Mothman Documentaries and TV

* Manson County Airport 312
* Field
* Plane
* Everett
* Newspaper Headline
* Tom Ury
* Loretta Campbell
* Marcella Bennett
* Connie Carpenter's Boyfriend
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## **Search For The Mothman (2002)**

**Search for the Mothman** is a 44 minute documentary about the Mothman of West Virginia folklore. It was directed by David Grabias and included on the special edition DVD of The Mothman Prophecies film which was released in January of 2002.

The documentary contains many interviews with Mothman witnesses and Point Peasant residents as well as archive footage from 1966-1967.

John Keel, Author of The Mothman Prophecies, is also featured in the documentary to give commentary on the sightings and events based on his time in the small town during the late 60's.

The film focuses on the Mothman sightings in Point Pleasant as well as The Silver Bridge Collapse . It also makes mention of the Men In Black encounters, the town's reporter Mary Hyre, Chief Cornstalk, the native-american Thunderbird, the Sandhill Crane or Owl explanations and The TNT Area.

Search for the Mothman utilizes photos of newspapers, artistic representations of the creature and clips from the major motion picture.

### **Interviews:**

* **Linda Scarberry** **- *Original Mothman Witness***
* **Marcella Bennett** **- *Mothman Witness***
* **Keith Aieker - *Mothman Witness Connie Carpenter's Husband***
* **Loretta Faye Campbell** **- *Mothman Witness***
* **Tom Ury** **- *Witness***
* **Everett Wedge** **- *Witness***
* Dottie Campbell - Men In Black Witness
* Charlene Wood - *Bridge Collapse Survivor*
* Doris Deweese - *Family Friend of Linda Scarberry*
* Bob Elliott - *Local Resident*
* Dan Drasin - *Researcher*
* Ralph Newman - *Local Resident*

* John A. Keel - *Author of "The Mothman Prophecies"*
* Loren Coleman - *Film's Publicity Consultant and Author*

### **Cast And Crew:**

* David Grabias - Producer
* Tracy McArdle - Executive producer
* Susan Rued - Associate producer
* Bill Ratner - Narrator
* Jeff Orsa - Cinematographer
* Daniel McMullen - Camera operator
* Scott Ripper - Additional camera operator
* Keith McCafferty - Additional camera operator
* Alex Batenko - Additional camera operator
* Daniel Westbrook - Editor
* Scott Sharkey - Assistant editor
* Tim Shank - Supervising editor
* Sarah Billotii - Production assistant
* John A. Busenberg - Post-production supervisor
* Padraic Culham - Graphic artist
* David Hudnut - Illustrator
* Chris Dixon - Sound recordist
* Tom Farrell - Sound recordist
* Chris Ripper - Sound recordist
* Ted Gordon - Sound mixer
* Glenda C. Tamblyn - Transcriptions
* Jeff Wamsley - Photos
* Chris Dixon - Photos
* Mike Felice - Photos
* Jack Fowler - Photos
* Sam Kitchen - Photos
* Jack Park - Photos
* Steven Ring - Photos
* Glenda C. Tamblyn - Photos
* Ernie Vega - Photos
* Charlene Wood - Photos
* Larry Boggs - Special thanks
* Robert Burke - Special thanks
* Rebecca Busey - Special thanks
* Padraic Culham - Special thanks
* Rush Finley - Special thanks
* Jack Fowler - Special thanks
* Don Greene - Special thanks
* Jeff Holstein - Special thanks
* Toni Holstein - Special thanks
* Dan Kiesling - Special thanks
* Doug Korstanje - Special thanks
* Cathy Logan - Special thanks
* Rick Meadows - Special thanks
* Keith Price - Special thanks
* Donnie Sergent Jr - Special thanks
* Carl Smith - Special thanks
* Anna Lou Sturgeon - Special thanks
* Chris Sturgeon - Special thanks
* Jack Sturgeon - Special thanks
* Pam Williamson - Special thanks

