1973 UFO Flap Hits Kanawha County

West Virginia State Police Headquarters
South Charleston

Happy World UFO Day! As we celebrate flying saucers, UFOs, and little green men across the globe, let's take a second to shout out another story (or stories) from right here in the Mountain State!

 In October of 1973, UFOs dominated the skies over much of the eastern United States. West Virginia had its fair share of reports that month, with a large concentration of sightings in the southern part of the state, namely around Beckley surrounding areas. But, although less talked about, Kanawha County got it's fair share of weird reports, too. The West Virginia State Police detachment in South Charleston took calls on two separate incidents of a potential UFO CRASH! The reports came in from the Coal Mountain area of St. Albans and from the Alum Creek area. 

The St. Albans call came first, and the caller was reported as being a 'sober-sounding' male saying that he had seen a strange craft covered with lights and making weird noises descending from the heavens. Bob Gunnoe, state police dispatcher, rather dryly comments that it must have ascended just as quickly, because the only thing matching that description (lights and weird sounds, I guess) was a jukebox in the local beer joint.

The second call came in around 10pm on October 17th. This time, a lady caller from Alum Creek reported an oddly colored and illuminated object falling from the sky. When troopers arrived on scene, they didn't find any spacecraft---just a drunk guy who they arrested for public intoxication. Before the article cuts off and is continued on the next page (which is conveniently missing from the archive service I've used), one last dig at the UFO sightings is given. A story about a married Clendenin man experiencing a "flying saucer", along with a flying ash tray and cup at breakfast that morning was shared, because in 1973 domestic violence was hilarious. 

Anyway, I'm kinda bummed that the second part of the article is missing. I'll have to head out to the library to see if I can find the second page, and see whether or not it has additional information. St. Albans is no stranger to UFO sightings, and in fact, local UFO researcher, Ralph Jarrett, developed his interest in the phenomenon when he saw not one, but THREE separate UFOs over his St. Albans home between 1966 and 1967. I'd be interested to see if those sightings were cited, or if any mention was made about the weirdness over the skies of Beckley, which you can read about HERE and HERE and HERE.

Keep your eyes to the skies! 

The Charleston Daily Mail
18 October 1973

Beckley Sky Anomaly (1965)

Mount Hope, WV
Source: Town Website

We're wrapping up UFO Week here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State with a two-for-one astral anomaly over the skies of Beckley, West Virginia. My grandparents lived in Beckley, so I spent many weekends and summers in the area, hearing about local ghosts and legends. My grandma even had some of her own UFO experiences near Harper Road in the late 1990s/early 2000's! Unfortunately for me, what she saw was rather tame compared to the strange sight spotted in the skies above Maxwell Hill and Mount Hope...

In the Beckley Post-Herald, dated October 10, 1965 an interesting little tidbit ran in Donald Meadows' local column. He shared the story of a couple living in the Maxwell Hill area who wished to remain anonymous. Each evening, right around dusk, the couple were seeing something pretty weird in the night sky. As 'Mrs. X' described it: "It first appears to be falling to earth, but then shoots up and spits yellow fire out of its tail. After this, it seems to wriggle like a snake."

'Mrs. X' first spotted the anomaly through the window when she got up to use the restroom, and the couple had seen it several times since. They had contacted the Raleigh Airport, who reported no reports or radar anomalies. The couple put out a plea for anyone else witnessing the anomaly to come forward.

And, someone did. Although they also chose to remain anonymous, a  nearby Mount Hope couple had also been seeing something strange in the night sky. The anonymous wife sent a two-page letter in to Meadows' column describing what she and her husband had seen. As published in in the Beckley Post-Herald from October 17, 1965, the couple enjoyed sitting on their enclosed porch after dark. One evening, they took notice of a large, illuminated ball, coming from the south and moving westward. It had a long tail of fire and was emitting sparks behind it. Less than 45 minutes later, another object appeared, moving along the same path!

The couple assumed that these objects were part of three Russian satellites recently sent into orbit, but a third object was never observed. 

SRC Worker Sees UFO in Clay County (1968)

 

West Virginia Rt. 4
Source: Wikipedia

We're trucking right along with UFO WEEK here at Theresa's Haunted History! Today's blog post comes from the October 21, 1968 edition of The Charleston Daily Mail, and tells the experience of a family of seven seeing a UFO in Clay County, WV. The article mentions that what the family saw is similar to what had been seen forty miles away in Summersville. Research into that is on-going...

An unidentified flying object was sighted Sunday night by a State Road Commission employee and his family as they were driving in Clay County.

"We saw it twice," Claude Keenan told the Daily Mail today. "It was a real tremendously bright object."

Keenan said he, his wife, and five children were traveling along W.Va. 4 in Clay County about 10:30 pm when they spotted the object overtop a car. 

"My wife said it was the first time she'd seen a falling star that close. The children were very upset," Keenan said.

"We tried to calm the children and when we looked again, it was traveling alongside a car and then disappeared."

"It looked like that UFO that's been seen around Summersville," Keenan continued, "and where we saw it was 40 miles away."

The Charleston Daily Mail
21 October 1968

UFO Landing in Danese? (1968)

Formerly known as Noel, Danese is a small, unincorporated town in Fayette County, West Virginia. It is also the site of an alleged UFO near-landing one winter day in the 1960's. 

Ben Crookshanks lived along Route 3 in Danese, and was a regular reader of the Beckley Post-Herald, a newspaper from neighboring Raleigh County. Crookshanks wasn't just a reader, however. He also enjoyed writing letters to the editor on a variety of subjects, many of which were published over the years. But, it was a letter received by the Post-Herald in February of 1968 that would earn Crookshanks a place in wild and weird history. Actually, there were two letters....

In a column dated 15 February 1968, Charlotte Fleshman of the Post-Herald noted that two letters had recently been received by the newspaper, both coming in the same mailbag, actually. The first was a letter from the UFO Research Institute, based in Pittsburgh, PA, asking for UFO sightings within a 200 mile radius of them. The second, ironically, was a recent UFO sighting by none other than Ben Crookshanks, which hovered over a hill about half a mile from his home.

