1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Strange Arrivals is a production of iHeart Radio in grim 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: and mild from Aaron Nakey. For the best experience, listen 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: with headphones. 4 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 2: We had a variety of strange incidents that happened over 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 2: and over again and never made any sense at all. 6 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 2: One of my favorites is the phantom meter reader. 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 3: This is where a. 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 2: Man would knock at a door of a house in 9 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 2: the suburbs and say he'd come to read the meter, 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 2: the electric meter, the gas meter, and he would be 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 2: dressed in the proper coveralls and all, and they would 12 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 2: let him in. He'd go down into the basement. He 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 2: wouldn't come out, and these people. 14 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 3: After about an hour. 15 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 2: They said, what the hell is he doing? 16 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 4: Down to my face? 17 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 2: And they would look and sometimes a man would be 18 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 2: gone all together, never to be seen again, and even 19 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 2: though there was no way out of his face at 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 2: that basement. But the found of mena readers was one 21 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,119 Speaker 2: type of MiB that we had. 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 5: I'm Toby Ball and this is Strange Rivals Episode nine. 23 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 5: The monster in the. 24 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:34,119 Speaker 6: Igloos what is Battleship Gray five to seven feet tall, 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 6: has a pair of red eyes two inches in diameter, 26 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 6: which blaze like two lasers, wings which extend to ten 27 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 6: feet when spread, and loves to chase automobiles. Give up 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 6: if it's any constellation. Nobody else seems to know what 29 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 6: it is either, but over one hundred people in Ohio 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 6: and West Virginia swear that they have seen such a 31 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 6: creature since November nineteen sixty six. 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 5: These are the opening words to an article in the 33 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 5: October nineteen sixty eight edition of Saga magazine titled Mothman Monster. 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 6: The subtitle was Is it a bizarre behemoth from the 35 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 6: bowels of the Earth or is it some winged night 36 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 6: maarish visitor from outer space? One thing is sure. It 37 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 6: has terrorized hundreds of people in Ohio and West Virginia, 38 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 6: and its nocturnal visits are becoming more frequent and frightening. 39 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 5: The author was an eccentric paranormal researcher named John Keel. 40 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 5: Although he never saw the Mothman, he is the pivotal 41 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 5: character in this story because, through his reporting and his 42 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 5: book The Mothman Prophecies, he turned the story of a 43 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 5: few sightings into a compelling tale that captured the public imagination. 44 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 5: Because of Kiel's influence on how we have come to 45 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 5: understand the Mothman story. It's helpful to be clear about 46 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 5: the actual sightings around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, beginning in 47 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 5: late nineteen sixty six, and then the way Keel related 48 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 5: those events to create the popular legend we now know 49 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 5: the Mothman sightings really began around midnight on November fifteenth, 50 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 5: nineteen sixty six. Two young married couples identified in the 51 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 5: Saga article as mister and missus Roger Scarberry and mister 52 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 5: and missus Steve Molett. We're driving through a place known 53 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 5: as the TNT area, about seven miles outside of Point Pleasant, 54 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 5: West Virginia. This is John Keel from a fort Fest 55 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 5: convention in the nineteen nineties. 56 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 3: In November of nineteen sixty six, forty young people in 57 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 3: a car and we're driving past this building. And he 58 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 3: saw what looked like a very large man six or 59 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 3: seven feet twelve next to this color plant, and for 60 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 3: some reason, they were all he scared to death. They 61 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 3: were all scared to death. 62 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 5: Roger Scarberry told Kiel that quote. It was shaped like 63 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 5: a man, but bigger, maybe six and a half or 64 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 5: seven feet tall, and it had big wings folded against 65 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 5: its back. Scarberry's wife added that it was those eyes 66 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 5: that got us. It had two big red eyes like 67 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 5: automobile tail light reflectors. 68 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 3: Suddenly, boy who was driving at the accelerator and they 69 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 3: drove out of here in a high speed, and looking back, 70 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 3: this thing rose up in the air and followed their car. 71 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 3: And they were going over sixty miles an hour on 72 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 3: these jared roads and this thing was flying right along 73 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 3: with it. So they drove straight to the police station. 