The Flatwoods Monster: A Supernatural Scapegoat

Elk Creek: 2006 Clarksburg
Source: Wiki User Tim Kiser

April 8th, 1959, was a fairly average spring day here in West Virginia, but it was a busy one for two Clarksburg women. Juanite/Juanita Ferguson President of the Goff Plaza Garden Club in Clarksburg, while her married daughter, Mrs. Truman Sayre, belonged to the Briarcliff Garden Club in Beckley.

Mrs. Sayre was hosting a meeting at her home on Daniels Street, at which her mother was to give a presentation. Accompanying Juanite on the trip from Clarksburg to Beckley and back was her friend and fellow garden club member, Virginia Conley. The ladies wrapped up the meeting, and left Beckley at around 5:30pm in Juanite's green 1955 Buick. Juanite was speaking at an event at the Clarksburg City Hall the next day, and Virginia had a whole day of errands planned, so they needed to get back that evening. 

The trip between Beckley and Clarksburg was quite a bit longer in 1959 than it is today. Around 9pm, the ladies arrived at the Laurel Court motel near Sutton, where they stopped at the motel's cafe for coffee and a snack. Mrs. Ferguson actually knew the owner, Earl Marple. He chatted with the ladies a bit and confirmed they left around 9:30pm, on schedule to arrive in Clarksburg by 11:30pm. He noted that both were in good spirits and that the conversation was normal. 

But 11:30pm came and went and still the women hadn't made it home. It wasn't until 4:30am that Juanite's husband called Mrs. Sayre, asking if her mother and Virginia had decided to spend the night in Beckley. Mrs. Sayre told him that they had left the previous evening and should have been home by midnight. Immediately, she and her husband contacted the WV State Police in Beckley, while Mr. Ferguson contacted the WV State Police in Clarksburg. 

By 9:00am on Thursday, the official call went out over the police radio and law enforcement between Beckley and Clarksburg were on the lookout for the missing women. By that afternoon, local media was alerted. It quickly seemed that the two women were truly missing, and not just on an unplanned girls' trip. 

Unfortunately, the women remained missing for nearly two months. A massive search had taken place along the two most likely routes between Sutton and Clarksburg. The state and local police, the FBI, the National Guard, and scores of civilian volunteers searched nearly every square inch between the two cities, focusing on the 'Buckhannon Route,' which was the most popular way to enter the east side of Clarksburg where Mrs. Conley lived. Helicopters were sent out, and there was debate as to whether the Buffalo Reservoir should be drained. It was a mystery as to how two housewives in their 50s managed to completely disappear. 

The Flatwoods Monster
aka, Braxxie

And that's where the conspiracy theories come in. Talk about strange lights in the sky and flying saucers led some to believe that the idea of Juanite and Virginia being abducted by aliens or taken away by flying saucers was as likely an explanation as any other. One unnamed commentator was quick to point out that the women went missing in an area that was known seven years earlier as the site of one of the strangest UFO mysteries in the state. On September 12, 1952, a group of boys playing football observed what they thought may have been a small plane or meteor crash onto a nearby hillside. They, along with the mother of two of the boys, a family dog, and a teenage cousin/National Guard Member, went in search of the wreckage. What they found was a creature that would be forever known since as the Flatwoods Monster. 

There were similar encounters reported in the days following the initial encounter, both in Braxton County, and possibly even as far away as in Beckley and Wheeling. Many believed that a monster from outer space (or SEVERAL monsters) had crash-landed in the Mountain State. Could this monster still be lurking around the area, ready to grab unsuspecting motorists?

This wouldn't be the last time that the continued existence of the Flatwoods Monster in WV would be questioned. A few years later, a series of encounters with what we'd call a Bigfoot-type monster now was causing cars to stall, peeping in windows, and being a general menace. Without a proper understanding of the Bigfoot phenomenon, which was largely seen as a Pacific Northwest thing at the time, these sightings all fell under the category of 'The Flatwoods Monster.' You can read more about that in my article: A Braxton County Monster Wrap-Up. 

Blaming the Flatwoods Monster on the disappearance of Juanite Ferguson and Virginia Conley was hopefully a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the frustration that despite their efforts, law enforcement was nowhere near finding any answers. And in the end, it wouldn't be law enforcement who found the women.  On May 31, two hikers were out and saw part of a green car sticking out of Elk Creek, near Clarksburg. Inside were the badly decomposed bodies of the missing women. The car doors were locked, and the key was still in the ignition. It was theorized that Juanite may have fallen asleep and drove off the road.

