Monsters and Mysteries in America (2013–…): Season 3, Episode 10 - The John Keel Files - full transcript
In the late 1960's the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia is besieged by a series of monstrous creatures, blood-seeking UFO's, and mysterious men in black. Two reporters seek answers, culminating in one of the deadliest disasters in U.S. history.
Narrator:
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
IN 1966, THIS TOWN WAS BESIEGED
BY A 13-MONTH-LONG
PARANORMAL ATTACK.
OVER 200 SIGHTINGS OCCURRED.
THE TOWN WAS IN PANIC.
PEOPLE WERE SCARED.
Narrator: A MYSTERY THAT STARTED
WITH MOTHMAN...
[ CREATURE SHRIEKING ]
IT LOOKED LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN
A MAN AND AN ALIEN WITH WINGS.
RUN!
Narrator:
...BECAME MORE HORRIFYING
THAN HEADLINES EVER REVEALED.
Sloman: YOU HAD MOTHMAN.
YOU HAD UFOs.
BUT THEN YOU HAD ANIMAL
AND CATTLE MUTILATIONS GOING ON.
AND THEN YOU HAD MEN IN BLACK.
Narrator: ONE MAN TRIED
TO PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER,
SEARCHING OUT THE EVIL
THAT HAD RESIDENTS
FEARING FOR THEIR LIVES.
Keel: MOST OF THEM
WERE JUST BEWILDERED.
THERE WERE A FEW
WHO WERE VERY AFRAID --
AFRAID TO GO OUT OF THEIR HOUSE
AT NIGHT.
Narrator: IT WOULD DELIVER HIM
TO THE VERY BRINK OF TERROR.
Keel:
I BEGAN TO SEE THEM MYSELF.
IT WAS BEYOND IMAGINATION.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE ACTUAL STORY
BEHIND ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
ACCOUNTS OF THE TRUE PARANORMAL,
JOHN KEEL'S
"THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES,"
KEEL'S PERSONAL INVESTIGATION
IN POINT PLEASANT REVEALED.
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
Bellamy:
I SUPPOSE IF THERE WAS A PLACE
WHERE THE MONSTER COULD EXIST,
THE TNT AREA
WOULD BE A PERFECT PLACE FOR IT.
IT'S A MAZE
OF ABANDONED BUILDINGS.
THE TNT AREA BACK IN THAT AGE
WAS JUST A PARTY PLACE FOR KIDS.
THEY COULD DO BONFIRES
BACK THEN,
AND IT WAS JUST A DARK, DESOLATE
AREA AWAY FROM THE CITY.
YOU COLD?
YOU WANT A JACKET?
TWO YOUNG COUPLES WERE HANGING
OUT AT A LOVERS' LANE OF SORTS.
ONE OF THE FOUR PEOPLE
SUDDENLY SAW
WHAT LOOKED LIKE TWO BIG,
RED, BULBOUS EYES
THAT HAD A PENETRATING
KIND OF QUALITY TO THEM.
AAH!
LET'S GO!
IT WAS SOME KIND
OF CREATURE --
AN IMMENSE BIRD 7 FEET TALL.
THAT WAS THE FIRST SIGHTING OF
WHAT WOULD BE CALLED "MOTHMAN."
Narrator: IN WEST VIRGINIA,
WHERE THE OHIO AND KANAWHA RIVER
CROSS,
SITS THE SMALL TOWN
OF POINT PLEASANT.
Smith: I BELIEVE THAT
THERE IS SOMETHING VERY ODD
ABOUT THIS AREA,
ABOUT THIS PLACE.
I ALSO BELIEVE THAT A LOT OF
PEOPLE THAT COME FROM HERE,
THERE IS A DARK CLOUD OVER THEM
NO MATTER WHERE THEY GO.
Harris:
I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY
EVERYTHING IS ATTRACTED
TO POINT PLEASANT,
BUT POINT PLEASANT HAS
HAD ITS SHARE AT TIMES
OF A LOT OF BAD THINGS
HAPPENING.
Narrator: FROM NOVEMBER 1966
UNTIL DECEMBER 1967,
A STRING
OF BIZARRE MONSTER ENCOUNTERS
PLUNGED THIS QUIET
INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY
INTO THE GRIP OF TERROR.
STRAIGHT INTO
THIS TOWN-WIDE PANIC
STEPPED A MAN
WITH A LIFELONG QUEST
TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERIOUS.
AS A TEENAGER IN THE 1940s,
JOHN KEEL HEARD RADIO REPORTS
ABOUT FLYING SAUCERS.
Man: THE QUESTION, LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN, IS, DO THEY EXIST?
IT CAPTURED HIS IMAGINATION.
KEEL WOULD GROW UP
TO BE A WRITER,
STILL FASCINATED WITH STORIES
OF THE SUPERNATURAL.
KEEL'S DESIRE AND PASSION
WAS TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND,
YOU KNOW,
THE UNIVERSE AROUND HIM,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES
TO FRINGE PHENOMENA.
Narrator: IN THE MID-1960s,
CONCERN OVER UFOs
AND EXTRATERRESTRIALS
HAD GONE MAINSTREAM.
AMERICANS WANTED TO KNOW THE
TRUTH ABOUT WHAT WAS OUT THERE.
INVESTIGATING UFOs PUT JOHN KEEL
ON THE ROAD IN 1966,
HEADING FROM NEW YORK CITY
INTO THE RURAL SOUTH.
HE GOT AN ASSIGNMENT
FROM PLAYBOY MAGAZINE.
HE WENT UP THERE.
HE STARTED INVESTIGATING IT.
HE WOULD INTERVIEW PEOPLE
WHO HAD CLAIMED
EITHER THEY SAW UFOs
OR THEY WERE APPROACHED
BY ALIENS,
AND HE DIDN'T DISMISS
WHAT THEY SAID OUT OF HAND.
HE WOULD LISTEN
TO WHAT THEY SAID,
AND SO, IN THAT RESPECT,
I THINK HE WAS THE FIRST REALLY
THOROUGH INVESTIGATOR OF UFOs.
Narrator: THE SEARCH LED KEEL
TO THE OHIO VALLEY
JUST AS THE STORY BROKE
ABOUT A STRANGE CREATURE
SEEN IN POINT PLEASANT.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT THESE ATTACKS?
YEAH. SAID THESE PEOPLE
GOT CHASED DOWN
BY A GIANT BLACK BAT
OR SOMETHING.
REALLY?
CHASING THEM?
YEAH.
OVER BY POINT PLEASANT.
KEEL MADE A BEELINE
TO POINT PLEASANT,
ITS GATEWAY
THE BRIGHT ALUMINUM VIADUCT
LOCALS CALL "THE SILVER BRIDGE."
POINT PLEASANT WOULD PROVE TO BE
JOHN KEEL'S GREATEST CHALLENGE.
HE SAID,
"I COME IN FOR 48 HOURS."
AND HE SAID, "I GOT A JOB
THAT'S BEEN A DECADE."
AND HE DID.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
FIVE REPORTS SO FAR.
FIVE? REALLY?
YEAH.
Sloman:
THE FIRST THING JOHN DOES
WHEN HE GETS TO WEST VIRGINIA
IS IMMEDIATELY...
CAN I HELP YOU, FELLOW?
...GO TO THE LOCAL POLICE...
I'M A JOURNALIST IN
FROM NEW YORK CITY.
...TO SHOW HIS CREDENTIALS
SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T THINK
HE WAS A TOTAL NUT.
MY NAME IS JOHN KEEL.
BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW,
THE UFO FIELD
IS RIDDLED WITH TOTAL NUTS.
I WAS HOPING TO DO SOME WRITING
ABOUT THE SIGHTINGS
THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED
AROUND HERE.
SO YOU'RE HERE
TO MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS?
TAKE IT EASY, JIM.
UM, WHY DON'T I
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THIS GENTLEMAN...
Narrator:
KEEL FOUND A COLLABORATOR
IN MARY HYRE,
A REPORTER THAT HAD ALREADY
WRITTEN ABOUT
THE STRANGE SIGHTINGS.
Harris: I WOULD SAY BECAUSE MARY
WAS WELL-KNOWN AND WELL-LIKED
THAT THAT'S WHEN A FEW PEOPLE
OPENED UP THEIR EYES
AND PAID ATTENTION
TO WHAT WAS GOING ON.
YOU'VE SEEN
YESTERDAY'S PAPER?
NOT YET.
I THINK THEY THOUGHT
BY MARY REPORTING IT
AND KNOWING A FEW THINGS ABOUT
IT MADE IT MORE REAL TO THEM.
SHE KNEW EVERYBODY IN TOWN,
AND BY TEAMING UP WITH HER,
I THINK HE WAS ABLE TO BE
ACCEPTED MUCH MORE READILY
THAN HE WOULD
IF HE WAS AN OUTSIDER.
THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON
HERE.
HOW ABOUT YOU AND I,
WE FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS?
AND THEY BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE
THE PHENOMENON AS A TEAM.
Narrator:
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS,
THE DARK, WINGED CREATURE
WAS SEEN AGAIN AND AGAIN.
Bellamy: AND THERE WERE HUNDREDS
OF SIGHTINGS
ALL EVEN UP AND DOWN
THE OHIO RIVER.
[ LAUGHS ] YOU HAD LONG HAIR
WHEN I MET YOU.
Narrator:
ANDY COLVIN, BORN AND RAISED
IN POINT PLEASANT,
WAS 7 YEARS OLD
AT THE TIME OF THE SIGHTINGS.
Colvin:
I WAS GOING WITH MY PARENTS,
AND WE ALWAYS TOOK ONE ROUTE
TO THE BOWLING ALLEY.
WE WOULD DRIVE UP THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE KANAWHA RIVER.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
AT THE TIME, I THOUGHT I HAD
CONJURED IT UP IN MY MIND.
DAD?
MOM AND I ARE TALKING.
I SAW MOTHMAN
FLYING BEHIND OUR CAR.
DAD!
LOOK BEHIND US!
IT'S A HUGE --
WANT TO BOWL OR NOT?
I'LL TURN US
RIGHT AROUND.
IT VEERED OFF...
GEEZ, WHAT WAS THAT?
...AND OVER THE CARBIDE PLANT.
THAT WAS A VERY STRANGE TIME.
THERE WAS A VERY OPPRESSIVE
THING GOING ON.
Narrator:
WITH THE TOWN AWASH IN RUMOR,
JOHN KEEL AND REPORTER MARY HYRE
PUT THE WORD OUT,
ASKING WITNESSES
TO COME FORWARD.
WE WERE SHOPPING,
AND THEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
IT WENT
RIGHT OVER THE TOP...
IT WASN'T JUST ONE OR
TWO PEOPLE, AND IT WAS
EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC.
IT WAS PARENTS, IT WAS
TEENAGERS, IT WAS LITTLE KIDS.
...BLACK SHEEP
COME INTO THE HORIZON.
WHEN THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS
STARTED
AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
WITHIN THE SPACE OF TWO MONTHS
200 INDIVIDUALS IN TOWN
SAY THEY'VE SEEN IT,
YOU'RE GONNA GET
A COMMUNITY-WIDE PANIC.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
THEY'RE SCARED.
Narrator: THERE WAS SOMETHING
ABOUT THESE WITNESSES
THAT COULDN'T EASILY
BE DISMISSED.
Keel:
EVERYBODY THINKS OF HILLBILLIES
WHEN THEY THINK
OF WEST VIRGINIA.
THEY WERE NOT HILLBILLIES.
THEY WERE NOT THE KIND OF PEOPLE
THAT WOULD MAKE THESE THINGS UP.
THERE MUST BE
100 ACCOUNTS HERE.
WE CAN ADD ONE MORE
TO THAT.
WHO?
MY NIECE.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
Narrator: TOGETHER,
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
WENT TO INTERVIEW MARY'S NIECE
CHRISTINE ABOUT HER ENCOUNTER.
HOW YOU DOING,
SWEETIE?
Waldridge:
JOHN KEEL REPORTED THAT
SHE WAS SUFFERING
FROM EYE BURN --
VERY SIMILAR TO SOMETHING
THAT SOMEONE WOULD SUFFER
IF THEY LOOKED AT
A WELDING TORCH WITHOUT GOGGLES.
