In the terrifying legend of The Mothman, when Chicago reports another “sighting” of a giant winged beast

The LEGEND of a giant winged creature haunting West Virginians has been terrorizing Americans since the 1960s.

The horrifying myth of The Mothman was born in 1966 when gravediggers reported seeing something large hovering over their heads and moving rapidly from tree to tree as reported by ati.

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Clendenin, West Virginia, gravediggers reportedly described the strange sighting as “brown people.”

Days after that first sighting, two pairs reported finding a white-winged creature that measured six or seven feet in the nearby town of Point Pleasant.

The creature was standing in front of the car the group was in, according to eyewitnesses Roger Scarberry and Steve Mallet.

They told The Point Pleasant Register that the animal had red eyes and a wingspan of 10 feet and could fly as fast as 100 miles per hour.

Scarberry insisted that what he saw was real, even though it sounded so far-fetched.

“If I had seen it alone I would not have said anything, but there were four of us who saw it,” he told the newspaper.

The creature was dubbed “The Mothman” in local papers after Mallet’s description went to print: “It was like a man with wings.”

Other people then reported similar sightings, but County Sheriff George Johnson dismissed it as an unusually large heron.

After sightings over the next year, the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967, killing dozens of people.

This became associated with the Mothman and the myth was cemented.

There have been hundreds of reported sightings of the cryptid over the years, with Illinois having the most reported sightings at 125 as of September 2022.

Multiple sightings have been reported at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

The Singular Fortean Society, an organization focused on paranormal journalism and research, archives the sightings to maintain a dedicated list and interviews eyewitnesses for more information.

It is run by married couple Tobias and Emily Wayland.

THE MOTHMAN FESTIVAL RETURNS

Every year Mothman enthusiasts gather in Point Pleasant for the Mothman Festival, but for two years they had to cancel due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, however, the city at the center of mystery welcomed people from across the US to explore the Mothman Museum and snap photos with the iconic statue.

“I’m interested in paranormal stuff and I’ve seen a lot of different shows and movies and things about the Mothman,” said Mary Pascarelli, who traveled to the city from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Pascarelli and her fiancé Mark Kohlhepp wanted to see the festival after visiting the museum in the past.

“We just thought it would be fun to come down and see what the fuss is about,” she told The Herald-Dispatch.

The festival aims to celebrate the winged creature’s still-mysterious history and offers visitors the chance to shop from local vendors in an event akin to a small-scale Comic Con.

The Mothman Festival takes place in September each year.

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