74 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 5: Roger told Keel quote, it followed us right to the 75 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 5: city limits. Funny thing. We noticed a dead dog by 76 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 5: the side of the road there, but when we came 77 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 5: back a few minutes later, the dog was gone. 78 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 3: Now you have to realize in small towns, teenagers do 79 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,679 Speaker 3: not go to the police station voluntarily. And the police 80 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 3: were so convinced by their behavior that they held a 81 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 3: press conference the next day and reporters from the local 82 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 3: newspapers from Charlotte another citizen around there, came to hear 83 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 3: this very bizarre story of this flying man. 84 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 4: At that time, Batman was. 85 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 3: Very popular on television, so the newspapers labeled this creature Mothman, 86 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 3: and that was at the beginning of the Mothman paper 87 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 3: I guess you call it. 88 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,559 Speaker 5: A deputy named Millard Halstead later remarked to Keel about 89 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 5: the two young couples. I've known them all their lives. 90 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 5: They've never been in any trouble. I took them seriously. 91 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 5: They saw something. They were really scared. The TNT area 92 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 5: where the two cups had seen the creature consisted of 93 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 5: hundreds of acres of fields and forests that had been 94 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 5: a site for storing explosives during World War Two. The 95 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 5: explosives were housed in what they called igloos, domed concrete 96 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 5: bunkers covered with a thick layer of earth for camouflage. 97 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 5: Here's John Keel again, this time from a meeting of 98 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 5: Saucer News in the late nineteen sixties, describing the TNT area. 99 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 4: I said as twenty five hundred acres. There are hundreds 100 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 4: of these igloes there. There are poor families living within 101 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 4: this area, so it's very thinly populated. If the mark 102 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 4: man wanted to live there not very many people with 103 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 4: the batherin. I also discovered that during the Second World War, 104 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 4: when they were building this ammunition dump, they built a 105 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 4: whole network of tunnels in which to transport to high 106 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 4: explosives from the arsenal to the various big glues. No 107 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 4: one in the whole region I knew the location of 108 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 4: these tunnels. There were no maps available. There were some 109 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 4: entrances to some of these tunnels, but when I went 110 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 4: into them, I found them full of water. But it's 111 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 4: very possible that there is a network of tunnels down 112 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 4: there that it is not full of water. I wanted 113 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 4: to explore them more fully, but the few companies that 114 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 4: I found I couldn't get anywhere. Perhaps it's just as 115 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 4: well as I didn't, because I hate to be crawling 116 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 4: through a tunnel. It needs something seven feet toll. 117 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 5: It was, in many ways the perfect spot for a 118 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 5: mysterious creature, massive and creepy. It's also the perfect spot 119 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 5: to spook yourself if you see something unexpected. It's been 120 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 5: repurposed as a nature preserve. You can walk around and 121 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 5: into these igloes, which are of course empty. 122 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 7: Now. 123 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 3: The next year there were over one hundred reports of 124 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 3: this monner. Some of the people who before saying this 125 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 3: time were not only adults, they were responsible adults, like bankers, locals. 126 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 5: Keel went to West Virginia to investigate, and it's here 127 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 5: that the distinction between sightings of the creature and Kill's 128 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 5: reporting on a broader paranormal context begins to complicate things. 129 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 8: Keel gets involved and goes down there and talks to 130 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 8: the witnesses and establishes a relationship with this woman. Mary Hyer, 131 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 8: who is a newspaper editor, reporter correspondent for the Athens, 132 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 8: Ohio Newspaper, which is the closest major newspaper to Point Pleasant, 133 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:40,479 Speaker 8: West Virginia. I am Aaron Gullias. I am a historian 134 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 8: and teacher and writer, and I have a podcast called 135 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,679 Speaker 8: The Saucer Life. The way the story goes along is 136 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 8: you've got these sightings in West Virginia of the Mothman, 137 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 8: overlaid with UFO sidings, and Keel through correspondents and visits 138 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 8: and phone calls, trying to keep up with the story 139 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 8: and seeing how it develops. 