Indrid Cold is a bizarre character linked to several UFO sightings and strange paranormal lore. He was first reported in 1966, when those who encountered him claimed he communicated telepathically and had an unnervingly constant smile that gave off major “something’s not right” vibes.
Witnesses described him as human-like, but off—dressed in an odd metallic suit, with unnatural features that didn’t quite add up. Some said his eyes were wide, unblinking, and almost too perfect. Others even claimed he arrived in a strange, glowing craft that defied explanation.
One thing’s for sure: the more we dig into this, the stranger it gets. Here’s what our team at SpookySight has pieced together so far:
In this article:
Who Was Indrid Cold?
In 1966, a mysterious man named Indrid Cold appeared out of nowhere in West Virginia, leaving a trail of questions that have lingered for decades.
This strange story starts with Woodrow Derenberger. He claimed that he met Cold and even communicated telepathically with him. But that’s not the most bizarre part. This alleged encounter happened during the same time as the infamous Mothman sightings in nearby Point Pleasant.
However, strangely enough, none of the Mothman witnesses ever mentioned Indrid Cold. And he wasn’t directly involved in any Mothman event. At least, that’s what many think.
Here’s the bottom line: we’ve got a bunch of supposedly unrelated paranormal events all happening at the same time, in the same place. What are the odds of that? Pretty slim. Very slim.
So, how is Indrid Cold tied to the Mothman sightings? What role did he play in the strange events that gripped West Virginia between 1966 and 1967? Was he an alien visitor, a figment of one man’s imagination, or something else entirely?
Woodrow Derenberger’s Encounter
Indrid Cold’s unusual story starts with Woodrow Derenberger’s first encounter on the night of November 2, 1966. It was around 7:30 PM when Derenberger—a sewing machine salesman—was driving home to Mineral Wells, West Virginia, after a business trip to Marietta, Ohio.
While traveling along Interstate 77 near Parkersburg, Derenberger was surprised by a strange “flying object” that passed him, swerved, and then positioned itself directly in front of his truck, forcing him to stop.
According to Derenberger, this vehicle looked like a “kerosene lamp chimney”—about 30 to 35 feet long and hovering just inches off the ground.
From this strange craft stepped a humanoid. A man of average height with slicked-back dark hair and deeply tanned skin. He was dressed in a metallic-looking, reflective blue-green suit. Strange, right? Well, there’s more.
The mysterious man had a broad, unsettling grin—an expression that earned him the nickname The Grinning Man or The Smiling Man.
And, without moving his lips, the being communicated telepathically with Derenberger. First, he introduced himself as Indrid Cold. Next, he assured Derenberger that he meant no harm and seemed genuinely curious about humanity.
However, Cold’s questions were simple and… unconventional. He asked Derenberger who he was, where he lived, and expressed a deep interest in human behavior.
Still shaken by the encounter, Derenberger answered all Cold’s questions. He described his interactions as polite but disturbing due to the telepathic communication and Cold’s strange behavior.
Finally, Cold revealed he came from a planet called Lanulos in the galaxy Ganymede.
After this brief interaction, Cold returned to his craft, taking off about 50 feet into the air and disappearing at high speed.
This encounter had a profound impact on Derenberger. He reported the incident during a televised interview with WTAP-TV on November 3, 1966, just one day after the event.
In the WTAP-TV interview, Derenberger described Indrid Cold in great detail:
“He looked perfectly natural and normal as any human being… His face looked like he had a good tan, a deep suntan. He was not too dark, but it was just like he had been out in the sun a lot. […] His lips did not move. He was smiling throughout the entire encounter, but the words seemed to come directly into my mind.”
However, he also mentioned that Indrid Cold reassured him, saying, “I come as a friend. I mean you no harm.”
Derenberger also described the craft that Cold arrived in as:
“Shaped like a kerosene lamp chimney, flaring at both ends, narrowing down to a small neck, and then enlarging in the center.”
