1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: show that demystifies history every day of the week. I'm 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: Gabe Lueesier, and today we're doing some monster hunting in 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: the hills of Braxton County to see if we can 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: uncover the truth behind one of the world's most notorious cryptids. 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: After the day was September twelfth, nineteen fifty two, seven 8 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: people encountered a mysterious creature on a farm in Flatwoods, 9 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: West Virginia. What they saw that late summer evening quickly 10 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: became the subject of regional folklore and is now known 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: as the Flatwoods Monster, the Green Monster, or the Phantom 12 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: of Flatwoods. It's one of several cryptids or animals whose 13 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: egg distance is unproven that's rumored to reside in the 14 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: rural hillsides of West Virginia. It was described by those 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: who saw it as a ten foot tall monster with 16 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: a blood red body, a head shaped like the ace 17 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: of spades, and a green face that seemed to glow. 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: The creature was also said to have twisted, claw like 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: arms and was draped in what looked like a metal dress. 20 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: Or cloak, which seemed to hover above the ground. That 21 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: other worldly appearance, coupled with the presence of a meteor 22 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: that night, led many to speculate that the flat Woods 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: Monster was actually an alien whose ship had crashed somewhere 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: near by. However, more than seventy years later, paranormal investigators 25 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: now have a theory that's much more down to earth. 26 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: The first reported sighting of the flat Woods Monster was 27 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: on the evening of September twelfth, nineteen fifty two, just 28 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: around dusk. Three young boys, brothers Fred and Edward May, 29 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: and their friend Tommy Hyer, were playing in the schoolyard 30 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: of Flatwood's elementary when they spotted a bright red light 31 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: streaking across the sky overhead. A moment later, the light 32 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: appeared to crash into a hillside on a nearby farm, 33 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: so the boys decided to trek over and see what 34 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: it was. Along the way, they stopped off at the 35 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: May's house and told the brother's mom, Kathleen May, what 36 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: they had seen in the sky. Her curiosity peaked, Kathleen 37 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: decided to accompany the boys to the supposed crash site, 38 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: but first she called on a seventeen year old national 39 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: guardsman named Eugene Lemon to assist them. They were quickly 40 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: joined by two other local children, Neil Nunley and Ronnie Shaver, 41 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: as well as by the May family dog, Ritchie. It 42 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: was pitch black by the time the group reached the hillside, 43 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: but near the top they could see a pulsing red light. 44 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: Eugene Lemon pointed as flashlight in that direction, and that's 45 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: when when they saw it, a towering creature with orange 46 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: glowing eyes. Suddenly, a sickening mist filled the air, and 47 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: the creature hissed and glided toward them with its claws outstretched. 48 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: Lemon screamed understandably and dropped his flashlight, at which point 49 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: the whole group turned and fled in terror. Later on, 50 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: some members of the group reported strange symptoms, including throat irritation, nausea, 51 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: and vomiting, which they said lasted for several days. Most 52 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: people wrote off these illnesses as side effects of hysteria, 53 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: but the witnesses insisted it was due to their exposure 54 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: to the pungent mist produced either by the creature or 55 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: by its spacecraft. Kathleen May and Eugene Lemon reported the 56 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: incident to the local police and a search of the 57 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: area was conducted the same night of the sighting, though 58 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. According to a 59 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: local newspaper, the state police quote laughed off the reports 60 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: as hysteria, but others took it more seriously, especially when 61 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: multiple other residents began reporting similar encounters around the same time. Eventually, 62 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: national newspapers began reporting on the September twelfth sighting, and 63 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: Missus May and Guardsman Lemon even gave a TV interview 64 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: on CBS. The mainstream coverage ultimately caught the attention of 65 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: the US Air Force, which sent a team of investigators 66 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: to look into the residents claims. That inquiry was part 67 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,679 Speaker 1: of Project Blue Book, an ongoing study of unidentified flying 68 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: objects conducted by the Air Force from nineteen fifty two 69 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: to nineteen sixty nine. In the case of the Flatwoods sighting, 70 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: the agency concluded that the bright light the boys had 71 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: seen that night was from a meteor, not a spaceship. 72 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Residents in three states, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia had 73 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: observed the same medior shooting across the sky that night, 74 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: and while the May brothers and their friends thought they 75 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: had seen it, crash into the hillside. It likely just 76 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: passed out of their view beyond the hill and kept 77 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: on going. As for the pulsing red lights they saw 78 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: near the area of the sighting, those were likely from 79 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: a passing airplane or from a nearby navigation beacon meant 80 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: to keep planes from flying too low. The sickly mist 81 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: they reported was also explained relatively easily. The sheriff's deputies 82 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: had observed a fog settling over the hillside that night, 83 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: and there was a strong smelling type of grass that 84 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: was known to grow all over Braxton County. The witnesses, 85 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: who were already on edge that night, likely connected the 86 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: odor to the fog and then had a particularly strong 87 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: reaction to it due to all their fear and adrenaline. 88 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: But assuming all that's true, what about the monster itself, 89 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: the one with a large, pointed, hoodlike face and small 90 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: claws for hands. Surely seven people didn't just imagine such 91 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: a creature hissing and flying straight at them. No, the 92 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: group absolutely saw something that night, They just didn't know 93 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: what it was and immediately jumped to one of the 94 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: most far fetched conclusions in reality. Based on the shape, movement, 95 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: and noises reported by the witnesses, they most likely encountered 96 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: nothing but a startled barn owl. Lemon's flashlight likely spooked 97 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: the bird and caused its eyes to glow. Then it 98 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: leapt from the tree branch it had been perched on 99 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: and flew toward them with its talons outstretched. Later investigations 100 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: came to the same conclusions as the air force, but 101 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: the seven witnesses remained unconvinced, maintaining that what they had 102 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: seen that night defied explanation. That may be true, but 103 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: it's worth noting that the flat Woods Monster has not 104 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: been seen again since nineteen fifty two. Of course, that 105 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: hasn't stopped the tiny town of Flatwoods and the surrounding 106 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: communities from cashing in on their colorful local legend. Today, 107 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: thousands of tourists visit the Appalachian Hills hoping to catch 108 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: a glimpse of the Green Monster from space. So far, 109 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: none of them seem to have found it, though the 110 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: many painted photo ops, bumper stickers, and T shirts surely 111 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: make for fine consolation prices. I'm Gabe Lucier, and hopefully 112 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 113 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you enjoyed Today's show. Consider keeping 114 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you 115 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: can find us at TDI HC Show. You can also 116 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you 117 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: can send your feedback directly by writing to This Day 118 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 119 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 120 00:07:46,320 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class.