Is Mothman real? Yes or No?

[CloudSix]

I love that story and i love the movie with Richard Gere, i think it's called Mothman Prophecies

My theory is that the goverment or whoever, did some experiments with hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD to see how they work on a population.

[Q-C]

I copied this post of mine from another thread.

As I stated before, I spent twenty years living within an hour of Point Pleasant and never heard one conversation about the Mothman, but I did hear conversations about the bridge collapse. Multiple deaths in your area tend to trump myth unless you're under a certain age, imo.

In fact, my West Virginian husband just reminded me we used to fish and camp along the river there with friends when we were dating.

No mothman visit, not once, And not one story of it told around the campfire with a bunch of "locals", either.

That's my experience, anyway.

Edited January 20, 2013 by QuiteContrary

[scowl]

All reports these days show that Mothman Prophecies is almost entirely a fictional book. Keel read about a report of some Mothman and went to West Virginia to investigate it and found nothing. At the time millions of people were buying nonsense like Chariots of the Gods without questioning its validity so Keel figured he'd embellish the original report and fabricate everything else.

Back in the 70's we didn't have the Internet. Even long distance phone calls were expensive. That made it possible to get away with a hoax like Mothman if you put it in a rural setting that didn't have media connections. Keel did no promotion of the book since that would have been asking to be exposed.

But give Keel a lot of credit. The book is full of fantastic stories which are made believable by Keel's journalistic tone. Some are silly, some are crazy, and a few are terrifying yet they all form a great narrative. Keel scolds amateur UFOlogists yet carefully avoids showing how amateur his own investigations and theories are (Keel never questions anything anyone says) It even put the phrase "Men in Black" into paranormal history.

[jcneda03]

iwas on this forum where the mothman was also known as batsquatch. and is it true that ther is also a chupasquatch ; chuapacabra/ sasquatch hybrid?

[mypaddedroom]

I like to think something real is out there since there are so many witnesses out there that claim to have seen him. Something definitely had the people of Point Pleasant scared at that time when all those sighting were occurring. I just voted yes I'd say there's a good possibility.

[Kipperphoenix]

iwas on this forum where the mothman was also known as batsquatch. and is it true that ther is also a chupasquatch ; chuapacabra/ sasquatch hybrid?

Actually, Mothman and Batsquatch are two completely different creatures. And I don't think there was ever a chupacabra/Sasquatch hybrid. Though I wouldn't be surprised if at one point there was, people love to combine things into a new type of 'squatch'.

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

The stories about him are so weird and unbelievable that it makes me believe it is real. But when you think about why it would exist makes it unbeleivable...I mean a half man, half moth? Why would nature alow something like that to exist?

Nature wouldn't but ET's might.

When I first heard of "mothman", I laughed hysrerically.

When I saw the show and listened to the witnesses, I stopped laughing.

And guess who showed up at the town where mothman was...? yup, "men in black" - and the locals never saw mothman again.

seriously, I believe ET's are using earth as an experimental lab now. I think it is possible that chupacabra, BF, mothman, and maybe more

are nothing more than creatures created by ET's. Why they would do this is beyond me.

Obviously, just an opinion. but I really have to wonder.

[TroodonMan56]

I voted Yes. However, I think it is an unknown species of giant bird, rather than anything paranormal, or any of that nonsense.

[Clobhair-cean]

Nature wouldn't but ET's might.

When I first heard of "mothman", I laughed hysrerically.

When I saw the show and listened to the witnesses, I stopped laughing.

And guess who showed up at the town where mothman was...? yup, "men in black" - and the locals never saw mothman again.

seriously, I believe ET's are using earth as an experimental lab now. I think it is possible that chupacabra, BF, mothman, and maybe more

are nothing more than creatures created by ET's. Why they would do this is beyond me.

Obviously, just an opinion. but I really have to wonder.

There was no sign of MIBs anywhere near Point Pleasant according to the original newspaper articles and other contemporary documents. They were added by John Keel in his fictional Mothman Prophecies.

[ali smack]

I don't think it exists to be honest.

I think IMO it's an urban legend.

[Rafterman]

I like to think something real is out there since there are so many witnesses out there that claim to have seen him. Something definitely had the people of Point Pleasant scared at that time when all those sighting were occurring. I just voted yes I'd say there's a good possibility.

Actually there aren't "so many witnesses" and the people of PP weren't scared at the time. You do realize that what 5-6 documented MM sightings took place more than a year before the bridge collapse and, in 2 cases, were 50+ miles away from PP.

