Beyond the Beyond: The Night the Flatwoods Monster Descended

Beyond the Beyond: The Night the Flatwoods Monster Descended

In one of the first Beyond the Beyond pieces, I discuss the well-documented case of Point Pleasant, West Virginia’s Mothman. In 1966, in a small town, locals reported seeing a giant winged creature with glowing red eyes, which the press dubbed “Mothman.” John A. Keel reported on the event and later fleshed the story out to become the book The Mothman Prophecies, which went on to become a movie in 2002 starring Richard Gere. The movie wasn’t very good, although it did go a long way in drumming up interest in the story with a new printing of Keel’s original text.

It is now regarded as a classic in paranormal literature, inspiring other books and hundreds of videos on the topic. But there was another story from West Virginia that predates the Mothman by nearly fifteen years. On September 12, 1952, a group of children saw a ball of fire streaking across the night sky and landing on a nearby hill. Joined by a National Guardsman named Eugene “Gene” Lemon and a local mother named Kathleen May, they climbed the hill to investigate, only to discover a towering figure with claw-like hands, glowing red eyes, and a spade-shaped head.

The being was surrounded by a foul mist that smelled like sulfur, and as it turned toward the group, it gave off a shrieking noise that sounded mechanical or metallic. As it floated toward them, the group ran from it, terrified. The being did not give chase, and when the police later went to investigate the craft, they found nothing.

The Flatwoods Monster is one of those not-too-uncommon instances in UFO folklore where there are multiple witnesses—mostly kids, plus Kathleen, and who can forget Gene. This would seem to rule out some skeptics who claim nothing more than an owl was seen that night. The witnesses, besides having their wits scared out of them, later experienced a burning sensation in their eyes, sore throats, and nausea. This is an all-too-common theme with UFO experiencers and abductees and may have been the result of getting too close to the sulfurous mist, which may or may not have been related to the exhaust of the landed craft. This reminds me of the story of Albert K. Bender, the president of the UFO organization The International Flying Saucer Bureau. He was supposedly visited several times by the Men in Black, shadowy agents who would often warn off those who had witnessed unknown craft in the sky. He was told to stop publishing a quarterly journal on the phenomenon. But what’s interesting to note is that after they visited him in his room to give him that message, they left abruptly, leaving behind a trail of yellow mist and the smell of—you guessed it—sulfur.

Now, I’ve seen a few owls in my time—a few of them out in the woods, even. And I never, ever, ever mistook one of them for a ten- to twelve-foot-tall alien. And even if I did, I want to believe that if I were there with four friends and two adults, at least one of them would know the difference between the two. It appears to have been some robotic probe, maybe sent to take soil samples or scare the hell out of a bunch of kids. The metallic scream, if that’s what it was, would seem to suggest the being may have been robotic in nature. What if it was an interdimensional, time-traveling chrononaut, astrally projected from a base on the dark side of the moon? Or it could be that’s what the Mothman’s spacesuit looks like…

Have you had an encounter in the woods of West Virginia? Message @beyondthebeyond1 on Instagram

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Sierra Now. Readers are encouraged to conduct further research and consult with relevant experts or professionals before making any decisions or taking any actions based on the information provided in this article.

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TM Rush