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**Source(s):** http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310127/

```

> ***"Mutant monster or figment of some overheated imaginations? What is this strange creature terrorizing West Virginia? Some call it the Mothman!" - Opening Narration***
>
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## **Mothman on Unsolved Mysteries (2002)**

* Artist sketch shown in the Unsolved Mysteries episode, background imagery is of an abandoned building
1/5On Season 13 Episode 26 of the **Unsolved Mysteries** television show, a 7 or 8 minutes long segment is featured which details the West Virginia legend of the Mothman. The episode premiered on July 29th 2002 on Spike TV.

Throughout the segment footage of the abandoned TNT area and Power Plant are shown as well Newspaper articles about the Mothman and an artist sketch of the creature. Mothman witnesses from 1966 are brought

on to tell their stories. Authors Jeff Wamsley and Donnie Sergent Jr. also feature in the episode as well as their book, Mothman: The Facts Behind The Legend. Near the end they show footage and images from the Silver Bridge Collapse.

### **Sightings Presented:**

Unsolved Mysteries begins it's section on the Mothman by showing quick clips of Mothman Witnesses Marcella Bennett and Tom Ury as well as visuals of dramatic recreations. Author Jeff Wamsley, who would later establish the Mothman Museum, appears in the program and says "I personally think that there was something up there that scared the wits out of most of the people who came face to face with it." Then, after a brief description of the creature, they begin to focus on the Scarberry and Mallette sighting from November 15th 1966 and explain The TNT Area to the audience.

Author Jeff Wamsley's comments are used along side the narration to tell the story. A recreation is shown as visual representation. A car full of teenagers is seen driving into an area near an abandoned building. The creature is represented by a vague shadowy figure recreated by practical effects and then the car drives off with the camera acting as the monster chasing them. The teens in the back seat frantically turn around to see out the back window.

The narration then moves on to the Marcella Bennett sighting from November 16th 1966. Marcella is featured once more to tell her story with an accompanying visual representation. She says "The creature looked like a man but it was over six foot tall and it had feathers". The recreation shows a woman carrying a small child in front of a house. She looks up as a dark shadow goes over her, the camera once again acting as the Mothman. She runs into the house and the creature is once again presented through practical effects as it moves across the front porch and looms in the window. Wings and feathers can be seen on the figure in the darkness.

Tom Ury then tells the story of his sighting from November 25th 1966. He says "It was a bird, a huge bird, that proceeded to circle my car". The recreation simply shows a man driving along a road and looking up through his windshield. A reflection in the glass shows a dark shape overhead.

* **Scarberry and Mallette's Mothman Sighting (Nov 15th 1966)**
* **Marcella Bennett's Mothman Sighting (Nov 16th 1966)**
* **Tom Ury's Mothman Sighting (Nov 25th 1966)**

### **Explanations Given / Ect. :**

In the episode, they display various newspapers and one of them can be seen to read "by Mary Hyre". Mary was a local reporter who often wrote about the strange reports going on at the time.

The episodes then discuss the Sand Hill crane explanation from the local newspapers at the time of 1966 and 67. Unsolved Mysteries also mentions the idea of Mothman as a mutation from the pollution of the TNT Area.

The strange animal mutilations and the Men In Black reports are also brought up in the segment. Marcella Bennett says "Residents of Point Pleasant would go out on farms and find their animals dead and maybe just the blood out or the heart gone, someone had removed the heart of the animal".

Then author Jeff Wamsley says "The Men In Black were strange out of town visitors who seemed to want to pretty much just quiet everything down. They would show up at people doorsteps and show up at their house at night."

On the subject of the local bridge disaster of December 15th 1967, the narrator says "After nearly a year of Mothman sightings, The Silver Bridge leading out of town suddenly collapsed." The narration also mentions the Mothman Prophecies film which was released, earlier that year, in January of 2002.

In author Donnie Sergent Jr.'s interview for the show he says "The Mothman has always been there and it will always be there. It's a local legend and now it's a worldwide legend. It will never fade away".The Mothman segment of the episode ends by saying "The Mothman is now more famous than ever. He has scared a lot of people, real or not".

