Did Members of the Flatwoods Monster Fleet Make it to Raleigh County?

Source

1952 was a BIG year for ufology, especially here in the Mountain State! By now, most of my readers are going to be pretty darn familiar with the September 12th sighting in Flatwoods (Braxton County) by a group of school boys, National Guardsman Eugene Lemon, and mother of two of the kids, Kathleen May. What they encountered up on a hill on the Fisher farm would forever be known throughout the world of high strangeness and eventually into the mainstream, as the Flatwoods Monster. 

Skeptics will just say that the boys followed a meteor, and were surprised by an owl sitting in the tree branches. And, while its true that reports of a meteor were reported that night over several states (including West Virginia) what they saw was no owl. It was a spade-headed, red-faced monstrosity with glowing yellow eyes, stick-like arms, and what can only be described as a lower half shaped like a pleated skirt. 

Sounds pretty far-fetched, right? Despite the documented physical effects from the encounter and the fact that none of these witnesses had any reason to lie...or to NOT be familiar with what an owl looked like...it's a super strange story. It just doesn't FIT in with more common UFO reports. But because of all that, that's why I think this story has continued to fascinate so many people over the years. However, the story doesn't end in Flatwoods...

Following the Flatwoods encounter on September 12th would come the Frametown Monster incident the next evening, when a couple with a young baby driving along State Route 4 between Frametown and Gassaway had their car engine stall, and witnessed a reptilian creature before finally being able to drive off. There was also the Bashful Billy incident in Wheeling, WV on September 15th where a 'meteor' crashed near the Vineyard Hills housing development, but disappeared...not before the rumors started flying though. I'll be covering both of these cases in future blogs, but for today, I wanted to focus on two reports from Raleigh County that came out in the days following the Flatwoods sighting.

Flatwoods Monster

The first sighting comes just the day after the initial Flatwoods encounter, on Saturday September 13th. Around 11pm, 16 year old Franklin Smedley and two other boys witnessed what looked like gallon-bucket sized orange objects flying over an area of Raleigh County called East Gulf. Franklin initially saw two of the objects, which moved faster than any airplane he'd ever seen, but didn't say anything because he didn't believe in flying saucers. However, when four more of the objects showed up, he alerted his friends, and all three got a good look at the objects.

The next morning, Smedley's father would tell the tale of the flying saucers during Sunday school. It was then that Mr. Shelby Deaner felt brave enough to confirm that he and his wife had also seen the objects the previous night. The couple was out watching for meteors, but shortly after going inside to get ready for bed, Mrs. Deaner looked out the window and alerted her husband. They both saw two orange objects at the same time the boys' had seen them and noted that they appeared to be moving at least twice as fast as an airplane that had passed overhead thirty minutes earlier.

The Smedley/Deaner report of East Gulf was documented in the Tuesday, September 16th edition of the Raleigh Register and reported without bias. However, an article appearing a few days later in the same publication would be a little more...tongue-in-cheek. It shared the story of Mrs. Earl Hutchinson of Skelton who reported 'something shiny' seen in the sky near the Greenbrier Dairy (Interesting side note: My grandfather was working at the Greenbrier Dairy at this time!) This thing didn't zoom across the sky like the Smedley/Deaner objects. Rather, it hovered. Mrs. Hutchinson initially believed it was a man with a parachute, as the object appeared to swing back and forth and jump up and down. That article expresses the idea that maybe the Flatwoods Monster was en route to Beckley to meet up with some other monsters? (Check out my Beasts of Beckley blog!)

So just what was going on in mid September of 1952? Why were all of these UFO/Monster sightings reported across the state within just days of each other? It simply could have been monster mania brought on by a recent meteor shower and a series of misidentifications and hoaxes. Or, it could be something else. In his book, The Braxton County Monster: The Cover Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed, author Frank Feschino poses a very interesting theory. Feschino believes that there was actually some sort of 'invasion' of the east coast by flying saucers.  In the case of the Flatwoods Monster, perhaps it was either shot down or crashed and subsequent sightings were follow-up rescue missions, other crafts that crashed/were shot down, etc. I can't possibly do this theory justice within a few lines, so definitely check out the book for a better understanding. 

What's important to remember is that the Flatwoods Monster is just the tip of the iceberg. That's the story that everyone seems to know, and for good reason. It has solid witnesses who stuck to their story, a unique creature unlike any other, and has been well-documented and shared throughout the years. But, the Flatwoods Monster was not the only strange thing reported in West Virginia that week! 

Keep your eyes to the skies and your heart and mind open! 

The Raleigh Register
21 September 1952

The Raleigh Register
16 September 1952

Strange Lights Seen by Raleigh County Airport Employees

Raleigh County Memorial Airport
Source: Facebook

On World UFO Day 2020, I published a blog post called 1973 UFO Flap Comes to Southern WV, discussing a newspaper article dealing with a UFO flap in the Beckley, WV area. During the late summer months into fall of 1973, the United States as a whole was experiencing quite a number of UFO reports, including the infamous Pascagoula Abduction. That newspaper article, from the Raleigh Register, was dated October 17th, 1973 and in addition to the other numerous reports of strange lights and flying saucers coming in from around the county, mentions a UFO that was seen over the Raleigh County Airport by multiple witnesses. It's taken me over 2 years to realize that I should probably go into a little more detail about that particular sighting, sometimes referred to in UFO literature as the Howard Moneypenny sighting.  

