Mothman

Morning the following podcast, and it contains grapic content and material intended for a mature audience listener discretion. Hey, welcome back. You're listening to Wicked and Graham. I fucked that up, didn't I.

My name's Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked Ingraham.

A true crime podcast. There we go, nailed it. It's been a intro.

Yeah, well it's super easy now it is, but.

We should probably we should change it up for the intro.

I do think we should change it up regularly. It's boring and stale. Yeah, yeah, I don't know.

Maybe one maybe one day we'll find like a super sweet way to intro and we'll just be like, that's it. We just got to stay with that.

Yeah, but still you'd still get bored of it and change it one day. Yeah, probably no one.

Else more than likely know one us. Knowing us, you might notice something today listening to our podcast, Nicole sounds a little bit different.

Yeah, I'm sick, AF.

She's sick. AF. You're nasty sick.

I'm a nasty mofo sick.

But you did just take a COVID test and that you're negative, So that I'm.

Negative, So yeah, my life mission of not getting COVID is still in fresh. I don't know how to say that that's fair enough. I'm also on cold medication, so you're just going to bear with me. I might be like dead weight this episode, but you know what, We're going to give it a go.

You doped up. I think that's that's the best version. I'm gonna col right now.

And I'm drinking what do I have in this I have you don't even know, hot water with lemon juice, fresh ginger, like raw ginger chunks and honey. Wow, that's like a that's like a get fucking well and a cup drink? Fair enough, is it not?

Basically I'm drinking wheat and barley.

I think I need to, like, Okay, I feel like my immune system isn't terrible because I haven't gotten COVID, but and there's been like close calls. But I do want to like try to figure it out because I got a lot of weddings that I'm shooting this summer, and I'm like, you gotta get your shit together.

Yeah, hashtag professional photographer over here.

Yeah, the most weddings I've ever had this summer, so yeah, well it's going to be crazy.

I believe in you. You've shot weddings where you're basically about to lean over into a bush and vomitas is so I believe you can do it.

Yeah. I've definitely had some of those.

Yeah, so I do have some. I want to do a little shout out to someone if that's cool. Yeah, we're going to shout out to adjacent Emmons because he just recently got a really cool award. He's part of the RCMP up here in Canada and he's actually a little bit more north than us in fact, which surprisingly enough, right, However, what's really cool? In twenty twenty one, so last Christmas, him and his wife Larissa decided they were going to

Which is amazing, yes, And.

On Christmas Eve they delivered presents to over twenty different families around their community. And so recently, fast forward to this March, Jason was actually gifted a commemorative Commissioner's Challenge coin and a handwritten letter from the Commissioner in their area because of the good deeds that he's done as an RCMP officer and for their community, so quick shout out to Jason for being so awesome. In fact, can we make him the badass of the day.

Sure, let's do it.

Jason, you the badass of the day officially.

That's super awesome.

Way to be absolutely amazing and going above and beyond. So yeah, shout out to you guys, and thanks for tuning in to us all the time. We appreciate you being listeners and appreciate what you're doing for your community up there. Keep at it, stay wicked.

Well. Fun story is, so we met Larissa and we had gone to Jamaica.

Yeah, we went to Jamaica like ten years ago, almost.

Probably at least that. Yeah, I think it.

Would be no, because it was twenty twelve, it'd be ten years ago.

Holy shit.

Yes, may we met Larissa.

Just yeah, we went on like a week long, all inclusive trip to Jamaica, met them, her and her mom. Yeah, freaking awesome people.

Yeah, and then here we are ten years later and Larissa and her husband are listening to our podcast. I believe Tracy Laris's mom listens.

I think so too. Yeah. Yeah, so it's a small world.

It's pretty awesome.

We need to do another trip. I am I have like, I need to go somewhere. I have an itch.

So Nichole's going to do the honors even though she's sick of reading off the patrons today.

Yeah, so we have two lovely people that joined us over on Patreon. So we have Tiffany Lucas and Jennifer Overhault. Thank you so much, becau are freaking amazing.

Yes, thank you. And if you guys don't know, we do have a Patreon where you can sign up for behind the scenes content all that sort of good stuff, and once a month, on the last day of every month, we come out with a Patreon exclusive episode. So there's two tiers you can sign up for it, and if you sign up for the all access Patreon tier, you can get access to the exclusive episode only available on.

There a bonus episode a month, which is pretty awesome. It is.

