On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we try to find the truth behind the ultimate urban legend, The Mothman. The Mothman is supposedly a cryptid creature that has been seen primarily in the south and on the east coast of the United States. According to observers, it is the size of a human, it has a wingspan over ten feet wide, dark skin, and glowing red eyes. It fills observers with a profound sense of dread and gives some permanent psychological damage from only one viewing. It came on the scene for the first time in November of 1966 in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

On November 15th of that year, five men digging a grave for a ceremony set for the next day first saw this creature and reported it. The following day, before anyone had heard about the first encounter, two couples saw the Mothman again out by an old WWII munitions plant outside of town. Any number of people saw it over the next few days, from first responders to construction workers, and eventually, the sheriff had to hold a press conference about it where even more people came forward with sighting stories.

At that point, a flood of journalists, Forteans, and cryptozoological investigators descended on the scene. The most prominent of them was John Keel, author of the now famous book The Mothman Prophecies. Keel did a thorough investigation of the area and gathered the first accumulated account of the creature’s features. But things got even weirder from there.

Most notably, Men in Black descended on the town, doing strange things and telling people to stop their investigations. Also, the Silver Bridge collapsed shortly after the Mothman sightings, and many people said the being was there to warn people of the danger.

But that wasn’t the end for the creature. He was seen in 2017 by dozens of people in Chicago. There are rumors that he appeared before the Chernobyl accident, another bridge collapse, and even 9/11. So who or what is the Mothman? What do skeptics dismiss him as? How close was the popular movie to John Keel’s actual book account? What was up with the Men in Black? Are people just tripping balls? Listen, laugh, learn.

Mothman warnings of other disasters: https://www.ranker.com/list/true-mothman-stories/lyra-radford

Vice article on recent Chicago sightings: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paqv9z/mothman-sightings-in-chicago