,385
or about nine o'clock on the
14th,
1274
01:05:54,418 --> 01:05:56,525
hospice called and said they
were comin'.
1275
01:05:56,559 --> 01:05:58,320
I said, "Okay, he's not doin' sowell.
1276
01:05:58,353 --> 01:05:59,666
I'll see you in a little bit."
1277
01:05:59,699 --> 01:06:01,737
As soon as I hung up the phone,
1278
01:06:01,771 --> 01:06:04,360
I noticed him gaspin' for air.
1279
01:06:04,394 --> 01:06:07,536
I went in, helped him lay down
on his bed,
1280
01:06:07,570 --> 01:06:09,226
held his hand and he passed
away.
1281
01:06:10,297 --> 01:06:13,092
So
1282
01:06:13,128 --> 01:06:14,681
That's when I, you know,
1283
01:06:14,715 --> 01:06:18,132
we called everybody and
my brothers come over.
1284
01:06:18,166 --> 01:06:19,443
I would draw all this,
1285
01:06:19,478 --> 01:06:22,516
I kept drawin' this figure thatl'd seen.
1286
01:06:22,550 --> 01:06:23,907
I couldn't figure out
what it was, you know,
1287
01:06:23,931 --> 01:06:25,047
or I was tryin' to figure out itwas
1288
01:06:25,070 --> 01:06:26,657
and drawin' it was kind of
helping me
1289
01:06:26,693 --> 01:06:28,867
trying to figure it out, I
guess.
1290
01:06:28,902 --> 01:06:31,215
We're sitting at the
table, my brothers and I,
1291
01:06:31,248 --> 01:06:34,597
and I explained to 'em what I
saw
1292
01:06:34,632 --> 01:06:36,427
and my middle brother looks at
me
1293
01:06:36,460 --> 01:06:39,568
and goes, "Do you remember
whatdad told us five years ago?
1294
01:06:39,601 --> 01:06:41,027
You know when he was going
through heart failure
1295
01:06:41,052 --> 01:06:42,052
the first time?"
1296
01:06:45,539 --> 01:06:48,853
And it was a dark figure
stood in a corner.
1297
01:06:52,788 --> 01:06:55,480
- The Mothman and other
strange winged creatures
1298
01:06:55,514 --> 01:06:58,586
are still seen around Appalachiatoday.
1299
01:06:58,621 --> 01:07:01,210
Jeff Wamsley's Mothman Museum
continues
1300
01:07:01,244 --> 01:07:04,005
to document the original
rash of sightings,
1301
01:07:04,041 --> 01:07:06,974
as well as the more modern day
accounts.
1302
01:07:07,009 --> 01:07:09,873
John Keel passed away in 2009,
1303
01:07:09,907 --> 01:07:11,945
but not before he finally made areturn
1304
01:07:11,978 --> 01:07:13,635
to the town of Point Pleasant,
1305
01:07:13,670 --> 01:07:15,603
where he was able to see what
had become
1306
01:07:15,637 --> 01:07:18,538
of one of the more prominent
pieces of his legacy.
1307
01:07:18,572 --> 01:07:20,333
- I think John Keel was very
pleased
1308
01:07:20,367 --> 01:07:21,541
with what Jeff had done.
1309
01:07:21,574 --> 01:07:25,440
He had seen the original
incarnation of the museum.
1310
01:07:25,476 --> 01:07:28,271
It's there because of him,
because of his efforts.
1311
01:07:28,306 --> 01:07:31,965
Something he did years ago is
finally coming to fruition.
1312
01:07:31,998 --> 01:07:34,173
So I think that he was very
pleased.
1313
01:07:34,208 --> 01:07:36,900
He warned the people of
Point Pleasant early on
1314
01:07:36,934 --> 01:07:40,146
about this idea that this
is folklore in the making
1315
01:07:40,179 --> 01:07:42,940
and this little town may
not be prepared for it.
1316
01:07:42,976 --> 01:07:45,943
And he gave the warning
again when the film came out,
1317
01:07:45,978 --> 01:07:49,050
to just a small town of
just several thousand,
1318
01:07:49,085 --> 01:07:53,193
and the film may be bringing
a lot more people in droves
1319
01:07:53,228 --> 01:07:54,297
than they're used to.