And so this past March we talked about the Salish see human feet being found in shoes washing up on the Pacific Northwest coast.

Yeah, that one blew my mind.

So yeah, if you want to check it out, head over to Patreon. What else we got? I gotta thank you all for absolutely amazing birthday wishes. So thank you so much for making like an absolutely awesome day even more awesome because I had so many people wishing me a happy birthday just personally and then you guys adding to it. Actually, I think I had more people from the podcast wishing me happy birthday in my personal life. So that was insane.

Yeah, that has been overwhelming, like in the best of ways.

Oh, I loved it, so thank you so much for making it an awesome day. And yes, I had chocolate milk ample mout.

You did beer?

It was great.

Yeah, you got a lifetime supply of beer. I did got a lot of beer.

My parents bought me like a flat of beer and then a cooler to store it all in. It was pretty awesome. So they know me. Well, mm hmm, anything else? What do we gotta say? Oh?

I was just going to say, well, we watch? What movie do we watch? Watched The Newest Spider Man? Right?

Yeah, The Newest Spider Man No Way Home.

It was really good.

Actually it was good. We finally watched it.

Yeah. Has it been out a while? Yah?

Came out? Did I want to say, like November of.

Twenty cheese, we're behind in life?

Well? COVID. I've been avoiding theaters and that sort of.

Oh yeah, so yeah, well our theater was nasty, do again West.

Yeah, and it's still nasty now. It's archaic. It's literally like just it's one of those theaters where anything you touch.

Is sticky, and it has no competition, so there's no reason for it to get better.

Yeah, it's the only theater. It's a dive. It's gross.

I honestly have always thought like if we opened the theater here it would do really well.

It probably would, it would, I think, because everyone in this town that you talk to hates our theater because it is so gross. They don't renovate and it's just like nasty and charge so much.

All you'd have to do is just have a clean place. And like there's the bar set pretty low.

Oh yeah, it's set very low. So yeah, shout out to famous players, theater and Prince George. You guys need to up your fucking game. Let's say that. Anyways, moving on, Okay, moving on, you're ready for today's episode.

I'm totally ready.

We talked about some really dark, some really disturbing, some really depressing cases.

Recently, that is for sure.

Actually, so we are moving away from those types of cases for a little bit here for this week.

I don't know what I'm doing next week, so don't don't say I'm not well. I know for you maybe I'll think of the most brutal case there is a move maybe just kidding.

Okay, my next couple of cases are going to be a little more light, let's put it that way. Okay, this case we're going to be touching on a cryptid, and my next case that I'm going to do, I haven't selected which one yet, though I think I know I'm going to focus on a survivor story. So someone who may have been abducted or attempted murder, but someone who survived. So those are my two cases coming up quick. I don't know what the other one is, but this one,

I can't say I know a lot about the moth though, do you know the muffin Man?

I was just supposed to say he lives on Dreary Lane, not my Buttons, not my gun drop Buttons. I love that movie. Anyways, So you're ready for this, I'm ready Okay, here we go. So, on the evening of November fifteenth, all the way back to nineteen sixty six, in a small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, two young couples by the name of Roger and Lisa Scarberry and Steve and Mary Malette. We're out on an evening drive down some countryside roads in the McClintic Wildlife Management Area.

Okay, I just to say, Point Pleasant. That sounds like a very pleasant place. I already like it.

Yeah, it's very uh, very neat of you to point that out.

Wow, what you started it?

Don't look at me like that.

Oh I did start it, Yeah you did. I did so.

Anyways, the area consists of about eight thousand acres of woods that used to be used in World War Two for manufacturing and storage of explosives. Now, the storage building that held the explosives were essentially concrete igloo shaped bunkers, and they were distributed across all the acreage to house the explosives.

Huh.

Now. Since the war, however, was over, the buildings and facilities were essentially abandoned, leaving the area scattered with ruins and covered bunkers all over the place.

Kind of like would probably have a bit of a creepy era to it. Then hey, oh probably imagine.

I mean, like if you go look out the area and everything, like I looked at some people like hunting for them offman stuff, it seems like just a nice country area. Yeah, but then once you get up into the bunkers and stuff like, yeah, that's a little bit more on the creepy side of things.

Well, anything just abandoned just seems like it always feels so creepy because your mind wanders like, what was it like here at one point?

