Mothman!

OK, so I’m Mothman fan. I’m wearing my orange Mothman T-shirt as I type this, and I have a stuffed animal Mothman on my desk at work. Yes, I’ve been to the Mothman Festival and hope to return this year. Ghosts and monsters are part of West Virginia’s Appalachian heritage. How cool is that?

If all you know about the Mothman is what you saw (or didn’t see) in the 2002 movie starring Richard Gere, you haven’t heard the entire story. The facts are far more chilling than fiction. No matter what you believe, residents of Point Pleasant, W.Va., saw some kind of winged creature in 1966 and 1967. (Of course, some say it was a sandhill crane.)

If you want to hear some details that will make you question what goes bump in the night, check out the book “Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend” by Jeff Wamsley and Donnie Sergent, Jr. The pair grew up surrounded by the contemporary supernatural legend and wanted to set the record straight through a documentary-style account. Their book features police reports, newspaper articles and an interview with Linda Scarberry, one of the first eyewitnesses. (John Keel’s “The Mothman Prophecies” is worth reading, but I find it disjointed and hard to follow in places. I guess you'll have that when writing about transdimensional creatures.)

I definitely recommend a visit to the Mothman Festival on Sept. 19 and 20, 2009. There is a Mothman Museum and you can take a night-time hay ride tour of the TNT Area, the location of the original sighting. You can support the Mothman through your purchase of merchandise. Also, you can hear from some interesting folks talking about ghosts and other paranormal critters. It’s a fun time. I hope to see you there. Beware the men in black.

For more info, check out www.mothmanlives.com.