According to the article:

Crookshanks  qualifies that, "I couldn't say for certain that it was a flying saucer, but something unusual had been there. There was a hole in the snow about four feet long and about two and one-half feet wide, sort of egg shaped."

"Something with terrific heat had caused it," he wrote, "because the snow was better than a foot thick and the hole was melted into the ground. There was a wide ring of heavy ice around the hole. The ice was blue in color."

The Danese man added that "if it was a flying saucer, it didn't actually land, but only hovered over the snow, because the ground was undisturbed."

Theresa's Note: So, I don't know about you, but when I read that no actual craft was seen...only an impression surrounded by blue ice, my mind jumps to one conclusion: Crookshanks didn't stumble upon a UFO landing site; he found some sewage leakage from an airplane! Although there are plenty of urban legends about this blue ice, airlines assure us that there is no mechanism to actually dump their raw sewage out of a moving plane. However, leaks can and have occurred, leaving chunks of blue ice to cause destruction and perhaps...even ufo legends...in their wake. (Learn more about blue ice HERE)

Beckley Post-Herald
15 February 1968

MORE Charleston Police Officers See UFO (1978)

The Springfield News-Leader
24 October 1978

Last month, I posted a blog about an incident in 1966 when no less than seven members of the Charleston Police Department spotted a UFO. That wouldn't be the last time that officers in West Virginia's capital city would be plagued with their own personal sightings of unidentified flying objects.

On Friday, October 20, 1978 and lasting throughout the weekend, state police officers received around thirty calls about strange lights in the sky. The reports were all similar; a light that shot quickly across the sky, then would abruptly stop or slow down. The hovering, or super-slow objects were often sighted in groups of three, and shone with a range of lights, including blue, white, green, yellow or red. These lights would dim if an airplane flew above them, then return to their usual brightness once it had passed.

Cpl. Don Sharpe of the West Virginia State Police, who watched at least seven of the lights for over a half an hour said this about the objects: "I couldn't tell you what they were. I've never seen anything move like that, I'll tell you." Sharpe wasn't the only officer to see the lights. At least three state troopers and a number of other law enforcement officers from other agencies saw the lights. One officer even snapped a color photograph, but the images apparently didn't come out well. 

Not only were these objects sighted with the naked eye, but they also showed up on radar at the nearby Kanawha Airport. However, Bill Givens, supervisor for air traffic control, believes that the anomalies, especially those that showed up on Sunday, were merely weather-related phenomena. 

What's interesting is that apparently people around West Virginia were reporting UFOs around this same time, including 20 year old Fairmont State student, Joyce Dehner. On October 24, she saw a UFO on Interstate-79 near Fairmont. You can read about her experience (HERE)!

The Herald-News
24 October 1978

The Indianapolis-Star
24 October 1978

Madison Prom Night UFO (1977)

 

The Raleigh Register
26 May 1977

I hope you're enjoying UFO WEEK here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State! Today's post is about a UFO reportedly seen by eight people in the Madison area of Boone County, WV on the night of Scott High School's Senior Prom. The same, or a similar object, was also reported a little further north up Corridor G. As reported in the May 26, 1977 edition of The Raleigh Register:

In the initial hours of darkness last Saturday, it was a typical "prom night," with teen-agers celebrating the end of high school, and their parents losing sleep to worry over their safe return home.

Then about three hours before sunup, the prom was quickly forgotten. 

A strange object, flashing blue and orange lights, floated down from the darkened sky, holding several families in rapt attention. 

Mr. and Mrs. Harold Miller, and son Scotty, 17, were in a bedroom when an "eerie, blue light poured through sheer curtains over the window.

"Scotty rushed to the window and saw what he described as a very, very intense light, almost too bright to look at, sort of pulsating," Scott High science teacher Den Isaac noted.

Isaac has taken statements from eight persons who witnessed the same object.

"We'd like to believe it was a genuine UFO sighting, but I am reluctant at this time to draw a definite conclusion," Isaac said.

Scotty Miller watched with fascination as the object flew above a housetop, casting its brilliant light on parked cars and hillsides in the neighborhood.

"When he found out others had sighted the object, he agreed to describe the experience," Isaac said. "Now other reports are beginning to come in."

A UFO buff for the past 14 years, Isaac plans to distribute the official reporting forms supplied by the Air Force to his students. 

Another student, Ronnie Miller, 17,  Mud River Rd., was driving his girlfriend through "Corridor G" when he noticed something unusual in the pre-dawn sky.

"He described the object as elongated, giving off a very intense orange-red light, making no sound and skimming along the treetops," Isaac said. "He thought it might be a helicopter going to crash."

Update June 2025:

While researching a completely different topic on a different newspaper archive service, I came across this little article from the Mountain Statesman, a paper out of Grafton, WV. Dated 27 May, 1977, the article states that Donald and Ruth Vaughan spotted a meteor while traveling Interstate 64 near Charleston a week earlier. The meteor was headed in the direction of Boone County at the same time the sightings above were reported. So, was there a prom night UFO...or just natural astral phenomenon?

Mountain Statesman
27 May 1977

UFO Crash Over West Hamlin??

Happy World UFO Day! 

Today is a day to celebrate the strange and fascinating world of ufology, and what better way to do just that than to share a UFO story from right here in West Virginia! The Mountain State is no stranger to UFO sightings, and that was especially true between Autumn of 1966 and Winter of 1967. If those dates sounds familiar, that's because this is the time frame where the small, Ohio Valley town of Pt. Pleasant was being inundated with reports of a large, winged humanoid who would become known as The Mothman. In addition to Mothman, the people of the area were reporting other incidents of high strangeness, including various cryptid sightings, hauntings, poltergeist and psychic activity....and plenty of UFOs. These reports of unidentified flying objects spread throughout the Ohio and Kanawha Valleys, including the town of West Hamlin.

