I think it’s a fair assumption that most readers of UFO/Paranormal literature are familiar—perhaps overly so—with the events that occurred between 1966-1968 at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. “Mothman,” UFO sightings, Men in Black menacing locals, synchronicities, and literally the entire spectrum of psychic phenomena.
This chapter, though based on extant material, will not be a simple rehash. While I cannot claim to have reviewed all published material, I am confident that I’ve come close since much crossover exists in the data. Too, I have visited Point Pleasant a number of times, spoken with many residents (including a few who were present during the events), and done much driving and foot-work.
Despite this, it’s only fair to mention at least the most well-known Mothman sighting. On 15 November 1966, around 11:00 PM, Roger and Linda Scarberry, along with Steve and Mary Mallette, were riding in Roger’s 1957 Chevy through the TNT Area (a huge abandoned site used during WWII for munitions production), when they saw something beyond their experience. The teenaged couples described the terrifying entity as winged, ashy gray, nearly seven-feet tall with what appeared to be red glowing eyes in its chest (they could not see a head).
Whatever it was stood outside the old power-house (demolished in the 1990s), and apparently took wing, pursuing the car at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. Even today I cannot imagine anyone driving so fast on Route 62. Though flat, parallel to the Ohio River, the road has several curves and in utter darkness is treacherous. You wouldn’t want to exceed 40 miles per hour.
This was no joke. The couples headed directly for the police station on Main Street, and gave their statements. None of them had any history as troublemakers—quite the opposite. During their terrifying drive, they noticed a dead dog on the roadside. What they didn’t know was that, the night before, a man living near Salem, WV, had set his dog after some dark figure with fiery eyes. Newell Partridge never saw his beloved German shepherd—Bandit—again.
Later, accompanied by Point Pleasant Deputy Halstead, the couples drove back the 7 miles to the TNT Area. Notably absent was the dead dog they had seen earlier. While much has been speculated about this, it is possible that the dog, though injured, was not dead and managed to crawl into the field on the west side of Route 62. We’ll never know, but the fact it was noticed at all is thought-provoking.
Mothman, as described by the witnesses, could not possibly fly with its 10-foot wingspan. As noted by John Keel, a creature of such size would require at least 30-feet-wide wings to go airborne.
As difficult as it might be to comprehend, the so-called Mothman entity (or cryptid, para-physical creature, ultraterrestrial, etc.) remains the most puzzling aspect to explain. Everything else: UFOs, Men in Black, bizarre telephone and TV intrusions, poltergeist activity, can be conceivably figured. This is why I think the entity itself was a genuine unknown. Were such a sighting to occur today (winged unknowns still are reported), I’d be very suspicious. But I do not accept anyone in 1966 had the ability to orchestrate a hoax. I am not so sure about the other activities.
I have studied at some length the capabilities of American intelligence/military agencies during the 1960s, much of which is available in the open literature.
1. Only recently has it been disclosed that the architects of the TNT Area north of Point Pleasant were the same who designed infrastructure for both the Manhattan Project (atomic bomb) and Area 51.
2. I realize that any TNT-Area operations had to be kept secret. Workers—thousands—were transported back and forth in school buses with blacked-out windows (though I’m not sure why, since many had to have been nearby residents aware of where they were employed). One can take a tour and visit 100 “igloos” (concrete domes once covered with earth and fitted with bomb-proof doors) built on a staggered grid-system to prevent aerial detection and complete ruin from attack. These structures—save one that exploded several years ago—are still mostly intact. A few have been prized open and bear much debris from decades of parties.
3. The genesis of the TNT Area is suspicious, given post-WWII anomalous activity. “Animal experimentation” took place there. Why? Certainly it could not have been necessary to line up livestock on the firing range!
4. Some of the 100 igloos were later leased to Mason County government and private concerns. Others were sold to the Trojan-U.S. Powder Co. and LFC Chemical. Some were leased to American Cyanamid. This bears closer scrutiny. From Nick Redfern’s and Andy Roberts’ Strange Secrets: “During the summer of 1947, the FBI also interviewed one Edwin M. Bailey of Stamford, CT., who had concerns about man-made [flying] saucers and their use against the United States by an offensive nation. Bailey’s comments were the subject of a memorandum to FBI Director [J. Edgar] Hoover.
“‘Bailey prefaced his remarks by stating the he is a scientist by occupation and is currently employed at the American Cyanamid Research Laboratories [my emphasis—WJG] . . . in Stamford, CT., in the Physics Division. Bailey further stated that during the war he was employed at MIT, Cambridge, MA., in the Radiation Laboratory which laboratory is connected with the Manhattan Project. . . .
“‘Bailey stated that the topic of flying saucers had caused considerable comment and concern to the present day scientists and indicated that he himself had a personal theory concerning the flying saucers. . . .
“‘Bailey stated that it is quite possible that actually the flying saucers could be radio-controlled germ bombs or atom bombs which are circling the orbit of the earth and which could be controlled by radio and directed to land on any designated target at the specific desire of the agency or country operating the bombs.'”
Given the future events that took place in Point Pleasant, I find this information more than a little telling about possible (perhaps necessary) U.S. intelligence operations. These connections might be spurious—but I doubt it.
Though it is easier, and more fun, to take the Mothman events at face-value, I think there exists enough data to at least suggest, if not confirm, some human influence on what began long before the paranormal chaos centered in and around Point Pleasant.
I will later present much more evidence of what might have been the most extensive psychological/black operation in American history.