What really happened in point pleasant WV ?

[Barnabas C 605]

After watching a documentary about the mothman subject called " eyes of the mothman" some questions seriously need to be asked about what is it that happened to this area and the people who live there. In this docu the main focus is interviews with the people who lived in the area during the incidents most who are pretty old now. The most disturbing thing about all of this is most of these people interviewed are old time people who have no reason to lie or gain anything from bull shittin there accounts. The crazy part is the vastness of incidents in such a small period of time and in such a localized area. The accounts of the mothman are disturbing on there own but other incidents such as the indrid cole sightings and MIB sightings of strange men in suits crawling all over the town asking questions and telling these people to not mention what they saw is insane. A whole community of people all affected by these incidents and disturbances yet no answer at all of what happened to these people and what they were witnessing not to mention the death toll from the bridge collapsing and how shortly after this horrific incident everything just seemed to stop. What really happened to these people and what force was behind this ?

[JonathanVonErich]

Thread number 3421 about the Mothman !! Yay !!

Anyway, I don't think there was a "force" behind the events, in my opinion there's a down to earth explanation to most of the sightings, but of course a lot of people likes to think something "mysterious" or "paranormal" happened, because it's fun and it makes life more interesting.

I think most of the witnesses are honest and credible, they just saw something they can't explain. However because they can't explain what they saw doesn't mean that what they saw was paranormal or mysterious. The original sighting near the TNT area could have been a big bird; add to this a little alcohol ( the witnesses were four teenagers coming back from a party I believe ) and a little bit of mass hysteria and there you have it, a myth is created.

There's absolutely no evidences that "Men in Black" were in the area at some point, and in my opinion there's no truth to these stories. Creating this type of story is the easiest thing in the world, and strangely enough we first heard about the alleged MIB sightings decades after the events allegedly took place, when MIB was a popular topic of discussion. So there's nothing really mysterious about the "Mothman" case, in my opinion. Witnesses saw something they can't explain, but I'm convinced there's a down to earth explanation for all of them. But believing in monsters, MIB and legends are more fun than to admit that the witnesses could have been mistaken....

Edited June 8, 2012 by JonathanVonErich

[Q-C]

Ever live in a hole in the wall town in WV or southern Ohio? I've lived in several, none far from PP. You'd make up a mothman too!

[Barnabas C 605]

Lol true I wouldent dobt that

[Imaginarynumber1]

Ever live in a hole in the wall town in WV or southern Ohio? I've lived in several, none far from PP. You'd make up a mothman too!

That's what i was going to bring up.There isn't much in the area besides old people an trees.

[Rafterman]

Ah the mothman - a complete fabrication by two authors linking a half dozen or so questionable eyewitness sightings (at least two were more than 50 miles away from PP) together with a bridge collapse that happened MORE THAN A FULL YEAR LATER. Yes, most folks don't realize that little fact.

Here is a great analysis done by Brian Dunning for an episode of Skeptoid (you can read the transcript or download the 15 minute podcast):

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4159

His conclusion:

Barker and Keel had both come to Point Pleasant to write UFO books. While they were watching the skies for UFOs and writing imaginative tales about Men In Black and government conspiracies and mysterious phone calls and strange warnings, stories told by thrillseeking kids and ladies who hadn't closed their curtains all the way stole the headlines. And later, a real disaster — that cost real lives and plummeted everyone in town into mourning — brought the newspapers back down to Earth. Barker and Keel had little choice but to include these events in their books. A frequent criticism of the movie The Mothman Prophecies, in which the filmmakers tried to condense Keel's book into something like a tellable story, is that there is no apparent connection between practically any of the events in the film. And that's perhaps the best way to conclude a skeptical examination into the story of the Mothman: A few vague reports, probably not connected; none of which had anything to do with the Silver Bridge's structural collapse more than a year later.

[moosehead]

I have a book called The Mothman Prohecies. Its very good.

[randym23]

I think (if the events recorded in the book are accurate) that it was the next step in the military's experiments in LSD. First they tested it on soldiers, then they tested it on "undesirables" of society (prostitutes, johns, the homeless etc). The next thing would be to test it on a civilian population- because scaring a community in surrendering is easier than going in with soldiers. This would explain the ufos, mothman, indrid cold and even the MIBs and weird phone calls. The bridge collapsed because it was an old bridge and too many people were trying to get home before dark (to avoid the mothman) and put an unprecedented load upon the bridge. That's my take on it anyway

[wolfknight]

A bridge that wasn't installed and anchored correctly washed out and fell. End of story. No Mothman never was one.

[preacherman76]

I cant say I know much about the mothman thing. But I have heard alot of eye witness testemoney and from what I saw I really cant come up with a ligit reason to doubt them. Other then the insanity of thier stories. To me, it didnt sound like a bunch of people who saw something they couldnt explain. They explained what they say they saw very well. Some in great detail. Being a eye witness to a UFO myself, I cant just dismiss this. But at the same time, I cant say I believe it totaly either. Anyhow, it made for a great story.

Edited October 5, 2012 by preacherman76

[Melo -]

idk if this is even relevant to this topic but 'what the hell is up with *spam filter* pills?!?!?!?'...

[Rafterman]

I cant say I know much about the mothman thing. But I have heard alot of eye witness testemoney and from what I saw I really cant come up with a ligit reason to doubt them. Other then the insanity of thier stories. To me, it didnt sound like a bunch of people who saw something they couldnt explain. They explained what they say they saw very well. Some in great detail. Being a eye witness to a UFO myself, I cant just dismiss this. But at the same time, I cant say I believe it totaly either. Anyhow, it made for a great story.

But that's the point of my link above - there really wasn't much, if any, eyewitness testimony. And what there was happened miles away from PP and more than a year before the bridge fell.

As with most of the stuff that gets posted around here, folks accept the facts as presented without really looking into them. But when one really looks into things like timelines, locations, names, etc. a lot of this stuff completely falls apart.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Rafterman