What is interesting about these West Hamlin sightings is that multiple witnesses reported what they believed to be aircraft on fire. This was confirmed by an Eastern Airlines pilot who circled the area and spotted a fire two miles from West Hamlin. However, both a second search plane AND State Police ground forces could find no trace of a fire anywhere in the vicinity. So what were these witnesses seeing? Were that many people independently misidentifying some natural phenomenon that LOOKED like an aircraft on fire...or was there some sort of cover-up concerning a crashed craft, either from an extraterrestrial source, or from right here on Earth? 

Let me know in the comments below what YOU think was going on! 

Sunday Gazette-Mail
02 April 1967

Charleston Police Officers See UFO

ECHO-1 Satellite
Source: Wikipedia

When dealing with reports of UFOs, the problem of witness reliability is always present. However, few can argue that fraudulent or untruthful claims are an issue when no less than SEVEN members of the Charleston, WV Police Department reported seeing a strange object in the early morning sky!

It all started on Wednesday, May 11, 1966. At around 2:58 a.m. Company B of the West Virginia State Police, stationed in South Charleston began receiving calls about a strange object in the sky. Twelve minutes later, the object apparently had traveled to Charleston, where it was spotted by Patrolmen Bob Easley and Robert King. The two reported a "blazing light of spectacular appearance." 

Easley radioed back to the station, where interested parties on duty stepped out to look skyward. No less than seven members of the police department, including Desk Sgt. James C. Robinson saw the craft. Robinson, who had a clear view of the object, noted that the object was very bright and fast-moving. He states, "When it got almost directly in my line of vision, there was something that went from the side of it at a much higher rate of speed. After about 15 seconds it completely disappeared.

Many of those who saw the object said it took off, straight up at a very high speed. One officer, who did NOT see it this interesting takeoff however, but did claim to see the object had a theory as to what was witnessed. John Bailes believes what the men saw was an ECHO Satellite. According to Wikipedia: 

"Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, were metalized balloon satellites acting as passive reflectors of microwave signals. Communication signals were transmitted from one location on Earth and bounced off the surface of the satellite to another Earth location."

Sgt. Robinson did agree that the object resembled the ECHO Satellite, but moved way too fast and was much brighter. In 1966, the United States was not only under threat from the Cold War, but was also deep into a Space Race with the former Soviet Union. Did a group of Charleston police officers really spot an extraterrestrial craft...or was it something from either our own or a foreign government?

The Charleston Daily Mail
11 May 1966

The Raleigh Register
12 May 1966

12 Foot Tall Humanoids in West Virginia

From The Twilight Zone 
"To Serve Man"
This is what I see when I read the description, lol!

In 1897, the little West Virginia town of Ogden was in the midst of an oil and gas boom. Located in Wood County, Ogden quickly became home to numerous drill sites dotting the former farm lands. Tycoons, businessmen, investors...all would descend upon the town in order to try their hand at making a fortune. However, that spring, another type of visitor would also show up.

According to sources, on April 21, 1897 a man witnessed an astonishing sight. This unnamed man observed a well-lit aerial object land nearby. Out of the craft came eight creatures, each 11-12 feet tall with disproportionately large craniums. As luck would have it, these creatures spoke English, and told the man they were there, "exploring the planet." Further, they were observed eating small pills and 'drinking air.'  This crew remained in Ogden for about an hour before taking off again.

Okay, wow. That's quite a story! Unfortunately, that's all there currently is to it. Researcher Albert Rosales included this little blurb about a run-in with giant UFO occupants in his book, Humanoid Encounters and Others Among Us: 1 A.D.-1899. He cites HIS source as a book by Phillip  L. Rife called It Didn't Start with Roswell.  The case was also mentioned in Strange West Virginia Monsters, by Michael Newton, which is where I first heard it and began my (feeble) attempts to track down more information. 

Although all three books recount the exact same details, no more no less, Newton's book did offer a little insight into where this tale may have possibly come from. It seems as if, despite Rife's jumbled notes, the story most likely came from an article in the Parsons Advocate, a newspaper out of Tucker County, WV, located over 2 hours away, all the way across the state from Ogden. The article allegedly appeared in the April 23, 1897 edition, but neither Newton nor myself have been able to get ahold of an archival copy. 

So, I'll have to take Rife's word on it, I guess! But, I think there are some important things to consider when looking at the authenticity of the sighting. If we put away how much like an episode of Scooby Doo this reads as (shady oil and gas tycoons scaring off potential threats to their claims), there is some contemporary precedence for this event. 

While I haven't gotten a chance to read further than the free Google Books preview, Rife's work documents a huge number of both 'ufos' and encounters with the beings inside them dating from late 1896 into 1897. In fact, West Virginia was no stranger to this flap of reported 'phantom airships' that were seeming moving east across the United States during this time frame. 

On April 19, 1897, only TWO DAYS before this weird encounter, witnesses in Sistersville, WV reported seeing red, white, and green flashing lights in the sky. When observed through 'strong glasses,' witnesses could see an 180 foot, cone-shaped craft with fins on either side. It was seen for at least 20 minutes, but seemingly it never landed in that area. (Read Sistersville Phantom Airship)

Sistersville is only about 35 miles north of Ogden, both being right along the Ohio River and accessible via today's Route 2. Was the craft seen in Ogden the same one seen two days earlier only 35 miles north in Sistersville? Or, was the story made up, playing on the sheer number of other newspaper articles from various other locations all reporting weird phantom airships and/or strange humanoid encounters?

There's a good chance we'll never know just how true this story was...but one last thing to consider. Remember how I said Ogden was located in Wood County, West Virginia? Around 70 years later, Wood County would be the location of ANOTHER humanoid from a spaceship encounter...possibly one of the most famous in modern ufo history. In early November 1966, Woodrow Derenberger, returning home to Mineral Wells from a business trip in nearby Marietta, OH would meet a fellow who would call himself Indrid Cold. But, that story is for another day! 

Keep your eyes to the skies!

Circleville UFO!

The Circleville Herald
28 March 1957

Happy World UFO Day!