1320
01:07:56,851 --> 01:07:59,958
- It is a very personal movie tome,
1321
01:07:59,992 --> 01:08:01,235
but what's odd about it
1322
01:08:01,269 --> 01:08:05,757
is that I have never experiencedanything.
1323
01:08:05,791 --> 01:08:07,965
I've never seen a UFO,
I've never seen a ghost,
1324
01:08:08,001 --> 01:08:10,521
I've never had a weird phone
call, I mean, none of it.
1325
01:08:10,554 --> 01:08:12,211
When I talk about the
supernatural,
1326
01:08:12,246 --> 01:08:15,422
I say, "You've got the
Mozarts and the Salieris.
1327
01:08:15,456 --> 01:08:17,596
You know, the guys who
actually experience it
1328
01:08:17,631 --> 01:08:20,426
and the guys that wish
they could, but haven't
1329
01:08:20,462 --> 01:08:22,153
and can only stare at those
1330
01:08:22,188 --> 01:08:25,051
who have seen behind the veil ofreality
1331
01:08:25,087 --> 01:08:26,778
and look upon them with envy."
1332
01:08:26,813 --> 01:08:28,894
And I used to look upon them
with envy and I used to think,
1333
01:08:28,917 --> 01:08:31,506
"Wow, as soon as have a
few bucks in my pocket,
1334
01:08:31,542 --> 01:08:34,716
I'm gonna give it all,
you know, get out of LA,
1335
01:08:34,752 --> 01:08:37,926
go investigate the hauntedhouses
and the haunted places,"
1336
01:08:37,962 --> 01:08:40,965
and now I don't feel
that way anymore at all.
1337
01:08:40,998 --> 01:08:44,934
I say, let the Mozart's
deal with their experiences,
1338
01:08:44,969 --> 01:08:47,177
I'm happy to be a Salieri.
1339
01:08:47,212 --> 01:08:50,077
- Like Keel, Jeff Wamsley's
research continues
1340
01:08:50,112 --> 01:08:53,079
to keep Point Pleasant on
the international stage.
1341
01:08:53,114 --> 01:08:56,153
Thousands attend the
Mothman Festival each year,
1342
01:08:56,186 --> 01:08:58,465
making it one of the
two best attended events
1343
01:08:58,500 --> 01:09:00,708
in the state of West Virginia.
1344
01:09:00,743 --> 01:09:02,296
The museum, meanwhile,
1345
01:09:02,331 --> 01:09:05,368
continues to grow,
attracting scores of people
1346
01:09:05,403 --> 01:09:08,234
to a town they might
never have even heard of
1347
01:09:08,268 --> 01:09:10,028
were it not for the Mothman.
1348
01:09:10,926 --> 01:09:13,618
The museum acts as a sort of
living story,
1349
01:09:13,653 --> 01:09:16,448
part of a tradition of
storytelling come to life
1350
01:09:16,483 --> 01:09:19,796
that is rooted in the cultural
heritage of the region.
1351
01:09:19,831 --> 01:09:23,248
A tradition that stretches
back far beyond North America
1352
01:09:23,283 --> 01:09:25,354
and helps to highlight today,
1353
01:09:25,389 --> 01:09:29,393
this lone page among the
centuries of Appalachian
history.
1354
01:09:29,426 --> 01:09:31,842
- What Jeff did was he went back
1355
01:09:31,877 --> 01:09:34,260
and he interviewed some
of the original witnesses.
1356
01:09:34,293 --> 01:09:36,814
And the thing is that it had
been, at that point in time,
1357
01:09:36,847 --> 01:09:39,988
it had been 35, 40 years after
the events
1358
01:09:40,024 --> 01:09:41,542
and he corrected some of the
things
1359
01:09:41,577 --> 01:09:44,960
that were not quite right
in "The Mothman Prophecies."
1360
01:09:44,993 --> 01:09:47,306
That was so, so valuable.
1361
01:09:49,619 --> 01:09:52,346
Dad's legacy,
1362
01:09:52,381 --> 01:09:55,764
I just, I would say it's gotta
be Mothman.
1363
01:09:55,797 --> 01:09:57,972
I mean, it is bigger than that
though.