[ SIGHS ]
CHRISTINE, THIS IS MY FRIEND
MR. JOHN KEEL.
Narrator: A WEEK EARLIER,
18-YEAR-OLD CHRISTINE
WAS ON HER WAY HOME FROM WORK.
I WAS DRIVING HOME
BY THE OLD GOLF COURSE,
AND SOMETHING JUST...
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
...SOMETHING JUST WHOOSHED
ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD.
[ CAR DOOR CLOSES ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
HER HEART WAS RACING FAST,
AND SHE THOUGHT,
"IS THAT THING
GONNA COME TOWARDS ME?
AM I GONNA BE ABLE
TO GET OUT OF HERE?"
[ ROARING CONTINUES ]
AAH!
Narrator:
IN 1966 IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
JOURNALIST JOHN KEEL STUMBLED
INTO A TOWN IN FULL PANIC,
TERRORIZED BY A SERIES
OF MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTERS
WITH A WINGED MONSTER
CALLED MOTHMAN.
WHEN HOLLYWOOD MADE A MOVIE
OF KEEL'S ACCOUNT,
THE STORY WAS CHANGED.
THE ACTUAL EVENTS
IN POINT PLEASANT
WERE FAR STRANGER.
Coleman:
THERE WASN'T ANYBODY THAT
DIDN'T KNOW SOMEBODY IN TOWN
THAT HAD SEEN MOTHMAN.
THAT'S A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED
POOL OF SIGHTINGS
AND OF EYEWITNESSES.
Narrator: ONE OF THE FIRST
TO REPORT A MOTHMAN ENCOUNTER
WAS THE NIECE
OF LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE.
WHEN KEEL FOUND HER,
THE YOUNG WOMAN WAS TRAUMATIZED,
HER EYES SEVERELY BURNED.
I WAS DRIVING HOME
BY THE OLD GOLF COURSE.
Shull:
SHE WAS WORKING DOWN AT A LITTLE
TINY'S RESTAURANT THAT WE HAD,
AND SHE WAS GOING HOME.
AND IN THE OPEN AREA
WHERE A GOLF COURSE SITS NOW,
SHE SAID
THAT SHE SAW THIS FIGURE.
SOMETHING JUST WHOOSHED
ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD.
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
Narrator: STARTLED, SHE TRIED
TO REGAIN HER COMPOSURE.
[ CREATURE ROARING ]
Shull:
HER HEART WAS RACING FAST,
AND SHE THOUGHT,
"IS THAT THING
GONNA COME TOWARDS ME?"
Waldridge:
SHE DESCRIBED THE EYES
AS BEING GLOWING RED,
ALMOST LIKE BICYCLE REFLECTORS.
IT WAS SO OVERPOWERING TO HER.
[ ROARING CONTINUES ]
AAH!
SHE DROVE AWAY AT THAT POINT
IN A PRETTY FRANTIC STATE.
JOHN KEEL REPORTED THAT
SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM EYE BURN,
SO IT REALLY TRAUMATIZED HER.
Shull: WHATEVER SHE SAW
SCARED HER TO THE POINT
THAT SHE IS AN ADULT
WITH CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN,
AND SHE STILL, TO THIS DAY,
WILL NOT TALK ABOUT IT.
Narrator: THE ATTACKS
WERE CLUSTERED AROUND AN AREA
AT THE EDGE OF POINT PLEASANT --
ABANDONED BUNKERS
THAT ONCE HOUSED TNT EXPLOSIVES
PRODUCED DURING WORLD WAR II.
WELL, THE TNT AREA ORIGINALLY
WAS A TOP-SECRET FACILITY
FOR MAKING EXPLOSIVES.
YOU COULD NOT GO INTO THAT AREA
AT ALL,
BUT THEN THEY LET IT
BECOME OVERGROWN,
AND THE BUILDINGS
WERE ABANDONED.
Narrator: IF HE WAS EVER
GOING TO FIGURE OUT
WHAT WAS TORMENTING
POINT PLEASANT,
KEEL WOULD HAVE TO CHALLENGE
THE CREATURE ON ITS OWN TURF.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
WENT TO THE TNT-BUNKER AREA
WITH A GROUP
OF AROUND FIVE PEOPLE.
IT'S JUST AN OLD,
RUSTY BUILDING.
YOU GUYS READY?
I DON'T THINK I CAN DO IT.
I'M SCARED.
I'M WITH YOU.
LET'S GO.
COME ON.
ALL RIGHT.
...OR NOT,
HERE WE COME.
Y'ALL BE CAREFUL.
Waldridge: INSIDE OF THE PLANT,
JOHN KEEL LOOKED AROUND.
ALL THEY HAD WAS HIS FLASHLIGHT.
IT WAS AROUND 9:00 P.M.
AT NIGHT.
WHAT IS THAT?
HE WANTED TO TRY TO EXPERIENCE
WHATEVER THIS WAS.
AND JOHN KEEL
ACTUALLY CLIMBED THE CATWALKS
AND WALKED AROUND
AND SAW NOTHING.
[ CREAKING ]
WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO LEAVE,
SHE TURNED AROUND
AND IMMEDIATELY BECAME FRANTIC.
[ WINGS FLUTTERING ]
RUN!
[ FOOTSTEPS DEPARTING ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
SHE SAW THE GLOWING RED EYES
IN THE BACK OF THE FACTORY.
SHE WAS A WRECK AT THAT POINT.
[ SOBBING ]
WHAT HAPPENED?
I'M GOING BACK IN.
WHAT?!
THE GROUP WAS AT A PANIC STATE,
AND THEY WERE TRYING TO
ENCOURAGE JOHN TO LEAVE.
IF SOMETHING IS IN THERE,
I'M GONNA FIND IT.
JOHN!
Waldridge: JOHN WENT BACK IN
TO INVESTIGATE BY HIMSELF
JUST TO SEE
IF HE COULD SEE ANYTHING
THAT WOULD REFLECT RED
FROM HIS FLASHLIGHT.
HE HAS TO SEE THINGS
FOR HIMSELF.
AS SOON AS
HE HIT THE SPACE AGAIN,
AN IMMEDIATE FEELING OF FEAR
OVERCAME HIM.
THAT'S ONE THING
HE COULD NOT EXPLAIN.
[ CREATURE HISSING ]
THE PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE HEARD
A VERY LOUD METALLIC NOISE.
THEY SAW A HUMANOID FIGURE.
[ PANTING ]
WHAT HAPPENED?
I THOUGHT I SAW SOMETHING.
WAS -- WAS THAT YOU?
NO. I'VE BEEN INSIDE
THE WHOLE TIME.
WHAT DID YOU SEE?
GUYS,
MY EAR IS BLEEDING.
Waldridge:
AFTER SHE HAD HEARD THE SOUND,
ONE OF THE LADY'S EARS
STARTED TO BLEED.
HE SAID THAT WHAT PROBABLY
CAUSED THE EARS BLEEDING
WAS ALMOST LIKE
A CHANGE IN PRESSURE,
SO THAT WAS KIND OF
MYSTERIOUS TO HIM.
LET'S GO.
GO, GO, GO.
Narrator:
IN THE DAYS TO FOLLOW,
THAT FIRST TRICKLE OF BLOOD
WOULD TURN INTO A STREAM
OF BAFFLING,
BLOOD-SPATTERED EVENTS.
Sloman: THERE'D BE LIGHTS
IN THE BACKYARD,
THE DOGS IN THE HOUSE WOULD
GO OUT TO MEET THE LIGHTS,
BARKING CRAZY.
[ DOG WHINES ]
AND THEN, THE NEXT DAY,
THEY MAY FIND THE DOG
WITH A SLIT IN HIS THROAT
AND ALL THE BLOOD
DRAINED OUT OF HIM.
YEAH, I THOUGHT I'D SEEN
EVERYTHING UNTIL I SAW THIS.
Narrator: IN 1967,
WHILE INVESTIGATING UFOs,
PIONEERING PARANORMAL RESEARCHER
JOHN KEEL
STUMBLED INTO SOMETHING
MUCH STRANGER.
RESIDENTS IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA, WERE BESIEGED
BY A MYSTERIOUS WINGED CREATURE
KNOWN AS MOTHMAN.
THE TERRIFYING ENCOUNTERS
TOOK AN EVEN STRANGER TURN
WHEN DEAD DOGS TURNED UP
DRAINED OF BLOOD.
WAS MOTHMAN ON A BLOOD HUNT,
OR WAS THE CULPRIT
SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY?
ONE NIGHT NEAR POINT PLEASANT,
TWO RED CROSS WORKERS
DRIVING A BLOOD MOBILE
WERE HEADED SOUTH ON ROUTE 2,
THEIR VAN LOADED
WITH FRESH BLOOD.
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
A BRIGHT FLYING CRAFT
FORCED THEM TO STOP.
OH, MY -- OH, MY GOD!
WHAT IS THAT?!
AS IT HOVERED,
MECHANICAL PINCHERS
STARTED LOWERING TOWARDS THEM.
[ MECHANICAL WHIRRING ]
[ METAL CRUNCHING ]
WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE.
THE UFO MIGHT HAVE
CARRIED THEM OFF,
BUT WHEN HEADLIGHTS FROM
APPROACHING TRAFFIC APPEARED,
THEY WERE SAVED.
AFTER KEEL HEARD ABOUT
THE BLOOD-MOBILE INCIDENT,
HE TRIED KNOCKING ON DOORS,
SEARCHING FOR ANY RESIDENT THAT
MAY HAVE HAD A UFO EXPERIENCE.
Sloman:
HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE
TO LINK WHAT WAS HAPPENING
UP IN THE SKIES
WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING
ON THE GROUND.
YEAH, I THOUGHT I'D SEEN
EVERYTHING UNTIL I SAW THIS.
SOME CATTLE FARMERS IN THE AREA
FOUND CATTLE
THAT HAD BEEN MUTILATED,
BUT "MUTILATED"
IS REALLY NOT EVEN A GOOD WORD,
BECAUSE THIS WAS
SURGICAL PRECISION.
THE BLOOD WAS DRAINED IN A VERY,
VERY SPECIFIC AND STRANGE WAY.
IT'S -- IT'S AWFUL.
IT'S LIKE TOTALLY LAID OPEN.
THERE'S DEFINITELY
SOMETHING GOING ON.
YEAH. DISGUSTING.
IT WAS HOVERING
RIGHT ABOVE HERE, YOU SAID?
DID YOU ACTUALLY
GET A GOOD LOOK AT IT?
YEAH, I DID.
AND IF YOU COME OVER HERE
AT NIGHT,
I MEAN, LIGHTS
ARE EVERYWHERE.
YOU OUGHT TO COME OUT HERE
TONIGHT. SERIOUSLY.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
Narrator:
BY SPRING 1967, KEEL WAS CERTAIN
SOMETHING PHENOMENAL
WAS BUILDING IN POINT PLEASANT.
FOR SEVERAL NIGHTS,
NEAR THE FARM AT FIVEMILE CREEK,
KEEL AND MARY HYRE
STAKED OUT A HILLTOP,
HOPING TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THE INTELLIGENCE
BEHIND THE UFO ENCOUNTERS.
JOHN WOULD CARRY WITH HIM
A HUGE FLASHLIGHT,
AND HE DECIDED HE WAS GONNA TRY
TO START SIGNALING TO
THE CRAFTS UP THERE.
Narrator:
ON APRIL 1, 1967...
I SEE IT.
YOU SEE THAT?
I DO.
...THEY MADE CONTACT.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
I'M GONNA TRY TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THEM USING MORSE CODE.
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
I'M TELLING HIM
TO DESCEND.
JOHN DESCRIBED THE UFO
ALMOST AS IF IT WAS ALIVE,
ALMOST IF IT WAS SOME TYPE
OF CREATURE ITSELF.
IT WAS VERY INTELLIGENT
IN ITS BEHAVIOR.
[ GASPS ]
DID YOU SEE THAT?
IT RESPONDED.
Keel:
IF YOU FLASHED A FLASHLIGHT
AT THEM, THEY'D RESPOND.
THEY'D FLASH BACK.
I SAW A LOT OF THESE LIGHTS.
IN FACT, I SAW SO MANY OF THEM,
I LOST COUNT.
I MEAN,
HAS IT BEEN LIKE THAT...
HAS IT -- IS IT, LIKE,
RIGHT THERE? LOOK, LOOK, LOOK.
