Mothman in St. Albans

When two young couples witnessed a terrifying, red-eyed, winged humanoid just outside of Pt. Pleasant, WV one November evening in 1966, that sleepy little West Virginia town along the Ohio River became forever entwined with the Mothman story. For 13 long months, the citizens of Pt. Pleasant were plagued by sightings of the creature, along with reports of UFOs, Men in Black, other strange cryptids, ghosts, and even psychic visions. 

Even to this day, Pt. Pleasant is home to the annual Mothman Festival, the world's only Mothman Museum, and of course, the beloved Mothman statue. People come from all over the country, and even all over the world to learn more about this mysterious monster, tour the places where it was seen, and take home plenty of Mothman-themed souvenirs from some of the many local shops! But...Mothman wasn't confined to JUST Pt. Pleasant. It seems as if our winged friend was quite the traveler, even during the initial 1966-1967 flap. One of the many places he was spotted (twice!) was St. Albans, West Virginia!

St. Albans is a town located in Kanawha County, not far from Charleston. As the crow flies, it's about 40 miles south of Pt. Pleasant, straight down on the Kanawha River. Less than two weeks after the initial Mothman sightings, West Virginia's favorite cryptid showed up on two consecutive evenings in or near town. 

On Saturday, November 26, 1966, Ruth Foster, a housewife, got a really good look at a strange bird-like creature standing in her front yard, by her porch. She said it had a "funny little face" with no beak, but "big red poppy eyes" that popped out of it's face. She said the creature stood around the same height as her husband, who was 6'1''. Understandably, Ruth let out a scream at seeing such a strange creature, and ran inside the house. Her brother in law immediately ran back out to see it for himself, but by that time it had disappeared. Neither apparently saw the creature actually leave. 

The next day, Mothman was a busy lil' beast. Around 10:30am, he was seen by 18 year old Connie Jo Carpenter near New Haven in Mason County, not far from Pt. Pleasant. Connie was driving home from church services when she noticed what looked like a large man in gray standing near the Mason County Golf Course. Suddenly, ten-foot wings unfolded and this...THING...took off straight up and then straight towards her car. She said the thing stared at her with it's huge red eyes through the windshield, then veered off and flew away. The whole incident affected her greatly, as she rushed home in hysterics. She was unable to go to school for the next few days, and had to seek medical treatment for klieg conjunctivitis---eye burn---that lasted two weeks. Like Ruth, she also got a good look at the thing's face, but she was so shook up by the experience that she couldn't really describe it beyond saying how awful it was.

After physically and mentally damaging that poor young girl, later that evening Mothman would return  to St. Albans, where he would again scare the crud out of two young girls. Thirteen year old Sheila Cain and her younger sister were walking home from a store on Route 60, just outside of St. Albans when they saw a large "something" next to a local junkyard. The girls described the creature as being gray and white, standing about 7 feet tall (bigger than a grown man), and having large, red eyes. It flew straight up in the air, and as the girls started running towards home, it flew over them, chasing them part of the way. Allegedly, a neighbor also witnessed the creature. 

As far as I have found, those were the only two times Mothman was reportedly seen in St. Albans, but it was one heck of a weekend! Fortunately for the citizens of this little city at the confluence of the Kanawha and Coal Rivers, Mothman had many more places to be and people to scare, always returning to his home base in Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia. 

Sources: 

Keel, John. Strange Creatures From Time and Space. New Saucerian Books, 2014. 

Keel, John. The Mothman Prophecies. Tor Publishing, 2002.

Sergent, Donnie and Jeff Wamsley. Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend. Mothman Lives Publishing, 2002. 

