Mothman

Artist's impression of the Mothman
Mothman (cropped)

The Mothman, also referred to as the Weremoth, is a legendary creature in American folklore. Point Pleasant, West Virginia, United States saw Mothman from November 15, 1966 to December 15, 1967.

The first newspaper publication of November 16, 1966 was titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something."[1]

The people who saw Mothman saw a dark shape with very large glowing red eyes.

Mothman may have been a barred owl. Barred owls's eyes shine bright red in the dark. At night, the eyes look much bigger than they really are. The people may have seen a barn owl flying very close to them and thought it was a larger animal further away.[2]

A barred owl in daylight.
  1. Mark Turner (November 16, 1966). "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something." Point Pleasant Register. cited in WestVA.Net.
  2. Asher Elbein (October 26, 2018). "Is the Mothman of West Virginia an Owl?". Audubon Society. Retrieved August 8, 2021.

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