IT'S ALMOST LIKE -- IT ALMOST
LOOKS LIKE IT'S RED NOW.
WHAT IS THAT?
Narrator: NIGHT AFTER NIGHT,
RESIDENTS FROM ACROSS THE VALLEY
CAME TO THE HILLTOP,
HOPING TO SEE A UFO,
AND MANY OF THEM DID.
DO YOU SEE
HOW BRIGHT IT IS?
WEIRDEST DAMN THING
I EVER SEEN, MAN.
I WAS REAL SKEPTICAL ABOUT UFOs.
I DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS REAL.
I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE
TILL MY BROTHER SEEN ONE.
HE SAID IT WAS THE BRIGHTEST
LIGHT HE EVER SEEN.
Shull: I DID SPEND A LOT OF TIME
WITH MARY.
SHE WOULD SAY, "LET'S GO
AND SEE WHAT WE CAN SEE,"
AND WE WOULD STAY ALL NIGHT.
SHE WAS HOPING
THAT WHATEVER THIS WAS,
THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE
FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO SEE IT,
WHERE SHE COULD WRITE ABOUT IT
IN MORE DETAIL.
HAS IT -- IS IT --
NO. IS IT, LIKE, RIGHT THERE?
LOOK, LOOK, LOOK.
IT LOOKS LIKE -- BUT BIGGER.
Narrator: THESE INEXPLICABLE
LIGHTS IN THE SKY
ALSO DREW
A FEW UNWELCOME VISITORS
TO THE WEST VIRGINIA TOWN.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
THAT SPRING,
POINT PLEASANT LOCALS
BEGAN TO SEEN AN ODD ASSORTMENT
OF OUTSIDERS IN TOWN...
DRESSED IN BLACK.
Harris:
THEY WOULD STAND UP AGAINST
THE WALL ON MAIN STREET
AND JUST STARE.
I SEEN THEM MYSELF.
WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOVERNMENT.
I THINK MOST OF US DID.
THAT TIME, I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW,
THEY'RE GOVERNMENT
AND THEY'RE PUT HERE
TO WATCH PEOPLE.
AND I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT
WHAT WAS THEY WATCHING.
Narrator:
SOME SAY THE SO-CALLED "MEN IN
BLACK" ARE GOVERNMENT AGENTS.
OTHERS INSIST
THEY AREN'T REALLY HUMAN.
Harris: I JUST THOUGHT
THEY WERE GONNA PICK SOMEBODY
AND THEN INTERVIEW THEM OR TALK
TO THEM, ASK THEM QUESTIONS.
Narrator:
ONE THEY SEEM TO HAVE PICKED
WAS LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE.
MARY HYRE WAS WORKING LATE
IN HER OFFICE ONE EVENING.
A MAN CAME IN
THAT WAS ACTING VERY STRANGE.
SMALL MAN,
VERY ODD-BUILT, WITH GLASSES.
WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?
VERY CREEPY-ACTING.
LISTEN, MARY,
WHAT WOULD YOU DO
IF SOMEONE TOLD YOU TO STOP
WRITING ABOUT THOSE UFOs?
I'D TELL THEM
TO GO TO HELL.
STAY AWAY FROM JOHN KEEL.
HE'S A FRAUD.
Waldridge: THE MAN
TRIED TO DISCREDIT JOHN,
THAT HE WAS A LIAR OR HE WASN'T
WHAT HE SEEMED TO BE
OR WHAT HE TOLD HER HE WAS.
GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!
[ CHUCKLES ]
Shull: SHE WAS A LITTLE SCARED
TO BE IN THE OFFICE BY HERSELF
AFTER THAT.
SHE KEPT THE OFFICE LOCKED.
THEY INTIMIDATED HER,
BUT THEY DIDN'T.
Waldridge:
MARY DID NOT STOP REPORTING.
SHE KEPT GOING,
FOR THE SIMPLE FACT
THAT SHE KNEW
THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING ON
AND SHE WAS GONNA
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.
Narrator:
FAILING TO INTIMIDATE MARY,
THE MEN IN BLACK
PAID A TERRIFYING VISIT
TO HER NIECE CHRISTINE.
YOU HAD THESE M.I.B.s
WHO WERE COMING AROUND,
AND, YOU KNOW, RIGHT AWAY,
THEY ESCALATED TO,
"THIS IS NOT GONNA BE A KIND OF
PLEASANT EXPERIENCE ANYMORE."
I SAID THAT I DIDN'T KNOW --
YOU NEED TO --
LET GO OF ME!
LET GO OF ME!
Narrator:
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
IN 1967, A SERIES OF STRANGE
SUPERNATURAL EVENTS UNFOLDED.
IN THAT TOWN, A LOT OF PEOPLE
WERE VERY SCARED.
THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHEN
THE MOTHMAN WAS GONNA REAPPEAR.
"WAS IT GONNA CHASE MY CAR?"
Narrator:
MANY RESIDENTS WERE CERTAIN
EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS
WERE WATCHING FROM ABOVE.
THEN AN EVEN MORE SINISTER
PRESENCE INVADED ON THE GROUND.
AUTHOR JOHN KEEL
AND LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE
TEAMED UP TO INVESTIGATE.
BUT, BY THE SPRING OF 1967,
THE INVESTIGATORS
WERE GROWING PARANOID...
ESPECIALLY
WHEN MYSTERIOUS MEN IN BLACK
TRIED TO KIDNAP
MARY HYRE'S NIECE.
Man: MISS.
EXCUSE ME, MISS.
Waldridge:
A BLACK CADILLAC PULLED UP
WITH A MAN INSIDE
THAT WAS DRESSED
IN A BLACK SUIT.
AND THE MAN IN THE CAR
ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS
TO LURE HER CLOSER
TO THE VEHICLE.
I SAID THAT I DIDN'T KNOW --
YOU NEED TO --
LET GO OF ME!
LET GO OF ME!
SHE WAS VERY FRANTIC.
IT REALLY TRAUMATIZED HER.
SHE ACTUALLY HID IN HER BEDROOM,
AND SHE DIDN'T KNOW IF THIS MAN
HAD FOLLOWED HER OR NOT.
[ BREATHING HEAVILY ]
THERE WAS A NOTE
THAT WAS SLID UNDER THE DOOR.
Narrator:
WAS THE NOTE A WARNING
DIRECTED AT JOHN KEEL
AND MARY HYRE'S INVESTIGATION?
Waldridge:
SHE WAS MARY HYRE'S NIECE.
THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED
AS A WAY
TO PERSUADE MARY NOT TO
LOOK INTO THE CASE ANY FURTHER.
Coleman:
DURING JOHN'S INVESTIGATIONS,
AFTER THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS,
THERE WERE SIGHTINGS
OF MEN IN BLACK,
THERE WERE DISAPPEARANCES.
HE WAS KIND OF, LIKE,
LOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER
AND WONDERING IF THAT CAR
THAT'S GOING THROUGH TOWN
IS SOMEBODY INVESTIGATING HIM.
HE WAS A LITTLE PARANOID.
Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1967,
JOHN KEEL RETURNED TO NEW YORK.
YET THE MYSTERIES
OF POINT PLEASANT
CONTINUED TO HAUNT HIM.
Sloman: IT REALLY TOOK A TURN
WHEN JOHN BEGAN GETTING MESSAGES
FROM VARIOUS ENTITIES
THAT CLAIMED THAT
THEY COULD FORESEE THE FUTURE
AND THEY WANTED TO WARN HIM.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
[ GASPS ]
HE FELT PHYSICALLY IN DANGER
BECAUSE THERE WERE TIMES
WHEN THESE MEN IN BLACK
WOULD START FOLLOWING HIM.
HAVING A PLEASANT EVENING?
[ RATTLING ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
AT THE SAME TIME
AS THIS IS HAPPENING...
HELLO?
...THE SITUATION AT JOHN'S HOUSE
IS GOING CRAZY.
THE PHONE WILL RING,
HE'LL PICK IT UP,
HE'LL HEAR BIZARRE,
HIGH-PITCHED NOISES.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
SO JOHN BECAME CONVINCED THAT
HIS PHONE WAS BEING TAPPED.
HE ACTUALLY WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE
NEW YORK TELEPHONE COMPANY...
WHO IS THIS?
...TO LET HIM GO TO THE MAIN
STATION AND TRACE HIS LINE.
DO YOU HEAR ME?
STOP IT.
[ Screeching,
RECEIVER CLICKS ]
Waldridge:
HE WAS A TARGETED INDIVIDUAL
FOR HARASSMENT.
IT WAS ALMOST LIKE THEY WERE
TRYING TO ROB HIM OF HIS SANITY
OR SLEEP OR SOMETHING
TO DISCREDIT HIM
AS AN INVESTIGATOR.
Sloman: HE SEEMED TO THINK
THAT SOMEHOW THIS PHENOMENA
WAS KEEPING TABS ON HIM
AND MAY EVEN
PUT HIS LIFE IN JEOPARDY,
SO HE REALLY, YOU KNOW --
I DON'T THINK
HE WAS BEING PARANOID.
I THINK HE WAS JUST
REALLY FRIGHTENED.
Narrator: FOR JOHN KEEL,
THE DOTS WERE BECOMING ALIGNED,
ALL THE SIGNS POINTING
TO DEADLY TROUBLE AHEAD.
Coleman:
MARY AND JOHN GOT A FEELING
SOMETHING AWFUL
WAS GONNA HAPPEN.
WAS IT GONNA BE
AN ELECTRICAL DISRUPTION?
WAS IT GONNA BE
A FACTORY EXPLODING?
WAS IT GONNA BE
THE DEATH OF SOMEBODY?
THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW.
AND I SUSPECTED
THEY KNEW WHAT I KNEW,
THAT SOMETHING
WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THE BRIDGE.
Narrator:
IN 1967, JOURNALIST JOHN KEEL
HAD SPENT NEARLY A YEAR
TRAVELING TO POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
AN ENTIRE TOWN WRAPPED UP
IN A REAL-LIFE NIGHTMARE --
ANIMAL MUTILATIONS,
UFO SIGHTINGS,
MYSTERIOUS MEN IN BLACK,
AND, STRANGEST OF ALL,
A MENACING MONSTER
KNOWN AS MOTHMAN.
PARANORMAL PANIC OCCURRED
WITHIN THE TOWN.
YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE SEEING
THINGS INSIDE OF THEIR BEDROOMS,
AND THEN
THE FIGURE WOULD VANISH.
YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE
HEARING THINGS.
IT JUST SEEMS LIKE
THAT IT CONTINUED
TO GET WEIRDER AND WEIRDER
AND WEIRDER.
Narrator:
AS JOHN KEEL WOULD WRITE,
"ALL THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
WAS BOGGLING
MY MUCH-BOGGLED MIND."
WORSE STILL, JOHN FELT CERTAIN
IT WAS LEADING
TO SOME DIRE CONCLUSION.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Keel:
I WAS PLANNING TO GO BACK DOWN
TO WEST VIRGINIA
IN DECEMBER OF THAT YEAR.
[ Screeching ]
WHO IS THIS?
AND I HAD REPEATED PHONE CALLS
WARNING ME "DON'T GO."
[ Screeching continues ]
STOP CALLING ME!
DO YOU HEAR ME? STOP IT!
[ RECEIVER SLAMS ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Narrator: IN WEST VIRGINIA,
KEEL'S INVESTIGATIVE PARTNER
MARY HYRE
WAS RECEIVING HER OWN
PROPHETIC WARNINGS.
[ MOANING ]
DAD.
[ GASPING ]
Shull: IN THE FALL OF 1967,
SHE WOULD TELL ME
ABOUT HAVING DREAMS,
AND THEY WERE FAIRLY FREQUENT,
ABOUT A BABY CRYING.
[ BABY CRYING ]
[ GASPS ]
AND SHE WOULD WAKE ME UP.
"DID YOU HEAR THAT BABY CRYING?
IT WAS AT THE END OF THE BED."
AND I WOULD SAY, "NO."
AND SHE WAS LIKE, "WOW.
IT WAS JUST REALLY REAL."
MARY STARTED HAVING NIGHTMARES
ABOUT THIS AWFUL THING
HAPPENING.
SHE SAW CHRISTMAS PACKAGES
FLOATING IN THE OHIO RIVER.