```
**Source(s):**
Unsolved Mysteries Season 13 Episode 26 (2002)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Unsolved\_Mysteries\_episodes#Spike\_TV

```

> **"*Witnesses around the world report seeing monsters. Are they real or imaginary? Science searches for answers" - MonsterQuest opening narration***
>
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## **MonsterQuest's Mothman Episode (2010)**

   **MonsterQuest** was an American television show which ran for four seasons from 2007 to 2010 on the History channel. The show focused on monsters of urban legends, presenting stories and eyewitness accounts as well as attempting to investigate into them.
On Wednesday February 10th 2010, episode 64 of the TV series was aired. This episode covered the Mothman of West Virginia folklore.

* Forensic Sketch based on Faye's sighting by David E. Weaver on MonsterQuest
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### **Point Pleasant WV Mothman Witnesses**

The episode features interviews with Mothman witnesses from Point Pleasant, West Virginia who claim to have seen the creature in 1966. One of the original witnesses, Linda Scarberry, told the story of her sighting on November 15th 1966. Faye-Dewitt Leport then told of her sighting which was also from November of 1966. Tom Ury is shown briefly in the episode. An interview with Mothman Museum curator Jeff Wamsley is featured as well.

The topic of the Silver Bridge Collapse is brought up several times in the show. They also refer to Mothman being thought of as an omen of doom. The narration says "Many here believe that the beast foretold of the Silver Bridge Collapse by appearing in the months leading up to the disaster, a warning of sorts".

* **Linda Scarberry's Mothman Sighting (November 15th 1966)**
* **Tom Ury's Mothman Sighting (November 25th 1966)**
* **Faye-Dewitt Leport's Mothman Sighting (November 1966)**

### **Other Witnesses**

Modern international reports of winged human-like creatures are also included in this episode. Such as a sighting in Wisconsin in 2006 and a sighting in California in 2009. It is implied through narration that these two sightings of winged humanoids could also be the Mothman or at least related in someway.

* **Awohali's Winged Humanoid Sighting (Wisconsin - September 2006)**
* **Lamont Greer's Winged Humanoid Sighting (California - August 2009)**

### **Owls And Eyeshine / Wisconsin Fields and Hills**

In the episode, they repeatedly show owls as a possible explanation, displaying owls with red eye shine and comparing it to the Mothman legend. Skeptic Joe Nickell has posited the bard owl as an explanation for Mothman before, he appears on the show to explain this further. He says the bard owl "except for it's size, would be a very good fit for Mothman". An Ohio bird sanctuary is later featured. Jan Ferrell describes the size of bard owls and how their eyes reflect light.

Footage is used all throughout the episode of Wildlife expert, Mark Peterson leading an expedition into the Wisconsin wilderness along with author and researcher Nick Redfern. They state that they were looking for animals with eye-shine to examine. At one point during the hike, Redfern said "If we can get some sort of comparative data from other animals, we can either rule one in or rule it out." They eventually found some deer in a field and examined the eye-shine with a spotlight. The eyes were much too small and the shine was green. They found no owls but again mention owls having red eye shine.

### **Size Perception Experiment**

MonsterQuest had Skeptic Joe Nickell conduct an experiment to test size perception. They constructed three Mothman shaped grey silhouettes with red bicycle reflectors for eyes. The small one being 2ft tall, the medium one 4ft tall and the large one being 8ft tall. They created somewhat of an obstacle course by placing these forms along a darkened road. The road was near the spot where the November 15th 1966 sighting is said to have taken place.

Several test subjects were then asked to drive along this road at night with a spotlight on the side of the car and a camera recording their reactions. As they drove, the light shined on the three silhouettes and lit up the bicycle reflectors. They were then asked by Nickell to estimate the height of the forms. In the episode, a montage then plays of the people listing sizes but it's sort of unclear as to which forms they are speaking of and the raw data or graphing is never fully shown to audience. One of the people in the episode taking the test is investigator John Frick.

Joe Nickell then states "You could look at some of the data and say they did a pretty good job judging height, it's important to note however that no fewer than three people on one of the targets doubled the size of it."

The silhouettes that were used in this experiment was later placed in the Mothman Museum and put on display in the window of the gift shop.

### **Weapon Focus**

In the episode, witness testimony is frequently discussed. Chad Marsolek, a professor from the University of Minnesota, is brought on to explain memory and some of the flaws of perception. He posits "Weapon Focus" as something that might contribute to vague descriptions of the Mothman and the witnesses focus on the creature's eyes.

Professor Marsolek says "One might imagine that, especially glowing red eyes, would be the parts of the visual experience that are quite sealant. It's quite possible to be responsible for very good memory for the eyes but poorer memory maybe even distorted memory for the larger shape of whatever it was that was viewed."

Weapon focus is a factor affecting the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Weapon focus signifies a witness to a crime diverting his or her attention to the weapon the perpetrator is holding, thus leaving less attention for other details in the scene and leading to memory impairments later for those other details.

Why weapon focus occurs has been described a couple different ways. The first is the "automatic capture" explanation. This suggests that the attention paid to a weapon is automatic and unintentional. Studies have been performed that show that even if a subject is asked to ignore specific stimuli they are unable to thus eliciting an automatic response. However, other research shows that attention focus is not automatic and can be directed on command, especially if attention is already focused somewhere specific.

If attention is already focused away from a certain stimulus, then automatic capture is avoidable.These findings, however, are theoretical and need to be replicated in real world situations to really assess the usefulness of them. They show great promise that weapon focus effect and be counteracted by education on the topic, but they will remain theoretical until further research and implementation of the idea can be conducted.

### **Forensics Sketches**

Forensics sketch artist David E. Weaver of Mountain State University appears on the show. He describes how witness testimony can be effective in identifying culprits of crime but can also sometimes be very flawed.

The witnesses of the Mothman from 1966 are brought in to describe what they saw to the forensics artist so that he can do detailed sketches based on their accounts. Linda Scarberry and Faye Dewitt-Leport both appear in the show talking to the artist as he draws. These drawings are display at the end.

The drawing of Linda's description fits with what she's said before. The sketch has angel like wings behind the creature, a non-prominent head, no arms, human legs and large red eyes. The drawing of Faye's description matches what she said during the program about the Mothman being "crouched like a gargoyle". The image also has feathered wings spreading out like in her sighting. She didn't mention the creature having arms in her story but they are drawn anyway. Tom Ury is shown telling his description but the final photo of that sketch isn't really shown.

Lamont Greer, who had a winged humanoid sighting in 2009, also gets a sketch done by the sketch artist. What seems to be final photo of that sketch is shown at the end. David Weaver then attempts to do a "composite sketch" by combining all the drawings into a single form. He does this as a painting on a canvas.

The final product is a simple artwork of the Mothman, it features arms which is possibly inaccurate, but overall has somewhat of the shape that the witnesses are describing. The large wings are behind the creature, the body is muscular, the coloring is light grey and the red eyes are prominent.

Weaver says "we're drawing something that scientifically may or may not exist and yet these witnesses have huge similarities and were obviously traumatized. They definitely saw something." He goes on to say "These witnesses were true in they're interviews with me, as far as I can tell. The hope is more information will come forward."