Ye, that's true, that is very much so true. Well, since like I said, these are now abandoned and they're scattered all over the place. The couple was just kind of driving through, not so much focusing on the bunkers, just focusing on driving through the road and the wooded area.

Now.

They drove through the area in the dark, as it was an evening time and their headlights in the car were the only thing illuminating the road in the surrounding area. Then all of a sudden during the drive, Mary and Linda both spotted something ahead. It was a larger figure. The figure was walking towards a building known as the quote unquote T and T building in a shuffling type manner. A lot of people refer to this area even fact as the T and T area because of the history

Because you probably figure you're out there on your own.

Yeah, but there's nothing extravagant to bet. There's nothing out of the normal. Until they watched it and they began to realize there were some things out of the normal. This figure, the figure was a little bit different. They couldn't see any discernible arms or even a discernible head.

Wow, right on.

What they did see, however, was something even more disturbing. The figure or creature had a large had large folding wings mounted high on its back, and massive glowing red eyes where its head would have been.

Okay, that's creepy, ast shit, I'd be turning around.

Well. The couple were stunned and they didn't turn around watch the creature. They continue to watch the creature shuffle towards the abandoned building, and then after a few moments they decided, you know what, let's get out of here. So they took their time, they watched it, and they thought, let's get the fuck out of here.

Yeah, good plan.

So they turned the car around and high tailed it down the country road in the direction that they came from. Can you imagine just seeing this glowing eye fucking creature out there.

Oh, it wouldn't have taken me a few moments to turn around.

Peace out.

I would see that, and then I would already be like, it'd be it by dust.

I just pictured like Scooby Doo, like when they just like jump up half a foot off the ground their feet kick around for a second, and then gone, it's just a dustblind.

Well, yeah, that's some creepy shit. Even if it was just like a man, I think I would be gone, it's just.

Some random dude in the woods. No fuck it.

At night, like by abandoned shit, Like I don't know, well.

I mean, what if it was just a homeless dude just happened to be like crashing in the abandoned place because he had no place to stay.

I guess that's fair.

Is that creepy?

No?

Then why would you just leave him behind?

Well, maybe he needed his space, personal space, privacy. Okay, there, I let him be fair enough.

Well, so they turned the car around. They left the creature in their dust, their proverbial dust. However, if followed them as they drove, they saw the creature suddenly appear in their headlights ahead of them, and then it took off directly up into the air cool The wingspan of the creature reached out to be about ten feet wide, but in its flight, they described, it did not flap or beat its wings whatsoever to stay airborne.

Huh how does that work? Hey?

I don't know. I mean, est according to physics, that doesn't work.

No, so interesting, Okay, yeah, it almost like that makes it to make us, say, motorized.

Maybe maybe it's just a big old fucking kite, some kids flying around in the dark. Huh Yeah, glowing LEDs mounting.

On it just to creep everyone out.

Yep, fucking kids. Anyways, Roger Scarberry stepped on the gas of his nineteen fifty seven Chevy and began racing down the road with the creature flying over. He following them.

Yeah, no, yeah, no, yeah no, Well.

That's kind of what they thought too. So he stepped on that gas, trying to gain speed as much as he could, and as they sped up to speeds of one hundred miles per hour down the dirt road to evade the creature, it's still kept following.

Wow, that's so fast.

Yeah, and that's not just for the record, because we do kilometers an hour. This is miles per hour.

Which is like way faster, right.

Yeah, I think that's probably around the vicinity of if I'm not mistaken seventy Sorry, I was thinking seventy miles per hours one hundred kilometers, So you're probably around the vicinity of one hundred and four kilometers ish.

Should I live it up?

Sure? Do the math. Let's see my bat is one hundred and forty kilometers in that era area, Am I right?

Oh God, I don't know.

Hurry up, I'm stalling for you.

I know, but it's not working.

It's not working. Why isn't it working?

Well, because it makes it says I have to do math. I thought it would just like pop up with like the conversion, you know, well it should. It just says ten miles per hour is sixteen kilometers per hour. So then I just have to do that math, don't I ten miles, I can do this.

Ten miles an hour is sixteen So that's so ten miles is sixteen kilometers. You said, so it's one hundred and sixty kilometers.

Yeah, oh that is easy math. Sorry, okay, I'm sorry, I'm blaming it on my cold. That is super Okay, So one hundred and sixty kilometers props. Yeah, that's freaking fast.