AND SHE'S THE ONE THAT GOT
CLOSEST TO REALLY PREDICTING IT.
[ GASPS ]
Narrator:
ON DECEMBER 15, 1967,
JOHN KEEL WAS STILL
IN NEW YORK CITY.
...1967 WOULD QUICKLY...
HE BELIEVED THE DANGER
HAD SHIFTED
FROM POINT PLEASANT
TO WASHINGTON, D.C.
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT THIS.
NOTHING'S GONNA HAPPEN.
LISTEN...
I KNOW HOW THIS LOOKS, JOE.
BUT PLEASE
KEEP THE FLASHLIGHTS READY.
Waldridge:
JOHN HAD ACTUALLY GOTTEN A TIP
FROM A MAN IN BLACK
THAT WHEN THEY WHITE HOUSE
CHRISTMAS TREE WAS LIT,
THAT THERE WOULD BE A BLACKOUT
ON THE EAST COAST,
SO HE WAS HOME,
AND HE WAS WATCHING FOR THAT.
HERE COMES THE PRESIDENT.
[ CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING
ON TELEVISION ]
GOD HELP US.
JOHNSON HITS THE SWITCH,
AND NOTHING HAPPENS.
AND JOHN IS,
"GREAT. THAT'S FANTASTIC."
[ SIGHS, CHUCKLES ]
OH, MY GOODNESS, JOE.
I TOLD YOU
IT WOULD BE FINE.
AND THEN THERE'S A CRAWL
ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.
WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM
FOR A SPECIAL BULLETIN.
A BRIDGE LADEN
WITH RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC
HAS JUST COLLAPSED AT
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
Narrator:
IN POINT PLEASANT, THE NIGHTMARE
WAS ONLY GETTING WORSE.
THAT'S SILVER BRIDGE.
MARY!
BY 5:00 P.M. THAT EVENING,
THE SILVER BRIDGE
AT POINT PLEASANT
WAS JAMMED
WITH RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC.
MANY FAMILIES WERE TAKING CARE
OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
ACROSS THE RIVER.
WHAT OCCURRED IS, AT ONE END,
THE RED LIGHT FROZE.
AT THE OTHER END,
THERE WAS ALSO A RED LIGHT.
SO THE BRIDGE STARTED FILLING
WITH CARS THAT COULD NOT MOVE.
AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
I BAR #13 BROKE,
AND THE BRIDGE COLLAPSED.
THERE WAS A HUGE BOOM.
LIGHTS FLICKERED,
THE TV WENT OFF.
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID
THEY THOUGHT
ONE OF THE POWER PLANTS
HAD EXPLODED.
Shull: THE BRIDGE FELL.
I JUST REMEMBER ME AND MY MOM
CRYING HORRIBLY
BECAUSE WE THOUGHT
MY AUNT MARY WAS ON IT.
MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT BESIDE
THE BRIDGE THE DAY IT FELL.
AND WHEN SHE RAN OUT
THROUGH THE FLOODWALL,
SHE TOLD ME ALL SHE COULD SEE
WERE CARS AND CHRISTMAS GIFTS
FLOATING IN THE RIVER.
MARY HAD A DREAM
A WEEK BEFORE THIS
OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS
BOBBING IN THE WATER.
[ GASPS ]
AND THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT HAPPENED.
Narrator: 46 PEOPLE PERISHED
IN THE ICY WATERS
BENEATH THE RUINS
OF THE SILVER BRIDGE,
THE WORST BRIDGE COLLAPSE
IN U.S. HISTORY.
Campbell: ONE CAR HAS A MOTHER
AND HER TWO CHILDREN IN IT.
ONE 6-YEAR-OLD LITTLE GIRL
WAS NEVER FOUND.
THE BODY WAS NEVER RETRIEVED.
IT WAS JUST HARD TO TALK
ABOUT IT -- JUST SO SAD.
Narrator: ENGINEERS
BLAMED THE BRIDGE COLLAPSE
ON THE FAILURE OF A SINGLE I BAR
IN A SUSPENSION CHAIN.
OTHERS SUSPECTED THE CAUSE
MAY HAVE BEEN SUPERNATURAL.
Campbell: PEOPLE THOUGHT
THAT THEY HAD SEEN THE MOTHMAN
GO OVER THE BRIDGE
BEFORE IT COLLAPSED.
THIS IS WHAT THE WARNINGS
WERE ABOUT.
A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THE MOTHMAN
WAS HERE TO WARN US
ABOUT THE BRIDGE.
JOHN FELT JUST HORRIFIED,
AND, I THINK, IN SOME RESPECTS,
MAYBE EVEN BLAMED HIMSELF
THAT HE COULDN'T HAVE
ANTICIPATED THAT.
Narrator:
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
REMAINED FRIENDS
AND CONTINUED TO CORRESPOND
UNTIL HER DEATH
IN FEBRUARY 1970.
Coleman:
13 MONTHS TO THE EXACT DAY
AFTER THAT INCIDENT,
MARY HYRE DIED
OF A MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS.
I THINK THE TIMING
IS INTERESTING.
13 MONTHS AFTER THE SIGHTING,
I BAR 13 BREAKING,
13 MONTHS LATER,
MARY HYRE DEFINITELY DIES.
Campbell:
I REALLY, IN MY HEART, BELIEVE
MARY WAS SCARED TO DEATH,
FRIGHTENED TO DEATH,
BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T LIVE
VERY LONG.
SHE WAS ONLY 56 WHEN SHE DIED.
AND IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO
WITH THIS.
Narrator: WHAT JOHN KEEL BEGAN
SEARCHING FOR IN POINT PLEASANT,
OTHERS HAVE COME ALONG
TO INVESTIGATE.
NOW ONE MAN HAS PROOF
MOTHMAN NEVER WENT AWAY.
[ CREATURE GROWLING ]
IT WAS A BLACK SILHOUETTE,
VERY THIN.
IT JUST STARTED COMING
RIGHT FOR ME.
Narrator:
FOR MANY IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
THE MYSTERY OF MOTHMAN ENDED
ABRUPTLY ON DECEMBER 15, 1967,
WHEN THE SILVER BRIDGE
COLLAPSED, KILLING 46.
DECADES LATER,
NEW SIGHTINGS AND ENCOUNTERS
CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE.
ONE OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS IS
THAT,
AFTER THE COLLAPSE
OF THE BRIDGE,
ALL OF THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS
STOPPED.
AND THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT TRUE.
THERE'S ONE OR TWO SIGHTINGS
EVERY FEW MONTHS.
PEOPLE ARE STILL
SEEING SOMETHING THERE.
Narrator: ANDY COLVIN GREW UP
IN POINT PLEASANT
HEARING THE LEGEND OF MOTHMAN.
AT THE AGE OF 7,
FROM THE BACK
OF THE FAMILY STATION WAGON,
ANDY CAUGHT A GLIMPSE
OF THE STRANGE WINGED PHANTOM.
HE NEVER FORGOT IT.
Colvin: WHEN I WAS A CHILD,
WE DIDN'T CALL IT "MOTHMAN."
WE CALLED IT "THE BIRD."
AND THEN, IN 1993,
I SAW THIS BOOK BY JOHN KEEL --
"MOTHMAN PROPHECIES."
I WAS LIKE, "WHAT IS THIS?"
AND I READ IT, AND I'M LIKE,
"WELL, THAT'S THE BIRD.
HE'S WRITING ABOUT THE BIRD."
AND IT JUST BLEW ME AWAY.
AND I REALLY STARTED
BECOMING MORE INTERESTED
IN THE TOPIC THEN.
Narrator:
RECENTLY, ANDY AND TWO FRIENDS
WENT BACK TO POINT PLEASANT
TO INVESTIGATE THE TRUTH.
[ INSECTS CHIRPING ]
Colvin:
WE FELT THE PRESSURE CHANGE,
THE CRICKETS STOPPED CHIRPING.
IT FELT VERY COLD.
THIS WAS A 90-PLUS-DEGREE NIGHT.
SUDDENLY, WE'RE SHIVERING.
Narrator: OUT OF NOWHERE,
A CURTAIN OF LIGHT
BEGAN TO FORM.
THAT'S WHEN WE SAW
A SHIMMERING CURTAIN.
AAH!
IT'S COMING TO YOU,
YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING DRAWN
TO IT BY A VACUUM.
WE SAW SHIMMERING, WISPY BEINGS
IN FRONT OF US IN THIS CURTAIN,
THIS SHIMMERING CURTAIN,
EXAMINING US FROM EVERY ANGLE.
Narrator: THEN FROM THE LIGHT
CAME A MONSTROUS SHAPE.
Colvin: IT SEEMED LIKE
IT WAS GROWING WINGS.
IT WAS THIS BLACK SILHOUETTE,
THE SAME ONE I HAD SEEN
YEARS BEFORE.
AND I GOT THE FEELING THAT
THIS WAS MOTHMAN OBSERVING US.
I SUGGESTED THAT WE NOT
TRY TO THINK ANYTHING.
"DON'T THINK NEGATIVE THOUGHTS,
DON'T BE AFRAID.
TRY NOT TO BE AFRAID.
CLEAR YOUR MIND.
MAYBE THIS THING REACTS
TO WHAT YOU'RE THINKING.
MAYBE IF YOU DON'T FEAR IT,
IT WON'T FEAR YOU,
AND IT MAY NOT HARM YOU."
Narrator: ANDY COLVIN
SAW ONLY ONE WAY OUT --
THROUGH THE VEIL.
DON'T GO!
Colvin: I DECIDED I COULD TAKE
THAT CHANCE AND WALK INTO IT,
BECAUSE I REALLY FELT LIKE,
"THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY
CHANCE I'M GONNA GET
IN MY LIFE TO DO THIS."
IN THE BACK OF MY MIND,
I'M WONDERING,
"IS THIS HOW PEOPLE DISAPPEAR?"
IT'S THE SCARIEST THING
THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME.
ABSOLUTE FEAR.
IT'S ALMOST BRINGING TEARS TO MY
EYES 'CAUSE IT WAS THAT SCARY.
SOMEHOW, I WAS ABLE TO DO IT
AND SURVIVE,
BUT I FEEL VERY LUCKY.
I THINK THE BEST EXPLANATION
FOR MOTHMAN,
JUST AS A WORKING PREMISE,
IS THAT HE MAY BE A THUNDERBIRD
IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN
TRADITION.
IN THOSE TRADITIONS,
PEOPLE THAT SEE THE MOTHMAN,
THEY ARE CONSIDERED
TO BE BLESSED.
IT COULD BE THAT WE'RE
LOOKING AT A FORCE HERE
THAT'S SO CLOSE TO THE SOURCE
OF REALITY THAT IT DOESN'T --
THAT THE IDEAS ABOUT GOOD
AND EVIL DON'T REALLY FIT IT.
Waldridge:
THERE'S MANY THEORIES ABOUT
WHAT THE MOTHMAN ACTUALLY WAS.
WAS HE SOME TYPE
OF ANCIENT BEING,
SOME TYPE OF CREATURE
FROM ANOTHER PLANET,
OR SOMETHING THAT'S ANCIENT
THAT WE MAY NOT UNDERSTAND
THAT MAY EXIST
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION?
Narrator:
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,
JOHN KEEL STRUGGLED
TO MAKE SENSE OF THE 13 MONTHS
HE SPENT IN POINT PLEASANT.
HIS RESEARCH WOULD TURN INTO
A BEST-SELLING ACCOUNT
OF THE EVENTS,
ONE OF THE SINGLE MOST
POPULAR BOOKS
EVER TO EXPLORE THE UNEXPLAINED.
KEEL DEDICATED THE BOOK
TO MARY HYRE
AND THE PEOPLE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
JOHN KEEL'S ATTEMPT
TO UNDERSTAND THE MONSTERS
THAT PLAGUE POINT PLEASANT
HAS INSPIRED COUNTLESS OTHERS
TO CONDUCT THEIR OWN SEARCH
FOR HIDDEN TRUTHS.
Keel:
THE UNKNOWN IS OUT THERE.
THE UNIVERSE DOES NOT EXIST
AS WE THINK IT EXISTS.
AND WE DON'T EXIST
AS WE THINK WE EXIST.