But why had it been so difficult to find the vehicle, even after searchers covered this area? According to the state police, this was the least likely area where an accident of this nature could have happened. The women were on WV Rt. 20, only about six miles from Clarksburg. The Elk Creek only ran parallel to the road for around 75 feet in this stretch. When the Buick left the road, it managed to go between trees, leaving little to no damage or disturbance to indicate that a car had passed through. The car was only found when a run of dry weather left the creek's water level lower than normal. 

No foul play was suspected, and by all accounts, neither woman seemed like they were planning to take themselves out for any reason. The incident was chalked up to an accident, although there were questions as to whether Juanite dozed off or simply took the turn too wide in the dark. Either way, I think it's safe to assume that we cannot blame this on Braxxie. It was a tragedy that cut short the lives of two beloved members of the community, but due to a one-off remark in a local newspaper, their story will always be linked to central West Virginia's wildest monster tale.

*Quick note: Mrs. Ferguson's death certificate, as well as several other documents, record her first name as Juanite, with an 'e', not Juanita, as many newspaper articles call her. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Juanite Ferguson's Death Certificate
WV State Archives

Virginia Conley's Death Certificate
WV State Archives

The Raleigh Register
10 April 1959

The Raleigh Register
27 April 1959

Beckley Post-Herald
27 May 1959

The Raleigh Register
01 June 1959

Hinton's Flying Saucer...Debunked??

Hinton, WV (ca 1940)
Source: WV History on View

Back in July 1947, when the world was abuzz with news that a flying saucer...or was it a weather balloon?...had crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, a woman in Hinton, WV was also claiming to have seen visitors from outer space. The local papers reported that Mrs. Lee Ramsey of 419 Summers Street was on her front porch one Saturday afternoon when she noticed a series of flying saucers about the size of a small plate, coming up over Cemetery Hill directly following a flyover from an airplane. She called for her husband, but by the time he came out to look, they were gone. 

About six saucers were observed in total, and they were standing up on edge. 

I shared this story here on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State in August of 2022...but it seems as if I may have jumped the gun and failed to do my due diligence. After nearly four years, while doing some unrelated research, I came across ANOTHER article with two more witnesses to that incident. Unfortunately, the two additional witnesses, while corroborating that an event did take place, both claimed that it wasn't actually a flying saucer or UFO. 

Mrs. Fannie Johnson of 615 Ballengee St. was on HER porch a short distance away at the same time as Mrs. Ramsey. However, she got a somewhat better look. She noticed that after a plane flew over from Cemetery Hill, it was followed by something black, and then more of them. She does note that she felt the items were paper. 

Mrs. H.C. Porter of Greenbrier Drive agreed. She and her neighbor, Mrs. Lough, also saw items falling from the sky and chalked it up to being a plane throwing out handbills. 

The consensus agreed that a plane was throwing out some type of advertising leaflet or handbills, a conclusion that was printed in the 09 July 1947 edition of the Hinton Daily News. It certainly does sound like Mrs. Ramsey's description of what she saw was nothing more than pieces of paper. The size fits, and the description of them standing on edge, cutting through the air also makes sense. 

What doesn't make sense to me is why would only so few leaflets be dropped? And if they were actually part of an advertising campaign, why didn't any of the ladies who witnessed the drop actually RECEIVE a leaflet? I've spent a little time poking around and couldn't find any additional information about anyone coming forward to say that they had picked up one of the flyers, or any businesses coming forward to say that they were the ones dropping them. 

The answer to that may have come a few weeks later. The Beckley Post-Herald, a newspaper from nearby Beckley, WV, warned citizens that the city was about to be inundated with 'flying saucers' about the size of a dinner plate. The 'flying saucers' were to bear the insignia of the Civilian Air Patrol and be dropped from a CAP plane. 

Mrs. Ramsey may have been influenced by the news of the Roswell incident and misidentified a normal event, or maybe there is more to the story. While this was cited as being Hinton's first UFO/Flying Saucer report, it certainly would NOT be its last. UFOs continued to be seen over the city and surrounding areas, with notable events in 1948, 1950, and 1952. You can read all about those sightings right here on the blog. But, whether or not any were of actual visitors from outer space, it's important to keep your eyes to the skies. You never know what's going to fall from it. 