Luke's Mothman Sighting

Luke and Mothman

My son, Luke, has always had a connection to Pt. Pleasant and the Mothman story. Although I was living in Putnam County, Luke was actually conceived while on a weekend getaway to the haunted and historic Lowe Hotel, located just across the street from the infamous Mothman Statue. His Halloween due date was pushed up to September 21 when my stubborn lil' boy decided that he was ready to be born well before the customary 40 weeks. That date of September 21 means that his birthday weekend falls on the same weekend as the annual Mothman Festival. Obviously, he's been to almost every Mothman Festival that has occurred since his first birthday, but we also just love to take small day trips down to Pt. Pleasant---which as a small child, Luke referred to as 'Mothman City.' One of the highlights of every trip was stopping for lunch at Harris' Steakhouse and ordering a 'Mothman Hamburger' from Caroline. 

Despite that connection, I was still REALLY surprised when Luke told me that he thought he had his own Mothman sighting!

I'm not sure if there's much, if anything to this sighting, but I posted it to the Facebook group, Mothman Sightings, as a way to document it and see if anyone else had seen something similar, or could give me some ideas of what he may experienced. It happened on Friday, December 18th, 2020 when he was 11 years old. Luke's grandparents and great-aunt had picked him up for an evening of Christmas light viewing. They left Hurricane with the intent of seeing the lights in Pt. Pleasant and neighboring Gallipolis, Ohio. Sometime between 5:30pm and 6pm, they stopped in Eleanor to pick up dinner at Dairy Queen.

According to Luke, while they were waiting in the drive-thru line, he saw "a Mothman on the roof of the building beside Dairy Queen." His grandfather asked him what he wanted to eat, so he turned his head to talk to him, and by the time he turned back around, the Mothman was gone. Needless to say, I was super intrigued. However, when I tried to probe him for more information, Luke was uncharacteristically reluctant to talk. He did say it looked like a man with wings, crouched down. I asked if saw red eyes, and he said no, because whatever it was had its head tilted down. After that, he just kind of shut down, and refused to say anything else about what he saw.

I thought that was weird. I thought the whole thing was weird. I mean, he is MY kid, so he's well aware of the Mothman. However, he has never shown any interest in my paranormal work, and quite honestly, thinks I'm pretty weird for being so interested in all things strange and spooky. Further, this kid is super serious and can't tell a lie to save his life, so I believe he saw SOMETHING. I just don't know what it was or why he refused to discuss it with me further. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't get over to Eleanor right away, but within the next few days I drove over there. I'm assuming that the building he was talking about is the Putnam County Vocational School. The building DOES have stuff on its roof, but nothing I saw looked like it could have been mistaken for a Mothman figure that was there one minute, and gone the next. The only explanation I can think of would be that there was a worker on the roof wearing dark clothes. Perhaps he was crouched down, working, his elbows out to the side, resembling 'wings.' Then, he got up and walked out of view, or stepped behind something and could no longer be seen. I asked Luke's grandparents, and they didn't see anything out of the ordinary. They confirmed that Luke was wide awake at the time and didn't seem...off...or anything. 

So, who knows what he saw, if anything. I had totally forgotten about this experience until recently when I came across it while searching for something else I had posted on that same Facebook group. Luke never mentioned anything about the Mothman after that, and I never pushed him for more details since he was so reluctant to talk about it. But, I figured I'd also document here on Theresa's Haunted History blog in an effort to preserve his story and reach a wider audience on the chance that someone else has seen something similar in that area. If you have your own Mothman story you'd like to share, whether in Eleanor or anywhere else, I'd love to hear it! Please share it in the comments below, or find me over on Theresa's Haunted History Facebook and let me know. Stay spooky, y'all. 

Mothman Memorialized: Bob Roach's Mothman Statue

My son Luke peeking from behind the Mothman

With the pandemic still not under control, Mothman fans around the world, especially those close to the tri-state, were devastated to learn that for the second straight year, the annual Mothman Festival would be a no-go. But, many paranormal explorers (especially those who had already booked and couldn't get a refund on their hotel accommodations) have made a pledge to still ascend on the normally sleepy lil' town of Pt. Pleasant, WV to fill their weekend with their own Mothman fun!