That is really fast. So I like, how else Canadians? I'd like catch up there for a minute. Yeah, so anyways, up to one hundred miles per hour or one hundred and sixty kilometers. The creature was still right behind them, staring them down with its intense, glowing red eyes. As the chase continued, the creature let out a loud, screeching noise, described after the fact as quote a record played at a high speed, or squeak of a mouse.

Okay, yeah, I'd shit my pants right there.

Really, you'd shit your pants. I'd be shitting I feel like that's like not I mean, the whole situation is scary, but just the noise alone. It's not a very intimidating noise.

No, I think the noise would just amplify it so much.

Really, do you think it is scary? Tear?

I hate? Okay, because even when we're out, because we have a lot of coyotes around here, and like it's pitch dark and you can just hear them howling.

M hm.

Creeps me out. It's creepy. I don't like sounds in the darkness.

Fair enough, fair enough. I love the sound of coyotes.

You do, so maybe it wouldn't bother you, but it bothered me.

I could fall asleep to coyotes yapping all around me in the bush. It's just like a fucking lullaby for me.

Oh no, it's like actually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up a bit.

I love it. Wolf howls, depending on how close they are, will get me.

Have you heard wolf howsel here out here? Huh?

I don't think so. Maybe once or twice. I'm not too certain. It would have been a long time ago if I did. But I have heard worth wolf howls, just I'm not sure.

Around here, well, we hear them on a daily basis in our house.

Yeah, so it happens when you got a husky wolf mix. So anyways, back to the story. So, as the chase went on, they began nearing town, and as they neared town, however, the creature started to fall back until it faded into the darkness and they were left alone driving back the rest of the way to town.

Okay, that's what I was hoping would happen.

Well, what they just witnessed and experience was clearly terrifying. I'm sure you can attest to that if you were in the situation, you'd probably poop. Yeah, And Linda Scarberry was adamant that they needed to report it to the police. The only problem, who was going to believe them exactly?

They would probably think they were like high or something.

Oh one hundred percent, especially like back in the sixties, you're entering hippie era here, So I mean like some young couples driving off down the country road. They very well could have been sparking up some of that grass exactly. The Devil's let us.

They're like I need some of that exactly.

Either that or they're like we need to stop smoking the shit after what they just saw. So like, what were they gonna do? How are they gonna report it? Sure they just keep quiet? What would you do in that situation?

I think I'd have to report it because I don't think it's necessarily something that keep quiet, because who knows, maybe there have been other reports, like you don't know that someone else's baby calmon like the place have just kept it quiet, So I would report it.

Yeah, Well, they decided to do something that I guarantee you you wouldn't have done.

Oh go back.

They decided to go back.

Shit, yeah no, that would not be what I would do.

Shit yeah no, coming see on T shirts. So yeah, they turned the car around and they drove back.

To where they had seen the creature that same night.

The same night, the same moment they just lost it like minutes ago. What And they're like still in the car, like, let's turn around and go back.

Did they go change their underwear first, I don't think so, wow, that's wild.

So they turned around and they headed back. They wanted to confirm what they had just witnessed and experience, and they wanted to see like, okay, are we out of our minds? Did we see what we think we saw? They just they wanted that confirmation, which props to them because that's the bravest fuck that is.

And I guess even back then, like they wouldn't have even had anything to capture it on really right, Yeah, there's no cellphones. That's sucky thing, you. Yeah.

So once they drove back down the dark dirt road nearing the TNT building where they saw it, they found it wandering around and open clearing again. Its mass and shape was all the same as before, with its high mounted wings and glowing red eyes. Immediately once they saw it, they said, yup, and piece the fuck out of there.

I think they should have at least brought someone with them.

Well, they decided, you know what, we confirmed, we did see this fucking creature. Were not going crazy. So they went straight for the Mason County Courthouse and filed the report on what they had seen and experienced.

Okay, so it didn't follow them the second time.

Didn't follow them the second time.

That's lucky. I was like, oh, they might not have the same sit like scenario here.

Yeah, well they didn't because it didn't follow them.

Well yeah, but I was thinking it might be worse.

Yeah. So once they arrived and they were filing out the report, Deputy Millard Halstead was the individual on shift and took their report. Now, luckily, the town of Point Pleasant is in a large city. It's more of a small town where a lot of people are acquainted with one another, you know, kind of where everyone knows their name sort of thing. Yep, And Deputy Halstead knew the couples personally. He knew who they were and took what they said seriously, right, it's incredible sighting.