Sources and Further Reading:

Lee Ramsey Blog Post (Original Story)

Hinton Furniture Store Uses Flying Saucer Story in Ad

1948 Monroe County Report

April 1950 UFO Report

July 1952 UFO Flap Comes to Hinton

1958 Talcott Report

09 July 1947
Hinton Daily News

10 July 1947
The Leader

31 July 1947
Beckley Post-Herald

Hinton UFO (April 1950)

The little railroad town of Hinton, WV is no stranger to the strange. Not only is the town known for quite a number of haunted locations throughout...it has also seen quite a few flying saucers over the years! Significant sightings of UFOs over Hinton and surrounding areas took place in 1947 and 1952. Now, we have an article from a local newspaper showing that once again, Hinton was included in a series of nation-wide sightings, this time in the spring of 1950!

Mrs. R.W. Rossen and a visitor, Mrs. C.C. Honaker, were at the Rossen home on Ninth Avenue on Saturday, April 22, 1950 when they saw a low-flying, metallic colored disc flying up and down over the side of Corporation Hill in the west end of town. The sighting, which happened around 3:10pm, ended when the craft disappeared into the foliage, possibly landing or crashing along the hillside.  

To my knowledge, no other reports of this particular flying saucer were reported...or at least, published in the local newspapers. The women were adamant that it wasn't a kite that was seen, but were hesitant to come forward for fear of being accused of trying to start another flying saucer story. 

What is it the draws these flying saucers to the area in and around Hinton? For what we'd now consider a fairly small town, the area has seen more than its fair share of unexplained aerial phenomenon. Hinton continues to be a location of great paranormal interest to me and I'll continue to document and explore its many mysteries. Stay spooky, ya'll....and as always, keep your eyes to the skies! 

The Leader
27 April 1950

Rainelle UFO (May 1950)

Beckley Post-Herald
3 May 1950

The spring of 1950 was a big season for flying saucers in West Virginia! In February, a UFO was seen over Fairmont. In March, multiple witnesses reported a craft in Bluefield. In Charleston, a rectangular UFO was observed in April. Continuing with this trend, the town of Rainelle would have its own flying saucer report in May!

On May 2, 1950, two young men had a sighting on a rainy, spring afternoon. D.L. "Dave" Fleshman and Robert "Hank" Webb reported a brown disc streaked with silver, flying low over the town in a southerly direction. The object was about the size of a No. 3 washtub, and was moving very rapidly....so rapidly, that it had disappeared before the boys could alert anyone else to come observe the craft. 

Rainelle is located in the southern part of the state, in Greenbrier County. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of patterns with these 1950 sightings. They come from different parts of the state, and don't necessarily share many physical traits as well. So what was invading the skies over the Mountain State in 1950? 

#3 Washtub

Trooper Sees UFOs Over Ashland, Kentucky

Ashland, Kentucky

Throughout 1966 and 1967, flying saucers filled the skies over the tri-state area and beyond. In Point Pleasant, WV, residents were reporting UFOs, Men in Black, psychic experiences, and of course, our infamous Mothman. But a little over an hour away in Ashland, Kentucky, there were also strange reports of things in the skies. One example comes from late November of 1967 when a former pilot turned police trooper allegedly spotted several UFOs over the course of several hours.

Despite the potential for backlash, Patrolman Roger Gussler admitted to his co-workers that he had seen four to five flying saucers on or around the weekend of November 25. For over three hours,
Gussler watched the objects fly over Ashland at an elevation of 15,000 to 20,000 feet. They appeared as red blinking lights, but behaved in a manner not common to any known aircraft at the time. The lights were blinking much slower than a human aircraft. Also, the objects would zip through the skies at great speeds, then abruptly stop---an act which the human body could not handle. 

Gussler was not outright ridiculed by his colleagues. In fact, three other patrolmen agreed to a stakeout at a ranger tower nearby later in the week. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an update as to whether or not they actually saw anything themselves. This is an interesting story, however, because the main witness is not only a member of law enforcement but is also a former pilot. Both these positions would theoretically put him at a greater advantage of discerning the difference between a normal aircraft and one not of this world, and if he were caught lying or deemed 'crazy,' then the damage to his career and reputation would be irreparable. So, even as an unverifiable event, it has earned a spot in the archives of Fortean phenomena here at Theresa's Haunted History!

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro KY)
28 November 1967

 

Stay Out of the Ohio River!