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
IN 1966, THIS TOWN WAS BESIEGED
BY A 13-MONTH-LONG
PARANORMAL ATTACK.
OVER 200 SIGHTINGS OCCURRED.
THE TOWN WAS IN PANIC.
PEOPLE WERE SCARED.
Narrator: A MYSTERY THAT STARTED
WITH MOTHMAN...
[ CREATURE SHRIEKING ]
IT LOOKED LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN
A MAN AND AN ALIEN WITH WINGS.
RUN!
Narrator:
...BECAME MORE HORRIFYING
THAN HEADLINES EVER REVEALED.
Sloman: YOU HAD MOTHMAN.
YOU HAD UFOs.
BUT THEN YOU HAD ANIMAL
AND CATTLE MUTILATIONS GOING ON.
AND THEN YOU HAD MEN IN BLACK.
Narrator: ONE MAN TRIED
TO PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER,
SEARCHING OUT THE EVIL
THAT HAD RESIDENTS
FEARING FOR THEIR LIVES.
Keel: MOST OF THEM
WERE JUST BEWILDERED.
THERE WERE A FEW
WHO WERE VERY AFRAID --
AFRAID TO GO OUT OF THEIR HOUSE
AT NIGHT.
Narrator: IT WOULD DELIVER HIM
TO THE VERY BRINK OF TERROR.
Keel:
I BEGAN TO SEE THEM MYSELF.
IT WAS BEYOND IMAGINATION.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE ACTUAL STORY
BEHIND ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
ACCOUNTS OF THE TRUE PARANORMAL,
JOHN KEEL'S
"THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES,"
KEEL'S PERSONAL INVESTIGATION
IN POINT PLEASANT REVEALED.
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
Bellamy:
I SUPPOSE IF THERE WAS A PLACE
WHERE THE MONSTER COULD EXIST,
THE TNT AREA
WOULD BE A PERFECT PLACE FOR IT.
IT'S A MAZE
OF ABANDONED BUILDINGS.
THE TNT AREA BACK IN THAT AGE
WAS JUST A PARTY PLACE FOR KIDS.
THEY COULD DO BONFIRES
BACK THEN,
AND IT WAS JUST A DARK, DESOLATE
AREA AWAY FROM THE CITY.
YOU COLD?
YOU WANT A JACKET?
TWO YOUNG COUPLES WERE HANGING
OUT AT A LOVERS' LANE OF SORTS.
ONE OF THE FOUR PEOPLE
SUDDENLY SAW
WHAT LOOKED LIKE TWO BIG,
RED, BULBOUS EYES
THAT HAD A PENETRATING
KIND OF QUALITY TO THEM.
AAH!
LET'S GO!
IT WAS SOME KIND
OF CREATURE --
AN IMMENSE BIRD 7 FEET TALL.
THAT WAS THE FIRST SIGHTING OF
WHAT WOULD BE CALLED "MOTHMAN."
Narrator: IN WEST VIRGINIA,
WHERE THE OHIO AND KANAWHA RIVER
CROSS,
SITS THE SMALL TOWN
OF POINT PLEASANT.
Smith: I BELIEVE THAT
THERE IS SOMETHING VERY ODD
ABOUT THIS AREA,
ABOUT THIS PLACE.
I ALSO BELIEVE THAT A LOT OF
PEOPLE THAT COME FROM HERE,
THERE IS A DARK CLOUD OVER THEM
NO MATTER WHERE THEY GO.
Harris:
I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY
EVERYTHING IS ATTRACTED
TO POINT PLEASANT,
BUT POINT PLEASANT HAS
HAD ITS SHARE AT TIMES
OF A LOT OF BAD THINGS
HAPPENING.
Narrator: FROM NOVEMBER 1966
UNTIL DECEMBER 1967,
A STRING
OF BIZARRE MONSTER ENCOUNTERS
PLUNGED THIS QUIET
INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY
INTO THE GRIP OF TERROR.
STRAIGHT INTO
THIS TOWN-WIDE PANIC
STEPPED A MAN
WITH A LIFELONG QUEST
TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERIOUS.
AS A TEENAGER IN THE 1940s,
JOHN KEEL HEARD RADIO REPORTS
ABOUT FLYING SAUCERS.
Man: THE QUESTION, LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN, IS, DO THEY EXIST?
IT CAPTURED HIS IMAGINATION.
KEEL WOULD GROW UP
TO BE A WRITER,
STILL FASCINATED WITH STORIES
OF THE SUPERNATURAL.
KEEL'S DESIRE AND PASSION
WAS TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND,
YOU KNOW,
THE UNIVERSE AROUND HIM,
ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES
TO FRINGE PHENOMENA.
Narrator: IN THE MID-1960s,
CONCERN OVER UFOs
AND EXTRATERRESTRIALS
HAD GONE MAINSTREAM.
AMERICANS WANTED TO KNOW THE
TRUTH ABOUT WHAT WAS OUT THERE.
INVESTIGATING UFOs PUT JOHN KEEL
ON THE ROAD IN 1966,
HEADING FROM NEW YORK CITY
INTO THE RURAL SOUTH.
HE GOT AN ASSIGNMENT
FROM PLAYBOY MAGAZINE.
HE WENT UP THERE.
HE STARTED INVESTIGATING IT.
HE WOULD INTERVIEW PEOPLE
WHO HAD CLAIMED
EITHER THEY SAW UFOs
OR THEY WERE APPROACHED
BY ALIENS,
AND HE DIDN'T DISMISS
WHAT THEY SAID OUT OF HAND.
HE WOULD LISTEN
TO WHAT THEY SAID,
AND SO, IN THAT RESPECT,
I THINK HE WAS THE FIRST REALLY
THOROUGH INVESTIGATOR OF UFOs.
Narrator: THE SEARCH LED KEEL
TO THE OHIO VALLEY
JUST AS THE STORY BROKE
ABOUT A STRANGE CREATURE
SEEN IN POINT PLEASANT.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT THESE ATTACKS?
YEAH. SAID THESE PEOPLE
GOT CHASED DOWN
BY A GIANT BLACK BAT
OR SOMETHING.
REALLY?
CHASING THEM?
YEAH.
OVER BY POINT PLEASANT.
KEEL MADE A BEELINE
TO POINT PLEASANT,
ITS GATEWAY
THE BRIGHT ALUMINUM VIADUCT
LOCALS CALL "THE SILVER BRIDGE."
POINT PLEASANT WOULD PROVE TO BE
JOHN KEEL'S GREATEST CHALLENGE.
HE SAID,
"I COME IN FOR 48 HOURS."
AND HE SAID, "I GOT A JOB
THAT'S BEEN A DECADE."
AND HE DID.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
FIVE REPORTS SO FAR.
FIVE? REALLY?
YEAH.
Sloman:
THE FIRST THING JOHN DOES
WHEN HE GETS TO WEST VIRGINIA
IS IMMEDIATELY...
CAN I HELP YOU, FELLOW?
...GO TO THE LOCAL POLICE...
I'M A JOURNALIST IN
FROM NEW YORK CITY.
...TO SHOW HIS CREDENTIALS
SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T THINK
HE WAS A TOTAL NUT.
MY NAME IS JOHN KEEL.
BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW,
THE UFO FIELD
IS RIDDLED WITH TOTAL NUTS.
I WAS HOPING TO DO SOME WRITING
ABOUT THE SIGHTINGS
THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED
AROUND HERE.
SO YOU'RE HERE
TO MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS?
TAKE IT EASY, JIM.
UM, WHY DON'T I
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THIS GENTLEMAN...
Narrator:
KEEL FOUND A COLLABORATOR
IN MARY HYRE,
A REPORTER THAT HAD ALREADY
WRITTEN ABOUT
THE STRANGE SIGHTINGS.
Harris: I WOULD SAY BECAUSE MARY
WAS WELL-KNOWN AND WELL-LIKED
THAT THAT'S WHEN A FEW PEOPLE
OPENED UP THEIR EYES
AND PAID ATTENTION
TO WHAT WAS GOING ON.
YOU'VE SEEN
YESTERDAY'S PAPER?
NOT YET.
I THINK THEY THOUGHT
BY MARY REPORTING IT
AND KNOWING A FEW THINGS ABOUT
IT MADE IT MORE REAL TO THEM.
SHE KNEW EVERYBODY IN TOWN,
AND BY TEAMING UP WITH HER,
I THINK HE WAS ABLE TO BE
ACCEPTED MUCH MORE READILY
THAN HE WOULD
IF HE WAS AN OUTSIDER.
THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON
HERE.
HOW ABOUT YOU AND I,
WE FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS?
AND THEY BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE
THE PHENOMENON AS A TEAM.
Narrator:
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS,
THE DARK, WINGED CREATURE
WAS SEEN AGAIN AND AGAIN.
Bellamy: AND THERE WERE HUNDREDS
OF SIGHTINGS
ALL EVEN UP AND DOWN
THE OHIO RIVER.
[ LAUGHS ] YOU HAD LONG HAIR
WHEN I MET YOU.
Narrator:
ANDY COLVIN, BORN AND RAISED
IN POINT PLEASANT,
WAS 7 YEARS OLD
AT THE TIME OF THE SIGHTINGS.
Colvin:
I WAS GOING WITH MY PARENTS,
AND WE ALWAYS TOOK ONE ROUTE
TO THE BOWLING ALLEY.
WE WOULD DRIVE UP THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE KANAWHA RIVER.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
AT THE TIME, I THOUGHT I HAD
CONJURED IT UP IN MY MIND.
DAD?
MOM AND I ARE TALKING.
I SAW MOTHMAN
FLYING BEHIND OUR CAR.
DAD!
LOOK BEHIND US!
IT'S A HUGE --
WANT TO BOWL OR NOT?
I'LL TURN US
RIGHT AROUND.
IT VEERED OFF...
GEEZ, WHAT WAS THAT?
...AND OVER THE CARBIDE PLANT.
THAT WAS A VERY STRANGE TIME.
THERE WAS A VERY OPPRESSIVE
THING GOING ON.
Narrator:
WITH THE TOWN AWASH IN RUMOR,
JOHN KEEL AND REPORTER MARY HYRE
PUT THE WORD OUT,
ASKING WITNESSES
TO COME FORWARD.
WE WERE SHOPPING,
AND THEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
IT WENT
RIGHT OVER THE TOP...
IT WASN'T JUST ONE OR
TWO PEOPLE, AND IT WAS
EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC.
IT WAS PARENTS, IT WAS
TEENAGERS, IT WAS LITTLE KIDS.
...BLACK SHEEP
COME INTO THE HORIZON.
WHEN THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS
STARTED
AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
WITHIN THE SPACE OF TWO MONTHS
200 INDIVIDUALS IN TOWN
SAY THEY'VE SEEN IT,
YOU'RE GONNA GET
A COMMUNITY-WIDE PANIC.
AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
THEY'RE SCARED.
Narrator: THERE WAS SOMETHING
ABOUT THESE WITNESSES
THAT COULDN'T EASILY
BE DISMISSED.
Keel:
EVERYBODY THINKS OF HILLBILLIES
WHEN THEY THINK
OF WEST VIRGINIA.
THEY WERE NOT HILLBILLIES.
THEY WERE NOT THE KIND OF PEOPLE
THAT WOULD MAKE THESE THINGS UP.
THERE MUST BE
100 ACCOUNTS HERE.
WE CAN ADD ONE MORE
TO THAT.
WHO?
MY NIECE.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
Narrator: TOGETHER,
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
WENT TO INTERVIEW MARY'S NIECE
CHRISTINE ABOUT HER ENCOUNTER.
HOW YOU DOING,
SWEETIE?
Waldridge:
JOHN KEEL REPORTED THAT
SHE WAS SUFFERING
FROM EYE BURN --
VERY SIMILAR TO SOMETHING
THAT SOMEONE WOULD SUFFER
IF THEY LOOKED AT
A WELDING TORCH WITHOUT GOGGLES.
[ SIGHS ]
CHRISTINE, THIS IS MY FRIEND
MR. JOHN KEEL.
Narrator: A WEEK EARLIER,
18-YEAR-OLD CHRISTINE
WAS ON HER WAY HOME FROM WORK.
I WAS DRIVING HOME
BY THE OLD GOLF COURSE,
AND SOMETHING JUST...
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
...SOMETHING JUST WHOOSHED
ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD.