As another peculiar detail, Cold’s craft was hovering about a foot above the ground and moved without making any noticeable sound.
Before leaving, Indrid Cold allegedly promised to return:
“He told me he would visit me again, and he did. Several times.”
Derenberger later claimed that the strange man had not only continued visiting him but had also introduced him to other similar beings from his world.
Derenberger never retracted his story despite facing public ridicule, losing his job, and significant personal struggles—including a divorce. He remained adamant that what he experienced was real:
“I’ve never recanted, never tried to change anything because what happened that night was the truth. As strange as it was.”
In 1971, Derenberger wrote a book titled “Visitors from Lanulos.” In this book, he detailed his experiences with Indrid Cold and other beings from Lanulos. He wrote that the Lanulos inhabitants were peaceful and eager to learn about Earth and its people.
Other Indrid Cold Sightings
While Woodrow’s encounter is the most famous, it wasn’t the only reported Indrid Cold sighting. During the same period, other witnesses came forward with similar experiences.
One of the earliest recorded sightings happened on October 16, 1966 (14 days before Derenberger’s encounter). Two young boys (James Yanchitis and Martin “Mouse” Munov) were walking along Fourth Street in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
As they approached an embankment by the New Jersey Turnpike, they noticed a tall figure standing behind a chain-link fence. The man was dressed in a metallic green suit, with small and beady eyes, no ears, no nose, and an unnervingly broad grin.
Related: 16 Lesser-Known Mothman Facts: From Curses to UFO Connections
Yanchitis was the first to spot the strange man. He nudged Munov to take a look, but the two bolted in fear when they realized the man was just standing there, grinning at them:
“Jimmy nudged me…and said ‘Who’s that guy standing behind you?’ I looked around and there he was… behind that fence. Just standing there. He pivoted around and looked right at us. Then he grinned a big old grin.”
Although the name Indrid Cold wasn’t explicitly mentioned in this encounter, the similar description by both witnesses makes us think we’re dealing with the same character.
Interestingly, around the same time, many other UFO sightings were being reported in the area.
One standout incident took place in January 1966 in Pompton Lakes (just 40 miles north of Elizabeth). Multiple witnesses claimed they saw a UFO hovering over the DuPont explosives factory—yeah, an explosives plant. Not exactly your average spot for a strange glowing object to hang out.
The factory was heavily secured—given what they were producing—so the fact that this thing was in the air for a while had both workers and locals pretty freaked out.
Now, here’s the kicker: the first Mothman sighting? That happened near an ammunition factory in West Virginia. Coincidence? Maybe. Or… perhaps something else is going on here.
On the same night that Woodrow Derenberger had his encounter with Indrid Cold—November 2, 1966—two other men in the Point Pleasant area reported seeing a similar figure. Point Pleasant is where most Mothman sightings happened between 1966 and 1967.
They described a tall man stepping out of a UFO-like craft, matching Cold’s description with his broad grin and dark suit. The entity reportedly asked the men strange, seemingly pointless questions before returning to his craft and disappearing.
Finally, around the same time, the Lilly family (Point Pleasant) had been reporting poltergeist activity in their house. Diamond-shaped lights, strange sounds, or objects and furniture vibrating. The Lillys’ daughter, Linda, was sleeping one night and awoke to see a man standing over her:
“It was a man, a big man. Very broad. I couldn’t see his face very well, but I could see that he was grinning at me. He walked around the bed and stood right over me. I screamed again and hid under the covers, when I looked again he was gone.”
Are Indrid Cold and Mothman Connected?
From November 1966 to December 1967, the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was the epicenter of another paranormal phenomenon—the Mothman sightings. Here, many witnesses reported seeing a large, winged creature with glowing red eyes.
Interestingly, the sightings were accompanied by frequent reports of UFO activity in the area. Many residents claimed to have seen strange lights in the sky or encountered unidentified flying objects.