140 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 5: Mary Hyer worked for the Athens Messenger, where she was 141 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 5: both a reporter and the author of a column called 142 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 5: Where the Waters Mingle. It became a kind of running 143 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 5: clearing house of Mothman and UFO reports which were apparently 144 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 5: happening with alarming frequency. After the initial sighting by the 145 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:27,559 Speaker 5: Scarberrys and molettes. Here's an example of her column from 146 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 5: January twenty second, nineteen sixty seven, two months after the 147 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 5: initial Mothman sighting. 148 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 9: It seems that West Virginia is seeing its share of 149 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 9: strange objects. The latest was by Tad Jones of Dunbar, 150 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 9: who said he came upon the unidentified flying object on 151 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 9: Interstate sixty four. Its descriptions like that of many which 152 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 9: have been reported in many areas of the United States 153 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 9: and around the world. One woman in Point Pleasant reported 154 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 9: several weeks ago about seeing something like that, but it 155 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 9: was in the air several hundred feet. There are, also, 156 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,079 Speaker 9: of course, the sightings of the monster and unidentified objects 157 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 9: seen recently by people in Cheshire, Gallipolis, Eureka, and Addison. 158 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,280 Speaker 5: In addition to her newspaper work, she kept up a 159 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 5: correspondence with Keel, keeping him informed of paranormal reports during 160 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 5: the times when he was not in West Virginia. The 161 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 5: Mothman story began to incorporate strange elements that have now 162 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 5: become part of our culture, but were not widely known 163 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 5: at the time. The story of a young woman named 164 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 5: Connie Carpenter is a good example of how this worked. 165 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 5: John Keel kept a spiral notebook the size that could 166 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 5: fit into a shirt pocket. Under the date November twenty seventh, 167 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 5: nineteen sixty six were the following notes. 168 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 6: Harri Joe Carpenter, eighteen, near New Haven. Later that night, 169 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 6: two girls saw a UFO on Route sixty near Saint Albans, 170 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 6: ran into neighbor's house. Neighbor confirmed sighting boyfriend Keith Gordon. 171 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 5: In his article for Saga magazine, Keel included Connie's story 172 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 5: among many other stories of encounters with either the creature 173 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 5: or UFOs. 174 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 6: He wrote, Miss Connie Carpenter, a shy, studious girl of 175 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 6: eighteen from new Haven, West Virginia, allegedly had an identical 176 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 6: encounter at ten thirty am Sunday, November twenty seventh. She 177 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 6: was driving home from church. She told me. When she 178 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 6: saw what she thought at first was a large man 179 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 6: in gray standing on the deserted links of the Mason 180 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 6: County Golf Course outside of Mason, West Virginia, those ten 181 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 6: foot wings suddenly unfolded. The thing took off straight up 182 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 6: and headed for her car. 183 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 5: The creature flew directly at her car before veering off 184 00:11:55,400 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 5: and disappearing. Not Surprisingly, Connie was Upset by this counter, 185 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 5: she didn't return to school for several days, and, according 186 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 5: to Kiel, required medical attention. She claimed to get a 187 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 5: look at the mothman's face, which she described as horrible, 188 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 5: like something out of a science fiction movie. 189 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 6: The next morning, her eyes were reddened and swollen, shut 190 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 6: and itched fiercely. This condition persisted for over two weeks. 191 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 6: In fact, her eyes were still red and watery when 192 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 6: I first interviewed her. I had seen this odd ailment 193 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 6: several times before, but only on UFO witnesses who claimed 194 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,079 Speaker 6: to have gotten a close look at the luminous objects. 195 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 6: Cottie Carpenter was the only Mothman witness to come down 196 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 6: with this eyeburn. 