```
**Sources:**
MonsterQuest Episode 64 (2010)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon\_focus
http://cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/mq-mm-review/

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> **The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend**
>
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## **Eyes of The Mothman (2011)**

1/3
**Eyes of The Mothman** is a 2 hour and 30 minute documentary by *Red Line Studios* about the Mothman of West Virginia folklore. It offers an in-depth look at some of the reported Mothman sightings in Point Pleasant as well as Chief Cornstalk, The TNT Area, encounters with Men In Black, the Indrid Cold story and The Silver Bridge Collapse.

The film was directed by Matthew J. Pellowski of New York who traveled to Point Pleasant, West Virginia with his crew to interview witnesses.

“As a filmmaker who had also read the John Keel book, [I] understood that the multitude of crucial side stories found there could only be properly addressed in documentary format,” stated director Matthew J. Pellowski.

Matt Pellowski went to the 4th Annual Mothman Festival in 2005 to begin his project. The documentary finished filming in 2006 and was in post-production for several years.

The documentary was screened at the 9th Annual Mothman Festival in 2010 and then released to the rest of the public on February 22nd 2011. DVDs were sold at the Mothman Museum.

Matt Pellowski spoke as a guest speaker during the 12th Annual Mothman Festival. Eyes of The Mothman was also played during the 2011, 2012 and 2015 Festivals.

### **Interviews:**

The film featured many interviews with Point Pleasant and West Virginia residents. They interviewed people such as Mothman witnesses, local press, Mothman Museum workers, Mothman Festival organizers, researchers and authors

* **Faye Leport** **- *Mothman Witness***
* **Merle Partridge** **- *Paranormal Witness***
* **Woodrow Derneberger (Archive Audio) - *Indrid Cold Witness***

* Jeff Wamsley - Author, *Mothman Museum owner and Mothman Festival organizer*
* Carolin Harris - *Co-Founder of the Mothman Festival, Harris Steakhouse*
* Ruth Fout - *Point Pleasant River Museum*
* Chad Lambert - *Author of Return to Point Pleasant*
* Dave Peyton - *The Herald Dispatch*
* Roy Cross - *Editor, Athens Messenger*
* John Frick - *Mothman Researcher*
* Timothy Frick - *Mothman Researcher*
* Susan Sheppard - *Paranormal Investigator*
* Donnie Sergent Sr. - *Resident, Mason County*

