On September 12, 1952, three boys in the tiny West Virginia town of Flatwoods saw a slow-moving, reddish sphere sail
around a hill, hover briefly, and drop behind the crest of another hill. From the other side a bright glow shone, as if from a
landed object. On their way to investigate, the boys were joined by beautician Kathleen May, her two young sons, their
friend Tommy Hyer, 17-year-old Eugene Lemon, and Lemon's dog.
The dog ran ahead of the group and was briefly out of sight. Suddenly it was heard barking furiously and, moments later,
seen fleeing with its tail tucked between his legs. A foul-smelling mist covered the ground and caused the searchers' eyes
to water. The two leading the group, Lemon and Neil Nunley, who go to the top first, looked down and observed a "big ball
of fire" 50 feet to their right. Another of the witnesses reported it was the size of a house.
To the group's left, on the hilltop and just under the branch of an oak tree, were two small lights. At Mrs. May's suggestion,
Lemon turned his flashlight on them. To everyone's considerable astonishment, the beam highlighted a grotesque-looking
creature with a head shapes like the "ace of spades," as several of the observers independently described it. Inside the
head was a circular "window," dark except for the two lights from which pale blue beams extended straight ahead. In their
short observation of the creature, the group saw nothing that looked like arms or legs.
The creature, which appeared to be over six feet tall, moved toward the witnesses; it seemed to be gliding rather than
walking. Seconds later it changed direction, turning toward the glowing ball down the hill. All of this allegedly took place in a
matter of seconds, during which Lemon fainted. The others dragged him away as they ran from the scene.
When interviewed half an hour later by A. Lee Stewart, Jr., of The Braxton Democrat, most of the witnesses were barely
able to speak. Some sought first aid. Stewart thought there was no question they had seen something that badly frightened
them. Soon afterwards, he was able to get Lemon to accompany him to the hillside, where Stewart noticed an unusual odor
in the grass that irritated his nose and throat. Returning to the site alone it seven o'clock the following morning, he found
"skid marks" going down the hill and toward an area of matted grass, indicating the recent presence of a large object.
The encounter with what the press would quickly dub the "Flatwoods monster" took place during a flurry of sightings of
unusual flying objects in the area. One man, Bailey Frame of nearby Birch River, told of seeing a bright orange ball circling
over the area where the monster was reported. The object was visible for 15 minutes before shooting toward the airport a
Sutton, where it was also seen. According to one account, a week before the Flatwoods event and 11 miles away, a
Western woman and her mother encountered the same or a similar creature as they were driving to church. Both reported
it emitted a foul odor, and the younger woman was so frightened that she required hospitalization. This report, if true, never
made the newspapers. It was uncovered by two investigators associated with the Los Angeles-based Civilian Saucer
Investigation.
Skeptics theorized that May and her companions had seen a meteor and an owl, and only hysteria had caused them to
think they had observed anything else. Nonetheless, when interviewed separately shortly after the incident, the witnesses
told a story investigators found strikingly consistent. Skeptical hypotheses have necessarily had to reject a priori the
witnesses' descriptions of what they saw.
A Joliette, Quebec, woman reported seeing a similar creature as it gazed through a window of her home in the early
morning hours of November 22, 1973. She roused her husband, who went outside to investigate, finding only a dog which
acted as if "scared to death." The local police said they though the woman was sincere.
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I think uth just got pwned!