Howard Moneypenny was a weather service specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) and was on location at the Raleigh County Airport in Beaver, WV on the evening of Monday, October 15, 1973. Starting around 8:45pm and lasting 30 to 40 minutes, Moneypenny and virtually every other employee on duty that night at the airport witnessed an unidentified flying object over the airport. 

According to Moneypenny, the thing really didn't have a discernible shape, and due to the clear night, they really couldn't tell how big it was, or even how far away it was. What they did know was that whatever this was, it had red, green, and white flashing lights, but unlike the red, green, and white lights associated with aircraft, this thing would entirely change color at the same time. Oh, and at one point it seemed to HOVER for about 15 minutes at a point 300 degrees west-northwest.

A local pilot who wished to remain anonymous, jumped in his Cessna 182 and actually tried to go after this thing. He confirmed that the object would change color, and that he never seemed to be able to get any closer to it; it was moving away from him towards the area of Bolt Mountain. This pilot was apparently not a newbie to night flying, and could not understand exactly what he was seeing.

Darris Moore, Piedmont Airlines supervisor, however, had a rational explanation. According to Moore, this was just simply an aircraft, most likely a military helicopter, about 20 miles away. He absolutely refused to believe that the strange lights observed by so many employees of the airport could possibly be extraterrestrial. 

Whether or not the lights seen over the Raleigh County Airport were extraterrestrial, it's pretty interesting to note that the local newspaper stated that this was the first UFO report from West Virginia in quite some time, meaning that if true, it was the first UFO report of the huge 1973 flap to hit the Mountain State. But, it wouldn't be the last, not by far! The local newspaper would go on to report that in the following days, there would be at least 200 more calls about flying saucers in the Beckley area.  There would even be a rather significant sighting in Mingo County, where the Chief of Police and a whole restaurant full of people reported seeing something strange in the sky (see UFOs over Gilbert).  West Virginia has had a rich history when it comes to ufology, and this little tale of a UFO seen over a small, county airport is just one small piece to the larger puzzle. 

Raleigh Register
16 October 1973

1973 UFO Flap Comes to Southern West Virginia

It's July 2nd, otherwise known as WORLD UFO DAY!!!  World UFO Day was started back in 2001 as a way for UFO researchers and enthusiasts to bring awareness to the field of UFO research, share information and evidence, and to celebrate this fascinating field of study!

In honor of World UFO Day 2020, I wanted to share an article from The Raleigh Register, dated 17 October 1973. Around this time, the local paper, based out of Beckley, WV was publishing numerous articles about area residents reporting some pretty strange things in the skies...and even LANDING close by.

While other sightings had been reported earlier in the year this wave of the 1973 UFO flap seemed to originate on October 11th, when Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, Jr. reported being abducted by aliens while fishing down by the river in Pascagoula, Mississippi.  Both men passed lie detector tests and the case immediately garnered mass national attention.  Soon after, people in other parts of the country started reporting their own UFO sightings. These reports came from all over, but most notably from the Deep South, Ohio, and...southern West Virginia.

Pascagoula Abduction.  Source

Skeptics were quick to dismiss the majority of these sightings as an alignment of Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, which appeared very bright in the night sky, misidentified aircraft, and of course weather balloons.  Some were deemed outright hoaxes, others simply the result of people getting caught up in the UFO hype.  But, could so many witnesses be wrong about what they were reporting? There were some pretty credible witnesses to various events, including Ohio's governor at the time! Either way, I found it really interesting that West Virginia, which has a pretty fascinating track record when it comes to UFO history, was right there in the middle of the 1973 events.

STATE POLICE REPORT MORE UFO SIGHTINGS

Beckley State Police say they received numerous reports Tuesday night of 'unidentified flying objects, flying saucers, and lights in the sky' from all over Raleigh County.

One trooper estimated 20 calls came into state police headquarters here over a period stretching from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm. Reports came from Bradley, Mount Tabor, Daniels, and Shady Spring.

The trooper said the callers spoke of lights in the sky, 200 to 300 feet off the ground.

Trooper B.A. Vaughn reported that one man called from Bradley and said, "one of these flying things was out on the ground."

"He was scared to death and breathing hard---too serious to be lying," Vaughn said and he went with the man to investigate, but found nothing.

Vaughn said the man told him he couldn't describe "it,"---"but it looked like it had diamonds all over it."

A UFO sighting was reported Monday night by several people at the Raleigh County Airport. One man chased "it" in a small plane toward Bolt Mountain. Residents of that area have reported seeing a similar "something" in the sky that night.

Meanwhile in central and southern Ohio, reports of UFOs poured in from residents and law officers, according to United Press International. The sightings, which started in the Dayton area last Thursday, were reported in seven counties Tuesday night.

Three Greenfield, Ohio police officers reported separate sightings in Highland County.

"The one I chased was about 100 feet in diameter and glowed with a real bright white light," said Patrolman Mike Conklin.

"There were about 20 people out there looking at it at the same time I was, so I know I'm not crazy," he said.

Sgt. Raymond Davis said the Cincinnati Police Department received so many calls Tuesday night they asked people to refrain from reporting sightings because jammed switchboards waylaid emergency calls.

UFOs were first reported sighted in the Raleigh County area 26 years ago, with some nine sightings since that time reported in the newspaper.

Numerous sightings have been reported from around the nation in recent weeks.