The Mothman legend is full of weird sightings, bizarre circumstances, and strange theories. The details are also fascinating. And most, while quite familiar with the main story, know almost nothing about the specifics that make this enigma so intriguing.
That’s why, at SpookySight, we compiled these 16 lesser-known Mothman facts. To help you uncover the truth behind one of America’s most mysterious cryptids. And, of course, understand why this story has intrigued people for decades.
In this article:
Not Every Eyewitness Described the Same Creature
Lesser-known Mothman fact #1: Not all eyewitness descriptions were 100% consistent.
In most cases, eyewitnesses offered almost identical depictions down to the smallest details: glowing red eyes, enormous wings, fast flight, and screeching noises.
But, there were some weird exceptions, too.
For example, on November 16, 1966 (just one day after the first sighting in Point Pleasant), Marcella Bennett claimed she caught a creature that seemed headless, with glowing red eyes set directly into its chest.
Similarly, in December 1966, a group of teenagers claimed to have seen a similar creature without a visible head and eyes coming from its chest.
The Curse of Chief Cornstalk
Lesser-known Mothman fact #2: The cryptid might be linked to an old curse placed on Point Pleasant by Chief Cornstalk (Hokoleskwa).
But who was this man, and why would he curse the town?
Chief Cornstalk was a respected Shawnee leader who tried to broker peace between Native American tribes and American settlers. But in 1777, after going to Fort Randolph for peace talks, he and his son Elinipsico were taken hostage and murdered by militia members.
Legend has it that as Chief Cornstalk lay dying, he placed a 200-year curse on Point Pleasant and the surrounding area. So, could this curse be the source of everything wrong that has happened since then? Some think so.
Take the Battle of Point Pleasant, for example. On October 10, 1774—just a few years before Cornstalk’s death a group of Virginia militiamen (led by Colonel Andrew Lewis) engaged a coalition of Native American tribes.
Around 50 Native Americans and 75 Virginia militiamen died. Many more were wounded. This bloody battle set the tone for decades of unrest and skirmishes between Native American tribes and locals.
Then, in the early 20th century, Point Pleasant suffered from several devastating fires. The worst one happened in 1908. It wiped out much of the downtown area, including key businesses, leaving the community struggling to rebuild.
And then there were the floods—particularly the 1937 Ohio River flood, which displaced residents and caused massive damage.
Fast forward 190 years after the curse, and the first Mothman sightings rocked Point Pleasant in 1966. The sightings were followed by the Silver Bridge collapse in 1967, which killed 46 people.
But then, something unexpected happened. As the 200-year mark approached, Point Pleasant’s luck started to change. By the late 1970s, the town shook off its dark past. The disasters and unrest faded away, and the town began to grow. No more curses, no more chaos. Weird, right?
The Chicago Mothman
Lesser-known Mothman fact #3: Between 2011 and 2020, over 100 sightings of a similar creature—the “Chicago Mothman”—were reported in the greater Chicago area.
Hotspots included Lake Michigan, O’Hare International Airport, Lincoln Park, and several neighborhoods. Witnesses consistently described a large, bat-like creature with glowing red eyes and a wingspan of about 10 feet.
Theories about the Chicago monster vary. Some believe it’s the same creature that terrorized Point Pleasant. That somehow migrated from West Virginia. For others, it was an entirely different creature.
Could It Be a Global Warning Signal?
Lesser-known Mothman fact #4: Mothman-like creatures’ sightings aren’t confined to the U.S. In fact, similar reports have surfaced globally, often just before major disasters.
For instance, during the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, workers claimed to have seen a large, black creature with red eyes hovering over the nuclear plant in the days leading up to the meltdown.
In 1999, during the Russian apartment bombings, residents reported seeing a winged figure just before the explosions.
Alleged sightings also happened before the 1985 Mexico City earthquake and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Lesser-Known Mothman Facts: No Harm Done
Lesser-known Mothman fact #5: Despite its terrifying look, Mothman has never harmed anyone.