* Helen H. Tanner - *Historian*
* John 'White Hawk' Daily - *Chief, Middle Island Creek People*
* John H. Sauer - *Sons of the American Revolution*
* Jay Miller - *American Indian Studies, Ohio State University*
* Charles H. Stone - *Riverboat Captain*
* Lea Wilson - *Pterosaur Witness, West Virginia*
* Dennis D. Bellamy - *Director, Mason County Visitors Bureau*
* Kenneth L. Woodard - *Environmental Engineer*
* Richard L. Meadows - *Project Manager, US Army Coe*
* James Beichler - *Professor of Physics, West Virginia University*
* Jeffrey K. Mckee - *Professor of Anthropology, Ohio State University*

### **Recreations:**

Eyes of The Mothman featured some recreations of stories and events such as the death of Chief Cornstalk and Woodrow Derenberger's encounter with Indrid Cold.

#### **Cast**

* Richard Pait : As "Narrator"

* Beau T. Bellamy : As "Hunter 1"
* Danny S. Cutler : As "Chief Cornstalk"
* Hazel K. DeWitt : As "Waitress"
* Cloud Starchaser : As "Indrid Cold"
* Todd Wiseman : As "Woodrow Derenberger"

### **Other Cast and Crew:**

* Matthew J. Pellowski - Director, producer, editor
* Anastasia Konstantinou - Executive producer
* Cloud Starchaser - Executive producer
* Bruce Hathaway - Music
* Alan Zapata - (uncredited) Music
* Neil Stephens - Cinematography
* Anastasia Konstantinou - Key makeup artist
* David Winkfield - Graphic artist
* Bill Donnelly - Sound designer
* Joseph DiMarco - Additional re-recording mixer
* Richard Chonczynski - Visual effects
* Vincent MacTiernan - Visual effects
* Jose Alvarez - Still photographer
* Sean Austin - Still photographer
* Cloud Starchaser - Assistant camera
* Alexis Van Hurkman - Colorist
* Bill Lambert - Vehicle consultant
* John D. Morgan - Vehicle consultant
* Butch Rainey - Vehicle consultant
* Zane Bares - Transcriber
* Jack Fowle - Archive consultant
* Lara Longo - Intern
* Erika Rodgers - Transcriber
* Benjamin F. Roush - Pilot
* Ruth Roush - Aerial consultant
* Austin Williard - Transcriber
* Martha Fout - Special thanks
* Terrence Malick - Special thanks
* Mark Pellington - Special thanks
* Ruth Vance - Special thanks
* Thomas R. Vance - Special thanks
* F. Paul Wood - Special thanks

### **Strange Experiences:**

"Eyes of the Mothman" was not an easy film to produce. Shortly after production wrapped, Matthew Pellowski, the film’s director, fell ill to a severe pneumonia that had him bed ridden for 8 months and delayed the post production stages of the project. “I remember it starting out as a joke right when I got sick, oh it must be the Cornstalk Curse, then 7 months go by and numerous doctors are telling me they don’t understand why I’m not getting better and that curse stops being a funny anecdote.”

During post-production, editors named each hard drive after subjects discussed in the film and soon witnessed the “Cornstalk hard drive” become corrupted three separate times, causing nearly a year in delays of the special effects used in the program.

```
**Source:** http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810856/

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## **The Mothman of Point Pleasant (2017)**

* Ury Sighting
* Lawrene Gray
* Bowsworth Sighting
* Faye Dewitt-Leport
1/7