Okay, that's super good. Props to him for that, no kidding. So what they did to make sure that everyone was actually telling the truth and testing to make sure that they actually saw what they saw. They split everyone up, the four of the individuals, They split them up and separated them into individual rooms and they were asked to

They all matched.

Okay, that's actually so good.

Oh yeah, especially can consider the fact. Okay, yeah, we were just talking about it. These guys driving down a country road, get high, see some shit. Yeah, if you're high, your stories aren't going to match because you're all fucking experiencing different shit. And if you are high and you decide that you're going to corroborate a story, when you do go write it down, it's still not going to match.

Yeah, and sorry, how old were.

These I'm certain age. I know they were young, but I don't know how young, So I guess, like, I don't know, maybe mid to late twenty somewhere around.

Okay, I seen. That's so smart, that's awesome.

Yeah, so so yeah, each the individuals involved were separated and wrote that down one hundred percent. Now, after the written statements were filed, accompanied by Deputy Halstead, the two couples drove back out to where they had seen the creature that night.

Oh my gosh, who are these people?

I'm pretty sure they are the Scooby Doo gang, because holy fuck.

Like to go a third time is mind blowing to me.

Right, So, once they got to the location, they began to search for anything related to what they had experienced. While they didn't see the creature, upon the return, there were a few other findings they did see. They found some strange shadows that were moving amongst the forest while they were there. Oh wow, a strange and unexplained sudden dust cloud was kicked up on one spot. Odd noises were heard at times, and they found what appeared to be a hoof like print in the sand.

Oh.

Now, I did see a photo of a hoof like print while and while looking up an article on this. I don't know if it was the hoof print or what. I don't know if they even have a photograph of it or not, but I do want to point out I did some research in the area for West Virginia. It is home to a lot of deer and even elk.

Oh okay so which can very much so look like a hoof print.

Oh they have hoofs.

Yeah, like it looks like that. It looks like a monster almost.

Yeah, it very well could be. And the photo that I saw, to me, it looked like an elk print or a very large deer, a small elk or very large deer. But again, I don't know if I saw a real image or if it was just something someone slapped on it for the article purposes.

I've been seeing a ton of moose prints on the road, yeh, for our walks lately, like lots.

Yeah. I tried to look see if there was moose in the area. I didn't see if there. I couldn't confirm if there was moose in West Virginia, and only the fact that that elker there. I guess they haven't been around for around one hundred years in the area. They are there, very rare, but they are there. But they are making a turn last decades, a return the last decade or so. So anyways, where am I here now? Yeah? Okay, So after the incident, after they went back with deputy

Yeah, I don't blame that.

Yeah. So the next morning, Mason County Sheriff George Johnson held a press conference regarding the situation and spoke to the public on the sighting, Oh, I don't.

Know if that's a good idea.

No, why not?

Well, then everyone's just gonna go out there.

I feel like, yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Yeah, okay, Well, local and national news sources began picking up the story, and it effectively, I mean, in the nineteen sixty six standards began to go viral, and the press would have eventually dubbed the creature the Mothman, which, funny enough, the name was inspired by the nineteen sixties live action Batman movie that was on TV at the time, because a lot of people said that the description everything sounds like Batman,

Wow.

Right, well, I mean this tall, brooding, dark figure with like the because the wings weren't like moth wings are flapping, kind of like a Batman cape kind.

Of Batman has a head though, doesn't it.

Yeah, he does. And the fact that it doesn't have a head, that's the only time I've heard that it doesn't have a head. And I think it's not that this doesn't have a head. I think it's like its head is kind of like more just like a mound on its shoulders.

Oh okay, not with like a neck and stuff.

Yes, yeah, However I have read other reports where the neck was like slimmed into so like it would have a head. So it's very mixed reports on the head piece of it.

Interesting.

So yeah. Anyways, so they dubbed him the Mothman via Batman's Adam West in the nineteen sixties or sorry, Adam West Batman in the nineteen sixties. Now, during the next few days, other people started to report similar sightings. Two volunteer firemen saw the creature and said it was quote large bird with red eyes yeah, and Mason County Sheriff George john And commented that he believed the sightings were due to an unusual large heron in the area.

Okay, but like people are describing in as like ten feet wingspan, yes, yeah, yeah, okay, maybe I have to look up what kind of bird that is.