No bruises, scratches, or cuts—nothing. The most it did was chase and scare some of the witnesses. But even then, it didn’t cause any real damage to buildings, vehicles, or other property. There have been no mysterious disappearances linked to this cryptid either.
All these are quite unusual characteristics for a cryptid. Especially if we compare it to other cryptids that are often associated with deaths, disappearances, and other tragic events.
Take, for example, the Chupacabra. There are numerous reports of Chupacabra attacks on livestock, oftentimes leaving a trail of dead animals in its wake. The Jersey Devil has also been linked to multiple attacks on animals.
Bigfoot stories sometimes mention people going missing or being attacked in remote areas. The Wendigo is another cryptid often blamed for mysterious disappearances. Some even associate the Wendigo with a dangerous and highly aggressive predator who kills and feeds on humans.
Unlike these cryptids, Mothman seems far less aggressive.
First Encounter at Clendenin, WV
Lesser-known Mothman fact #6: The first alleged Mothman sighting in West Virginia may have occurred in Clendenin on November 12, 1966, not Point Pleasant.
According to this story (that surfaced much later), five gravediggers saw a large, winged animal flying low over the trees near the cemetery near the Elk River Trail State Park where they were working. However, they didn’t pay much attention and pretty much ignored the whole thing.
This event happened before the famous Point Pleasant sightings, suggesting that Mothman might have first appeared in Clendenin before moving to the TNT Area.
The Annual Mothman Festival
Lesser-known Mothman fact #7: Every year, Point Pleasant hosts the Mothman Festival.
The festival started small in 2002 but has grown significantly since. Recent numbers show that between 20,000 to 25,000 people attend. This influx of tourists greatly benefits local businesses, from hotels and restaurants to small shops and vendors.
It Has Its Own Museum
Lesser-known Mothman fact #8: Point Pleasant is home to the world’s only Mothman Museum.
What can you see there? Lots of Mothman memorabilia, of course. From eyewitness accounts and artifacts from the Silver Bridge collapse to 1960s newspaper clippings, video interviews with witnesses, police reports, life-sized replicas of the creature, and displays about the Men in Black and UFO activity.
There’s also a collection of art inspired by the legend and a gift shop with unique Mothman-themed souvenirs.
Indie Rock References
Lesser-known Mothman fact #9: The cryptid has inspired several songs, especially in indie rock. One notable example is Blitzen Trapper’s “Mothman” track from their 2015 album “All Across This Land.”
It Was Featured in Many TV Shows
Lesser-known Mothman fact #10: Mothman has popped up in quite a few paranormal TV shows over the years, like MonsterQuest, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, and The X-Files.
| TV Show | Episode | Year Aired | Host/Creators | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonsterQuest | Season 1, Episode 12 | 2008 | Stan Bernard (Narrator) | Investigated Point Pleasant sightings and whether Mothman was a cryptid or misidentified bird. |
| Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files | Season 1, Episode 2 | 2010 | Ben Hansen and Team | Used experiments to try and recreate the Mothman sightings in Point Pleasant’s TNT area. |
| The X-Files | Season 5, Episode 4 | 1997 | Chris Carter (Creator) | Featured creatures with glowing red eyes similar to Mothman in a fictional storyline. |
| Mysteries at the Museum | Mothman and the Silver Bridge | 2016 | Don Wildman | Explored Mothman’s connection to the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant. |
| Ancient Aliens | Season 12, Episode 11 | 2017 | Giorgio A. Tsoukalos | Theorized that Mothman might be an alien or extraterrestrial entity. |
| Paranormal Witness | Season 1, Episode 4 | 2011 | Various (Paranormal Eyewitnesses) | Re-enacted Mothman sightings and tied them to the Silver Bridge disaster. |
The Grinning Man
Lesser-known Mothman fact #11: In our article Who or What Was Indrid Cold: Alien Visitor or Paranormal Entity? we analyzed a possible link between Mothman sightings and a mysterious character named Indrid Cold (the Grinning Man, the Smilling Man).