Festival season or not, one of the must-do activities for any monster fan coming to Pt. Pleasant, is to get a picture taken with the iconic, 12-foot steel Mothman Statue, proudly watching over the downtown area from Gunn Park! Mothman, with his MMA fighter-style braids, his hairy chest, his football-sized glowing red eyes, and his um...well-formed muscular buttocks (recently dubbed the shiny hiney) is one of the coolest pieces of public art you'll find anywhere in the world. But what's the story behind this popular tourist attraction?

Luke and the Shiny Hiney

Way back in 2002, a little movie called the Mothman Prophecies, starring Richard Gere was released in theaters. The movie was a VERY loose retelling of the Mothman sightings in Pt. Pleasant, going from the initial sighting by the Scarberry/Malletts, to the collapse of the Silver Bridge 13 months later. It's based on Fortean researcher, John Keel's, pivotal book, The Mothman Prophecies. 

As tourists slowly started seeping into to town, wanting to know more about the true events which inspired the movie, local businesspersons, Jeff Wamsley and Carolin Harris, organized the first ever Mothman Festival, which has grown in recent years to an estimated 15 to 20 THOUSAND visitors flooding the town. And, the statue is always one of the first things they want to see!

The same year the festival began, Charles Humphreys, a Mason County native, was serving as executive director of Main Street, Point Pleasant, an organization that was working to revitalize the downtown area. Seeing the potential that this Mothman stuff could bring in, he went to go see a friend of his named Bob Roach. 

Bob Roach

Bob Roach was a retired welder and former member of the US Navy. After retiring from Mountaineer Power Plant in 1995, where he worked as a welding supervisor, Bob returned to his childhood passion for art. His obituary states that he would carve figures out of the Ivory soap his parents brought home, and that he could draw so well, that his teacher once asked him to draw a beautiful Christmas themed sketch for the classroom one year. These days, however, Bob had moved on from soap and was skilled in creating sculptures from metal.

At first, Bob was hesitant to take on a statue of the local legend, but after thinking it over, called Charles back and said he'd do it. The two went around town, interviewing witnesses about the creature's appearance, and after about a year of research, sketches, and long nights working in his garage, Bob had completed the Mothman Statue.

As stated previously, the statue is a 12 foot stainless steel creation, sitting atop a pedestal. The pedestal bears a short summary of the 1966-67 Mothman flap, written by Charles Humphreys and Jeff Wamsley. It was unveiled  on September 13th, during the 2003 Mothman Festival,under the watchful eye of Mr. John Keel himself, who sported a spiffy white suit to the unveiling. That suit is now on display at the Mothman Museum, located just beside the statue. 

Bob and Charles unveil the Mothman Statue
September 13, 2003

There wasn't a HUGE crowd at this unveiling, but you could see the pride in Bob's eyes as he probably realized that Charles' promise to him that this statue would make him known the world over, was true. 

But, as much as we in the paranormal community LOVE the Mothman statue, it isn't Bob's only contribution to the art and history of Pt. Pleasant and surrounding areas. In addition to his statues gracing the grounds of a local church, a local fire station, and a local high school, Bob is credited with a series of historical figures that can also be seen during the Mothman Festival, lining the riverfront.  Chief Cornstalk, Mad Anne Bailey, Lord Dunmore, Daniel Boone, and Colonel Lewis stand along the flood wall, overlooking the Ohio River as it nears its confluence with the Kanawha. 

For years, Bob could be found at the festival each year, talking with fans about his world-famous statue and selling miniature versions that you could take home! Unfortunately, Bob passed away at the age of 81 on August 30th, 2015. He might be physically gone from this world, but his legacy will always live on through a 12 foot tall, big-assed, red eyed, winged tribute one of West Virginia's most well-known mysterious creatures. 

Mini Mothman Statue
Do YOU own one?