My AI attempt at illustrating
Naomi Johnson's attack in the Ohio River

I would NEVER advise anyone to go swimming in the Ohio River, especially around the Huntington, WV area. However, there was a time when the Ohio River flowing near Evansville, Indiana, was not only relatively clean, but it was fairly shallow at a maximum depth of 15 feet, and reasonably slow moving, at less than 1mph. Therefore, when temperatures became unbearably hot one summer day, two friends in the Dogtown area near Evansville decided the Ohio River would be the perfect place to cool off with a swim. 

It was Sunday, August 14, 1955. Naomi Johnson (35-year-old wife of Darwin Johnson) along with her three children and her friend Louise Lamble (wife of Chris Lamble) went down to the river for a swim. While the children played on the shore, Naomi swam out about 15 feet. Suddenly, she felt an enormous furry, clawed hand grab her left leg from beneath the water! It managed to pull her under, but she squirmed free. She resurfaced and managed to scream before the creature grabbed her again and pulled her under. Meanwhile, Louise was about 4 feet away and although she couldn't see what had a hold of Naomi, was desperately trying to get to her friend. Naomi managed once again to resurface and grab a rubber innertube that Louise had brought along. As she struggled to pull herself up onto the innertube, it made a loud, rubbery thump, which apparently scared the creature away long enough for the women to get safely to shore. 

Naomi's leg was covered in scratches and bruises for which she sought medical treatment. And although I couldn't find it in any of the news articles at the time, there was apparently a strange greenish-bluish handprint-shaped stain on her leg, which couldn't be washed off. My guess would be that if this 'fact' was known at the time the articles were written, it was probably just explained away as being a bruise and not some supernatural proof of contact with a strange being. 

Evansville Press
15 August 1955

Although it was a frightening and probably traumatic experience (Naomi even swore off ever swimming in the Ohio River again and vehemently warned neighbors that they, too, should avoid swimming there) one would think that the story really wasn't all that important to the annals of Fortean history. After all, no one actually SAW the furry claw that had a death grip on Naomi's leg. Was it actually some sort of monster...or could it have simply been a misidentification? One theory is that it could have been some plant material or other debris that Naomi got caught in. The sequel to the Creature from the Black Lagoon, called Revenge of the Creature, had just been released to theaters across the USA a few months before. And, having a 13-year-old son, Naomi was probably pretty familiar with popular movie monsters. It's possible that in that scary moment of almost drowning, those movies came to mind, and she mistook a piece of debris wrapped around her leg as being a hairy claw. 

But the story doesn't actually end there. In fact, it goes off into several directions and had me hopping down different rabbit holes, which cannot possibly be done justice in this one blog post. Nevertheless, I'll try to summarize a few of the directions in which this story took me, and as always, provide you with links and sources for more information. Anyway....

One week later, another strange incident would occur. On Sunday, August 21, 1955, a family in Kentucky were victims to a siege of "little green men," which would come to be known in the ufology field as the Kelly-Hopkinsville Little Green Men incident. The little creatures, believed to have ascended from a UFO spotted in the area, terrorized the family's property for hours. Their description, especially that of their long, webbed fingers with sharped claws, immediately resonated with Naomi when she read the story in her local paper. In a later news article, Naomi reiterates that the arms of the creature must have been long to have grabbed her the way they did (a description shared by the Hopkinsville creatures) and also was twice as strong as a human. 

Not only is she certain that the hand that grabbed her was the same as the hands on these little creatures, but hearing also that they were associated with a UFO landing nearby sparked a memory for her. Apparently, right before entering the river a week before, she and the rest of their swimming party had seen their own UFO! They had seen a shiny object in the sky, "about as big as the bottom of a bushel basket." Mrs. Lamble also saw the object, which they jokingly said at the time must have been a flying saucer, but her description was slightly different. She described a "long, slender looking light about the size of a wash pan or dishpan," but couldn't be more descriptive than that. 

Source

Within a week, two very strange incidents occurred, each involving a flying saucer and potentially a creature or creatures with long, furry, claw-like hands. And honestly, the distance between Evansville and Hopkinsville is not long, especially for a flying saucer! Presumably, such a craft would make the 83-mile journey well before the estimated hour and 15 minutes by modern car. Because of their proximity and shared details, these two events, whether related or not, are now closely tied together. But the rabbit holes don't stop with just that connection!