Here’s a comprehensive timeline of all the events in question:
- January 1966 (Pompton Lakes, NJ): Multiple witnesses reported seeing a UFO hovering over the DuPont explosives factory.
- October 16, 1966 (Elizabeth, NJ): About 40 miles south of Pompton Lakes, two boys saw a grinning man in a metallic suit (possibly Indrid Cold?).
- November 2, 1966 (Parkersburg, WV): 300 miles west of Elizabeth, Woodrow Derenberger had his famous encounter with Indrid Cold.
- November 12, 1966 (Clendenin, WV): First Mothman sighting—gravediggers spotted a large, winged creature about 70 miles southeast of Point Pleasant.
- November 15, 1966 (Point Pleasant, WV): Two couples reported seeing Mothman near the TNT plant. The creature chased their car, terrifying them.
- November 16, 1966 (Point Pleasant, WV): Firemen Paul Yoder and Benjamin Enochs saw an “enormous bird with red eyes” near the TNT area. The creature let out an eerie, high-pitched screech.
- November 17, 1966 (Salem, WV): About 90 miles northwest of Point Pleasant, Newell Partridge saw glowing red eyes outside his home after his TV started acting up. His dog, Bandit, ran toward the creature and disappeared.
- November 17, 1966 (Point Pleasant, WV): The first reports of mysterious Men in Black (MIB). They seemed focused on silencing witnesses who had seen Mothman or UFOs.
- November 1966 – December 1967 (Point Pleasant, WV): Multiple Mothman sightings and frequent UFO activity (including the Lilly family sighting mentioned above) continued in the area. Witnesses reported more encounters with the MIB, who acted strangely and issued vague threats.
- December 15, 1967 (Point Pleasant, WV): The Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people. Many believe Mothman sightings foreshadowed the disaster. Afterward, Mothman sightings, UFO activity, and MIB appearances all stopped.
These events may suggest that Indrid Cold could be tied to UFO phenomena. The repeated accounts of the same entity—along with strange lights and UFOs—hint that something unusual happened in the area during the late 1960s. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a connection to the Mothman, too.
Seriously, what are the odds of so much paranormal activity in the same place at the same time not being related? Yes, the UFO sightings were never directly linked to Indrid Cold. But the timing and proximity are hard to ignore. Don’t you agree?
Author John Keel taught so, too. He tried to tie together the Mothman, UFOs, and Indrid Cold. In his 1975 book, The Mothman Prophecies, he explored the bizarre happenings in Point Pleasant and speculated that these events were part of a larger paranormal picture, from aliens to cryptids.
He even suggested that Indrid Cold might be connected to whatever forces brought Mothman to town.
However, none of the original Mothman witnesses ever reported seeing Indrid Cold, and no one who encountered Indrid Cold mentioned Mothman.
Theories and Possible Explanations
Indrid Cold’s story generated a bunch of theories attempting to explain who—or what—he might have been. However, these theories vary widely.
Here are some of the most interesting ones:
Extraterrestrial Visitor
The idea that Indrid Cold is an alien originates from Woodrow’s November 2, 1966 encounter. According to Derenberger, Cold claimed to be from the planet Lanulos in the galaxy Ganymede (though Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter, not a galaxy).
Derenberger details these encounters in “Visitors from Lanulos,” where he describes Cold as friendly and curious about human life.
Notably, Cold allegedly continued visiting Derenberger over several years, with more detailed conversations about life on Lanulos—a peaceful planet where people walked around half-naked and free from war.
Ultraterrestrial Being
The term ultraterrestrial was popularized by John Keel in his groundbreaking 1970 book “Operation Trojan Horse.”
Keel argued that beings like Indrid Cold and Mothman were not aliens in the traditional sense. But rather ultraterrestrials—creatures that exist on Earth but are invisible or operate on a different dimensional frequency.
He suggested these beings could manipulate human thoughts and emotions, creating illusions of UFOs, cryptids, and paranormal encounters. In fact, according to Keel, many ancient legends about fairies, demons, and other shape-shifters were actually historical accounts of ultraterrestrials.