Can't make it to Pt. Pleasant this year? You can keep tabs on the Mothman Statue with the 24 Hour Live MOTHCAM! 

Additional Sources:

Roadside America: Mothman Statue

My WV Home: Mothman Lives!

Theresa and JR Visit Pt. Pleasant!

As difficult as my October proved to be, I still tried to have as much fun and cram in as many Halloween and spooky events as possible, and I think I did okay!  I never get to do everything that I want around the Halloween season, as there is just so much to do and I'm usually so busy...this year more than ever.  But, as long as I get in a few events and try something new, I'm happy!  October 2019 was a somewhat special year for me as it was mine and my husband's first October together as a married couple.  He really got a dose of my Halloween and spooky obsessions!  Earlier in the month, I took him to his first visit to the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton.  A couple of weeks later, we took a spur of the moment trip to Point Pleasant----home of the Mothman!

Same as with the Flatwoods Monster Museum, JR had never been to the Mothman Museum, seen the Mothman statue, or visited the notorious TNT bunker area!  I was determined that a sunny, temperate afternoon to ourselves was the perfect time to remedy that.  We had eaten a late lunch at Steak N Shake in Barboursville, so we hopped on over to Route 2 for a scenic drive into Pt. Pleasant. 

I love seeing people experience things for the first time, which is one reason why I LOVE blogging about my son's haunted travels with me.  It's the same way with my husband. Before meeting me, he wasn't really into ghosts, cryptids, and all things spooky.  However, he is a wonderful husband, and is always willing to indulge me of my interests.  As an added bonus, I think my ghostly tastes are starting to rub off on him a little...

Now, I have been to the wonderful Mothman Museum many times, but I still enjoy seeing the new stuff, reading the articles, and browsing around the gift shop For a relatively small space, there's a LOT to see and do.  I was thrilled that JR seemed so impressed with the museum, especially the movie props. He asked me a ton of questions, which I was happy to answer and eagerly took in all that the museum had to offer.  I'm pretty sure he even went straight to Reddit with his newfound knowledge of one of West Virginia's most unique museums.  My favorite part, however, was snuggling up in the Harris' Steakhouse Diner room, watching part of a Mothman documentary together.  I almost didn't want to leave, but I wanted to make sure that he experienced ALL the Mothman goodness in Pt. Pleasant!

Obviously, that included the requisite photos with the Mothman statue.  Of course, I being the 10 year old boy that I am, made sure that JR got to see back side of the statue, featuring a well-formed metal buttocks!  He was bemused, but not nearly as delighted as I always am at Mothman's rump. He was, however, much more interested in the TNT area.

The weather was perfect for the walk out to the open igloos of the TNT area, once believed to be Mothman's stomping grounds. JR probably thought I was taking him out in the woods to kill him, especially as I led him through a thicket of branches and vines and past a heavy metal door into darkness.  As our eyes adjusted, I couldn't help but sneak in a kiss, because you know...there's no place more romantic than the TNT igloos, lol.  We talked about the graffiti on the walls, how the TNT area was significant to the Mothman story, took some pictures, and played with the unique acoustics of the igloo.  Again, I almost didn't want to leave.  Sharing one of my favorite spooky locations and my passion for the paranormal for the first time with the person I love is a memory I want to live on as long as the story of Mothman himself!

Theresa Travels to Pt. Pleasant (November 2018)

The Nina and the Pinta

This past weekend, my family and I made plans to visit Gallipolis, Ohio.  Our destination was the riverfront, where we would once again experience The Nina and The Pinta, two recreations of Christopher Columbus' famous ships.  We're kind of like Columbus Groupies...not that we support, you know, the genocide and stuff...but we enjoy history and we enjoy boats.  We've seen the Columbus Foundation's historically accurate replica ships in both Charleston, WV and Ashland, KY and now we can add Gallipolis, OH to our list!  It was really fun, and Luke was finally old enough this year to actually learn and retain some interesting information.  If you get a chance to see these boats in person, I highly recommend doing so!  They tour 11 months out of the year, and make it into our region about every 1-2 years. Anyway, we also got a quick glimpse of the quaint, historic little town of Gallipolis, which was founded in 1790 as a colony of French citizens.  There are a lot of cool places of historical (and even spooky!) interest in town, such as the haunted Our House Museum.  But, being late autumn and on a Sunday, there wasn't a whole lot open...so we headed across the bridge and into Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia.