Well, herring heron. Sorry I just said herring heron is a crane.

Oh okay, Oh, that doesn't seem like that fits the description at all, not quite.

Yeah, but wildlife biologist Robert L. Smith of West Virginia University told reporters that the descriptions and sightings all fit the sandhill crane, a large American crane almost as tall as a man, with a seven foot wingspan, featuring circles

Can these birds fly that fast though?

No? One hundred miles an hour?

No, like that's really fast.

Yes, I mean birds can fly fast, but I know it's not gonna fly.

I know. I'm like, I don't think it. Oh man, let's hope birds can't fly. That Fasset's terrifying.

Yep. Now another setting, a contractor Nwle Partridge sorry contractor Newel Partridge told Johnson that when his he aimed a flashlight at a creature in the nearby field, its eyes glowed like bicycle reflectors. Now we any animal, that's basically any animal. Yeah, and some people are actually pointing to owls for this because owls you point a flashlight at them, they do have like a reddish glow to their eyes.

Oh really hey, Yes, and there.

Is an unconfirmed again unconfirmed. There's a lot of unconfirmed stuff about this. When we were talking about what was it, I believe Linda Scarberry when she was talking about the reddish eyes during their initial chase and everything, some say that she talked about the eyes only glowing when light was shined into them.

Like their headlights and such.

Correct.

Yes, okay, so.

There is that possibility there. I just wanted to throw that out so well.

Owl Owls can get pretty large too, can they not?

They can. I believe it's the great horned owl can get up to a six foot wingspan. We have those around here, but I mean they sit like two and a half to three feet tall.

Yeah, and I think you would know, you would know.

So anyways, these were just people who happened to seem off.

Man.

There were hundreds of people going out each night in search of the creat pretty much like pitchfork in hand style. Like rifles and shit like wanting.

To go hunt kill it. Okay, well question, yes, would that have been you?

Yes, you would go.

You would have to go take a peek.

I kind of want to go to West Virginia and take a peak now, just saying, oh my goodness, I would totally go in a mothman hunt. So yeah, it's estimated that numbers could have been up to a thousand individuals going out each night in search of the mothman.

Well, that alone would scare anything away.

Yeah, And I'm pretty sure that a lot of sightings that would have occurred around this time could have potentially even been people seeing other.

People or made up in their head or something exactly.

I just saw a figure in the bush. Yeah, you just saw Sam over there with his girlfriend. She was trying to take a leak. So they're looking for privacy. I'm sorry, like, come on, not to say that there weren't actual sight I'm just saying, at that time, when you have a thousand people running around the bush, pretty sure you're just seeing each other.

Yeah, I don't think any sort of creature would be staying with that amount of people around.

Definitely not. But also the idea of people confusing a creature with such mass like this with a large herring like a sandhill crane. I think it had a lot of people just rolling their eyes, much like UFO sightings. It's like, oh, that's swamp gas. Like a fuck off. I really doubt that it's a crane, and I think people were much so in agreeance with that. Not saying you can't you can't be. I'm just saying, well, the odds.

Are Yeah, it'd be people like me that just want to believe it's a crane. Let's just put this behind us.

I want to believe in Mothman, but I'm not sure I do.

No.

I think there's I don't know. A lot of cryptids are just too far fetched. I want to believe in the them all they're they're fucking cool as shit. Yeah,

Well, your brain can create really interesting things in your mind. Like even where my studio is across the street, there's like a twig in the fence. I don't know if you've noticed it. Yes, I have had to go and look numerous times and make sure it's not a squirrel caught in their dead It literally looks like it's a squirrel that's died in the fence.

Fair enough, fair enough.

So it's like, I don't know. Your brain just like makes things up in your head sometimes, right, Like this is what that is.

Yeah, it finds a discernible shape and it tries to add things that you know and put essentially a face to it.

Yeah. So yeah.

Anyways, one thing that does point to the mothman being something other than just a bird or a side effect that many report after having the encounter. Linda Scarberry, for example, began to hear disembodied noises and saw items move around her house on their own.

Oh no, I really don't like that.

These things, in her opinion, were pointing towards a poltergeist. But she wasn't alone in this experience. A woman by the name of Marcella Bennett saw the creature with huge wings and glowing red eyes. She said it seemed so relaxed, as if it was waiting for her to approach it. She described it as I quote to me, it wasn't

How could you ever sleep again? Really? Hey?

