Point Pleasant
The city now known as Point Pleasant, West Virginia was first settled by Shawnee and Mingo tribes before the late 1700s. It sits right where the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers meet. In 1774, Virginians and militia were heading west towards Ohio, which prompted the chief of the Shawnee tribe to plan an attack on Virginia militiamen in an attempt to stop their expansion into the Ohio Valley. The chief, Cornstalk, was forced to retreat and sign to a treaty that would basically cede all of Shawnee lands south of the Ohio river to Virginia.
At this point, Colonel Lewis officially declared this land ‘Camp Point Pleasant.’ From then on, the settlement took the same name, ‘Point Pleasant,’ and steadily grew despite several years of what they considered to be Indian interference. The settlement built and occupied a fort throughout these years which they named ‘Fort Blair.’
It was later rebuilt and renamed ‘Fort Randolph,’ but tensions subsided and it was abandoned in 1779. In 1785 Fort Randolph was rebuilt once again due to renewed hostilities between the United States government and the Native American tribes, but the fort saw little action even in these turbulent times, and was abandoned once again.
The settlement did not however receive a charter to fully establish its existence as an official city until 1794. In 1810, it was confirmed that Point Pleasant held about 15 to 20 families. It had a log courthouse which served as the seat of justice of Mason county, Virginia. It also had a log jail; and regretfully so, it came with its own pillory and whipping post.
On a lighter note - fun fact - the town also had its very own merchant.
Point Pleasant, after many years, was finally incorporated in 1833. The history of the city is fairly similar at this point to the history of any city in the early years of the United States. Until 1966, when an interesting story popped up that would become a huge part of its culture forever.
Two Couples
About five miles north of Point Pleasant is the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, or as it is often referred to, the ‘TNT Area.’ This site is the location of World War II explosive storage bunkers that even today you can go and explore. In the Wildlife Management Area, tourists can also go fishing, hunting, and hiking.
It was here that the legend began. On November 15th, 1966, two couples, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, were driving together down State Road 62 past the TNT area. Standing on the side of the road, they saw what looked to be the figure of a man with wings that was about six to seven feet tall. They claimed that this figure had huge glowing red eyes, about six inches apart.
Roger, who was driving, panicked at the sight of the figure and floored the vehicle, heading back toward town. If it had been a figment of their imagination, maybe the figure would have disappeared. But this wasn’t the case.
According to the group, the winged man clumsily ran after them for a few steps, then took flight like a helicopter and flew over the vehicle even at speeds of over 100 miles an hour. They claimed that as it flew overhead, it let out a loud, menacing screeching noise. It continued to chase them until they reached Point Pleasant city limits, and then disappeared into the night.
The story made townsfolk decide to all work together to get to the bottom of this. They grabbed their firearms and went on a hunt for the creature, but found nothing.
Bandit the Dog
After this account, another story arose about a dog who had gone missing due to something unknown around the same time as this odd sighting.
Ninety miles away from Point Pleasant in Salem, West Virginia, Newell Partridge had been relaxing and watching TV at home after a long day at work as a building contractor. His German shepherd, Bandit, was sitting out on the front porch. Around 10:30 pm, strange things began to happen. Newell’s TV went dark until a strange screen popped up. Outside, a loud, whining noise could be heard. Newell stated that it almost sounded like a generator winding up.
The noise caused Bandit to howl. He howled seemingly uncontrollably, until Newell came out of the house with a flashlight and began to look around at the woods surrounding his home. Near his hay barn, Newell spotted with the flashlight what looked like two glowing red eyes. He claims that he knew right away that whatever the eyes belonged to, it was not any kind of regular animal. It was at this moment that Bandit bolted off of the porch and toward this creature.
Newell says he went inside to grab his gun, and hunkered down out of fear for his life. He was so scared by the sight of the glowing eyes, he could not bring himself to go back outside until the morning. He slept in his bed with his gun by his side, and waited until the sun came up.
In the morning, Newell went to inspect the area where he saw the red glowing eyes and to try to find Bandit, who hadn’t returned to the house. All he found were paw tracks in the mud which looked as if Bandit had been chasing his tail. There was no other sign of the dog anywhere, however, and he was never seen again.
Two days later, Newell was reading the newspaper and saw the story about the couple who were chased by a flying figure of a man with red glowing eyes. It wasn’t until then that he decided to speak up about his own encounter.
Firemen
Throughout the next few days, newspapers reported there were at least eight other sightings of this giant winged figure. One of which came from two volunteer firemen.
The two firemen, Captain Paul Yonder and Benjamin Enochs spotted what appeared to be a very large bird with large glowing red eyes.
The folks of Point Pleasant and newspapers that reported on these sightings finally gave the strange figure a name - the ‘Mothman.’
Possible Explanation - Crane?
Mason County Sheriff George Johnson along with other experts like Dr. Robert L. Smith from West Virginia University gave a possible explanation for these sightings. They suggested that the figure that people were seeing was actually the largest American crane - the sandhill crane. These cranes are usually almost as tall as a man with a wingspan of up to seven feet. Dr. Smith stated that the ‘red eyes’ people were reportedly seeing may have actually been the circles of bare red flesh around the crane’s eyes.
Where the Name ‘Mothman’ Came From
So we’ve heard some of the stories about the sightings of the Mothman, and we know that there may or may not be a logical explanation behind it. But how did they even come up with the name?
Some sources say that the name draws inspiration from that of ‘Killer Moth,’ a popular Batman comic villain.
Bridge Collapse
Here’s where it gets a little bit interesting. There was a bridge which carried the U.S. Route 35 across the Ohio River from Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio. It was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge, painted with aluminum paint. Because the aluminum paint was silver in color, the bridge was respectively named the Silver Bridge.
During rush hour on December 15th, 1967, the weight of the traffic caused a single eyebar which had a miniscule crack to give out. Because the parts of a suspension bridge are all in equilibrium to each other, the entire bridge collapsed. 46 people died in the incident.
Although there was an explanation for the collapse, some people who are firm believers will say that the Mothman was the one who in some way caused the bridge to collapse. Oddly enough, Mothman sightings came to a halt after the bridge incident occurred.
Regardless, the Silver Bridge was later rebuilt as the Silver Memorial Bridge to commemorate the lives lost in the incident.
Pop Culture References
It wouldn’t be until years later when the Mothman began popping back up. Some even regard the ‘TNT area’ to be his home. The Mothman has even found himself leaking into other tin-foil hat stories, as some people go as far as to claim he has connections to UFO sightings.
Mothman Festival
Over time, it has become a symbol of Point Pleasant, and a huge part of the town’s history and culture. Every year, the town holds a Mothman festival where locals and tourists come together to commemorate the beginning of the legend himself. Thousands of people come from all over to enjoy the live bands, guest speakers, vendors, and the highly popular Mothman Museum. You can even stop by a local restaurant to get a Mothman themed pizza.
Statue
In the heart of Point Pleasant, there even stands a Mothman statue that with wings and all is at least 13 feet tall. It’s complete with piercing red eyes the size of footballs and clawed hands and feet.
Many people, while visiting the town will stop to take a photo with the Mothman to remember their trip.
Conclusion
So obviously with any cryptid or legend, there are the die hard fanatics, the what we like to call ‘in-betweeners’ and those who are complete skeptics. Whatever camp you’re in, it’s still super fun to read about these stories.
If you want to know more about the Mothman, and possibly get a little more in-depth approach to the whole thing, maybe consider reading The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel.
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