The Mothman: The Infamous Cryptid From West Virginia
Wikimedia CommonsWhen a bridge collapsed in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1967, some blamed the disaster on the legendary Mothman.
On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio was all but completely packed with stand-still traffic. Built in 1928, when cars were, on average, a good 2,500 pounds lighter, the bridge wasn’t made to hold the weight of such heavy vehicles. Without warning, it collapsed, and 46 people died as a result.
But this wasn’t the only strange thing that was happening in Point Pleasant. For about a year prior to the Silver Bridge collapse, people who lived in the area had reported seeing a large, winged creature with red eyes flying around in the skies above. This creature came to be known as the Mothman — and many believed that it may have been a foreteller of doom.
RedditThe Mothman is one of the most strangely beloved cryptids on this list, as the town of Point Pleasant still throws an annual Mothman festival each year and even has a statue of the legendary creature on display.
The first reported sighting of the Mothman came on November 12, 1966, in Clendenin, West Virginia, when a group of gravediggers reportedly saw a massive, brown figure darting between the treetops overhead.
Just a few days later, the winged creature made its way to Point Pleasant, where it was seen by two couples — directly in front of the car they were sitting in. They said that the creature stood about six or seven feet tall, with bright red eyes about six inches apart. The witnesses also claimed that it had a 10-foot wingspan and could fly at speeds close to 100 miles per hour.
Given how prevalent Mothman sightings were, it was only natural that when the Silver Bridge collapsed, some claimed to have seen the Mothman just before the disaster. Could the Mothman have been trying to warn the people of Point Pleasant, or was it a more sinister harbinger of doom?