We believe that Cold—along with the UFO sightings and Men in Black encounters—may suggest a bigger extraterrestrial involvement.
Indrid Cold was first mentioned by Woodrow Derenberger, a West Virginia salesman. On November 2, 1966, just days before the first Mothman sighting, Derenberger was driving home when a strange vehicle forced him off the road near Parkersburg, WV.
A humanoid figure stepped out of the craft and introduced himself as Indrid Cold. Cold reportedly told Derenberger he came in peace and meant no harm.
To make things even weirder, many who allegedly saw Mothman in and around Point Plesant were later approached by some mysterious “Men in Black.” They acted strangely and tried to intimidate them into keeping quiet about their experiences.
Earlier Sightings in China
Lesser-known Mothman fact #12: A similar creature was reported in January 1926 in the southeastern province of Fujian, China. Locals referred to it as the “dragon man.”
According to reports, this “dragon man” hovered over the Xiaonanhai Dam just before a catastrophic flood struck the region. The flood (which devastated several nearby villages) caused significant loss of life—reports estimate that hundreds of people perished in the disaster.
Witnesses mentioned the unusual flying monster had large wings and a menacing appearance.
The Freiburg Shrieker
Lesser-known Mothman fact #13: A group of miners from Freiburg, Germany, reported seeing a Mothman-like figure shortly before a mine collapse in 1978.
This creature was tall, with massive wings and glowing eyes. It landed in front of the mine’s entrance and refused to leave. When some miners tried to approach it, it let out a terrifying, high-pitched shriek that scared the men away from the mine entrance.
Moments later, the mine collapsed. If the miners had gone inside, they probably wouldn’t have survived.
This is one of the few documented cases where a cryptid might have directly saved human lives.
Poltergeist Activity
Lesser-known Mothman fact #14: During the 1966-1967 sightings in Point Pleasant, there were not only reports of the creature itself but also accounts of poltergeist activity that seemed tied to the broader paranormal events happening at the time.
John Keel—the journalist and UFO researcher who investigated the Mothman phenomenon—documented numerous instances of strange happenings in his book The Mothman Prophecies.
So, what exactly happened? According to Keel, many Point Pleasant residents (like the Scarberrys, who were among the first to see the cryptid) reported bizarre occurrences in their homes: objects flying off shelves, doors slamming by themselves, and lights flickering without explanation.
Keel suggested that these incidents might have been linked to the same energies that fueled the Mothman sightings.
Did Mothman Really Warned Us Before the Silver Bridge Collapse?
Lesser-known Mothman fact #15: Mothman sightings may have had nothing to do with the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse.
The infamous Silver Bridge disaster on December 15, 1967, caused the death of 46 people. And, its connection to Mothman sightings has become the core of Mothman lore.
Many link this tragedy to the mysterious cryptid. According to most theories, the cryptid may have caused the collapse or tried to warn everyone about what would happen. This alleged link has shaped nearly everything we know—or think we know—about Mothman.
But what if the sightings and the collapse had nothing to do with each other? What if Mothman’s appearance around Point Pleasant was just a bizarre coincidence?
Let’s not forget that the creature never explicitly warned anyone. And let’s not forget the many reports of strange lights in the sky near the bridge, likely suggesting some sort of UFO activity.
Could it be that Mothman sightings were actually tied more to the UFOs than to the bridge collapse? If that’s the case, it would completely change how we analyze Mothman’s role. Just think about it.
The Mothman is Still Being Spotted in 2024
Lesser-known Mothman fact #16: The Mothman legend is far from dead. The latest reported sighting occurred in April 2024 in Kane County, Illinois, when another witness (a man named Matt Sexton) claimed to see the cryptid while driving to work.