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know I love to post a fun UFO-related story every year on July 2nd in honor of this most esteemed holiday, and this year is no exception. But, this post is coming at you from the past; I'm writing it on June 30th because today I'll be recovering from Spectral Research and Investigation's follow-up investigation of the Gregg-Crites Octagon House in Circleville, Ohio. We absolutely had such a great night there a few months ago, that we had to return. 

It's actually the Octagon House, though, that has inspired today's blog. Well, not the Octagon House, exactly, but the town of Circleville, Ohio. Not only is this unique lil' hamlet full of haunted history and ghost stories...it's also known for quite a few UFO sightings. Strange aerial phenomenon continues up through today, but it all started in February of 1948.

C. Bruce Stevenson was a farmer who lived just outside of Circleville. Everyone who knew him attested that he was an honest, hardworking man who would never lie or make up stories. That's why it came as somewhat of a shock to the locals when in August of 1952, the Circleville Herald ran a story about Stevenson. That summer, the country was abuzz with talk of UFOs. 1952 saw a huge UFO flap across the eastern United States, with reports of flying saucers even flying over the Washington, DC. Skeptics and believers were hashing it out over the validity of visitors from other planets and people from all walks of life were following the events.

That's when Bruce Stevenson decided to share his story that he had been keeping a secret for four years out of fear of ridicule. Back in February of 1948 Bruce saw a UFO over his farm.

It was a cold, moonlit night early in the month, and there was snow on the ground. Bruce awoke around 2am, and while getting a drink of water, looked out the kitchen window and saw what he at first thought were flames. Afraid that one of his farm buildings was on fire, he headed outside in that direction. What he saw was way bigger than any fire.

Bruce reported that a strange craft slowly and silently floated over his tool building, no more than 150 feet away from him. The craft was saucer shaped, with a silvery underbody containing portholes or vents. On top sat an 8 foot tall dome filled with a glowing amber/orange light that dulled slightly when he approached. It was the amber light that he originally mistook for fire. The base measured about 60 feet across and something whirled beneath, making no noise and causing no motion on the base itself.  

After watching the craft for a few moments go over the roof of the tool building and a building containing the farm's hogs, it floated on away and into the night. And, for four years, Bruce stayed tight-lipped about what he saw. When he finally contacted the newspaper, he remained adamant that what he saw was not an air pocket, a reflection, or any other natural phenomenon. On his behalf, the newspaper reached out to Wright Patterson Airforce Base to report the sighting, but they simply acknowledged they had received the letter and never followed up. Bruce's daughter would later tell reporters that a retired military officer DID come to visit her dad after he reported it in 1952. 

Over the years, more people would report strange lights and mysterious craft in the Circleville area. One such witness, Pete Hartinger, has had at least four sightings beginning with his first in 1958. Inspired by his own experiences, as well as the Bruce Stevenson case (which is now regarded as one of the best eyewitness UFO sightings in history), Pete took action. In 1985, he and several others formed the Roundtown UFO Society. The society still meets once a month to study, investigate, and document the UFO phenomenon in Circleville and beyond. 

Dipping into the UFO history of Circleville, OH has made me even more anxious for our investigation, and I'll certainly be keeping my eyes to the skies in addition to huntin' for ghosties. 

For more information on this case, please check out the Project 1947 website. It includes a letter written by the Circleville Herald writer, as well as an essay by Pete Hartinger about the Stevenson sighting! 

August 2022 Paranormal Discussion Group with Tony Breeden

Okay, I'm playing some MAJOR catch-up!! Last March, I was really honored to be asked to present to a new group that had formed in the St. Albans area. As part of the St. Abans' On Purpose Project, a young man named Barry, with the guidance of Angie Breeden, started a monthly Paranormal Discussion Group. Each month, the group would meet to discuss a new topic in the paranormal field, and there were so many awesome speakers with a knowledge in so many different aspects of the field. I attended as many of these meetings as I could, and each one I attended, I tried to feature on my blog. Unfortunately, the latter half of 2022 was a REALLY rough time as my mom's health continued to decline rapidly. So, there were two speakers that I didn't get to give proper credit to.

Tomorrow, I'll post a blog about September's speaker, Joe Perdue, of the WV High Strangeness Collective, but today I wanted to focus on August's speaker, Tony Breeden!

Tony Breeden is a West Virginia author who has written an impressive number of books, both fiction and nonfiction, but is notably an excellent UFO researcher with a unique and refreshing religious slant to the UFO phenomenon. He also knows more about the (in)famous WV UFO researcher, Gray Barker, than any other person alive today! And, it was Gray Barker who was the subject of Tony's presentation.

Gray Barker was a fascinating guy. Born and educated here in West Virginia, he held several different jobs, including working for a string of drive-in movie theaters. His work in the field of ufology, however, is what made him famous. Thanks to him, the world knows about cases such as the Flatwoods Monster and the Grafton Monster. He gave us many publications and books that are staples in any ufologist's library today. But, the man was not without his controversies, and to be completely honest, despite the awesome, well-researched information provided in the presentation, I still haven't made up my mind completely as to whether Barker ever really even believed in UFO's. His pranking of John Keel while Keel was working the Mothman case during the mid 1960's is the stuff of legends, but just scratches the surface of the alleged fraud that Barker may have been involved with over the years. 

There was so much information packed into the presentation that I can't remember everything, and Tony presented it with a delightful mix of authority and humor...which perfectly suited the subject matter! He talked a little about his books, and answered lots of questions from the participants, several of who opened up with some pretty strange stories to share. It was a really fun evening of learning about a weird aspect of West Virginia's history among those who share my passion for the paranormal! 

You can find Tony at his website, TonyBreedenBooks.com or you can find his work on Amazon. You can also follow him on Facebook to see what events he'll be vending at and other information! Also, come join the Facebook page for the Paranormal Discussion Group and see what 2023 will bring!

Joyce Dehner's West Virginia UFO Sighting (1978)

 Happy World UFO Day!