```
     ***13 Months That Changed History***

```

**The Mothman of Point Pleasant** is a 1 hour 11 minute documentary about the Mothman of West Virginia Folklore. Its was released on June 2nd 2017 and directed by Seth Breedlove of the production company *Small Town Monsters*. Their previous films include: **Minerva Monster** (OH legend / 2015), **Beast of Whitehall** (NY Legend / 2016) and **Boggy Creek Monster** (AR Legend / 2016). The soundtrack was composed by Brandon Dalo and a Kickstarter project was utilized to help with the funding.

The documentary was filmed in Point Pleasant and also contains animated sequences. It focuses mainly on the chronological telling of strange reports in the town during the 13 month period of November 1966 to December 1967. The film's tag line is "13 Months That Changed History".

#### **Interviews:**

The film features interviews with Point Pleasant locals and Mothman witnesses. It also uses never before seen interview footage from Jeff Wamsley's archive.

* Dennis D. Bellamy - *Mason County Visitors Bureau*
* Lyn Fawn Cornwell-Robinson - *7th generation descendant of Chief Cornstalk, Pt. Pleasant resident*
* Jeff Wamsley - *Author, Mothman Museum / Festival Founder*
* Merle Partridge (Archive Audio) - *Witness*
* George Dudding - *Local author, Former school mate of the Mallettes*
* Marcella Bennett (Archive Footage) - *Mothman Witness*
* Bob Bosworth (Archive Audio) - *Mothman Witness*
* Faye Dewitt-Leport - *Mothman Witness*
* Tom Ury (Archive Audio) - *Mothman Witness*
* Lawrence Gray - *Mothman Witness*
* Dave Payton - *Worked with local newspaper in 1966-67*

#### **Cast and Crew:**

* Seth Breedlove - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
* Zac Palmisano - Photography
* Brandon Dalo - Music Composer
* Matt Harris - Art Director
* Chris Scalf - Animator
* Sam Shearon - Cover/Poster Art
* Lyle Blackburn - Narrator
* Jason Utes - Production Manager
* Aaron Gascon - Production Manager

#### **The** **STM Timeline:**

In the film, a graphic is periodically displayed which shows a listing of several Mothman and UFO sightings ranging from November 1966 to December 1967. The *Small Town Monsters* list or timeline for The Mothman of Point Pleasant gives the date along with a brief description. It goes as following :

* **Nov 1, 1966** - National Guardsmen sees humanoid figure
* **Nov 2, 1966** - Indrid Cold encounter, Point Pleasant UFO landing
* **Nov 12, 1966** - Gravediggers see big bird near Clendenin
* **Nov 14, 1966** - Farmer sees strange lights behind shed
* **Nov 15, 1966** - Big bird spotted by two couples near TNT Area
* **Nov 16, 1966** - Woman visiting relatives stunned by strange creature, Mysterious lights in sky appear
* **Nov 18, 1966** - Two volunteer firefighters startled by large bird - Point Pleasant on High Alert as armed posses hunt "The Bird"
* **Mid-November '66** - Siblings find big bird after chase through Mcclintic
* **Nov 20, 1966** - Couple along ferry branch chased by monster
* **Nov 21, 1966** - Charleston man finds himself face to face with "Bat Man"; it flies like a helicopter!
* **Nov, 25, 1966** - Driver near Point Pleasant Accosted by giant bird along Ohio river
* **Nov 26, 1966** - St Albans resident spots Mothman in front yard, Four large birds seen near hocking!
* **Nov 27, 1966**- Charleston residents have two encounters with glowing, red-eyed Mothman, Point Pleasant Resident sees Bird-like man standing near roadside
* **Late November, 1966**- Man awakens to find Mothman standing at bedside!
* **Dec 4, 1966**- Five Gallipolis pilots see airplane-sized bird
* **Dec 7, 1966**- Author and local reporter encounter strange happenings in north power plant
* **Dec 11, 1966**- Wilson Straight woman claims brush with big-bird
* **Jan 11, 1967**- Mother of Mothman witness sees creature for herself outside local restaurant
* **Jan 22, 1967** - Man finds bizarre tracks after strange lights appear in sky
* **Jan, 1967**- Local reporter meets mysterious men
* **Mar 5, 1967** - Flying saucers attack! Many see in Point Pleasant
* **Mar 20, 1967** - UFO seen hovering over silver bridge in Point Pleasant; sightings continue
* **April 2, 1967** - Point Pleasant resident seeks meeting with little green men!
* **April 9, 1967** - Mason County School teacher falls victim to latest flying saucer "The size of a Volkswagon", she insists
* **May 19, 1967**- Point Pleasant women witness bird enter flying saucer
* **November '67**- Mothman reappears! Seen in TNT Area on foot and in the air, Local businessman finds typically-shy Mothman standing on front lawn, TNT Area resident encounters screeching creature behind her home.

### **Small Town Monsters:**

   **Small Town Monsters** is a production company and independent film series. They create documentaries about American folklore and modern mythology. Their films have been funded by the public through Kickstarter. ***Support Your Local Monsters!***

The Small Town Monsters team is comprised of Director Seth Breedlove, Composer Brandon Dalo, Photographer Zac Palmisano and Production Manager Jason Utes. Further films by them include: **Invasion on Chestnut Ridge** (2017), **The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear** (2018), **The Bray Road Beast** (2018), **Terror In the Skies** (2019) and **The Mothman Legacy** (2020).