197 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 5: This was the extent of Connie's experience with the Mothman, 198 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 5: but she continued to experience strange events. In February of 199 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,319 Speaker 5: nineteen sixty seven, Connie married the Keith Gordon mentioned in 200 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 5: Kills an Ope book. The newly weds moved across the 201 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 5: river to a house in Middleport, Ohio. On the morning 202 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 5: of February twenty second, Connie left the house to walk 203 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 5: to school. As she walked, a large black buick pulled 204 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 5: up beside her. The story was written up in an 205 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 5: article and kills so called Mothman case book. 206 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 6: The occupant of the car opened the door and called 207 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,839 Speaker 6: to her, Thinking that he was seeking directions, she approached him. 208 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 6: It was a clean cut young man of about twenty five, 209 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 6: she told me later. It was wearing a colorful mod shirt, 210 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 6: no jacket, and had neatly combed thick black hair and 211 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 6: appeared to be sun tanned. He spoke with no noticeable accent. 212 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 6: When she reached the car, the driver suddenly lunged and 213 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 6: grabbed her arm and ordered her to get in with him. 214 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 6: He did not get out of the car. She fought back, 215 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 6: and there was a brief struggle before she finally broke away. 216 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 5: The implication in this story is that this incident was 217 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 5: connected to her Mothman sighting. He's not a kidnapper trolling 218 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 5: the streets before school begins. He's there because of Connie's experience. 219 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 5: While he isn't in the garb that we would come 220 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 5: to expect, he seems to be performing the same function 221 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 5: as what would come to be known as the Men 222 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 5: in Black. While Keel was not the first to write 223 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 5: about the Men in Black, they play a prominent role 224 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 5: in both the book The Mothman Prophecies and his narrative 225 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 5: of the events around Point Pleasant, Connie herself would experience 226 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 5: the more stereotypical man in black within the year. On 227 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 5: December twenty second of nineteen sixty seven, Connie and Keith 228 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 5: were visited by a person who Keel identified as a 229 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 5: man in black type. This man apparently talked with them 230 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 5: for about two hours, but Connie was unable to remember 231 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 5: anything about the conversation, just the man arriving and then leaving. 232 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 5: Kiel continues, for the past year there have been repeated 233 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 5: poltergeist manifestations in her home, strange noises, objects that have 234 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 5: been in one place for years, suddenly falling off of shells, etc. 235 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 5: She has also been receiving many odd phone calls. Later, 236 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 5: he writes of Connie, like everyone in New Haven, she 237 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 5: has seen a number of UFOs in recent months. So 238 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 5: in Connie's case as well as others, the mothman sighting 239 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,760 Speaker 5: is just one of a number of paranormal experiences that 240 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 5: Kiel believes are linked. The book The Mothman Prophecies is 241 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 5: full of Keel's drawing connections between different paranormal occurrences, and 242 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 5: at least in one instance, an event that was tragically real. 243 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 5: After the break, strange arrivals will return in a moment. 244 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 5: Why do some paranormal stories have staying power while others 245 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 5: fade from public consciousness. Sometimes events are just events until 246 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 5: someone spins them into a narrative. For the Mothman events, 247 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 5: there was John Keel, his book The Mothman Prophecies, and 248 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 5: the movie that was made from the book, starring Richard Gear. 249 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: A few months, people have been coming up to me 250 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: and reporting strange things. 251 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 4: Weird lines, strange phone calls. 252 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 8: Who is this? 253 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 4: How do you do when someone comes into your office 254 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 4: and tells you they saw this in their backyard. 255 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 5: The Mothman Prophecies, published in nineteen seventy five, doesn't read 256 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 5: like most books on the paranormal. In fact, its style 257 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 5: is more along the lines of crime or maybe Philip K. 258 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 5: Dick again Post of the Saucer Life Aaron Gaullias. 259 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 8: It's a fun book to read. It's very engaging. It's 260 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,679 Speaker 8: written in this first person investigative journalistic feel. He's a reporter, 261 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 8: he's checking out the story. He's got his reporting contacts 262 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 8: there in Athens, Ohio with Mary Hire and other people 263 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 8: on the scene and the story of trying to uncover 264 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 8: what's going on at the heart of these sightings that 265 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,160 Speaker 8: these young people and others have had of this flying 266 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 8: creature with the giant red eyes that gets dubbed the Mothman. 267 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 5: In doing this, Keel widens the scope both geographically and 268 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 5: as we heard earlier in the case of Connie Carpenter, 269 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 5: to include other paranormal and mysterious phenomena. 