Ever since my son was little, he has called Pt. Pleasant 'Mothman City.' Obviously, Pt. Pleasant was home to the original 1966-1967 Mothman/UFO flap and is now home to the world's only Mothman Museum, the annual Mothman Festival, and of course, the world-famous Mothman Statue! Since the anniversary of the original sightings is coming up later this month, it seemed fitting that we spend a few hours in one of our favorite little towns. 

Living only about a half hour to 45 minutes away from Pt. Pleasant my entire life, I've been there quite a few times.  I think, though, that being so close, I've taken the area for granted a bit.  It really is a fun little town to spend some time and learn all about West Virginia's most famous mysterious monster.  Our first stop was to the Mothman Museum.

Now, I love everything about the annual Mothman Festival, but during the festival I never get a chance to visit the actual museum.  It is just way too crowded.  And honestly, I had only planned on making a stop into the gift shop during this trip, as I have been to the museum before so, so many times.  However, my son, Luke, really wanted to go into the museum and since admission was cheap, we went for it.  I am SO glad we did.  There is so much stuff to look at in the Mothman Museum that you could spend hours in there and not see every single thing, and every time we go back, there's been something new added or we see something we missed on the previous trip.  There are props, photos and memorabilia from the movie, The Mothman Prophecies.  There are hand-written eye-witness accounts.  There are newspaper clippings, information about the history of the TNT area, costumes and artwork, books and rare documents.  There is even a small 'theater' playing Mothman documentaries. 

Luke is finally at an age where he's getting more into stuff like this.  He wanted to watch a bit of the documentary, and even took the time to read several newspaper articles.  When we asked him questions about what he thought the Mothman was and whether or not it was good or bad, he replied with thoughtful, knowledgeable answers.  As a mom and a lover of all things paranormal, I had never been happier!  After purchasing some souvenirs from the gift shop, we made the mandatory photo stop at the Mothman Statue.  One day, I want to put together a flip book of Luke's Mothman statue photos over the years, starting with one of the pictures of me pregnant with him, standing in front of the iconic silver creature with the glowing red eyes!

After a quick lunch, we rounded out our little afternoon with a trip to the TNT area bunkers.  It had been a long time since we had taken Luke out to see the bunkers and with it being a warm day and the thick foliage starting to die down, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity.  As we entered the first bunker, Luke was VERY hesitant.  In fact, he was close to tears.  He absolutely refused to go any further than the doorway.  So, Aaron and I walked around a bit and took some photos of the newest graffiti.  We had planned on only visiting the first open bunker on the trail, but Luke insisted that we go a little further down to the next open bunker.  I'm not sure what changed, but he found his courage, and proudly marched right into the center of the bunker, experimented with the strange acoustics of the structure, and laughed at a spray-painted penis drawn on the floor.  It was really special seeing him conquer his fear and hear his theories as to whether or not the Mothman actually camped out in these strange, concrete igloos.

We had to pass the first bunker on our way back to the car, and Luke decided that he would go ahead and go into this one as well now, which he bravely did!  Even on a Sunday afternoon with other people in the area, even I have to admit that the area around the bunkers is kind of creepy.  Therefore, I was impressed with his bravery and I have to wonder what he tells his friends at school when they ask about what he does on the weekends, lol.

