In American folklore, the Mothman is a human-like creature that was reportedly seen near Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967. Although its name suggests a moth, early descriptions of the creature included bird-like features. The first newspaper report about the creature appeared in the Point Pleasant Register on November 16, 1966, and was titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird … Creature … Something." Soon after, national newspapers shared the story, spreading it across the United States. Experts believe the legend may have started from people seeing sandhill cranes or herons that were not in their usual migration path.
Gray Barker introduced the Mothman to a wider audience in 1970. Later, John Keel wrote a book in 1975 called The Mothman Prophecies, which claimed the sightings were connected to strange events and the collapse of the Silver Bridge. A movie based on the book was released in 2002, with Richard Gere in the lead role.
Every year, Point Pleasant holds a festival to celebrate the Mothman legend.
History
On November 15, 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant—Roger and Linda Scarberry, and Steve and Mary Mallette—told police they saw a large black creature with red-glowing eyes standing near "the TNT area," a place where a World War II munitions plant once operated. Linda Scarberry described the creature as a "tall, strong man" about seven feet high with white wings. However, she could not see its face because its eyes tricked her vision. Frightened, the witnesses drove away and said the creature flew after their car, making a loud screeching sound. It chased them until they reached the city limits of Point Pleasant.
In the following days, more people reported seeing similar creatures after local newspapers shared the story. Two volunteer firefighters described it as a "large bird with red eyes." Mason County Sheriff George Johnson thought the sightings might be caused by a large green heron. Contractor Newell Partridge told Johnson that when he shone a flashlight at a creature in a nearby field, its eyes glowed "like bicycle reflectors." He also said strange buzzing sounds from his television and the disappearance of his German Shepherd, Bandit, were linked to the creature. A wildlife biologist from West Virginia University, Robert L. Smith, explained that the descriptions matched a sandhill crane, a large bird about the size of a man with a seven-foot wingspan and reddish eyes. The bird may have left its usual migration path, which is why people did not recognize it at first.
At the time, the Batman TV show was popular, and the superhero and his enemies were widely known. Though the villain Killer Moth did not appear on the show, the influence of Batman and Killer Moth from comic books may have inspired local newspapers to use the name "Mothman" to describe the creature.
After the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967, killing 46 people, the Mothman sightings became part of a legend that connected the creature to the disaster.
According to the Georgian newspaper Svobodnaya Gruziya, Russian UFO researchers claim that Mothman sightings in Moscow were linked to the 1999 Russian apartment bombings.
In 2016, WCHS-TV shared a photo claimed to show Mothman, taken by an unknown person on Route 2 in Mason County. Science writer Sharon Hill suggested the photo might show a bird, such as an owl, carrying a frog or snake. She stated there is no proof the image shows the Mothman described in stories, as other explanations are more likely.
Analysis
Folklore expert Jan Harold Brunvand explains that the Mothman has been widely discussed in newspapers and other media. Some people say they saw the creature near UFOs, while others believe it lived near a military storage area. Brunvand notes that most stories about the Mothman sightings from 1966–67 mention that at least 100 people saw it, with many more possibly not reporting their experiences. However, he points out that the sources for these stories often include children’s books or accounts that are exaggerated or not confirmed by specific people. Brunvand observed that many Mothman stories share similarities with older folktales, suggesting a real event may have inspired the legends. He also mentions that some people claim the Mothman attacked the roofs of cars parked by teenagers.
In contrast, researcher Joe Nickell says that after the original stories gained attention, many hoaxes appeared. For example, some workers tied flashlights to balloons to create the illusion of glowing eyes. Nickell believes the Mothman sightings were actually of barred owls, whose eyes reflect light in a way that may look like glowing.
Benjamin Radford states that the only report of glowing red eyes came from a secondhand account by Shirley Hensley, who heard it from her father. However, John Keel describes a story from witness Connie Carpenter, who saw the Mothman in daylight on November 27, 1966, and said it had glowing red eyes.
At the time of the original sightings, one idea was that the Mothman might be a misidentified sandhill crane, due to its size and the reddish color around its eyes. Daniel A. Reed studied sandhill crane migration patterns and found that in cases where glowing eyes were not reported, witnesses were more likely to have seen a Great Blue Heron instead. In 1966, a snowy owl with a wingspan nearly five feet long was shot in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and described in local newspapers as a "giant owl." Some say this owl may have inspired the Mothman stories. The owl is now displayed at the Mothman Museum.
University of Chicago psychologist David A. Gallo explains that reports of 55 Mothman sightings in Chicago in 2017, shared by researcher Lon Strickler, are not random. Gallo says Strickler only counts people who voluntarily reported seeing the Mothman, not people chosen randomly. He suggests that those who visit paranormal websites may be more likely to believe in the Mothman.
Some people who study unexplained phenomena, such as ufologists, paranormal authors, and cryptozoologists, suggest the Mothman could be an alien, a supernatural being, or an unknown animal. However, experts say the last idea is unlikely. According to the square-cube law, a creature described as 6–7 feet tall with 10-foot wingspan, as reported by Roger Scarberry, would not be able to fly. In his 1975 book, John Keel wrote that residents of Point Pleasant experienced strange events, including visions of the Silver Bridge collapsing, UFOs, and sightings of mysterious men in black.
Festival and statues
Mothman has become an important reason why people visit Point Pleasant. The first Annual Mothman Festival was held in Point Pleasant in 2002. The festival was created after people in the town thought of new ways to bring visitors to the area. The group that planned the event decided to focus on Mothman because it is unique and because they wanted to honor its special place in the town's history.
According to Jeff Wamsley, who helps organize the event, about 10 to 12 thousand people attend the Mothman Festival each year. In 2003, a 12-foot-tall metal statue of Mothman was shown publicly. The artist who made the statue is Bob Roach. In 2006, the Mothman Museum and Research Center opened. The festival happens every year during the third weekend in September. Activities include talks by guests, displays from businesses, contests to eat pancakes quickly, and hayride tours of important local places.
In popular culture
The 1975 book and 2002 movie The Mothman Prophecies are the most well-known works about the Mothman legend. However, many other low-budget and independently-made story films and documentaries about the Mothman have been created since then.
A 2019 digital documentary series called Hellier, available on YouTube and Amazon Prime, includes a part in its second season that focuses on the Mothman. The Mothman also appears as an outfit in the 2025 Halloween "Fortnitemares" event in the video game Fortnite. In the 2018 video game Fallout 76, the Mothman is an important part of the Appalachian folklore in its post-apocalyptic world. It is shown as different types of mutated creatures that may attack or not attack the player.