Oh? Fuck? Just a giant moth creature just like watching you all the time.

Yeah?

Fuck? No, no thanks?

Oh you'd be sleeping with the lights on every night.

I think, God, make it worse. It's a moth. They love the light. Oh my gosh, turn the lights off, turn the lights on? Which is it?

Oh? I don't even know now I'd probably still keep them on.

Well anyways. Now, Whether these abilities are bestowed upon individuals after their encounter or not, this at least points to the fact that their individual minds, psychees, mental health, or whatever are severely impacted. Whether these things are true, whether they're getting psychic powers, seeing objects move, something is setting off their system, something in them is makeing them like I don't want to say go mad, because I don't think they're going mad, but like begin to be pushed.

That breaking point they believe in it now.

Yeah, eventually something is pushing them that far. That's what makes it so tangible. H it's for example, Linda going into actual shock and people experiencing these things.

Yeah, and but it wasn't happening with the other three.

Hey, well, the other three kind of had different experiences in different ways. I'll talk on some of it a little bit later, but those ones not so much. However, there were other people having experiences in other ways. Individual reports are one thing, but what about mass reporting. What about authorities reporting strange events? Because that's exactly what happened. Police dispatches were reported to be interrupted or cut off for unexplained reasons. Cars and a lot electronic appliances began

Well, I don't know, there's a point where it's too much is happening right exactly?

But mass hysteria is a real thing.

So that's just where enough people are believing and creating things in their mind or.

What Basically, Yeah, okay, so it's either it's one or the other. Yeah, Either an entity, a creature or something is causing this to happen, or people are believing it so much so that they are creating this stuff in their own mind.

Well then sit, I mean, lots of shit just goes wrong on a daily basis, So then anything that's going wrong for them, they're just blaming on the Mothman too, potentially write.

Yep, that's totally true. Yeah, Now, there is a theory surrounding the Mothman aside from the paranormal side of it. It boils down to radiation. The World War II bunkers were found to have leaked high amounts of contamination into the soil around the quote unquote T and T area known as the Mclinic Wildlife Management Area. Huh So, some say, what if through radiation in the area bred some sort of bird creature, moth hybrid human thing, and here we have the Mothman.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't think it's a comic book. I don't think that's quite how things work. But I mean it's not like it couldn't.

Yeah. I was like, that's not super far fetched.

We have seen radiation do some crazy.

Things in animals totally, so, which is kind of sad actually that one.

It really is. So. There are so many speculative stories surrounding it and what it could be, but another encounter may help point us in the right direction. Linda Scarberry was not yet done with her experiences.

The poor Girl.

She would begin to have odd phone calls to her home, and from there she began to encounter strange men, men we know as the men in black.

Okay, please elaborate.

You don't know what the men in black?

I do, But what is this men in black phoning her? Now?

Yeah?

Why?

Well that's the thing. Why? Okay, Okay, for the.

Record, maybe do I not know what the men in black are? Then?

What what are men in black? What do you think they are?

Well?

Maybe I don't know what they you're thinking the Will Smith. Yeah right, Okay, that movie is based off an entirely true theory on government agents. Okay, So people who often have UFO sightings and stuff also report follow up incidences with men dressed in black uniforms, suits and everything, knocking on their door, threatening them and telling them to keep quiet, stealing evidence and even and in some cases some claim they have murdered family members or individuals involved.

Oh really, Hey, yes, okay, Well I haven't watched that movie for a long time, and these men and they're like human men. That's arguable, that's arguable.

Okay, but the movie Men in Black is a complete like, it's a it's a fabrication.

Basically, imagine.

The only similar thing is the concept they deal with aliens and creepy shit and cover it up.

That's like Black Eyed Children vibes coming out here pretty much.

So in an interview with Linda, she said this, The Men in Black wore black suits, black hats, and sunglasses. They drove black cars cadillacs. I think they looked like human beings, but their skin was somewhat transparent. You could see the veins in their hands very clearly. Their fingers were longer than normal person's fingers as well. Daddy shook hands with them, and he said they were awkward in shaking hands. They seemed to not know what to do or how to shake hands. One of the cars would

Wow, Okay, this town's getting hit hard. Oh fuck yeah, and Linda's getting hit hard.

And two of the other individuals who were in the car that night with Linda, Steve and Mary Mallette, reported a man and a woman wanting to take a picture of them. The Maletts took down the light like wrote down the license plate of the vehicle that they were driving, of a Volkswagon, and when they reported it to the police, the police came back and said that that plate number did not exist.

