In West Virginia’s Ohio Valley, a woman saw a large creature that she described like a butterfly. A few months later, a second woman saw a winged figure in the skies above Point Pleasant—but this one also resembled a man as it descended behind a line of trees. On Nov. 12, it was spotted heading southeast to Clendenin, where it flew low over a graveyard; it only resided in that area for a few days before flying northeast to Salem. There, it committed its first brutal act.   

On Nov. 14, at 10:30 p.m., home after a long day at work, a man was relaxing after dinner and watching TV. Suddenly, the television began malfunctioning, making strange noises and displaying a herringbone pattern of varying colors of static. Soon after, a high-pitched wail squealed from the device and his dog began to howl outside. The man had noticed that his pet had been acting strange all evening, almost as if it sensed something nearby it disliked. On edge himself and feeling a growing sensation of fear, the man grabbed his shotgun and cautiously went outside.   

In the field adjacent to his yard, he spotted a pair of large, glowing eyes. Upon seeing his master, the dog sprinted towards the strange glow, snarling, growling, and frothing at the mouth, ready to fight. Calling after the dog, the man hesitated, and returned inside, afraid of what lurked in the field—possibly his yard. The next day, his dog still had not returned. He looked in the field; in the mud, near where the eyes had been seen, he saw his dog’s paw prints. They appeared as if to circle something, but led nowhere else—the tracks abruptly ended, almost as if his beloved pet had vanished from existence.   

The next day, two couples saw the Mothman near an abandoned power plant at night, in an area known locally as the “TNT Area”. The creature flew above them, straight upwards into the air, where it glided back and forth, keeping pace with their car speeding 100 mph down the road. Frightened by its speed and proximity, the couples tried to lose the monster, but could not elude it; as they drove, they continued to hear its beating wings and mouse-like noises.   

Mothman disappeared when they neared town, but when they turned around to head back home, they spotted a dead dog on the side of the road that had not been there on the way up. When they passed the animal carcass, the creature appeared from out of the trees and flew over them. The teens quickly returned to town and called the police. That same night, the deputy heard abnormal, static noises on his radio and numerous locals saw strange shadows circling the area. One of the couples, the Scarberrys, witnessed the creature on their roof multiple times (once in Dec, then in Jun. 29, 30, and Jul. 1).   

The next day, someone saw the entity fly up inside a boiler and, in the afternoon, a group discovered tracks in the mud that resembled two narrow horseshoes put together. In the same area that night, a family visiting relatives saw small, dazzling lights in the sky and felt static in the air. Immediately following their appearance, one of the women turned to see a large, dark, humanoid figure looming over her; its head was tilted down and sunken into feathery shoulders, gigantic wings folded around it tightly. Looking back, her family also saw the creature and began to panic, urging her to run. As she turned to flee, she heard the flapping of wings behind her; panicked, she fell, losing control of her limbs and thoughts, almost as if in a trance.   

Helping her to her feet, they all rushed into the home and told their relatives what happened. Tension and fear high, they called the police; while waiting for their arrival, the monster walked on the porch, scraped against the door, and peered through the window with its large, insect-like eyes. Twenty minutes later, it disappeared and the cops arrived. Shaking, the woman who fell under the creature’s spell repeated, “It will come back, back for me.” She suffered from the traumatizing experience, seeking medical attention for her anxiety, waves of panic, and insomnia.  

On Nov. 20, the creature flew an hour southeast, where it was spotted twice in the sky over a local quarry; the next day, it was reported in Charleston, where it was seen by many flying above residential areas and walking on the roofs of homes. The next two days were spent in Point Pleasant, where it harassed cars flying near the Ohio River and surrounding areas, swooping and following them at high speeds. On the 26th, it flew over St. Albans and Charleston, causing more panic over its existence. On the morning of the 27th, Mothman visited New Haven, where it dived at cars near the Mason County Golf Course before swooping upwards last minute, disappearing into a cloudy sky; one witness was so upset that she required medical attention—immediately after the event, she developed Klieg Conjunctivitis. That afternoon, the creature traveled back to Charleston and St. Albans, where it chased more vehicles and teenagers on foot.   

At the end of November and beginning of December, Mothman remained in the TNT Area. Several teenagers reported being chased by the being, some saying that it circled them from above, attacked their car, and followed them for long distances. Many people spotted the creature near the abandoned power plant—several seeing it enter the building or fly out of it. One night, two men were riding a motorcycle near the plant, when they thought they saw something large and strange with glowing red eyes fly into the building; curious, they entered the abandoned structure. High in the building, on the catwalks, they saw the same red eyes and a dimly lit form; the creature studied them for several minutes before walking off the ledge and flying outside—the sound of its echoing, beating wings deafening. Once gone, the pair felt frightened and unsettled immediately; prior to its exit, they felt drawn to it and safe.   

Over a week later, on Dec. 7, a group of five set out to look for the Mothman in the TNT Area. It, however, found them first. Before the creature came into view, they experienced an overwhelming sensation of fear and heard loud, metallic noises, chirps; out of the fog, a dark, winged figure slowly emerged; the group fled. One of the members’ ears began bleeding after the encounter. Sightings continued though January, then ceased for several months.    

Mothman was not seen again until Nov. 2, 1967 in the TNT Area. There, a woman heard a strange noise that reminded her of a bad fan belt; looking out her side window, she saw a large shadow spreading over the field. The figure was human-like, but with giant wings like shredded cloth; it paid her no mind, heading towards the forest instead—where it and its wildly furry body disappeared. After, the woman was plagued by nightmares. 18 For the next several weeks in the area, several pets went missing, there was an increase in roadkill, and locals heard strange noises.   

On Dec. 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people, two of which were never recovered. Just before the disaster, Mothman was seen along the banks in the shadows, its red eyes gazing towards the bridge, unblinking. Seconds before the structure’s failure, its form was spotted briefly flying in the sky above it.