Since today is World UFO Day, I thought I'd bring you yet another unexplained sighting from deep within the files of West Virginia's UFO history! Although this story was written up in the local newspapers at the time, the information for today's blog comes from issue Number 133 of the MUFON UFO Journal, January/February 1979 edition. The article, West Virginia Flap---Part 2, was written by the then-WV State MUFON Director, Ted Spickler.  (This edition is available in PDF format at THIS LINK)

Photo from MUFON

It was a fairly regular Tuesday morning. On October 24, 1978, 20 year old Joyce Dehner was traveling north on Interstate 79. It was about 7:15am and she was headed to class at Fairmont State College. It was still pretty dark at this time, and a series of red, green, and white lights coming over a low hill to her left caught her eye. She assumed it was a low-flying plane...maybe flying TOO low, as the craft approached the interstate, and dipped down within a few feet of an interstate bridge that Joyce was approaching.

Here, she was able to get a better look at the oddly shaped craft. She noted a hump or dome that was topped by red lights. Protruding out in front of the dome was a long, torpedo shaped area, which had a white light at its tip. The underside of the craft contained green lights. Joyce claimed that the object made no sound, and was about the size of a private plane.

A car ahead of Joyce must have seen the craft as well, because she noticed that it temporarily slowed down, then sped off. Joyce followed suit and stomped the gas, as the terror of knowing that this was NOT a normal sight began to set in. She said she witnessed the object 'float like a feather' across the bridge. It then shot up to the right side of the road, hovered a moment over some trees, then disappeared out of sight. 

The article states that Joyce was interviewed at least twice by MUFON regarding this sighting, but no explanation for the strange craft was ever uncovered. Interestingly, on November 2, 1978, a young man in Orange, California reported seeing a very similarly shaped UFO. And then, ten days after Ms. Dehner's sighting, quite a few people in West Virginia's northern panhandle caught their own glimpse of an unidentified flying object.  Even before Joyce's sighting, however, newspaper articles covering the incident had claimed that this was the fifth day in a row that a West Virginia resident had reported a UFO in the Mountain State. The MUFON article does address this, and it is believed that the other reports were misidentified star reports...but that Joyce's encounter might actually be worth something looking into!  

Keep your eyes to the skies and let me know what YOU think Joyce spotted over the highway outside of Fairmont, West Virginia! 

Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune
27 October 1978

UFOs in Gilbert, West Virginia

Readers of Theresa's Haunted History know that I can't pass up a good book of paranormal nonfiction. My ever-growing library on subjects such as UFOs, ghosts, cryptozoology, and beyond is one of my most cherished possessions. But, my personal library extends beyond just the paranormal. I am also a collector of West Virginia history books! On one of my many visits to thrift stores and antique shops, I picked up a two-volume set of the history of Gilbert, WV. Gilbert is a small town located in Mingo County, WV. It may be small, but it's packed with history and interesting stories. Several interesting stories concerning UFOs can be found in the second volume, More Stories About Gilbert, West Virginia and Surrounding Communities, written by Colonel (Retired) Darrell G. Brumfield and Richard N. Ellis. The book was published in 1995 by Gateway Press, Inc, and my copy has some neat annotations and handwritten notes (including the address and phone number for Mr. Ellis!). 

Anyway, from what I can gather, Clifford Eugene Ellis starts off the UFO stories with an experience his father, Phillip Ellis, had in the 1920's. Phillip and a friend had a very early close encounter with a landed unidentified flying object! Here's the story in his own words:

"In the late 1920's, in the bottom below Uley Perry's place on Gilbert Creek, a strange flying object was seen by my Dad and Toney Perry. Dad told me a few years ago about the UFO. Toney and he were driving from Ben's Creek at night when they saw what appeared to be a tent which had been pitched. They thought that someone was going to camp out. They pulled over, stopped the car, and were going to go over to where the tent was set up. Suddenly, this object they thought was a tent (sides rolled up and lights inside) rose above a big sycamore tree and took off in flight. Dad asked, "What was that?" Toney replied, "I don't know, but let's get the hell out of here." Dad and Toney did not tell anyone of their experience for several days." 

The section on UFO's concludes when one of the author's of the book, Richard Ellis, decides (reluctantly, as noted) to share his OWN UFO story. He and a co-worker were rebuilding a diesel engine at a mining site located along the Logan/Mingo County border when they saw a strange craft with actual beings moving around inside it. Here's HIS story in his own words: 

"Sometime in the later 1970's, exact date unknown, on a Sunday evening, a fellow worker (who will remain nameless for reasons to be detailed later) and I were working, installing a rebuilt diesel engine for a power generator at Clarence Poe's mine on Sylvia Branch, near Verner. No one else was at the time as all equipment, even the mine ventilation fan, depended on that power plant that we were hoping to get operational right away so as to allow work as usual beginning with the Monday A.M. shift.

The installation was completed, and the test run was nearing when a needed filter was determined to be missing, left at the Marcus Coal Office of Ewell Hatfield in Gilbert.  Ewell, who owned the mine and had just arrived at our work site to check on our progress and bring food, suggested we take a well deserved and welcomed break while he returned to Gilbert to get the needed filter.

Following Ewell's departure, while we were sitting in the cab of our service truck enjoying coffee and a late supper, a row of several lights suddenly appeared in the sky straight ahead, visible through the windshield. Our truck was not running and all lights were off. The observed lights were in the interior of a craft which was no more than 100 yards away, and just slightly above our level as we were very high on the mountain.  It appeared to be over the creek, and we were nearer the point or side ridge of the hollow. 

We jumped from the truck thinking we were about to witness a plane crash. We then realized that the craft was stationary, and it made no noise, unlike any vehicle known to us. There were no navigational or landing lights visible, and the craft appeared to be cigar shaped, much like the fuselage of a larger conventional airplane in silhouette against a bright starlit but moonless night sky. 

Upon closer observation, the lights were revealed to be ports or windows.  We could see what appeared to be bodies, head and upper torso, move past the several windows. A pattern of movement was determined which saw the "beings" move in a route predictable from left to right past a window, then hidden by the solid section, only to appear moving by the next window. At the same time, a second similar figure could be seen moving in the opposite direction. It appeared the individuals were changing positions aboard the craft. That was seen clearly, but at a distance that would not allow us to further define body or facial features or dress.