Yeah, maybe they just wrote it down wrong.

Maybe, But why would they want their picture in the first place.

I don't know.

There are reports of men in black often wanting to take individual's pictures.

Oh really, hey, there is. This is very similar to the black eyed children. I feel like slightly kind of okay.

Member in the black Eyed Children case, they would wait for their parents and they would go out to the car of two individuals dressed in black. Those two individuals were most likely men.

In black Holy shit. Okay, yeah, wow, huh so.

Creepy as fuck?

Yeah, no kidding here. I wanted to get like a really nice sleep tonight to like help my cold and just get better.

You're gonna be dreaming of guys in black suits outside the windows staring at you all night.

Thanks a lot, Ben, You're welcome, Thanks a lot.

Well, moving the nightmares aside. Let's get back to the case.

Okay.

So the alleged men in black frequented the small town of Point Pleasant, usually dressed from head to toe in black suits, white shirts, black ties, sunglasses, black shoes, and basically all appeared to be perfect in appearance, but yet completely out of style for the time. In nineteen sixties nineteen sixty seven, they are said to have asked people questions about Mothman and told them not to speak of

Holy that's a tragic disaster.

Holy, Yes, it is very tragic. So the investigation of the wreckage pointed that the cause of the collapse was because of the failure of a single eyebar in the suspension chain due to a small defect point one inches or two point five millimeters deep into it. Analysis shows that the bridge was carrying much heavier loads than it was originally designed to be carrying, and it had been

Huh.

Now it may be a coincidence. Maybe mothmen had something to do with it, or maybe mass hysteria came to a sudden halt because there was another incident that took people's attention.

Yeah. Sorry, my mind's just going like a mile minute here.

This is there's a lot of information.

Yeah, so basically, you ever see this mothman run for the hills because it doesn't mean good.

Yeah. Now, there have been sightings since nineteen sixty seven. They do occur sometimes, but they're not very frequent. Like a photo taken by an anonymous individual of what he claims to be the Mothman flying in trees. However, to me, it looks very unconvincing, and many people say it looks like you could just be an owl carrying something. Yeah, but I'm pretty convinced that it was just a hoax, someone just trying to, you know, get notoriety.

Well, I have a feeling that this creature wouldn't allow its photo to be taken.

Yeah, there are some photos out there that people claim to be a mothman too. Yeah, so it's but again, credibility is on question. Now. To this day, we do not have an answer to the Mothman. Obviously. However, many people do truly believe, so much so that there are annual festivals dedicated to the Mothman, and in the downtown area of Point Pleasant they have erected a large metallic

Oh my gosh, you just put that in the show. The link in the show notes I definitely can do that. I want to watch them, right, Maybe I'll do that. That's how I'll spend my sick day to Mark that's watching the statue, just like being a total creeper.

Yep. I don't know how often it gets visitors. I'm assuming it'd probably be a little more on the weekend, because I don't think the locals are over there taken selfies all the time.

I don't know if a Tuesday in March is going to be April will be that busy.

Yeah, I doubt it, but I would assume that, you know, during the Downtown Festival, and I think it takes place in September. If I'm not mistaken, I would assume that would be the weekend you want to watch the Lives.

You're kidding fun.

So that is the story of Mothman.

Wow.

Whether he's true or not, it's up to you to decide for yourself. But I'm gonna say I don't believe in the moth Man. I want to. I want someone to prove me wrong. I want to see this creature.

Careful man, Why I don't want to bring no Mothman here?

Mothman, come on, sh We'll leave a lamp on for you.

Oh No, Moths are actually kind of creepy.

Who is my friend Brian? Brian hates moths.

I know a few people that just despise them, almost just like they're the creepiest things ever, Like they couldn't they wouldn't be able to sleep if they one was in their house.

They're like tiny, tiny little puppy dogs with wings.

They're kind of ugly, but there are some I guess that are better looking. Some look like butterflies.

They are adorable. What are you talking about?

And they're like dusty and gross?

Okay, you know, as soon as we're done recording this, I'm going to go over to Instagram and it's going to be a total easy one. People will be able to guess. It's so easy. But for our hint on what the episode coming up is, I'm going to just post a picture of a super adorable moth.

Okay, if you do that right, Okay, okay, look forward to seeing this all right.

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