1364
01:09:58,006 --> 01:10:00,631
Whether locals or whatever
want to admit it or not,
1365
01:10:00,664 --> 01:10:04,427
Mothman has really reversed
a lot of the negative stuff
1366
01:10:04,462 --> 01:10:05,359
of Point Pleasant.
1367
01:10:05,394 --> 01:10:07,637
What I mean is lack of business,
1368
01:10:07,671 --> 01:10:09,949
lack of interest, lack of
opportunity.
1369
01:10:11,296 --> 01:10:15,265
It's kind of just blossomed overtime.
1370
01:10:15,301 --> 01:10:17,163
That in itself is major.
1371
01:10:20,167 --> 01:10:24,240
- I'm a grandfather now,
so I think, you know,
1372
01:10:24,274 --> 01:10:26,725
if I left a legacy, it would be,
1373
01:10:26,760 --> 01:10:30,176
be motivated, go out
and chase your dreams.
1374
01:10:30,212 --> 01:10:32,145
I mean, you know, I've
done that all my life
1375
01:10:32,179 --> 01:10:34,940
and some have come true
and some you know have not.
1376
01:10:34,975 --> 01:10:38,012
But you know, be creative
and be nice to other people.
1377
01:10:38,046 --> 01:10:39,877
That's probably the
bottom line is, you know,
1378
01:10:39,911 --> 01:10:41,430
be nice to other people.
1379
01:10:41,465 --> 01:10:43,363
I learned that from my parents
though.
1380
01:10:45,020 --> 01:10:47,021
Well, my daughter, Ashley, you
know,
1381
01:10:47,055 --> 01:10:50,024
from a young age was brought
up a lot differently probably
1382
01:10:50,059 --> 01:10:51,198
than most kids.
1383
01:10:51,233 --> 01:10:52,485
I always tell her, I'll say, youknow,
1384
01:10:52,510 --> 01:10:55,547
"I'm retirin' here in a
year, you can have all this
1385
01:10:55,582 --> 01:10:57,618
and take care of all the museum
1386
01:10:57,653 --> 01:11:00,069
and the festival and all that,"you know.
1387
01:11:06,454 --> 01:11:10,976
- It's very important to hold
onto these old tales, legends.
1388
01:11:11,011 --> 01:11:15,809
I think Mothman has kinda
movedinto the area of folklore,
1389
01:11:15,844 --> 01:11:19,225
where people are continuing
to add to the story.
1390
01:11:19,261 --> 01:11:23,300
The folktales tell us who we
are.
1391
01:11:23,333 --> 01:11:26,095
It helps us remember who we are.
1392
01:11:26,130 --> 01:11:28,960
It helps us remember those
Celtic roots,
1393
01:11:28,994 --> 01:11:34,000
those Native American roots,
so we know who we are.
1394
01:11:34,033 --> 01:11:36,864
And really, that's an
importantthing for every person
1395
01:11:36,899 --> 01:11:40,765
is to know who you are, to
know what your talents are.
1396
01:11:40,800 --> 01:11:42,007
That's very important
1397
01:11:42,042 --> 01:11:45,908
and I think it's a good reason
to remember these stories.
1398
01:11:54,537 --> 01:11:56,539
- Fear is a funny thing.
1399
01:11:56,573 --> 01:11:59,715
In the end, it's part of our
life.
1400
01:11:59,750 --> 01:12:02,717
You can't outrun it or hide fromit.
1401
01:12:02,752 --> 01:12:07,033
All we can do is name it,
embrace it and learn from it.
1402
01:12:08,206 --> 01:12:11,037
Maybe the true power of an
event isn't fully realized
1403
01:12:11,070 --> 01:12:12,865
until it's retold.
1404
01:12:12,900 --> 01:12:15,938
Until we can put into
words our own experiences
1405
01:12:15,972 --> 01:12:17,354
and share them with others.
1406
01:12:18,319 --> 01:12:22,600
What we share might be
laughteror tears, joy or sorrow.
1407
01:12:23,636 --> 01:12:25,292
Occasionally though,
1408
01:12:25,327 --> 01:12:30,194
it's something more,
something primal and ageless.
1409
01:12:33,680 --> 01:12:37,960
Sometimes what we share is
nothing more than our fear,
1410
01:12:39,029 --> 01:12:42,344
but at least for a moment, we
are together
1411
01:12:43,759 --> 01:12:45,104
in the dark.
113308
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