Throwback Thursday: 2016 Mothman Photos

On November 20, 2016, a man driving down Route 2 in the Point Pleasant area spotted something strange in the trees. He pulled over, grabbed his phone, and snapped several pictures. 

The cryptozoological and paranormal world was delighted when a local television station, WCHS, ran the story the next day. Although he turned down an on-camera interview with reporter Fallon Pierson, the man who took the photos shown above swore that they were not doctored in any way.  And, due to the close proximity of Pt. Pleasant, WV and the fact that the creature looks slightly humanoid with long legs bent at an angle, many assumed that Mothman had returned to the area, almost 50 years to the day of his original sightings in Pt. Pleasant.

It’s really fun to think that West Virginia’s most famous cryptid has made a return and the proof was caught on camera. However, almost immediately, some very knowledgeable people presented some logical explanations. For example, many believe that this is a large bird of prey, possibly a type of owl. The ‘legs’ that make the creature appear humanoid are actually caused by a snake being held in the bird’s talons. 

To me, that explanation makes the most sense…but there’s another theory that emerged that I actually find kind of comical—intriguing, but definitely amusing to look at!  That theory states that the man who captured the anomalous photos managed to capture a rare moment when a bald eagle (or similar bird) was flying upside down!  There have been documented cases of eagles briefly flying in this manner, as evidenced by the photos below by Pam Mullins.

No matter what caused these strange photos, it was definitely a really fun thing to see covered by the local news, who also consulted Jeff Wamsley at the Mothman Museum and other Pt. Pleasant locals and visitors for input.  ( The video segment can be found here on YouTube .) I certainly followed the story as it was developing at the time, but never got around to blogging about it, until now. The reason why I chose now as the right time was because for some strange reason, this past week or so, I have stumbled across those photos above no less than 5 times! I thought that must be a sign to finally give this crazy, wacky story a place of its own at Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State! Stay spooky, stay weird, and keep your eyes to the skies—you never know what you might see!