270 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 8: It's a sort of weird, sprawling story that's hard to 271 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 8: describe because it goes off on these little tangents. You've 272 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 8: got the Mothman and stuff, but then you've got Keel 273 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 8: talking about these men in black encounters that other people, 274 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 8: not people in West Virginia have had, but these other 275 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 8: people various places have had, and how it relates to 276 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 8: similar encounters with strange men telling Mary Higher to stop 277 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 8: looking into this story or telling witnesses to stop talking 278 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 8: about this. So Keel is telling the story of what 279 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 8: happened in West Virginia, but tying in specific things that 280 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 8: are happening in West Virginia to the wider world of 281 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 8: UFOs and the paranormal. He's telling the story that he's 282 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 8: trying to tell about a certain time and place, but 283 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 8: giving it a lot of context. In the wider UFO scene. 284 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 5: This said times leads the reader far from West Virginia. 285 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 5: For instance, there's a great scene of a man in 286 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 5: black having difficulty figuring out how to eat at the 287 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 5: legendary New York City club Max's Kansas City. This strange 288 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 5: man is described as wearing an ill fitting suit and 289 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:07,120 Speaker 5: having bulging eyes what Keel calls thyroid eyes. He beckons 290 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 5: the waitress over with long, tapering fingers. She offers him 291 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 5: a menu that he looks at helplessly and then merely 292 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 5: says food. The waitress thinks that perhaps he can't read, 293 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 5: and suggests a steak, which he then brings to his table. 294 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,679 Speaker 6: She bought a mistake with all the trimmings. He stared 295 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 6: at it for a long moment and then picked up 296 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,360 Speaker 6: his knife and fork, glancing around at the other diners. 297 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 6: It was obvious he did not know how to handle 298 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 6: the implements. The waitress watched him as he fumbled helplessly. Vitally. 299 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 6: She showed him how to cut the steak and spirit 300 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 6: with the fork, he sawed away at the meat. Clearly 301 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 6: he really was hungry. Where are you from she asked gently. 302 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 6: Not from here where world boy? Another put on artist, 303 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 6: she thought to herself. 304 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 5: But one of the novel's great conceits relates to an 305 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 5: all two real tragedy that also marks the end of 306 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 5: the Mothman sightings. 307 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 8: He crafts a narrative story that culminates in this deadly 308 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 8: bridge collapse right before Christmas in West Virginia between West 309 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 8: Virginia and Ohio, and he links and there's some debate 310 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 8: about whether or not this was a factually correct thing 311 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 8: to do, he links the Mothman with the bridge collapse. 312 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 8: Maybe not explicitly, but there's this implicit notion that the 313 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,360 Speaker 8: Mothman was a warning, the Mothman was a harbinger, and 314 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,120 Speaker 8: he's able to, like I said, craft this narrative. 315 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 5: This is John Keel from his Fortfest lecture. 316 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 3: In the Christmas season of nineteen sixty seven, in Point Pleasant, 317 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 3: West Virginia, there was a bridge called a Silver Bridge 318 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 3: across the High River, and on December fifteenth, nineteen sixty seven, 319 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 3: that bridge collapsed and it was loaded down with cars 320 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 3: people who had been Christmas shopping for forty years. 321 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 10: The Silver Bridge spanned the Ohio River laking Point Pleasant, 322 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 10: West Virginia, with Caanaga, Ohio, laking those two points until. 323 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 11: Five oh two yesterday afternoon. The Silver Bridge, so called 324 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 11: because of the aluminum paint covering It was packed with 325 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 11: rush hour traffic and holiday shoppers, all sitting and waiting 326 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 11: on a red light. Then there was a loud cracking 327 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 11: sound and one of the towers began to violently twist. 328 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 11: Within minutes, three spans collapsed into the forty three degree river. 329 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 10: At least fifty seven automobiles and trucks were spilled into 330 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 10: the icy waters of the Ohio. Eyewitnesses said the bridge 331 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 10: seemed to shudder and then drop into the water. Some vehicles, 332 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 10: those in the center of the span, fell eighty feet. 333 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 10: The massive steel superstructure crashed down onto the automobiles. Passengers 334 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 10: were trapped on the twisted wreckage. 