On Monday, August 22, an unknown woman drowned in the Ohio River at Evansville. She was described as an attractive brunette, about 20-30 years old. That evening, she had gone swimming in the river with two men she had met at a local tavern. The two men, who were questioned by police, said they tried to save the woman when it became apparent she was in trouble, but were unable to get to her in time. It wouldn't be until two days later that her body was recovered. 

I can only imagine how Naomi felt when she saw that another woman lost her life in almost the same place and same way that she narrowly avoided just a week before. But what happened? It is important to note that there is always an inherent danger when swimming, which increases exponentially in a body of water such as the Ohio River and also when you're swimming at NIGHT. Did she, too, get tangled up in some debris underwater? Were the men she was with not telling the truth about what happened that night? Or was she victim to an otherworldly creature lurking beneath the depths of the water? Again, drownings in the Ohio River were not uncommon. I actually found several articles about people drowning in the Ohio in or around Evansville, but it is kinda strange that this particular incident happened just a week after Naomi's experience, and a day after the Hopkinsville incident. 

Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblin/Little Green Men
Sketch by Bud Ledwith 
Source: UFO Evidence

These events all happened within a week during the summer of 1955. However, it wouldn't be the first time that a strange creature from the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana would cause problems. In July of 1903, a man named Frank Sedler was camping along the bank of the Ohio River on the Kentucky side, just across from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Around midnight, he heard a terrible scream coming from one of his kids in a separate tent. As he rushed to see what was wrong, he saw his one-year-old child in the clutches of a half-man/half-beast. The creature took off with the child, but when Sedler yelled, it dropped it at the river's edge, before jumping into the river itself. Sedler theorized that the creature was a baboon that had escaped from a boat show. 

Lawrenceburg and Evansville are admittedly quite a way away from each other, but what is fascinating is that in both the Hopkinsville case and Sedler's experience, MONKEYS were theorized to be the culprit as opposed to a monster, terrestrial or from outer space. And, since Naomi is so sure that what she experienced was the same thing as what was going on in Hopkinsville, her experience can theoretically be linked to monkeys as well. But why monkeys? 

I honestly can't answer that. If we can rule out escaped monkeys from circuses, private collectors, and zoos, where does that leave us? I saw an interesting idea brought up that perhaps the Hopkinsville "little green men," who weren't actually green, by the way, may HAVE come from that landed/crashed UFO seen by witnesses. In the 1950's, the United States was using monkeys as test subjects in its space program. What if all these flying saucers reported throughout the decade were experimental terrestrial aircraft containing monkey test subjects? Maybe these creatures were from another planet or even plane of existence and just resemble our earth primates. Again, I have no idea. What I do know, however, is that I will absolutely not be going swimming anywhere NEAR the Ohio River any time soon!

Sources and Further Reading:

Green Clawed Beast of the Ohio River

An Evansville Legend: The Attack of the Green Clawed Monster at Dogtown

The Courier-Journal 
24 July 1903

The Paducah Sun
16 August 1955

Evansville Press
15 August 1955

Evansville Press
23 August 1955
Pt. 1/2

Evansville Press
23 August 1955
Pt. 2/2

The Republic
26 August 1955

Flying Saucers Over Follansbee

This news clipping above comes from The Weirton Daily Times and is dated Thursday, 09 February 1967. Two days earlier, on Tuesday February 7, 1967  John Casale of Hoover Heights (located just outside Follansbee, WV in Brooke County) spotted a UFO flying over his home on 2nd Street. The craft was described as being yellowish in color and round, flying from the direction of Steubenville, OH towards nearby Mingo Junction around 8pm that evening.

Among the other witnesses were John's wife, and his children, Mary Ann and Peggy. A handful of others witnessed the flying saucer as well. They were reported as being Louis Casini, Larry Kofur?, Dan Buffington, Richard Banfi?, and Lenny Baldauf. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any additional details about this particular sighting, but a quick search led to a handful of other UFO reports coming in from Follansbee between 1989 and 2017! In addition to this 2007 highly detailed account of a black, arrow-shaped anomaly with red lights seen over Rt. 2 submitted to UFO Net (read report HERE), incident reports from NUFORC can be found for 1989,  1999, 2001, 2005, 2007 (which closely resembles the other 2007 report from UFO Net, but happened a few days before), and 2017.  With the exception of the 2007 incidents, all of these craft seem pretty different in their descriptions, and not once did the round, yellow saucer of 1967 seemingly return. 

