Case: Mothman
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A headless, winged humanoid creature seen around Point Pleasant West Virginia and around the Ohio River from 1966 to 1967, culminating in the collapse of the Silver Bridge.
First seen on November 15th, 1966 by two couples in a car who were parked by an abandoned TNT plant at night. The creature suddenly landed some feet in front of them and could be seen in the glow of the headlights. It had large eyes placed around it's shoulder area with no head to be seen. It was winged and described as man like, 6 to 7 feet tall.
The two couples, the Scarberry's and Mallette's were startled and agreed they needed to leave immediately. They drove away and the creature followed. It easily kept up with their car, even as they sped up to 100 miles an hour. It kept up with them without flapping its wings. They said it made squeaking sounds like a mouse.
They drove straight to the police station and reported the event, even confessing speeding. The police convinced by the gravity of the fear, drove out to the plant, but found nothing.
Another group also reported seeing it the same night.
The same night, 90 miles to the North, a man named Newell Partridge was watching TV when it suddenly started behaving strangly. The screen began changing between different patterns and making whining noises before going dead.
Partidges dog began howling and growling on the porch. He went out to see what was the matter. He found his dog was staring out towards the barn. He shined a light out towards the barn and saw to large red eyes.
His dog suddenly ran out towards the barn barking and snarling. Spooked, he went back in his gun but then decided to stay inside. The next morning he found his dogs tracks out by the barn going in circles. He never saw his dog again.
The next night a couple and a friend of theirs were leaving a friends house when a large Grey creature landed near their car. It was larger than a man and had red eyes about the shoulders and wings.
It so frightened one of the women who was carrying an infant that she dropped the child. A friend grabbed the child and they all ran ba k up and into the house. The creature followed coming onto the porch. They could see its red eyes looking into the windows and it made strange sounds. They called police, but by the time police got there, it was gone.
There were several other sitings of the Mothman through the next year. On December 15th, 1967 the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River between Ohio and West Virginia at Point Pleasant collapsed killing 46 people. There were sitings of the Mothman flying above the bridge just before it collapsed. The Mothman was not seen again after.
Possibilities/Conclusions: On its face this seems to be an eery culmination of events. Experts have offered explanations that the mothman was one of several large birds such as the sand Hill crane or the barn owl. Mass hysteria has also been offered as a possibility. Perhaps a combination of both.
Some believe the mothman was a dark creature of omen, warning of the coming bridge collapse. In all likelihood, the sightings of the creature and the collapse are separate unrelated events combined by happenstance.
The bridge collapse was caused by a defect in a link in one of the eye bars. The bridge took on too much weight over time. Corrosion in unison with taking on more weight than it was designed for caused the bridge to give way.
Perhaps, we will never know what exactly the mothman was. Did people mistake a large bird, contorted by the darkness and fear as the mothman? Was there really some creature unknown to man that showed up in West Virginia in 1966? If so, why did it disappear never to be seen again. Why is there no real evidence of it? Was it an omen? A creature of the paranormal?