335 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,400 Speaker 8: I think that Harbinger connection is probably the weakest thing 336 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 8: he does in the book. It's always has struck me 337 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 8: as more of a narrative device that he thought would 338 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 8: be good than anything else, Because you know, there's the 339 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 8: Mothman doesn't talk, you know, so we don't have any 340 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 8: indication from the Mothman that there's this thing coming. People 341 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 8: have a sense of foreboding, but they're frightened by the 342 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,360 Speaker 8: Mothman things and all the other things that are going 343 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 8: on at the time. I think the link is tenuous. 344 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 8: There have been other alleged Mothman sightings since then in 345 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 8: various places, and people have tried to link them to 346 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 8: various disasters, and it always seems like a bit of 347 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 8: a stretch. 348 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 4: To me. 349 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 5: It seems like kil is taking advantage of the proximity 350 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 5: of the Mothman flap with the bridge collapse and superimposing 351 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 5: some kind of connection. It's not surprising that people who 352 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 5: saw the moth Man would feel ill at ease. That 353 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 5: would seem more connected to the sending itself than the 354 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 5: perception of foreboding. But of course the connection does make 355 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:21,360 Speaker 5: for a more compelling story. So what was the moth Man? 356 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 5: The fairly obvious idea that it could be a large 357 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 5: bird was put forward early on here at the Saucer 358 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 5: News meeting. Keel makes the case that the bird hypothesis 359 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 5: can't be right. 360 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 4: The moths Man has pursued automobiles on a number of 361 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 4: occasions and has reached speeds up to one hundred miles 362 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 4: an hour, scaring the daylights out of the drivers. There 363 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 4: is only one bird that can go anywhere near that fast. 364 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 4: It's a certain ego, and it can reach seventy or 365 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,360 Speaker 4: eighty miles in a steep dive straight down if it's 366 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 4: diving at some prey on the ground. But we don't 367 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 4: know if any bird that could do that thing is 368 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 4: a bird is see wordess bird. On Mothnam first appeared, 369 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 4: a number of distinguished scientists hundreds of miles away decided 370 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 4: that it was the sand hill crane. So I got 371 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 4: some pictures of a sand hill crane, which is a 372 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 4: large bird stands about this high, has very long neck. 373 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 4: I took this picture around to all the witnesses of Mothman, 374 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 4: showed it to them, and they said it wasn't a bird. 375 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 4: It wasn't a sand hill crane. 376 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 5: Despite Keel's objection, the sandhill crane has continued to be 377 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 5: a popular explanation for the Mothman, but a new theory 378 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 5: has been proposed by a researcher who agrees that a 379 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 5: large bird is likely responsible for the sightings, but not 380 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 5: the sand hill crane. His story begins with an invitation 381 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 5: from a friend. 382 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 7: One day. He said, Hey, let's go to point pleasant 383 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 7: and check out the Mothman Museum. I said, sure, let's go. 384 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 7: While we were there, we decided both of us independently 385 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 7: had been to the Mothma Museum, but neither of us 386 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 7: had been to the TNT area, So why don't we 387 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 7: venture out there? And he said sure. My name's Daniel Reid. 388 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 7: I've done a lot of things in my life. I've 389 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 7: been interested in the strange and the utre and the 390 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 7: paranormal for most of my life. I've taught on the 391 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 7: graduate and undergraduate level, psychology, sociology, different types of things. 392 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 7: So we drove out. We hoped that we were headed 393 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 7: in the right spot. I had directions pulled up on 394 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 7: my cell. We pulled in and we got out and 395 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 7: started walking. Well, the minute that we got there, I 396 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 7: looked up and I saw a blue heron that was 397 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 7: up in a tree, and the blue heron sort of 398 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 7: took off and flew. 399 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 5: Great blue herons can be quite big, up to four 400 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 5: and a half feet tall with a wingspan of nearly 401 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 5: seven feet. As Reid and his friend explored the igloos 402 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 5: at the TNT area, he thought about the sand Hill 403 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 5: Crane explanation, and. 404 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 7: So I thought, huh, I wonder how prevalent a sand 405 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 7: hill crane is this area, and so that led to 406 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 7: the research. 