There is no shortage of UFO sightings from the Mountain State and I'll continue to share and document as many as I come across. Keep your eyes to the skies, and feel free to contact me with your own sightings of strange aerial anomalies! 

Hinton Furniture and UFO Craze of 1947!

It's finally Friday, and this week I've got a Friday Funny coming to you from Hinton, West Virginia! As we talked about before here on Theresa's Haunted History, people from Hinton definitely had a penchant for seeing flying saucers throughout the years, and it all started back during the 1947 UFO wave during July. After the nation was swept up with speculation as to just what exactly crashed outside of Roswell, New Mexico and if it was from another planet or not, people from all over the country began coming forward with their own stories.

One such woman was Lee Ramsey, a housewife living on Summers Street. On July 10, 1947 she witnessed a series of six unidentified flying objects over her Hinton home. The sighting was written up in one of the local newspapers, The Leader. (Read my blog post, Hinton Has Saucers, Too for more info). However, it wouldn't be until the following May (and after another sighting by a Hinton resident) that an enterprising employee working for the Hinton Furniture Company would come up with a clever, tongue-in-cheek way to incorporate the UFO craze into the company's advertising!

The advertisement above was published in the May 21, 1948 edition of the Hinton Daily News. It reads, "Flying Saucers: Those people who saw the flying saucers last year were a little behind the times. An astronomer in Italy saw a flock of flying saucers on November 30, 1880. You will be right up with the times if you purchase your furniture and home appliances from us." 

I'm not sure if it was Hinton Furniture's owner, Ray Walker himself, or another employee who was tasked with advertising, but I have to applaud whoever it was who came up with this ad! If my assumptions are correct, the author evidently was a fan of the OG Fortean Historian---Charles Fort! It was Charles Fort who collected the strange little story about an Italian astronomer's experience and brought it to the public forefront. But, I wouldn't necessarily call what was seen a flock of 'flying saucers.' Rather, it sounds like a flock of flying CREATURES! Here's what was published:

Signer Ricco, of the Observatory of Palermo, writes that, Nov. 30, 1880, at 8:30 o'clock in the morning, he was watching the sun, when he saw, slowly traversing its disk, bodies in two long, parallel lines, and a shorter, parallel line. The bodies looked winged to him. But so large were they that he had to think of large birds. Sig. Ricco's estimate is that these objects … must have been at least five and a half miles high. -Source

I'm not sure if the winged bodies observed by Signer Ricco were humanoid in shape, but even with the description of birds makes me automatically think of West Virginia's own favorite winged creature: Mothman. However, even I have to admit that three parallel lines of Mothmen flying around the sun (the greatest lamp in the solar system) is more than a little frightening! 

The Plumley Building
Later home to Hinton Furniture
Source: WV History on View

Monroe County UFO Seen by Hinton Woman

 

Pickaway, WV (Monroe County)
Photo from Wiki, by Antony-22

The citizens of Hinton, WV seem to have a knack for spotting UFO's around Summers and the surrounding counties! I recently stumbled upon a newspaper article from the January 10, 1948 edition of the Hinton Daily News highlighting a strange sighting of fireballs in the sky by Mrs. J.W. Bland.

Mrs. Bland and her husband were returning to their home in Hinton from a nice little day trip to see Organ Cave in nearby Greenbrier County. About 7pm that evening, they were passing through the small community of Pickaway in Monroe County and Mrs. Bland noticed something in the sky. She described it as a big, round ball of fire with a dark thing in the center---a thing that resembled a human body. At first, her husband tried to convince her she was just seeing the evening star, but when the strange flaming ball descended straight down rapidly, he decided to pull over for a better look. 

They watched this ball of fire for about 35 minutes as it circled around trees at varying speeds, seemingly governed by the wind. Not only did the speed fluctuate, but the very shape of the thing did as well, going from a perfect sphere to more oblong in shape. After awhile it just zoomed straight up and disappeared.

The following day, Mrs. Bland called the local newspaper office to report her sighting. Earlier that week, the topic of flying saucers and strange lights in the sky was once more a hot issue, as similar reports had been coming in from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, even being spotted by Air Force personnel. However, Mrs. Bland is credited as being the first to witness this particular flap of aerial phenomenon in West Virginia. 

