Mothman is a famous cryptid, but what is it, really?

On November 15th, 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant reported seeing a large, black creature with glowing red eyes. It was about seven feet tall, with facial details unable to be discerned due to the hypnotic nature of its eyes. One of the people said it looked like a “slender, muscular man.”

Two volunteer firefighters said it was a “large bird with red eyes.” A sheriff believed it was a shitepoke, any number of birds from the heron family. A contractor told the sheriff that when he pointed a light at it, its eyes glowed “like bicycle reflectors.”

A wildlife biologist said that the creature fit the sightings and descriptions of a sandhill crane. He said it most likely wandered out of migration route and scared locals due to it not being native.

After the December 15, 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge and the death of 46 people resulting, the incident gave rise to the legend and people connected the Mothman sightings with the bridge collapsing.

In 1966, a snowy owl was shot at Point Pleasant, and it was described in local newspapers as a “giant owl” because of its nearly five feet wingspan. Claims have stated it may have started the Mothman sightings. They still have displayed this bird as a mounted specimen in the Mothman Museum.

Mothman has become a tourist attraction for Point Pleasant. They hold a Mothman festival every third weekend in September, and the first was held in 2002. They built a large Mothman statue in 2003, and opened the Mothman Museum and Research Center in 2005.