407 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 5: It turns out that, while not unheard of, sandhill cranes 408 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 5: are not common in this area. Great blue herons, on 409 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 5: the other hand, are the sandhill crane and the great 410 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 5: blue heron have similar physical attributes that make them plausible 411 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 5: explanations for the Mothman sightings. Remember, the first sighting occurred 412 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 5: at night in the Creepynt area, so a panicked misidentification 413 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,920 Speaker 5: was not surprising. After that story came out, people were 414 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 5: conditioned to interpret any large flying thing as the Mothman. 415 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 5: But what about the shiny red eyes that witnesses mentioned. 416 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 5: A different explanation may account for these encounters. 417 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 7: Joe Nickel has determined, and I agree that bard Ow's 418 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 7: are probably some of the cases, but I think those 419 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 7: are where eyeshine is seen. So Joe Nickel put forth 420 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 7: that in cases where I shine that it was most 421 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,439 Speaker 7: likely people were seeing barn owls. 422 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 5: Nicol had published an article in The Skeptical Enquirer right 423 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 5: as the Mothman Prophecies movie was being released, identifying the 424 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 5: Mothman as a barn owl. He later corrected himself asserting 425 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 5: that it was a barred owl that was responsible for 426 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 5: the sightings that referenced red reflective eyes. 427 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 12: I once did a Mothman and rushed to print because 428 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 12: there was a movie coming out. I made a big 429 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,199 Speaker 12: mistake and I identified it as the Barnell again, and 430 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 12: then nobody caught anything. But I realized later with further 431 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 12: research that I was wrong. It wasn't a barnell. It 432 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 12: was a barred owl, and I knew for sure because 433 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 12: it had crimson eye shine and that just tells you 434 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 12: it's a barnell for sure. I even had a wildlife 435 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 12: expert take me out one evening. My wife and I 436 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 12: wore moccasins and went with him out into the wilderness 437 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 12: and he knew right where there was a big, tall, 438 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 12: tall tree with bar dowls, and I got to shine 439 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 12: a spotlight up and see those like bicycle reflectors. Turned 440 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,159 Speaker 12: out on further research where Mothman was first seen was 441 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 12: a bird sanctuary wildlife sanctuary with known bar dowls right there. 442 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 4: And then in January somebody shot a large owl down 443 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 4: there and so they which solved the mystery. It's an owl, 444 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 4: and the owl of quested about this high it was 445 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 4: a pretty big owl. But again the witnesses went around 446 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 4: and looked at the aisle, and he said, no, that's 447 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 4: not the moth man. The month man is from six 448 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 4: to seven feet toll. He has two large red eyes 449 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 4: two inches in diameter. 450 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 5: Keel ignores the idea that the barred owl and the 451 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 5: crane or heron are responsible for different sightings or different 452 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 5: parts of the same sighting. Again, people were primed to 453 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:07,239 Speaker 5: see the mothman. Any eerie encounter would be interpreted through that. 454 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 5: Lens Keel maintained that zoological explanations for the mothman were inadequate. 455 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 5: In fact, he questioned whether the mothman was actually flying 456 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 5: in the way a bird or I guess a moth would. 457 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 4: Now all of the witnesses say the same thing. He 458 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 4: has a wingspread of ten feet. And here's another little irony. 459 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 4: And actually this size needs very large wings to support it. 460 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,240 Speaker 4: A human being, you or I, if we were going 461 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 4: to make a glider that we could strap on ourselves 462 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 4: and fly with that, we would need a wingspan of 463 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 4: about thirty five feet. Now, mothman is bigger than we are, 464 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 4: and he's got a ten foot wingspan, and he flies anyway, 465 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 4: like the bumblebee. Some of the witnesses down there, and 466 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 4: I'll say that they have heard the sound of some 467 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 4: kind of motor sounds the object passes over their head. 468 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 4: So possibly this thing is propelled by something. 469 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 5: Now Kiel is speculating that the mothman might be wearing 470 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 5: a kind of jetpack and not using his wings at all. 471 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 4: The wings do not move when it's in flight. When 472 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 4: this creature is standing on the ground, his wings are 473 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 4: pulled back, and then when he takes off, the wings spread. 