The Mothman In 1966, Point Pleasent, WV was in the midst of a horror story of it's own. When part of the land was named McClintic Wildlife Preserve, it was mainly used as a bird sanctuary. When WW 2 started up, part of it was used for an underground storage facilty for wartime explosives. After the war, what does one do with a Wildlife Sanctuary? Why sell it off to chemical companies. Mr. and Mrs. Steve Mallette and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Scarberry were driving through the area on November 15th. As they drove by, they noticed the door on an old generator plant looked like it had been ripped off. They then saw a creature which they said stood nearly 7 feet tall with wings folded onto it's back and eyes that were large and almost hypnotic. As Roger reached speeds of nearly 100 mph, they reported that creature had kept up with them. Right before they reached town, Point Pleasent, it flew away. When the couples returned with the police, a Deputy Millard Hallstead, didn't find anything. When he tried to report in, his radio gave off a loud screech. The next day, more reports came in about a "huge bird". Besides the many reports of a "something flying by scaring motorists" one report stood out. In the town of nearby Salem, Newell Partridge was watching TV around 10:30 when the picture went out. At the same moment, a large screech came from the television. his dog, Bandit, began howling and barking. When Partridge went out to see, he shined his flashlight on something near his barn, about 100 yards away. Two large eyes flashed clearly like bike reflectors. As his dog ran towards it, he ran inside, frightened for his life. when he got up in the morning, the only left of Bandit was a circle of tracks he had left in the dirt. All this happend on November 14th, a day before the Scarberry's were attacked. Sheriff George Johnson told the townspeople to be calm and that he was aware of the situation. The press got ahold of the story, dubbing the creature "Mothman" after TV's Batman. Sightings were not the only thing to pour in. Animal mutilations and dog disappearences kept up. People poured into town. Scientists tried to explain that the creature was probably a Sandhill Crane which can reach large sizes, a snow owl with a 5 foot wing span or the large vulture found by kids in July of 1967. After a year, there were over 100 reports on the "Mothman". On December 15th, 1967, The Silver Bridge, a bridge that crossed the Ohio River, collapsed during rush hour. Over 45 cars fell into the river. Strangly, after this event, reports of the Mothman were slight and far between.