```
**Sources:** The Films Themselves / Back of DVD Cases
http://smalltownmonsters.com
https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/minervamonster/created

```

#### **Making of The Film:**

(*Source: Point Pleasant Register Article By Beth Sergent*)

Seth Breedlove credits The Mothman Prophecies film with his love of paranormal subject matters. However, that curiosity is paired with his upbringing by parents who owned a historical bookstore and traveled the country going to book shows. He was also a journalist at one time who enjoyed writing about people’s lives.

   "The small human stories drew me to make the movies we make” he told The Pt. Pleasant Register. He said, "Whether or not they want to believe is totally up to them. You can’t deny it was a part of the town’s history.”
Breedlove said that so much had already been done on the subject matter, he wasn’t sure if he could bring anything new to the table. So, he traveled to Pt. Pleasant and met with Jeff Wamsley, owner of the Mothman Museum and author of two Mothman books. Jeff's daughter Ashley Watts convinced Wamsley to give Breedlove access to audio recordings of interviews with witnesses and 8mm film footage taken by a relative the day after the Silver Bridge collapsed.

    “It is my favorite shot in the footage and the first time I saw it, I cried,” he said. Early on when considering the film as a possibility, he had traveled to the Mothman Festival and talked with a local man who remembered the bridge disaster well. “His memory of the bridge collapse was what made me want to make the movie,” he said.
Breedlove felt tying in Mothman to the disaster “always struck me as very wrong. I wanted to show the Silver Bridge collapse was just a part to these crazy series of things that happened in 13 months."

    The project which took only 3.5 days to shoot and two months of post production on the independently, self-funded project. There were some technical glitches along the way, like a drone getting stuck in a tree and what he describes as “serious technical problems filming interviews.” However, post production, which includes an original score and animated sequences, were relatively smooth. “It was simultaneously the hardest film to make and the easiest,” he said, adding the movie wrapped in February and that he's "more proud of this movie than anything [he's] ever done."

    The film was meant to feature a sequence of the late Carolin Harris opening her restaurant. Breedlove met Harris in mid-December 2016 when shooting the downtown Christmas lights for the film. Though the two didn’t talk long, Breedlove said the openness Harris showed him when sharing her story, particularly about losing her son and his father who were on the bridge when it collapsed. Before the interviews began filming, Harris passed away. The film fades out with the words “For Carolin."
Breedlove said “No matter what we do next, we’ll never have another movie that has the heart that the Mothman movie did.” As for whether or not he believes in Mothman's existence, he's still unsure.

#### **Lowe Hotel VIP Pre-Screening:**

A special VIP pre-release screening party was held at 6:00pm on Saturday, May 27th 2017 in Point Pleasant at the Lowe Hotel. The dining room of the historic hotel was filled with seats and a large projector screen. Each participant was given full day access to the Mothman Museum and a chance to purchase the very first copies of the documentary.

They sold posters, shirts, DVDs of the film, CDs of the soundtrack and did signings. Tickets quickly sold out for the event. After showing the documentary, Jeff Wamsley and the film makers held a Q&A. Proceeds from the screening went toward helping to fund the Mothman Festival. It was also screened at the state theater in Point Pleasant, WV during the 2017 Mothman Festival in September.

```
**Source(s)**:
The Kickstarter Project
The "My Daily Register" News Article, May 5th 2017
The Mothman of Point Pleasant Documentary (2017)

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## **The X-Files: Detour (1997)**

**"Detour"** is the fourth episode of the fifth season of *The X-Files* that aired on November 23rd 1997. It written by Frank Spotnitz and directed by Brett Dowler. The plot features human-like predators with glowing red eyes and wood bark-like skin living in the swampy woods of Leon County in North Florida. In the episode, the creatures as posited as paranormal and fail to appear on radar. Mulder briefly mentions the Mothman legend of Pt Pleasant WV as a parallel or possible explanation, despite there being very little connection at all other than glowing eyes.

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**Source(s):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detour\_(The\_X-Files)

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