Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia
The state of West Virginia is no newcomer to monster lore. Probably the most famous was Mothman which originated with sightings in the late 1960s near the town of Point Pleasant. Other creatures such as Snarly Yow and the Grafton Monster help solidify the mysterious and supernatural history of the state. Another monster sighting over a decade before Mothman’s appearance captured the interest and imaginations of people all across America. On a dark night in September 1952 in the town of Flatwoods, the legend of the Flatwoods Monster was born.
That evening as the sun was setting, several local youths saw something streak across the darkening sky that they described as a bright light. When the object crashed into the ground, they set off to investigate. Along the way, they stopped and picked up two adults, Kathleen May, the mother of two of the youths, and Eugene Lemon, a 17-year-old member of the West Virginia National Guard, and a dog. Together, the inquisitive group moved to the crash.
The story they told after the event said that when they arrived at the crash site they saw a pulsing red light. Eugene shined his flashlight in that direction and what they saw next scared all of them. Illuminated in the flashlight’s beam was an approximately ten feet tall, human-like character with a head like an ace of spades, hands like claws, and a body that was red like blood. They claimed that the creature then moved towards them. At that point, the entire group ran with fright, and even the dog ran, tail between its legs.
The encounter was reported to authorities, but further investigation of the area produced no evidence to support the group’s account. Still, the story made the local headlines and spread from there to national news. People came from all over to visit the site and speak with the witnesses. The attention paid to the area stuck, and, to this day visitors can visit the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, WV, a short five miles from Flatwoods.
In typical fashion, the details of the incident were attributed by experts and the military to the usual culprits—shooting stars and wildlife, namely a barn owl. To the experts' credit, a barn owl does have an ace of spades-shaped face. But, with the number of appearances of new monsters in West Virginia, it’s hard not to ask, “Who will be the next person to see something that just doesn’t fit right in the Mountain State?”