[ CAR DOOR CLOSES ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
HER HEART WAS RACING FAST,
AND SHE THOUGHT,
"IS THAT THING
GONNA COME TOWARDS ME?
AM I GONNA BE ABLE
TO GET OUT OF HERE?"
[ ROARING CONTINUES ]
AAH!
Narrator:
IN 1966 IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
JOURNALIST JOHN KEEL STUMBLED
INTO A TOWN IN FULL PANIC,
TERRORIZED BY A SERIES
OF MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTERS
WITH A WINGED MONSTER
CALLED MOTHMAN.
WHEN HOLLYWOOD MADE A MOVIE
OF KEEL'S ACCOUNT,
THE STORY WAS CHANGED.
THE ACTUAL EVENTS
IN POINT PLEASANT
WERE FAR STRANGER.
Coleman:
THERE WASN'T ANYBODY THAT
DIDN'T KNOW SOMEBODY IN TOWN
THAT HAD SEEN MOTHMAN.
THAT'S A HIGHLY CONCENTRATED
POOL OF SIGHTINGS
AND OF EYEWITNESSES.
Narrator: ONE OF THE FIRST
TO REPORT A MOTHMAN ENCOUNTER
WAS THE NIECE
OF LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE.
WHEN KEEL FOUND HER,
THE YOUNG WOMAN WAS TRAUMATIZED,
HER EYES SEVERELY BURNED.
I WAS DRIVING HOME
BY THE OLD GOLF COURSE.
Shull:
SHE WAS WORKING DOWN AT A LITTLE
TINY'S RESTAURANT THAT WE HAD,
AND SHE WAS GOING HOME.
AND IN THE OPEN AREA
WHERE A GOLF COURSE SITS NOW,
SHE SAID
THAT SHE SAW THIS FIGURE.
SOMETHING JUST WHOOSHED
ACROSS THE WINDSHIELD.
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
Narrator: STARTLED, SHE TRIED
TO REGAIN HER COMPOSURE.
[ CREATURE ROARING ]
Shull:
HER HEART WAS RACING FAST,
AND SHE THOUGHT,
"IS THAT THING
GONNA COME TOWARDS ME?"
Waldridge:
SHE DESCRIBED THE EYES
AS BEING GLOWING RED,
ALMOST LIKE BICYCLE REFLECTORS.
IT WAS SO OVERPOWERING TO HER.
[ ROARING CONTINUES ]
AAH!
SHE DROVE AWAY AT THAT POINT
IN A PRETTY FRANTIC STATE.
JOHN KEEL REPORTED THAT
SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM EYE BURN,
SO IT REALLY TRAUMATIZED HER.
Shull: WHATEVER SHE SAW
SCARED HER TO THE POINT
THAT SHE IS AN ADULT
WITH CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN,
AND SHE STILL, TO THIS DAY,
WILL NOT TALK ABOUT IT.
Narrator: THE ATTACKS
WERE CLUSTERED AROUND AN AREA
AT THE EDGE OF POINT PLEASANT --
ABANDONED BUNKERS
THAT ONCE HOUSED TNT EXPLOSIVES
PRODUCED DURING WORLD WAR II.
WELL, THE TNT AREA ORIGINALLY
WAS A TOP-SECRET FACILITY
FOR MAKING EXPLOSIVES.
YOU COULD NOT GO INTO THAT AREA
AT ALL,
BUT THEN THEY LET IT
BECOME OVERGROWN,
AND THE BUILDINGS
WERE ABANDONED.
Narrator: IF HE WAS EVER
GOING TO FIGURE OUT
WHAT WAS TORMENTING
POINT PLEASANT,
KEEL WOULD HAVE TO CHALLENGE
THE CREATURE ON ITS OWN TURF.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
WENT TO THE TNT-BUNKER AREA
WITH A GROUP
OF AROUND FIVE PEOPLE.
IT'S JUST AN OLD,
RUSTY BUILDING.
YOU GUYS READY?
I DON'T THINK I CAN DO IT.
I'M SCARED.
I'M WITH YOU.
LET'S GO.
COME ON.
ALL RIGHT.
...OR NOT,
HERE WE COME.
Y'ALL BE CAREFUL.
Waldridge: INSIDE OF THE PLANT,
JOHN KEEL LOOKED AROUND.
ALL THEY HAD WAS HIS FLASHLIGHT.
IT WAS AROUND 9:00 P.M.
AT NIGHT.
WHAT IS THAT?
HE WANTED TO TRY TO EXPERIENCE
WHATEVER THIS WAS.
AND JOHN KEEL
ACTUALLY CLIMBED THE CATWALKS
AND WALKED AROUND
AND SAW NOTHING.
[ CREAKING ]
WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO LEAVE,
SHE TURNED AROUND
AND IMMEDIATELY BECAME FRANTIC.
[ WINGS FLUTTERING ]
RUN!
[ FOOTSTEPS DEPARTING ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
SHE SAW THE GLOWING RED EYES
IN THE BACK OF THE FACTORY.
SHE WAS A WRECK AT THAT POINT.
[ SOBBING ]
WHAT HAPPENED?
I'M GOING BACK IN.
WHAT?!
THE GROUP WAS AT A PANIC STATE,
AND THEY WERE TRYING TO
ENCOURAGE JOHN TO LEAVE.
IF SOMETHING IS IN THERE,
I'M GONNA FIND IT.
JOHN!
Waldridge: JOHN WENT BACK IN
TO INVESTIGATE BY HIMSELF
JUST TO SEE
IF HE COULD SEE ANYTHING
THAT WOULD REFLECT RED
FROM HIS FLASHLIGHT.
HE HAS TO SEE THINGS
FOR HIMSELF.
AS SOON AS
HE HIT THE SPACE AGAIN,
AN IMMEDIATE FEELING OF FEAR
OVERCAME HIM.
THAT'S ONE THING
HE COULD NOT EXPLAIN.
[ CREATURE HISSING ]
THE PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE HEARD
A VERY LOUD METALLIC NOISE.
THEY SAW A HUMANOID FIGURE.
[ PANTING ]
WHAT HAPPENED?
I THOUGHT I SAW SOMETHING.
WAS -- WAS THAT YOU?
NO. I'VE BEEN INSIDE
THE WHOLE TIME.
WHAT DID YOU SEE?
GUYS,
MY EAR IS BLEEDING.
Waldridge:
AFTER SHE HAD HEARD THE SOUND,
ONE OF THE LADY'S EARS
STARTED TO BLEED.
HE SAID THAT WHAT PROBABLY
CAUSED THE EARS BLEEDING
WAS ALMOST LIKE
A CHANGE IN PRESSURE,
SO THAT WAS KIND OF
MYSTERIOUS TO HIM.
LET'S GO.
GO, GO, GO.
Narrator:
IN THE DAYS TO FOLLOW,
THAT FIRST TRICKLE OF BLOOD
WOULD TURN INTO A STREAM
OF BAFFLING,
BLOOD-SPATTERED EVENTS.
Sloman: THERE'D BE LIGHTS
IN THE BACKYARD,
THE DOGS IN THE HOUSE WOULD
GO OUT TO MEET THE LIGHTS,
BARKING CRAZY.
[ DOG WHINES ]
AND THEN, THE NEXT DAY,
THEY MAY FIND THE DOG
WITH A SLIT IN HIS THROAT
AND ALL THE BLOOD
DRAINED OUT OF HIM.
YEAH, I THOUGHT I'D SEEN
EVERYTHING UNTIL I SAW THIS.
Narrator: IN 1967,
WHILE INVESTIGATING UFOs,
PIONEERING PARANORMAL RESEARCHER
JOHN KEEL
STUMBLED INTO SOMETHING
MUCH STRANGER.
RESIDENTS IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA, WERE BESIEGED
BY A MYSTERIOUS WINGED CREATURE
KNOWN AS MOTHMAN.
THE TERRIFYING ENCOUNTERS
TOOK AN EVEN STRANGER TURN
WHEN DEAD DOGS TURNED UP
DRAINED OF BLOOD.
WAS MOTHMAN ON A BLOOD HUNT,
OR WAS THE CULPRIT
SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY?
ONE NIGHT NEAR POINT PLEASANT,
TWO RED CROSS WORKERS
DRIVING A BLOOD MOBILE
WERE HEADED SOUTH ON ROUTE 2,
THEIR VAN LOADED
WITH FRESH BLOOD.
[ TIRES SCREECH ]
A BRIGHT FLYING CRAFT
FORCED THEM TO STOP.
OH, MY -- OH, MY GOD!
WHAT IS THAT?!
AS IT HOVERED,
MECHANICAL PINCHERS
STARTED LOWERING TOWARDS THEM.
[ MECHANICAL WHIRRING ]
[ METAL CRUNCHING ]
WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE.
THE UFO MIGHT HAVE
CARRIED THEM OFF,
BUT WHEN HEADLIGHTS FROM
APPROACHING TRAFFIC APPEARED,
THEY WERE SAVED.
AFTER KEEL HEARD ABOUT
THE BLOOD-MOBILE INCIDENT,
HE TRIED KNOCKING ON DOORS,
SEARCHING FOR ANY RESIDENT THAT
MAY HAVE HAD A UFO EXPERIENCE.
Sloman:
HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE
TO LINK WHAT WAS HAPPENING
UP IN THE SKIES
WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING
ON THE GROUND.
YEAH, I THOUGHT I'D SEEN
EVERYTHING UNTIL I SAW THIS.
SOME CATTLE FARMERS IN THE AREA
FOUND CATTLE
THAT HAD BEEN MUTILATED,
BUT "MUTILATED"
IS REALLY NOT EVEN A GOOD WORD,
BECAUSE THIS WAS
SURGICAL PRECISION.
THE BLOOD WAS DRAINED IN A VERY,
VERY SPECIFIC AND STRANGE WAY.
IT'S -- IT'S AWFUL.
IT'S LIKE TOTALLY LAID OPEN.
THERE'S DEFINITELY
SOMETHING GOING ON.
YEAH. DISGUSTING.
IT WAS HOVERING
RIGHT ABOVE HERE, YOU SAID?
DID YOU ACTUALLY
GET A GOOD LOOK AT IT?
YEAH, I DID.
AND IF YOU COME OVER HERE
AT NIGHT,
I MEAN, LIGHTS
ARE EVERYWHERE.
YOU OUGHT TO COME OUT HERE
TONIGHT. SERIOUSLY.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
Narrator:
BY SPRING 1967, KEEL WAS CERTAIN
SOMETHING PHENOMENAL
WAS BUILDING IN POINT PLEASANT.
FOR SEVERAL NIGHTS,
NEAR THE FARM AT FIVEMILE CREEK,
KEEL AND MARY HYRE
STAKED OUT A HILLTOP,
HOPING TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THE INTELLIGENCE
BEHIND THE UFO ENCOUNTERS.
JOHN WOULD CARRY WITH HIM
A HUGE FLASHLIGHT,
AND HE DECIDED HE WAS GONNA TRY
TO START SIGNALING TO
THE CRAFTS UP THERE.
Narrator:
ON APRIL 1, 1967...
I SEE IT.
YOU SEE THAT?
I DO.
...THEY MADE CONTACT.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
I'M GONNA TRY TO COMMUNICATE
WITH THEM USING MORSE CODE.
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
I'M TELLING HIM
TO DESCEND.
JOHN DESCRIBED THE UFO
ALMOST AS IF IT WAS ALIVE,
ALMOST IF IT WAS SOME TYPE
OF CREATURE ITSELF.
IT WAS VERY INTELLIGENT
IN ITS BEHAVIOR.
[ GASPS ]
DID YOU SEE THAT?
IT RESPONDED.
Keel:
IF YOU FLASHED A FLASHLIGHT
AT THEM, THEY'D RESPOND.
THEY'D FLASH BACK.
I SAW A LOT OF THESE LIGHTS.
IN FACT, I SAW SO MANY OF THEM,
I LOST COUNT.
I MEAN,
HAS IT BEEN LIKE THAT...
HAS IT -- IS IT, LIKE,
RIGHT THERE? LOOK, LOOK, LOOK.
IT'S ALMOST LIKE -- IT ALMOST
LOOKS LIKE IT'S RED NOW.
WHAT IS THAT?