Anyway, with the sun setting we bid adieu to Point Pleasant, aka 'Mothman City' and headed back home, with plans to visit again soon, and also to spend more time in Gallipolis as well.  For us, Pt. Pleasant is just a short drive, but it really is worth the trip if you're coming from further away.  If you can attend the yearly Mothman Festival in September, check that out---its a whole experience of its own.  But, if you can't make it down for the festival, there really is no bad time to visit.  The Mothman Museum is open year-round, and the statue is located right beside the museum.  The haunted Lowe Hotel can be booked much more easily during non-festival times, and the TNT area bunkers are always accessible as long as the weather isn't terrible. With other local museums and historic sites, you can easily spend an afternoon, a weekend, or maybe even longer exploring the area, and with the release of the new Fallout 76 game, in which the Mothman Museum and ol' Mothman himself appear, I think we'll see a lot more visitors to the area soon!

I picked these up at the Mothman Museum gift shop for $10 each.  They are by LizPavlovicDesign

IG: @keepon_creepinon

Give Yourself Time: A Mothman Motivational Post

Lemme tell ya...I'm just not feeling it today.  I'm unmotivated, melancholy, and just not in the mood to write right now.  But, I am SO close to finishing out October's Ultimate Blog Challenge!  I cannot let this seasonal apathy that always sets in right about now prevent me from reaching my goals.  Far too many times I have let fear, insecurity, self-consciousness, and just general lack of motivation stop me from taking my work in the paranormal field to the next level.  And while finishing a blog challenge isn't necessarily going to lead to any breakthroughs, personally, its a huge step in finishing what I've started.

So, today I've chosen to share a little bit of inspiration...Mothman style!  Sometimes I need a reminder to just give myself time...time to rest, time to sort out my issues, and time to evolve.  No one can illustrate that concept like Mothman himself, West Virginia's most beloved (and mysterious) cryptid.  You'll be seeing quite a bit about Mothman on Theresa's Haunted History's Facebook page next month, as November was when the first sightings of our favorite oversize insect took place.

This particular graphic was shared to me by a dear friend, and looks like it was originally posted on the Facebook page, Mothman is Real.  If you're a fan of cryptozoology and not easily offended, go check their page out!  I'll see ya back here tomorrow for day #30.  Stay spooky!

Happy Birthday, Luke!

Luke and Mothman's Butt

Today, my sweet little Luke turns 7 years old.  He was conceived in a haunted hotel, born in a haunted hospital, has lived in a haunted house, and has been dragged around the tri-state to visit various haunted locations. His due date was supposed to be on Halloween, but being eager about getting an earlier start, he decided to come in September, the same weekend as the annual Mothman Festival. He's led a spookier life than many adult paranormal enthusiast I know, yet he has already told me that he will NOT be following in mommy's investigative footsteps! Maybe he'll change his mind as he gets older, but if not, I'll still be proud of him, no matter what.

In honor of Luke's special day, here's a quick sampling of some birthday superstitions!

*In Germany, it is considered both bad luck and poor manners to tell someone 'Happy Birthday' before the day of their actual birthday. The birthday should be celebrated ON the birthday or to be safe, even AFTER the date of birth.

*Children born on Halloween are said to have the gift of second-sight. They can foretell the future, communicate with the spirit world, and even ward off the bad ghosties.

*In Argentina, the seventh son born into a family is said to be a Lobison, and will turn into a werewolf. Since so many seventh sons were being abandoned (or worse) in the early 1900s, it became a tradition that all seventh sons would receive the godfathership of the Argentinian president, and be presented with a gold medal upon baptism.

*Those born on Christmas are said to be protected for life against drowning or hanging, leading many Christmas babies to take on the life of a sailor (or in some cases, a pirate, lol). Christmas babies have tons of superstitions involving their birth, including an ability to talk to animals, turn into 'ghosts' on Christmas Day/Eve, and generally enjoy a life of luck, to name a few.

*A southern US tradition states that if you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake, you'll be married within a year!