Interestingly, the summer before when the country was collectively deciding what to make out of the news of a potential UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, another Hinton housewife, Lee Ramsey (interestingly, who lived on the same street as Mrs. Bland a couple of blocks down) saw a group of saucer-shaped craft over her home. And the story continues...

In 1952, the UFOs returned to Hinton. In July, a group of women on Summers Street (the SAME street that Mrs. Bland and Mrs. Ramsey lived on) saw a big round spinning thing over the New River from their porch. A month later, the passengers on a bus driving through Hinton also had a weird sighting of what they described as an aluminum bathtub-shaped object in the sky near the ballpark. 

I'm not sure what makes Hinton residents so inclined to see strange aerial phenomenon, or maybe just more willing to report it and publish it, but I'm happy that we have these stories preserved. My grandmother grew up just outside of Hinton, and while she tended to tell more tales of ghosts than UFOs, it makes me wonder. Her family had already moved to Beckley by 1940, however, so they missed out on these well-known post WWII UFO flaps. Also...I think I need to do a little more digging into this Summers Street phenomenon. I know that it is a main thoroughfare that runs quite a distance through town with many residences along the way. But, there's something that just sticks out to me about this "Ladies' Summers Street UFO Club." Did these ladies know each other? Did they talk about their sightings? Why in the world did so many women on Summers Street see UFOs???

10 January 1948
Hinton Daily News

*Want MORE Summers County UFO Sightings? Check out these blogs on Theresa's Haunted History for more information on the sightings referenced in this post!*

Lee Ramsey UFO Sighting

1952 UFO Flap Over Hinton

Talcott Sighting 1958

Hinton Has Saucers, Too

 

The Leader
10 July 1947

I just love an interesting tidbit of flying saucer lore from the Mountain State! This little article was published in the 10 July 1947 of The Leader, a small newspaper out of Hinton, West Virginia. Just DAYS after the story broke about an alleged UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, a housewife from Hinton reported her OWN eyewitness account of no less than six flying saucers over the southern WV town of Hinton, located in Summers County. 

The inevitable report of saucers flying over Hinton came into the Daily News office today.

B.M. Ramsey, 419 Summers street, said his wife, Lee, saw them Saturday afternoon at 2:50 o'clock and "they were about as big as those little plates you get out of boxes of oatmeal."

"She was sitting on the front porch and saw them come over Cemetery hill. I was in the house and she hollered to me, but by the time I got outside they were gone.

"She said they were standing up on edge, cutting through the air. I asked her how many there were and she said she couldn't tell, but she counted six.

"A plane had come over just a minute before, and she glanced up and saw these saucers come over the hill. They were flying from south to north and disappeared over the mountain."

Five years later, Hinton would once again jump on the UFO bandwagon. As reports of flying saucers were coming in from all over the United States, including Washington, D.C., multiple sightings made the local newspaper that summer! In late July of 1952, three women (also on Summers Street) saw a spinning UFO. A month later, a bus driver and several passengers saw what looked like a slow-moving 'wash tub.' I've discussed these two cases in depth in an earlier blog, which you can read here: UFOs Over Hinton

Is Hinton, West Virginia some kind of UFO hotbed or area of high strangeness? Were the locals simply influenced by bigger UFO cases gripping the nation at the time and simply made a misidentification based on those perceptions? Did the newspaper editors just have a brilliant plan to sell papers? Whatever the reason for the influx of UFO cases over Hinton, the fact that they were preserved by the local paper has inevitably tied them to West Virginia's weird and wonderful history...a history that I hope to help document and share with future generations!

*If you have a UFO sighting or experience you'd like to share, please leave me a comment below, or find me over on Theresa's Haunted History Facebook!*

1950 Fairmont UFO

 

This brief newspaper clipping comes from The Hinton Daily News, and is dated March 17th, 1950. It retells a report from a man known only as 'Watson' that ran a day before in a local Fairmont, WV newspaper. Watson claims that on Tuesday, March 14, 1950, he was coming home when he saw THREE big balls in the sky, which appeared to have a very bright light in them. They were moving at a great speed, and were directly above him, about 300 feet up. The witness insists that he is not a drinking man. 

Describing the objects as 'big balls of glass with a very bright light in them,' is quite interesting to me as I've never heard that description used before when describing UFOs, especially during this period. Through the 1950's it was much more common for people to describe actual saucer-shaped flying craft...not balls of glass. I wish there was more information, such as where exactly these three objects were sighted, what time they were sighted, and if there were any follow-ups. Still, I wanted to share it here as part of West Virginia's rich, UFO history!  