Narrator: NIGHT AFTER NIGHT,
RESIDENTS FROM ACROSS THE VALLEY
CAME TO THE HILLTOP,
HOPING TO SEE A UFO,
AND MANY OF THEM DID.
DO YOU SEE
HOW BRIGHT IT IS?
WEIRDEST DAMN THING
I EVER SEEN, MAN.
I WAS REAL SKEPTICAL ABOUT UFOs.
I DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS REAL.
I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE
TILL MY BROTHER SEEN ONE.
HE SAID IT WAS THE BRIGHTEST
LIGHT HE EVER SEEN.
Shull: I DID SPEND A LOT OF TIME
WITH MARY.
SHE WOULD SAY, "LET'S GO
AND SEE WHAT WE CAN SEE,"
AND WE WOULD STAY ALL NIGHT.
SHE WAS HOPING
THAT WHATEVER THIS WAS,
THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE
FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO SEE IT,
WHERE SHE COULD WRITE ABOUT IT
IN MORE DETAIL.
HAS IT -- IS IT --
NO. IS IT, LIKE, RIGHT THERE?
LOOK, LOOK, LOOK.
IT LOOKS LIKE -- BUT BIGGER.
Narrator: THESE INEXPLICABLE
LIGHTS IN THE SKY
ALSO DREW
A FEW UNWELCOME VISITORS
TO THE WEST VIRGINIA TOWN.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
THAT SPRING,
POINT PLEASANT LOCALS
BEGAN TO SEEN AN ODD ASSORTMENT
OF OUTSIDERS IN TOWN...
DRESSED IN BLACK.
Harris:
THEY WOULD STAND UP AGAINST
THE WALL ON MAIN STREET
AND JUST STARE.
I SEEN THEM MYSELF.
WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOVERNMENT.
I THINK MOST OF US DID.
THAT TIME, I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW,
THEY'RE GOVERNMENT
AND THEY'RE PUT HERE
TO WATCH PEOPLE.
AND I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT
WHAT WAS THEY WATCHING.
Narrator:
SOME SAY THE SO-CALLED "MEN IN
BLACK" ARE GOVERNMENT AGENTS.
OTHERS INSIST
THEY AREN'T REALLY HUMAN.
Harris: I JUST THOUGHT
THEY WERE GONNA PICK SOMEBODY
AND THEN INTERVIEW THEM OR TALK
TO THEM, ASK THEM QUESTIONS.
Narrator:
ONE THEY SEEM TO HAVE PICKED
WAS LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE.
MARY HYRE WAS WORKING LATE
IN HER OFFICE ONE EVENING.
A MAN CAME IN
THAT WAS ACTING VERY STRANGE.
SMALL MAN,
VERY ODD-BUILT, WITH GLASSES.
WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?
VERY CREEPY-ACTING.
LISTEN, MARY,
WHAT WOULD YOU DO
IF SOMEONE TOLD YOU TO STOP
WRITING ABOUT THOSE UFOs?
I'D TELL THEM
TO GO TO HELL.
STAY AWAY FROM JOHN KEEL.
HE'S A FRAUD.
Waldridge: THE MAN
TRIED TO DISCREDIT JOHN,
THAT HE WAS A LIAR OR HE WASN'T
WHAT HE SEEMED TO BE
OR WHAT HE TOLD HER HE WAS.
GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!
[ CHUCKLES ]
Shull: SHE WAS A LITTLE SCARED
TO BE IN THE OFFICE BY HERSELF
AFTER THAT.
SHE KEPT THE OFFICE LOCKED.
THEY INTIMIDATED HER,
BUT THEY DIDN'T.
Waldridge:
MARY DID NOT STOP REPORTING.
SHE KEPT GOING,
FOR THE SIMPLE FACT
THAT SHE KNEW
THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING ON
AND SHE WAS GONNA
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.
Narrator:
FAILING TO INTIMIDATE MARY,
THE MEN IN BLACK
PAID A TERRIFYING VISIT
TO HER NIECE CHRISTINE.
YOU HAD THESE M.I.B.s
WHO WERE COMING AROUND,
AND, YOU KNOW, RIGHT AWAY,
THEY ESCALATED TO,
"THIS IS NOT GONNA BE A KIND OF
PLEASANT EXPERIENCE ANYMORE."
I SAID THAT I DIDN'T KNOW --
YOU NEED TO --
LET GO OF ME!
LET GO OF ME!
Narrator:
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
IN 1967, A SERIES OF STRANGE
SUPERNATURAL EVENTS UNFOLDED.
IN THAT TOWN, A LOT OF PEOPLE
WERE VERY SCARED.
THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHEN
THE MOTHMAN WAS GONNA REAPPEAR.
"WAS IT GONNA CHASE MY CAR?"
Narrator:
MANY RESIDENTS WERE CERTAIN
EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITORS
WERE WATCHING FROM ABOVE.
THEN AN EVEN MORE SINISTER
PRESENCE INVADED ON THE GROUND.
AUTHOR JOHN KEEL
AND LOCAL REPORTER MARY HYRE
TEAMED UP TO INVESTIGATE.
BUT, BY THE SPRING OF 1967,
THE INVESTIGATORS
WERE GROWING PARANOID...
ESPECIALLY
WHEN MYSTERIOUS MEN IN BLACK
TRIED TO KIDNAP
MARY HYRE'S NIECE.
Man: MISS.
EXCUSE ME, MISS.
Waldridge:
A BLACK CADILLAC PULLED UP
WITH A MAN INSIDE
THAT WAS DRESSED
IN A BLACK SUIT.
AND THE MAN IN THE CAR
ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS
TO LURE HER CLOSER
TO THE VEHICLE.
I SAID THAT I DIDN'T KNOW --
YOU NEED TO --
LET GO OF ME!
LET GO OF ME!
SHE WAS VERY FRANTIC.
IT REALLY TRAUMATIZED HER.
SHE ACTUALLY HID IN HER BEDROOM,
AND SHE DIDN'T KNOW IF THIS MAN
HAD FOLLOWED HER OR NOT.
[ BREATHING HEAVILY ]
THERE WAS A NOTE
THAT WAS SLID UNDER THE DOOR.
Narrator:
WAS THE NOTE A WARNING
DIRECTED AT JOHN KEEL
AND MARY HYRE'S INVESTIGATION?
Waldridge:
SHE WAS MARY HYRE'S NIECE.
THAT COULD HAVE BEEN USED
AS A WAY
TO PERSUADE MARY NOT TO
LOOK INTO THE CASE ANY FURTHER.
Coleman:
DURING JOHN'S INVESTIGATIONS,
AFTER THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS,
THERE WERE SIGHTINGS
OF MEN IN BLACK,
THERE WERE DISAPPEARANCES.
HE WAS KIND OF, LIKE,
LOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER
AND WONDERING IF THAT CAR
THAT'S GOING THROUGH TOWN
IS SOMEBODY INVESTIGATING HIM.
HE WAS A LITTLE PARANOID.
Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1967,
JOHN KEEL RETURNED TO NEW YORK.
YET THE MYSTERIES
OF POINT PLEASANT
CONTINUED TO HAUNT HIM.
Sloman: IT REALLY TOOK A TURN
WHEN JOHN BEGAN GETTING MESSAGES
FROM VARIOUS ENTITIES
THAT CLAIMED THAT
THEY COULD FORESEE THE FUTURE
AND THEY WANTED TO WARN HIM.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
[ GASPS ]
HE FELT PHYSICALLY IN DANGER
BECAUSE THERE WERE TIMES
WHEN THESE MEN IN BLACK
WOULD START FOLLOWING HIM.
HAVING A PLEASANT EVENING?
[ RATTLING ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
AT THE SAME TIME
AS THIS IS HAPPENING...
HELLO?
...THE SITUATION AT JOHN'S HOUSE
IS GOING CRAZY.
THE PHONE WILL RING,
HE'LL PICK IT UP,
HE'LL HEAR BIZARRE,
HIGH-PITCHED NOISES.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
SO JOHN BECAME CONVINCED THAT
HIS PHONE WAS BEING TAPPED.
HE ACTUALLY WAS ABLE TO CONVINCE
NEW YORK TELEPHONE COMPANY...
WHO IS THIS?
...TO LET HIM GO TO THE MAIN
STATION AND TRACE HIS LINE.
DO YOU HEAR ME?
STOP IT.
[ Screeching,
RECEIVER CLICKS ]
Waldridge:
HE WAS A TARGETED INDIVIDUAL
FOR HARASSMENT.
IT WAS ALMOST LIKE THEY WERE
TRYING TO ROB HIM OF HIS SANITY
OR SLEEP OR SOMETHING
TO DISCREDIT HIM
AS AN INVESTIGATOR.
Sloman: HE SEEMED TO THINK
THAT SOMEHOW THIS PHENOMENA
WAS KEEPING TABS ON HIM
AND MAY EVEN
PUT HIS LIFE IN JEOPARDY,
SO HE REALLY, YOU KNOW --
I DON'T THINK
HE WAS BEING PARANOID.
I THINK HE WAS JUST
REALLY FRIGHTENED.
Narrator: FOR JOHN KEEL,
THE DOTS WERE BECOMING ALIGNED,
ALL THE SIGNS POINTING
TO DEADLY TROUBLE AHEAD.
Coleman:
MARY AND JOHN GOT A FEELING
SOMETHING AWFUL
WAS GONNA HAPPEN.
WAS IT GONNA BE
AN ELECTRICAL DISRUPTION?
WAS IT GONNA BE
A FACTORY EXPLODING?
WAS IT GONNA BE
THE DEATH OF SOMEBODY?
THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW.
AND I SUSPECTED
THEY KNEW WHAT I KNEW,
THAT SOMETHING
WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THE BRIDGE.
Narrator:
IN 1967, JOURNALIST JOHN KEEL
HAD SPENT NEARLY A YEAR
TRAVELING TO POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
AN ENTIRE TOWN WRAPPED UP
IN A REAL-LIFE NIGHTMARE --
ANIMAL MUTILATIONS,
UFO SIGHTINGS,
MYSTERIOUS MEN IN BLACK,
AND, STRANGEST OF ALL,
A MENACING MONSTER
KNOWN AS MOTHMAN.
PARANORMAL PANIC OCCURRED
WITHIN THE TOWN.
YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE SEEING
THINGS INSIDE OF THEIR BEDROOMS,
AND THEN
THE FIGURE WOULD VANISH.
YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE
HEARING THINGS.
IT JUST SEEMS LIKE
THAT IT CONTINUED
TO GET WEIRDER AND WEIRDER
AND WEIRDER.
Narrator:
AS JOHN KEEL WOULD WRITE,
"ALL THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
WAS BOGGLING
MY MUCH-BOGGLED MIND."
WORSE STILL, JOHN FELT CERTAIN
IT WAS LEADING
TO SOME DIRE CONCLUSION.
[ TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Keel:
I WAS PLANNING TO GO BACK DOWN
TO WEST VIRGINIA
IN DECEMBER OF THAT YEAR.
[ Screeching ]
WHO IS THIS?
AND I HAD REPEATED PHONE CALLS
WARNING ME "DON'T GO."
[ Screeching continues ]
STOP CALLING ME!
DO YOU HEAR ME? STOP IT!
[ RECEIVER SLAMS ]
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Narrator: IN WEST VIRGINIA,
KEEL'S INVESTIGATIVE PARTNER
MARY HYRE
WAS RECEIVING HER OWN
PROPHETIC WARNINGS.
[ MOANING ]
DAD.
[ GASPING ]
Shull: IN THE FALL OF 1967,
SHE WOULD TELL ME
ABOUT HAVING DREAMS,
AND THEY WERE FAIRLY FREQUENT,
ABOUT A BABY CRYING.
[ BABY CRYING ]
[ GASPS ]
AND SHE WOULD WAKE ME UP.
"DID YOU HEAR THAT BABY CRYING?
IT WAS AT THE END OF THE BED."
AND I WOULD SAY, "NO."
AND SHE WAS LIKE, "WOW.
IT WAS JUST REALLY REAL."
MARY STARTED HAVING NIGHTMARES
ABOUT THIS AWFUL THING
HAPPENING.
SHE SAW CHRISTMAS PACKAGES
FLOATING IN THE OHIO RIVER.
AND SHE'S THE ONE THAT GOT
CLOSEST TO REALLY PREDICTING IT.
