Mothman

legendary creature based around West Virginia, United States

The Mothman is a legendary creature in American folklore. Point Pleasant, West Virginia, United States saw Mothman from November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967.

Artist's impression of the Mothman
Mothman (cropped)

The first newspaper publication of November 16, 1966 was titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something."[1]

The people who saw Mothman saw a dark shape with very large glowing red eyes.

Mothman may have been a barred owl. Barred owls's eyes shine bright red in the dark. At night, the eyes look much bigger than they really are. The people may have seen a barn owl flying very close to them and thought it was a larger animal further away.[2]

A barred owl in daylight.

In popular culture change

  • Also the Mothman appeared in the video game Fallout 76.

References change

  1. Mark Turner (November 16, 1966). "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something." Point Pleasant Register. cited in WestVA.Net.
  2. Asher Elbein (October 26, 2018). "Is the Mothman of West Virginia an Owl?". Audubon Society. Retrieved August 8, 2021.