After perhaps a minute, and after all interior movement ceased, the vehicle accelerated from its described position to out of sight as a streak of light as fast as the eye could follow. Our high mountain vantage point and the craft's direction of travel towards the most distant and open horizon allowed us to track it for many miles into the bright and open sky.

Gilbert, WV
Source: Town of Gilbert Facebook page

It looked exactly like a "shooting star" except that its trajectory was reversed, rising as it departed, much like a military missile upon launch. All of that still without any sound or additional light. The relatively low interior light level and our angle of viewing of the craft upon departure would have made it impossible for us to have traced it for so great a distance. In retrospect, I believe that we witnessed an exiting heat glow due to friction through the earth's atmosphere, just the reverse of the re-entry glow on our NASA space vehicles. 

Total silence, total disbelief, nothing known to man could have done what we had just witnessed! My fellow worker's first words were "I am never going to say anything about this to anyone!" In the years that have passed, I never mentioned it to him even though we still converse regularly. During work on this account for this book, I questioned him concerning his recollection of the incident. He is still a man of his word. He will not talk about it. I respect his wishes and will not mention it to him again or reveal his name. 

We did not tell Ewell upon his return in about one hour; we completed the work and went to our homes. I never mentioned the incidents until I talked with LaDonna Auvil, a fellow teacher at GJHS. As a UFO freak (sorry, "Don-Don"), she convinced me I should share the incident and belatedly report it. Soon after that, in discussion with Clifford Eugene Ellis and Randy Livingood, I admitted to having seen something I could not and can not explain. A UFO by any other name...

I have always scoffed at UFO accounts and especially the abduction reports that were prevalent about the time of our sighting documented here. I considered anyone who told some of the wilder accounts as perhaps a lost cause. If you agree, then maybe I need help.

At about the time of that incident the Chief of Police of Gilbert, Charles Sparks, observed lights over Gilbert and ran into June's (Runyon) Diner and emptied the place of patrons and help, all of whom reportedly witnessed the UFO. Since I was not among them, I will not attempt to elaborate further on what they may have seen. END OF MY UFO ADVENTURE."

Both of these stories really intrigued me, but I was especially fascinated by this latter tale. If the Chief of Police and a whole restaurant full of people saw something strange in the sky, surely the encounter would be documented elsewhere. And it was! The Williamson Daily News ran an article on October 23, 1973 with the headline 'UFO Viewed Over Gilbert.' This article comes amid a flap of UFO sightings that took place across the United State in the late summer/fall of 1973, and leading up to this article, the Williamson Daily News was doing its best to cover all the strange lights and crafts seen in the skies. 

This particular article states that Police Chief Charles Sparks, along with 25-30 additional witnesses spotted a UFO flying in a westward direction, directly over the town of Gilbert the previous night about 9:10pm. Sparks described the UFO as being round, gray in color, with a revolving white stationary light, two small blue flashing lights, and a yellow pulsating light.  Sparks and the group of witnesses, including Eugene Justice (head of the water department) watched the craft for about 5 minutes. They estimated it to be about 2000 feet up in the air, and made no sound.

While doing research for today's blog, I actually ran across quite a few reports from Mingo County and surrounding areas, including this sighting from September of 1982. In addition, the awesome author, Kyle Lovern, has collected quite a few reports in his book, Appalachian Case Study: UFO Sightings, Alien Encounters, and Unexplained Phenomena (as well as the follow-up, Appalachian Case Study, Volume 2). It seems like this area along the West Virginia/Kentucky border is quite the UFO hot spot! Any theories on why that would be, or do you have your own UFO sighting from this area? Please leave me a comment below, or join me over at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State on Facebook! 

Want MORE UFO stories from around the tri-state? Check out this blog post on the 1975 Big Chimney UFO sighting!

Tad Jones' UFO

Tad Jones, with sketch. Charleston Daily Mail 20 January 1967
Photo by Ray Wheeler

January 19, 1967 started off as a typical Thursday morning for Tad Jones, an appliance store owner from Dunbar, West Virginia. He was traveling on Interstate 64 in his truck, headed to work. He was in the westbound lanes about six miles west from Charleston, and about one mile east of the Institute exit when something caught his eye. Although it was 9:05 am, there were no other cars on the fairly new interstate road. So, when he saw a light up ahead, he assumed it was some sort of road crew vehicle. 

As he got closer, he realized that what he was seeing was definitely not part of the WV DOH fleet. In fact, it wasn't even of this earth!

Right in the middle of the interstate, completely blocking the westbound lanes, was an aluminum-colored spherical craft. The craft was about 20 feet in diameter, and was hovering about 3-4 feet in the air. Some accounts claim that Jones got out of his truck and approached the craft, while others say that Jones stayed in his vehicle. Either way, he observed the object for about a minute. During that time, he noticed there was a single 'window,' but did not see any creatures or movement through it.A 'seam' down the center of the craft seemed to suggest that it was made of more than one piece of aluminum, perhaps, welded together. Two antennae stuck out of the top.  He noted that the craft was attached to four legs that had caster-like wheels at their ends, and that there was a propeller-like apparatus sticking out of the bottom of the sphere.  This propeller made no noise, and gave off no exhaust. At first, it was spinning slowly, then continued to increase in speed until the craft rose straight up, again with no noise or exhaust. Jones watched it ascend into the sky for another 60-90 seconds before it completely disappeared from view. 

Jones then traveled on to work, but would report what he had seen to nearby Guthrie Air Force Station. It would only be a matter of time before the local newspapers picked up the story and ran with it. 

But, Jones' strange close encounter would attract the attention of more than just local media. J. (James) Ralph Jarrett, a local UFO research working at nearby Union Carbide, reached out to Jones because he had had a similar UFO sighting a week or so before. The case would also attract the attention of researcher John Keel, who was in the area investigating the Mothman sightings and accompanying UFO flap in Pt. Pleasant, about an hour away. 

In fact, some interesting details about the Jones case that were left out of initial newspaper reports were discussed in John Keel's book, The Mothman Prophesies. 

