Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, who look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other didn't make it into the previous show. In our last episode, or that we see we trace the origins of the moth Man,
of folkloric legend of modern day America. Having first been apparently cited in November nineteen sixty six on the outskirts of Point Pleasant in West Virginia, the legend of the moth Man has only continued to grow, with countless sightings of it being reported all over the country ever since. Many will be quick to point out that the enigmatic
creature is merely a figment of our collective imaginations. However, there is no denying that, whether real or not, in the wake of those first apparent sightings, it has undoubtedly taken on a solidity and reality of its own, regardless of what anyone might think about it. Many in Point Pleasant are proud of the so called Mothman's connection to their city. There you can find the world's only Mothman museum, who also run tours out to the infamous TNT area
where it was once thought to have resided. There's even an annual Mothman Festival held on the third weekend of every September to commemorate those strange few nights in nineteen sixty six when rumors about a terrifying, red eyed, flying humanoid monster first held the town in its grip. One aspect of the story that some listeners wanted to know a little more about was how exactly the collapse of the Silver Bridge fitted into everything. Well, let me tell you.
Local journalist Mary Higher, as mentioned in the last episode, her little interest in the subject at the strange and unexplained prior to the first Mothman sightings. Soon after, she became fascinated by what she felt was a growing number of strange occurrences that seemed to be plaguing the local area, so much so that she began to use her regular column in the Athens Messenger, Where the Waters Mingle to
document them. In early nineteen sixty seven, after a number of apparent UFO sightings were reported to her, and one particularly unsettling incident in which a strange, unearthly man was said to have attempted to abduct her niece, Connie Carpenter, Mary had her own strange encounter. In March of that year, Mary was driving through Point Pleasant with her husband, Scotty, and sister Alice. Pulling up to an intersection, she noticed the staff of a nearby gas station were all staring
at the sky. Following their gaze, she claimed to have then seen a long, spherical object as big as a silo, hovering about three hundred feet in the air, with a set of lights underneath that continually changed from orange to white. Then in April, a man and his son from the village of Middleport, Ohio, not far from Point Pleasant, reported seeing some kind of butterfly creature as large as a
car land in their garden. The following month, Higher wrote to New York based writer John Keel, with whom she'd struck up a friendship during those strange weeks when the mothman was first apparently spotted a number of strange events that had occurred since, but there was something else too. Keel returned to Point Pleasant a number of times to help keep track of the events, and both he and Mary couldn't shake the feeling that it was all building
to something ominous. Throughout John Keel's years of researching UFOs and all associated phenomena. He'd built a network of contacts people who claim to have either been abducted or simply contacted by alien entities. These contact hes, many of whom believed they were still in regular contact with the aliens, either through their dreams or via telepathy, would occasionally contact John, claiming to have some vital information about the fate of
the planet. Normally, John would take this with the l large pinch of salt. That all changed, however, when he was apparently told at some point in nineteen sixty seven that on December fifteenth, some form of electro magnetic effect was going to inflict a significant part of the United States, possibly in the form of a large power failure. This in turn would lead on to some kind of disaster occurring somewhere along the Ohio River in which many people
would die. With Point Pleasant being next to the Ohio River, Keel said that he alerted Mary Higher immediately in early November nineteen sixty seven. He then traveled down to Point Pleasant to catch up on the latest strange events that had been happening there. Mary Higher picked him up at the airport, where she proceeded to detail a terrifying nightmare that she'd had just before he told her about the apparent impending disaster. She'd seen images of people drowning in
the water after some kind of catastrophic event. But the strangest thing of all, she said, was that she'd also seen Christmas presents floating alongside the bodies. Keel stayed in Point Pleasant until early December, when, having allegedly witnessed more inexplicable phenomenon such as multiple strange lights in the sky, he returned to New York. Then, soon after he apparently
received further news from his contact. He whatever was going to take place, they said, would happen precisely at the moment then President Lyndon B. Johnson switched on the White House Christmas tree lights, and so it was that a few days later, on December fifteenth, John Keel was sat in his apartment staring bug eyed at the TV green as shortly after five pm President Johnson trotted out onto the White House lawn and prepared to light up the tree.
Just over five hundred miles away to the west, the traffic in Point Pleasant was at a log jam as evening Christmas shoppers and workers attempted to get home Charlene Wood, a young hairdresser who was five months pregnant with twins, was in her Pontiac heading home to Gallipolus on the
other side of the Ohio River. Cars were stretched bumper to bumper across the seven hundred foot to Silver Bridge as she eased her car toward it, when she was suddenly overcome by a bizarre sensation, as if she had just experienced a minor earthquake. A little further ahead, teenage couple Howard and Margaret Boggs were also making their way home, along with their seventeen month old baby and their car laden with presents for what would be only their second
Christmas together as a family. They too felt something shake beneath them. Feeling anxious, Margaret looked about that all the cars packed tightly together on the bridge, then turned to Howard. What on earth would we do if this thing were to break up? She said. Back in New York, in John Keel's apartment, John watched with bated breath as President Johnson finished wishing peace and goodwill to all, and then
flick the switch to light up the tree. At almost that precise moment, witnesses all over Point Pleasant heard a loud crack ring out through the town, followed by a momentary flickering of street lights. Then they watched aghast as the town's iconic silver bridge first began to sway, then slither,
before buckling completely in the middle. Then one of its towers slowly pitched over, followed soon after by a second, and then the entire stretch of it twisted and arched, sending all thirty seven vehicles laid out on it tumbling into the five degree waters of the Ohio River below, and moments later what was left of the bridge fell down on top of them. Police arriving to help pregnant hairdresser Charlene Wood found her with her hands still gripping
the steering wheel in fear. She'd thankfully escaped the whole thing, having never quite made it up on to the bridge, but had witnessed it all right in front of her. Having been tipped into the water along with his wife and child, Howard Boggs had just enough awareness to locate a smashed passenger window and free himself. Unbeknownst to him, he was already thirty feet under water at the time.
Howard survived after eventually making it to the surface, where he was spotted by a rescue vessel and plucked from the water. His eighteen year old wife, Margaret, and their seventeen month old baby, along with forty four others, were not so fortunate. Back in New York, in John Keel's apartment, he watched as a news flash popped up on screen
announcing the disaster. Though it wasn't the power cut he'd been promised, he was left in no doubt to the Silver Bridge tragedy was undeniably linked to everything that he and Mary had been investigating, and all of it stemmed from that first mothman sighting in November nineteen sixty six. Mary Higher was only half a block from the bridge when she heard it collapse. After racing to the point
pleasant approach side. Moments later, she gazed out in horror across the water at all the bodies and Christmas presents floating together in the Ohio River. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add three episodes, just go to patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained the book and audiobook featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show,
is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of
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