[orangepeaceful79]

Actually there aren't "so many witnesses" and the people of PP weren't scared at the time. You do realize that what 5-6 documented MM sightings took place more than a year before the bridge collapse and, in 2 cases, were 50+ miles away from PP.

Silly Rafterman - Don't you realize yet that logic and critical thinking skills have no place within the bounds of cryptozoology??

[orangepeaceful79]

[TroodonMan56]

Silly Rafterman - Don't you realize yet that logic and critical thinking skills have no place within the bounds of cryptozoology??

This is because the majority of cryptozoologists do not use the scientific method correctly. However, if the scientific method is used to objectively study reports of cryptids, then there is no a priori reason why logic and critical thinking skills should not have a place within cryptozoology. Visit my blog for more information: http://worldofcryptids.blogspot.com/

You see, I consider myself an amateur cryptozoologist, but that doesn't mean I just blindly believe any story that comes my way. For example, I am skeptical about the supposed existence of surviving non-avian dinosaurs, and I think it is highly unlikely that modern-day plesiosaurs could possibly survive in a certain Scottish freshwater loch, for example.

Edited January 24, 2013 by TroodonMan56

[Rafterman]

This is because the majority of cryptozoologists do not use the scientific method correctly. However, if the scientific method is used to objectively study reports of cryptids, then there is no a priori reason why logic and critical thinking skills should not have a place within cryptozoology. Visit my blog for more information: http://worldofcryptids.blogspot.com/

You see, I consider myself an amateur cryptozoologist, but that doesn't mean I just blindly believe any story that comes my way. For example, I am skeptical about the supposed existence of surviving non-avian dinosaurs, and I think it is highly unlikely that modern-day plesiosaurs could possibly survive in a certain Scottish freshwater loch, for example.

That's certainly a good point.

I've found that the easiest way to debunk most of this stuff is to look at the original history and citations - not the stuff that has propagated on the web over the past 20 years. Yes, there may be dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of mentions on Google, but you'd be surprised how many times they simply quote a single erroneous story.

Go back and do your own research or follow the work of someone who does and you'll see that most of these stories fall apart before they even start.

[wimfloppp]

no

[scowl]

I've found that the easiest way to debunk most of this stuff is to look at the original history and citations - not the stuff that has propagated on the web over the past 20 years. Yes, there may be dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of mentions on Google, but you'd be surprised how many times they simply quote a single erroneous story.

Often a highly-regarded erroneous story like Mothman Prophecies. This was a very popular UFO/Paranormal book that for some reason was ignored by the Skeptical Inquirer which usually debunks these things. In some cases it takes a lot more digging to find out it was all made up because everyone has already decided it must have been real.

Unlike my favorite Bigfoot story, "Night Siege". While it's nowhere near as complete or professional as Mothman Prophecies (well, it's just a photocopy of typed pages and crude drawings), it follows the same model by describing incredible and terrifying events experienced by ordinary people living in a rural area while the author presents himself as an unbiased (if not scientific) witness to paranormal events.

Fortunately no one bought this nonsense (for a change!) and the story is barely known in cryptology. I'm hoping one of the half dozen paranormal shows on cable will come across it and do something with it.

[Dark Vortex]

I tend to believe he exists, bringing chaos where he goes, or warning the people with keen eyes to danger. idk which to believe yet, but one of my family members was talking to me about the 45w bridge collapse a few years ago in minnesota and she was driving over it the day before, and says she saw the mothman on the side of the bridge, looking into her car. next day the bridge had fallen. its creepy but i believe it.

[orangepeaceful79]

I tend to believe he exists, bringing chaos where he goes, or warning the people with keen eyes to danger. idk which to believe yet, but one of my family members was talking to me about the 45w bridge collapse a few years ago in minnesota and she was driving over it the day before, and says she saw the mothman on the side of the bridge, looking into her car. next day the bridge had fallen. its creepy but i believe it.

welcome to UM. Here's your nametag.

Have a nice day!

[scowl]

I tend to believe he exists, bringing chaos where he goes, or warning the people with keen eyes to danger. idk which to believe yet, but one of my family members was talking to me about the 45w bridge collapse a few years ago in minnesota and she was driving over it the day before, and says she saw the mothman on the side of the bridge, looking into her car. next day the bridge had fallen. its creepy but i believe it.

It was probably just one of the construction workers who had been working on it before it collapsed. No one else mentioned anything unusual.