In this context, Indrid Cold might be a modern manifestation of these timeless beings.
Linked to the Men in Black?
Gray Barker—a well-known name in UFO research and paranormal investigation during the 1950s and 1960s—gained fame for his writings on the Men in Black and other UFO phenomena.
His most notable book, “They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers” (1956), introduced the MIB concept. According to Barker, they typically appear out of nowhere and try to intimidate witnesses into silence.
However, it’s worth noting that while Barker’s work fueled much of the early UFO lore, he was also known for exaggerating or fabricating stories.
So, what does Indrid Cold has to do with the Men in Black? Well, according to this theory, there may be a connection.
John Keel (who extensively researched UFO phenomena in his 1975 book “The Mothman Prophecies“) speculated that Cold’s behavior could align with the MIB’s. He also acted bizarrely, asked strange questions, was robotic in his movements, was out of touch with basic human customs, and was intimidating.
Mass Hysteria or Psychological Phenomenon
While Gray Barker introduced the Men in Black idea, he didn’t believe Indrid Cold was connected to them. Instead, Barker thought Cold’s story was likely shaped by the public fixation with UFOs and aliens during the 1960s.
Up to a point, Barker’s idea makes sense. The ’60s and ’70s knew a surge in UFO sightings fueled by Cold War anxieties and the space race. The public was simply fascinated by UFO-related news.
A great example is the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case, where a couple from New Hampshire claimed that they were abducted by extraterrestrials while driving home from a vacation on the night of September 19-20, 1961.
They allegedly saw a bright light in the sky, followed by a UFO encounter where they were taken aboard a spacecraft, examined by alien beings, and had parts of the experience erased from their memory. Their story became widely publicized after undergoing hypnosis in 1964, where both recounted similar details of the abduction.
So, by the time of Derenberger’s encounter with Indrid Cold, many Americans were already primed to interpret unusual events as extraterrestrial contact.
This theory could also explain how more “witnesses” stepped forward with their own sightings. Once the Indrid Cold story hit the airwaves, similar accounts started surfacing, suggesting the story may have propagated through suggestion.
However, there’s a key issue with this theory: none of the Mothman witnesses mentioned seeing Indrid Cold, despite the proximity of the sightings in both time and location.
If they were influenced by Cold’s story, you’d expect them to mention it. This may imply that those who saw Mothman may not have been aware of Cold at all.
Similarly, let’s say that those who reported seeing Indrid Cold were merely looking for attention or fame. Then, why didn’t they jump on the Mothman bandwagon, too?
Hoax or Prank
Given the media attention around Indrid Cold, some have speculated that the story might have been a hoax. However, even under intense public scrutiny, Woodrow Derenberger never wavered in his claim. The psychological toll he faced—losing his job and marriage—suggests that he had little to gain by fabricating the encounter.
Though he did appear in interviews and published a book, the financial benefits were minimal compared to what he lost for sticking up to his story.
SpookySight Take
At SpookySight, we’ve examined all the evidence surrounding Indrid Cold, Mothman, UFOs, and the Men in Black. To us, there’s a lot more to this story—many unexplored links that point to something odd happened between 1966 and 1967.
It’s possible we only have part of the picture.
If we dig a bit deeper, we can probably find more links. For instance, the Flatwoods Monster sighting (1952, Flatwoods, WV). This bizarre incident—where witnesses saw a strange creature after a fireball streaked across the sky—happened just 100 miles southeast of Point Pleasant.
Here’s another example: The Kecksburg UFO Incident (December 9, 1965, Pennsylvania). Just a year before the Mothman events, a mysterious object crashed in Kecksburg. Witnesses reported a military cover-up and strange activity.
These events, alongside Mothman and Indrid Cold, point to a bigger mystery that still begs for answers. Something happened here—and we’re far from uncovering it all.