Not long after Jones reported the sighting, he'd receive two notes. The first handwritten note was slipped under the door of his home sometime in the early morning hours. It read, "We know what you have seen and we know that you have talked. You better keep your mouth shut."  Later, a second note would show up in a similar manner. This one was written on a piece of torn cardboard with burned edges. It read, "There won't be another warning."

The Cumberland News, 20 January 1967

Despite being rightfully concerned about these threatening letters, Jones continued to work with both Jarrett and Keel. Jarrett found out that there was a major gas line running right under where the craft was spotted. Whether that is a significant detail or not is up for speculation. The same goes for another somewhat strange detail. About a week after he had spotted the craft, Jones was taking the same route to work at about the same time as his initial sighting. When he came to the area where he had seen the UFO, he saw a man on the side of the road. Thinking he needed help, Jones, pulled off and asked the man if he needed anything. The man was silent, and responded only with a wave of the hand. Jones saw him again the very next day in the same spot. He said the man was holding a box with some kind of dial on it and a wire coming out of it, that led to the man's other hand. He was wearing a blue coat and a blue cap with a visor, that was described as looking like a 'uniform.' The man was either flushed, or had a very tan complexion. Jones said he just seemed unsettling and 'off.' When John Keel investigated, he called several utility companies and road construction crews and found out that no one was working in that area on those days, nor did anyone on staff wear that kind of uniform. (Theresa's Note: Personally, I'm kind of wondering if this man wasn't some amateur ufologist who had heard about sighting and was out there doing some of his own readings. It would have been a huge missed opportunity if he had waved Jones off, not realizing that he was the one who had actually had the sighting!).

The Charleston Daily Mail
20 January 1967

But, the weirdness doesn't stop there. Apparently, John Keel did come to the area to investigate in person. When he examined the area around the sighting, he found what appeared to be two different kinds of tracks. There were what looked like HUGE dog tracks, estimated to come from a dog weighing 200 pounds!  Keel notes that he consulted with other researchers who noted that finding huge canine tracks near locations of UFO/paranormal activity was actually pretty common. In addition to the canine tracks, one single BARE human footprint was found. 

Tad Jones' UFO encounter is just one of many strange, out-of-this-world stories from West Virginia's rich, paranormal history! The Mountain State is full of strange creatures, ghosts and haunted places, and of course, some of the weirdest tales of UFOs I've ever heard. And, Theresa's Haunted History is a great place to read about all of these wonderfully weird subjects! 

Jarrett tries to make sense of the recent UFO sightings. 
Sunday Gazette Mail 29 January 1967

The Vegetable Man

West Virginia is a pretty weird place! We've got Mothman. We've got the Grafton Monster. We've got the Flatwoods Monster. We even have Sheepsquatch, the Ogua, and a variety of Bigfoot roaming the hills of our state. But, it terms of weirdness, all these pale in comparison to the story of The Vegetable Man.

Sometimes referred to as the Veggie Man, this absolutely eerie West Virginia creature first appeared in Fortean literature in a 1976 newsletter published by West Virginia's own controversial ufologist, Gray Barker. However, the encounter with the Vegetable Man actually dates back to nearly a decade before.

In July of 1968, a local bow hunter named Jennings Frederick was roaming the woods outside of Fairmont, WV. The U.S. Air Force veteran was hunting woodchucks, unsuccessfully, and was about to head back, when he heard what was described as “high-pitched jabbering, much like that of a recording running at exaggerated speed.”

Just then, Frederick looked up and saw one of the weirdest creatures to ever have been reported in West Virginia, and possibly, the whole country. He described an extremely tall being, well over 7 feet high. Although it was vaguely humanoid in shape, the creature was extremely thin. It's coloring was a yellowish-green, which in my mind creates a picture of a chlorophyll-based stalk of celery!

Long ears and yellow, slanted eyes were also noted, but the most horrifying feature of the creature seems to be its arms. The arms, which were no bigger around than a quarter, ended in what appeared to be three long, slender fingers tapering off into suction cups.

Frederick observed that he thought the being looked sickly, which was confirmed with a strange, telepathic message he received as the whirring, high-pitched jabbering increased. "You need not fear me. I wish to communicate. I come as a friend. We know of you all, I come in peace. I wish medical assistance. I need your help."

Frederick didn't have the opportunity to make sense of what the creature was trying to convey before it reached out and wrapped it's 'hand' around his arm. The suction cups attached to his arm and begin sucking his blood, sending a jolt of pain up his arm. However, as the blood could be seen seeping up through the creature's arm and body, where it reached the yellow eyes and began to swirl and oscillate. This hypnotic effect seemed to alleviate Frederick's pain as it 'fed' on his blood for the next two minutes.

When the Vegetable Man had finished its vampiric feeding of poor Frederick, it sprinted up a steep embankment and disappeared at a supernatural speed, leaving Frederick's arm in pain and with several small wounds where the creature had suckled. Before fleeing the scene himself, Frederick heard what he interpreted as the creature's craft being propelled by a propulsion system.

No one ever saw the Vegetable Man again, and it is understandable why Frederick would wait so long before telling his unbelievably weird story of what seems like a close encounter with an extremely odd creature from another planet.

As an interesting side note, I can confirm that a Jennings Frederick and a Jennings Frederick, Jr. did live in Fairmont, WV. Jennings Frederick, Jr., who went by Skip, did serve in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War and his obituary interestingly notes that he loved art and science, and was known to be able to draw whatever he saw. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2012 at the age of 62.

Further Reading:

Cryptid Wiki---Veggie Man

Vegetable Man: Cryptopia by Rob Morphy. 11 July 2016

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.

Big Chimney UFO Sighting (1975)

Artist rendition of Big Chimney UFO (Screenshot from In Search Of S1E21: In Search of UFOs)

It's no secret that my paranormal interests lie more with ghosts, spirits, and hauntings than they do UFOs, cryptids, conspiracy theories and other aspects of this huge and fascinating field.  Still, that's no excuse for not realizing that West Virginia is home to another quite famous UFO sighting!  The 1975 sighting in Big Chimney (Kanawha County) hasn't quite gotten the same attention as The Flatwoods Monster of 1952 or the Mothman/UFO flap of 1966-67, but the Center for UFO Studies based in Chicago once called it one of the top 5 best UFO reports of 1975.