474 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 4: As I said last night, no one has seen any 475 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 4: arms on a thing. The wings spread, the thing takes 476 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 4: off straight out. Now, most large birds need a running start, 477 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 4: and this thing doesn't do that. It just goes straight 478 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 4: up in the air and then goes straight across and 479 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 4: pursues whatever it's pursuing. People or automombile are buying to 480 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 4: his flying saucer to go away. 481 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 5: Here, Keel has directly connected the mothman to the UFO sightings. Again, 482 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 5: Daniel Reid. 483 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 7: I think that there was a lot of well, I 484 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,480 Speaker 7: don't want to say hysteria, but there was a lot 485 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 7: of imaginative people that were involved in looking for it, 486 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 7: and so on and so forth. I think that a 487 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 7: lot of the hype that came of this was a 488 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 7: lot of imagination on a lot of different people's parts, 489 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 7: and the stories conflated, many went into one and it 490 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 7: ended up being what we have now. 491 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 8: It spawned numerous documentaries, and you can say, well, the 492 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 8: Mathman story was out there before kil wrote it. It was 493 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 8: in the late sixties. Keell's book came out in the 494 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 8: mid seventies. So why does Kill get the credit for it, 495 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 8: Because he's the one who put the story out there 496 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 8: and packaged it in such a way that it grabbed 497 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 8: the imagination. 498 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 13: But don't forget there's lots and lots of other equally 499 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:51,720 Speaker 13: baffling mysteries, UFO flaps and monster outbreaks that haven't had 500 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 13: that sort of storytelling imput. You know that are being 501 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 13: forgotten about. You know that there in the archives some way. 502 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 13: You know they were reported in a local newspaper or something. 503 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 5: Folklorist and journalist David Clark we heard from him last 504 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 5: season about his research into the Rendolsome Forest encounters. 505 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,959 Speaker 13: But he needs someone like a proselytizer, like John Fuller 506 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 13: with Betty Barney Hill, and like John Keele with the 507 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 13: Mothman and like Arthur Shuppelwood for the Warmingster mystery in 508 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 13: England in the nineteen sixties, to transform that into a legend. 509 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 13: If you don't have that, then these stories fade away 510 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 13: or become obscure mysteries that you know, turn up some 511 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 13: in a book, some wear a few lines. So I 512 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 13: think it's important to have that storytelling element, and effectively, 513 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 13: all the best stories live on because they are good stories. 514 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 13: It's something inside us that we react emotionally to those stories. 515 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 13: That's why the legend of King Arthur has lived on, 516 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 13: and the legend of Robin Hood. Whereas you know, Robin 517 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 13: Hood was this medieval outlaw, but there's tons of other 518 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 13: medieval outlaws who peoples have been long forgotten about. If 519 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 13: I mentioned one of their names, that you'd say who. 520 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 5: John Keel took the events of nineteen sixty six in 521 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 5: nineteen sixty seven around Point Pleasant, West Virginia and turned 522 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 5: them into a story whose tentacles spread from the Mothman 523 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 5: sightings to other parts of this country and other phenomena 524 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 5: occurring around where the Mothman was seen. In this broadening 525 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 5: of the tale, we can see signs of Keel's beliefs 526 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:32,520 Speaker 5: about paranormal phenomena, beliefs that can be seen behind the 527 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 5: work being carried out by government funded UFO investigators today. 528 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 5: So what did John Keele really believe? Next time on 529 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 5: Strange Arrivals. 530 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: Strange Arrivals is a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and 531 00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Manky. This episode was written and hosted 532 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: by Toby Ball and produced by rima Il Kayali, Jesse Funk, 533 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 1: and Noemi Griffin, with executive producers Alexander Williams, Matt Frederick, 534 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 1: and Aaron Mankey, and supervising producer Josh Thame, with voice 535 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: acting by Ben Bolin and Noemi Griffin. Learn more about 536 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: the show at Grimminmild dot com, slash Strange Arrivals and 537 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by visiting the iHeartRadio app, 538 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.