[ GASPS ]
Narrator:
ON DECEMBER 15, 1967,
JOHN KEEL WAS STILL
IN NEW YORK CITY.
...1967 WOULD QUICKLY...
HE BELIEVED THE DANGER
HAD SHIFTED
FROM POINT PLEASANT
TO WASHINGTON, D.C.
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT THIS.
NOTHING'S GONNA HAPPEN.
LISTEN...
I KNOW HOW THIS LOOKS, JOE.
BUT PLEASE
KEEP THE FLASHLIGHTS READY.
Waldridge:
JOHN HAD ACTUALLY GOTTEN A TIP
FROM A MAN IN BLACK
THAT WHEN THEY WHITE HOUSE
CHRISTMAS TREE WAS LIT,
THAT THERE WOULD BE A BLACKOUT
ON THE EAST COAST,
SO HE WAS HOME,
AND HE WAS WATCHING FOR THAT.
HERE COMES THE PRESIDENT.
[ CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING
ON TELEVISION ]
GOD HELP US.
JOHNSON HITS THE SWITCH,
AND NOTHING HAPPENS.
AND JOHN IS,
"GREAT. THAT'S FANTASTIC."
[ SIGHS, CHUCKLES ]
OH, MY GOODNESS, JOE.
I TOLD YOU
IT WOULD BE FINE.
AND THEN THERE'S A CRAWL
ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.
WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM
FOR A SPECIAL BULLETIN.
A BRIDGE LADEN
WITH RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC
HAS JUST COLLAPSED AT
POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA.
Narrator:
IN POINT PLEASANT, THE NIGHTMARE
WAS ONLY GETTING WORSE.
THAT'S SILVER BRIDGE.
MARY!
BY 5:00 P.M. THAT EVENING,
THE SILVER BRIDGE
AT POINT PLEASANT
WAS JAMMED
WITH RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC.
MANY FAMILIES WERE TAKING CARE
OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
ACROSS THE RIVER.
WHAT OCCURRED IS, AT ONE END,
THE RED LIGHT FROZE.
AT THE OTHER END,
THERE WAS ALSO A RED LIGHT.
SO THE BRIDGE STARTED FILLING
WITH CARS THAT COULD NOT MOVE.
AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN,
I BAR #13 BROKE,
AND THE BRIDGE COLLAPSED.
THERE WAS A HUGE BOOM.
LIGHTS FLICKERED,
THE TV WENT OFF.
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID
THEY THOUGHT
ONE OF THE POWER PLANTS
HAD EXPLODED.
Shull: THE BRIDGE FELL.
I JUST REMEMBER ME AND MY MOM
CRYING HORRIBLY
BECAUSE WE THOUGHT
MY AUNT MARY WAS ON IT.
MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT BESIDE
THE BRIDGE THE DAY IT FELL.
AND WHEN SHE RAN OUT
THROUGH THE FLOODWALL,
SHE TOLD ME ALL SHE COULD SEE
WERE CARS AND CHRISTMAS GIFTS
FLOATING IN THE RIVER.
MARY HAD A DREAM
A WEEK BEFORE THIS
OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS
BOBBING IN THE WATER.
[ GASPS ]
AND THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT HAPPENED.
Narrator: 46 PEOPLE PERISHED
IN THE ICY WATERS
BENEATH THE RUINS
OF THE SILVER BRIDGE,
THE WORST BRIDGE COLLAPSE
IN U.S. HISTORY.
Campbell: ONE CAR HAS A MOTHER
AND HER TWO CHILDREN IN IT.
ONE 6-YEAR-OLD LITTLE GIRL
WAS NEVER FOUND.
THE BODY WAS NEVER RETRIEVED.
IT WAS JUST HARD TO TALK
ABOUT IT -- JUST SO SAD.
Narrator: ENGINEERS
BLAMED THE BRIDGE COLLAPSE
ON THE FAILURE OF A SINGLE I BAR
IN A SUSPENSION CHAIN.
OTHERS SUSPECTED THE CAUSE
MAY HAVE BEEN SUPERNATURAL.
Campbell: PEOPLE THOUGHT
THAT THEY HAD SEEN THE MOTHMAN
GO OVER THE BRIDGE
BEFORE IT COLLAPSED.
THIS IS WHAT THE WARNINGS
WERE ABOUT.
A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THE MOTHMAN
WAS HERE TO WARN US
ABOUT THE BRIDGE.
JOHN FELT JUST HORRIFIED,
AND, I THINK, IN SOME RESPECTS,
MAYBE EVEN BLAMED HIMSELF
THAT HE COULDN'T HAVE
ANTICIPATED THAT.
Narrator:
JOHN KEEL AND MARY HYRE
REMAINED FRIENDS
AND CONTINUED TO CORRESPOND
UNTIL HER DEATH
IN FEBRUARY 1970.
Coleman:
13 MONTHS TO THE EXACT DAY
AFTER THAT INCIDENT,
MARY HYRE DIED
OF A MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS.
I THINK THE TIMING
IS INTERESTING.
13 MONTHS AFTER THE SIGHTING,
I BAR 13 BREAKING,
13 MONTHS LATER,
MARY HYRE DEFINITELY DIES.
Campbell:
I REALLY, IN MY HEART, BELIEVE
MARY WAS SCARED TO DEATH,
FRIGHTENED TO DEATH,
BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T LIVE
VERY LONG.
SHE WAS ONLY 56 WHEN SHE DIED.
AND IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO
WITH THIS.
Narrator: WHAT JOHN KEEL BEGAN
SEARCHING FOR IN POINT PLEASANT,
OTHERS HAVE COME ALONG
TO INVESTIGATE.
NOW ONE MAN HAS PROOF
MOTHMAN NEVER WENT AWAY.
[ CREATURE GROWLING ]
IT WAS A BLACK SILHOUETTE,
VERY THIN.
IT JUST STARTED COMING
RIGHT FOR ME.
Narrator:
FOR MANY IN POINT PLEASANT,
WEST VIRGINIA,
THE MYSTERY OF MOTHMAN ENDED
ABRUPTLY ON DECEMBER 15, 1967,
WHEN THE SILVER BRIDGE
COLLAPSED, KILLING 46.
DECADES LATER,
NEW SIGHTINGS AND ENCOUNTERS
CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE.
ONE OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS IS
THAT,
AFTER THE COLLAPSE
OF THE BRIDGE,
ALL OF THE MOTHMAN SIGHTINGS
STOPPED.
AND THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT TRUE.
THERE'S ONE OR TWO SIGHTINGS
EVERY FEW MONTHS.
PEOPLE ARE STILL
SEEING SOMETHING THERE.
Narrator: ANDY COLVIN GREW UP
IN POINT PLEASANT
HEARING THE LEGEND OF MOTHMAN.
AT THE AGE OF 7,
FROM THE BACK
OF THE FAMILY STATION WAGON,
ANDY CAUGHT A GLIMPSE
OF THE STRANGE WINGED PHANTOM.
HE NEVER FORGOT IT.
Colvin: WHEN I WAS A CHILD,
WE DIDN'T CALL IT "MOTHMAN."
WE CALLED IT "THE BIRD."
AND THEN, IN 1993,
I SAW THIS BOOK BY JOHN KEEL --
"MOTHMAN PROPHECIES."
I WAS LIKE, "WHAT IS THIS?"
AND I READ IT, AND I'M LIKE,
"WELL, THAT'S THE BIRD.
HE'S WRITING ABOUT THE BIRD."
AND IT JUST BLEW ME AWAY.
AND I REALLY STARTED
BECOMING MORE INTERESTED
IN THE TOPIC THEN.
Narrator:
RECENTLY, ANDY AND TWO FRIENDS
WENT BACK TO POINT PLEASANT
TO INVESTIGATE THE TRUTH.
[ INSECTS CHIRPING ]
Colvin:
WE FELT THE PRESSURE CHANGE,
THE CRICKETS STOPPED CHIRPING.
IT FELT VERY COLD.
THIS WAS A 90-PLUS-DEGREE NIGHT.
SUDDENLY, WE'RE SHIVERING.
Narrator: OUT OF NOWHERE,
A CURTAIN OF LIGHT
BEGAN TO FORM.
THAT'S WHEN WE SAW
A SHIMMERING CURTAIN.
AAH!
IT'S COMING TO YOU,
YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE BEING DRAWN
TO IT BY A VACUUM.
WE SAW SHIMMERING, WISPY BEINGS
IN FRONT OF US IN THIS CURTAIN,
THIS SHIMMERING CURTAIN,
EXAMINING US FROM EVERY ANGLE.
Narrator: THEN FROM THE LIGHT
CAME A MONSTROUS SHAPE.
Colvin: IT SEEMED LIKE
IT WAS GROWING WINGS.
IT WAS THIS BLACK SILHOUETTE,
THE SAME ONE I HAD SEEN
YEARS BEFORE.
AND I GOT THE FEELING THAT
THIS WAS MOTHMAN OBSERVING US.
I SUGGESTED THAT WE NOT
TRY TO THINK ANYTHING.
"DON'T THINK NEGATIVE THOUGHTS,
DON'T BE AFRAID.
TRY NOT TO BE AFRAID.
CLEAR YOUR MIND.
MAYBE THIS THING REACTS
TO WHAT YOU'RE THINKING.
MAYBE IF YOU DON'T FEAR IT,
IT WON'T FEAR YOU,
AND IT MAY NOT HARM YOU."
Narrator: ANDY COLVIN
SAW ONLY ONE WAY OUT --
THROUGH THE VEIL.
DON'T GO!
Colvin: I DECIDED I COULD TAKE
THAT CHANCE AND WALK INTO IT,
BECAUSE I REALLY FELT LIKE,
"THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY
CHANCE I'M GONNA GET
IN MY LIFE TO DO THIS."
IN THE BACK OF MY MIND,
I'M WONDERING,
"IS THIS HOW PEOPLE DISAPPEAR?"
IT'S THE SCARIEST THING
THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME.
ABSOLUTE FEAR.
IT'S ALMOST BRINGING TEARS TO MY
EYES 'CAUSE IT WAS THAT SCARY.
SOMEHOW, I WAS ABLE TO DO IT
AND SURVIVE,
BUT I FEEL VERY LUCKY.
I THINK THE BEST EXPLANATION
FOR MOTHMAN,
JUST AS A WORKING PREMISE,
IS THAT HE MAY BE A THUNDERBIRD
IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN
TRADITION.
IN THOSE TRADITIONS,
PEOPLE THAT SEE THE MOTHMAN,
THEY ARE CONSIDERED
TO BE BLESSED.
IT COULD BE THAT WE'RE
LOOKING AT A FORCE HERE
THAT'S SO CLOSE TO THE SOURCE
OF REALITY THAT IT DOESN'T --
THAT THE IDEAS ABOUT GOOD
AND EVIL DON'T REALLY FIT IT.
Waldridge:
THERE'S MANY THEORIES ABOUT
WHAT THE MOTHMAN ACTUALLY WAS.
WAS HE SOME TYPE
OF ANCIENT BEING,
SOME TYPE OF CREATURE
FROM ANOTHER PLANET,
OR SOMETHING THAT'S ANCIENT
THAT WE MAY NOT UNDERSTAND
THAT MAY EXIST
IN ANOTHER DIMENSION?
Narrator:
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,
JOHN KEEL STRUGGLED
TO MAKE SENSE OF THE 13 MONTHS
HE SPENT IN POINT PLEASANT.
HIS RESEARCH WOULD TURN INTO
A BEST-SELLING ACCOUNT
OF THE EVENTS,
ONE OF THE SINGLE MOST
POPULAR BOOKS
EVER TO EXPLORE THE UNEXPLAINED.
KEEL DEDICATED THE BOOK
TO MARY HYRE
AND THE PEOPLE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
JOHN KEEL'S ATTEMPT
TO UNDERSTAND THE MONSTERS
THAT PLAGUE POINT PLEASANT
HAS INSPIRED COUNTLESS OTHERS
TO CONDUCT THEIR OWN SEARCH
FOR HIDDEN TRUTHS.
Keel:
THE UNKNOWN IS OUT THERE.
THE UNIVERSE DOES NOT EXIST
AS WE THINK IT EXISTS.
AND WE DON'T EXIST
AS WE THINK WE EXIST.