As part of my stay-at-home activities, I've been binge watching the old Leonard Nimoy show, In Search Of, on YouTube.  Today, I was startled to see that in Season 1 Episode 21 entitled In Search of UFOs a man by the name of Carroll Crihfield of Big Chimney, WV was featured.  On June 12, 1975 around 9:30 pm, Crihfield and his wife allegedly saw a diamond shaped craft with bright red and white lights just off 119 North between Big Sandy and Clendenin. On the show, Carroll was given a lie detector test by Criswell Security of Wheeling.  And while it was admitted that a lie detector test wouldn't prove whether or not there actually WAS a UFO, it did show that Carroll at least believed he had seen a UFO.  No deception was detected.

I knew there had to be more to the story than just this 8 minute snippet, so it was off to the (online) newspaper archives for a better understanding of the story.  From what I can piece together from different newspaper articles, here's what happened.

On the evening of June 12, 1975, Carroll Crihfield, a chemist at the FMC plant in South Charleston, was driving along Route 119 from the family home at 4606 Marlin Drive in Big Chimney. He was with his pregnant wife, Betty, and his two sons, Jerry (16) and Jeff (12). The family was on their way to Roane County to visit Carroll's father on that clear evening.  Around 9:30 pm, Betty first spotted a flashing red light in the sky.  They thought it must be a plane, but the light seemed to hover in one spot.  They could see the light, still unmoving, for about four miles, when they lost sight of it behind the hills.  They saw or experienced nothing for another few miles before rounding a curve in the road and coming upon quite the sight!

The Charleston Daily Mail
01 October 1976

To the left of the road, about 100 feet up (40 feet above the tree line) and only about 40 feet from the highway, they saw a 'split-diamond' shaped craft as big as a house and charcoal gray in color.  The family could see what looked like legs in the shape of a cross.  Startled, Carroll ran the car off the road slightly, but regained control.  They drove on about 500 feet down the road until they could find a place to turn around.  By the time they turned around and drove back to where the craft had hovered above the trees, it had vanished.

The next day Carroll made a report to the Air National Guard and to the Federal Aviation Commission, but nothing really came of it.  Six weeks later, however, Carroll was on vacation from work and sitting around idle at home.  He decided to hop in the car and drive out to the location of the sighting to see if there were any sheared tree tops or any other evidence of what he and his family saw that evening.  When arriving at the location (located near the Little Sandy Creek Bridge) he was shocked to find four large patches of blackened/burned grass and a burned log.  It was then that Carroll realized that this craft must have actually landed!  I assume that's when a state trooper learned of the case and made a report to the Center for UFO Studies in Chicago, founded in 1973 by J. Allen Hynek.

By April of 1976, a film crew from Alan Landsburg Productions was sent out to Big Chimney to interview the family.  Carroll himself insisted on taking a lie detector test, which was shown on the In Search Of program.  Carroll's two sons also took the lie detector test with the same results:  no deception detected.  In one of the newspaper articles I read, it states that Dr. Edward Zeller of the University of Kansas was sent to collect and examine soil samples from the landing site, a site that Crihfield days that over a year later won't grow grass and is avoided by dogs. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about the results of the soil tests, and really, that's about all I could find out about this case.  I would like to point out, however, that despite the spin of the program on UFOs and his insistence to take a lie detector test, Carroll Crihfield did not believe that he saw an alien craft that summer evening.  Rather, he states in a newspaper article that he believes what he saw belonged to the US government and was a new, stealth aircraft of some sort.  What do YOU think the Crihfield family saw?

Resources:

In Search Of: UFOS's Season 1 Episode 21 on YouTube

In Research Of Podcast March 9, 2020

'Big Chimney Resident Featured on TV Show.' Charleston Daily Mail, November 4, 1976

'Seeing is Believing' Says Chemist: Big Chimney Man Cited for 1975 UFO Report.  Charleston Daily Mail. October 1, 1976

The Flatwoods Monster Postcard

This may look like an ordinary postcard of the original Flatwoods Monster drawing, but it is actually one of my most prized pieces in my paranormal collection.  While it's true that this is a normal postcard that can be purchased at the Flatwoods Monster Museum, if you look closely, you'll see that it is hand-signed by Freddie May!  Freddie May was one of the young boys, who along with his mother, brother, and some other fellas, were the original witnesses to the creature back in 1952!

Awhile back, I received a message from Andrew Smith, who runs the Flatwoods Monster Museum, asking me for my address.  And, a few weeks ago, I received this wonderful gift in the mail with a very nice letter.  I had been chosen to receive one of these autographed postcards for my work in promoting the museum and sharing the legend of the Flatwoods Monster.  I gotta say....I was quite humbled to be given such an honor!  If you follow this blog, or follow me over on Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page, you know that I love the Flatwoods Monster and I am so thrilled to have seen this huge surge in interest in this unique case in recent years.  To anyone with an interest in the paranormal, ufology, or just the weird side of history, the Flatwoods Monster case is just such a cool case to study, and it's awesome to see the museum acting as a localized center for collecting and sharing information. Mr. Smith has done an excellent job in curating a collection of artifacts, connecting with witnesses and researchers, organizing community events, and so much more.  If you're anywhere near the Braxton County area, I highly suggest popping in and checking it out! 

I'd also like to extend a huge thank you to Andrew Smith for sending me this treasured piece! It truly is an honor to have received it.  I'd also like to thank Freddie May for signing these postcards and choosing to talk about his experiences. And, I'd like to thank everyone else out there who is writing about, making videos or podcasts or art about, or is in any other way sharing the legend of the Flatwoods Monster and keeping it alive. West Virginia is lucky to have such a fascinating case in its strange history, and we're even luckier that there are so many people out there dedicated to sharing the story.