UFOs Over Hinton: 1952 UFO Flap Comes to Southern West Virginia

1952 was a HUGE year for UFOs. From July 12 to July 29th, multiple UFOs were seen over the White House and in other areas around Washington, D.C. In September, Flatwoods, WV would experience its infamous monster sighting, after a group of kids went to inspect what they thought was a downed airplane in the hills above town. And, in the small town of Hinton, WV, located in Summers County, there were TWO separate UFO reports that summer that were featured in the local newspaper. 

The first appeared in the Hinton Daily News on Tuesday, July 29th and described a UFO sighting from the previous Sunday. Around 9pm, three witnesses spotted a UFO over the New River. Article transcribed below:

Hinton Daily News. 29 July 1952

Flying Saucer is Spotted Over Hinton Late Sunday

By Tom Pendergast

Have "flying saucers" appeared in the skies over Hinton?

Three local residents reported Monday evening that they saw in the cloudless sky here Sunday night "the strangest big round thing spinning through the air" that was "so bright it almost put your eyes out."

The viewers-Mrs. Howard Hayes, her 13 year old daughter Nedra, and Anna Sue Iddings-said they saw a fast-spinning object whirling "just like a top" appear suddenly about 9pm high above the New River Bridge. Mrs. Hayes, who said she delayed notifying the Daily News because she thought people would think she was "cracy," stated that the flying object left a vapor trail. She added that Fred Ferguson, C&O shopman, arrived on the porch of her lower Summers Street home in time to see the vapor trails and that the "grey-like smoke" trail remained visible for 10-15 minutes. 

Mrs. Hayes, whose home faces the New River, said the group was on her porch at the time and that she first noticed the "thing." She added that she screamed "look!" and all three caught a good glimpse of the object. "The queerest feeling came over me," Mrs. Hayes explained. "I've always wanted to see one of those flying saucers," she remarked, "but I don't ever want to see anything like that again." 

Her description, which matches other reports of "flying saucers" seen throughout the country recently, verified that the objects are extremely fast. "It was faster than an airplane," she said, "and shortly after it went out of sight we heard a noise that sounded like an airplane--but we couldn't see any plane."

Mrs. Hayes said she first saw the object as it whirred high over the New River Bridge "spinning just like a top in a straight line down the river" toward the C&O shops. The "thing" was flying "as high as most of the transport planes that go over Hinton," she asserted, "and from where I was it looked bigger than a washtub. It must have been at least as big as an airplane."

A strange twist to the object's alleged flight was uncovered when Mrs. Hayes reported that it "spun around in a loop above the C&O depot, making complete, sharp circles, and then followed on down the river," toward Sandstone.

Mrs. Hayes said that although the object was moving "very fast" she was able to see that "it" was flat on the bottom, and had a ridge and a round hump on top that looked just like an upside-down saucer. It was spinning around and around, she stated. 

"It was so bright that I couldn't tell what color it was. In fact," she said, "it was so bright that my daughter's eyes became red from watching it."

Mrs. Hayes was not certain how long the object remained visible in flight, and thought it seemed to be following the New River in a straight line. It disappeared in a matter of seconds, she thought. 

No other reports of the incident have been received by the Daily News. 

Hinton Daily News. 25 August 1952

The second UFO sighting to come into the Daily Mail from Hinton in the summer of 1952 happened on Sunday, August 24th, and also included three witnesses. About 1:20pm, Alva Williams, a bus driver for Victory Bus Lines was driving through the Beech Run section near the C&O ballpark. His passengers, Frank Kesler and Miss Buckland, also saw the object, described as being round like a washtub and made from aluminum or some other shiny metal.  However, unlike Mrs. Hayes sighting, this object appeared to be moving rather slowly.

It's kind of interesting that in both of these sightings, the UFO was described as looking like a washtub. It's also interesting that both incidents happened on a Sunday, and involved three witnesses. What's strange is that the movement described is really quite different In both cases, the witnesses seem quite sure that they have seen a flying saucer, presumably from out of this world. But what would cause these UFOs to take such an interest in the small railroad community of Hinton, WV? Were these sightings just hoaxes, or even simple misidentifications inspired by all the news of UFOs around Washington, DC earlier in July...or were UFOs really flying over southern West Virginia in the summer of 1952? 

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.