The Search for the Mysterious Mothman

- So we're on our way to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of the Mothman. I think you're really going to like this city. - I think we are in the moths' nest. - If we're going to find a

mothman

, it'll be out here. - Moth Man! - This is beyond belief. - Are you afraid? - sh. (creepy music) Mothman! This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we travel to Point Pleasant, ^West Virginia, as we dip our toes ^back into the cryptid pond ^to

search

for the famous creature. The Mothman. - Oh, very impressive. - Can you see that? - That's good. - You'll see it firsthand when we travel to West Virginia, which we will do shortly after I do. - What do you need this for? - Well, these are my Mothman gloves.

I use these to catch it, look at the grip. I grab it by the claws. - Are you supposed to read it? - Yes, let's get into it. The

mothman

is a cryptozoological creature that is believed to have made its first appearance in 1966. Witnesses have described the creature as having a man-like stature and that it is often seen walking on its two hind legs. The Mothman is primarily seen at night and its color is difficult to discern. Sometimes described as gray. Other times, like brown. However, the Mothman's gigantic build is largely undisputed. By all accounts, the Mothman is a physically imposing specimen standing between six and eight feet tall.

As its name suggests, the Mothman is capable of flight and sports two enormous wings with a monstrous wingspan of eight to 15 feet. A chilling detail reported in many sightings is the Mothman's hauntingly haunting red eyes, a red described by one woman as, quote, "Red like you've never seen red," end quote. - Moths aren't even scary. People say Mothman and I don't, I don't tremble. - I think his name is Mothman not because he looks like a giant moth, a giant moth would have almost butterfly wings, right? - Don't you have butterfly wings? - It looks more like Batman's wings. - Well then they shouldn't call him Mothman! - We will talk about it with whoever invented it. - The Beast from the Sky. - Beast of the Sky.

You literally put the two things together that are. - Moon Monster. - That's pretty stupid. - The Demon of the Clouds. - No. Let's go over some others. - Do you want to see my others? - Yes, what are the others you have? - The Evil Eagle. Dr. Shadow of the Sky. Lord Bite the Wind. - Mr. Bite the Wind. -You know, he's flying through the air. (growls) - You said it out loud, are you still going to stand by it? - Teeth grinding. (growling) - That's good, but how about...? No, it's bad. - What do you have?

Just say your bad. - It was, I was going to say Wingatron. - Wingatron. - That sounds. - That sounds like a robot. - Yes, it's like a robot, yes. It was in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, that Mothman became famous. Hence our presence now in the city. In fact, a statue of the famous creature stands in the center of town for those looking for a face-to-face encounter. Stop number one, Mothman statue. -He seems very decorated. - You will be able to look at him face to face. - What is that supposed to mean? - It means you're two and a half meters tall, it's a big joke.

Get it? Look at his eyes. - Yes, they are a beautiful amber color or something like that. - I was going to say that they are pure terror. I could feel it running through my veins. -OMG, he has full abs, look at that! - This guy is definitely P90X. -He is like a George Clooney Batman. - Hopefully this won't be our only face-to-face encounter with the Mothman, maybe we'll find one in the woods and it won't look anything like this and we'll have to contact the West Virginia Board and say: You need to change your statue because the guys have solved it. - Yeah, I certainly don't think he's going to be wearing GI Joe armor. -Don't you think he'll be wearing the bat suit?

The knee pads? - That's a little strange. By the way, do you see this guy's butt? - Oh Lord! The purpose of our pilgrimage to Point Pleasant is to catch a glimpse of the Mothman, but if that effort proves fruitless, we can still enjoy the influence of Mothmania that is ever-present throughout the city. For starters, an annual Mothman festival is held every September and Motham souvenirs are stocked on shelves, ready for eager tourists all year round. At Coffee Grinder, you can order various Mothman delicacies, such as chocolate Mothman droppings, Mothman coffee, and a delicious Mothman cookie with red eyes.

This is the Coffee Grinder, this is one of the many places in the city where you can buy some Mothman delicacies. You are excited? - Yes, they have little Mothman lives here. -He does. - It's kind of like the fun little mascot of this town. - Good pet. (upbeat music) Oh man. This is nice and cozy. And he looks at that. - Yes, it feels good. - Do you think he'll look this friendly when we see him? -Probably, I don't know if he's smiling like that. Yes, that's better. For. -What do you think his voice would sound like?

It's me, Mothman. It's me, Mothman. - There you go, yes. - Are you guys from out of town? (laughs) (happy music) Shall we eat some excrement? - Mmm, mmm. - Okay, this feels weird, I don't know. - It feels good. Hmm. - Sweet entry and crunchy, nutty finish. We have the adult here and then the baby. I'm really enjoying this moment, it's beautiful. - This is really something. - This is good. - Hmm. - Now we take a sip. This is good, is this how those Worth It guys feel? - Not enough gold. - Finally, at Village Pizza, you can order the delicious Mothman pizza of the same name.

Oh, you're walking through that door, I was going to open the door, okay. What, Jesus Christ. This Mothman pizza pays homage to common ingredients with the responsibility of imitating the look of the famous creature. The clever arrangement includes blood-red cherry tomatoes for eyes, bell peppers for legs, and spooky mushrooms for wings. - So this is very fun for them. -It is undoubtedly a large part of their trade in terms of tourism. - Huh. -If I go to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, I would go there for Mothman. - Yes. - And these people are on board. - I just like that the city can join in with it. - Some people have postulated that the people of this town have turned Mothman into a beacon of tourism. - Oh, Ryan. - That I don't buy. - Impossible. - I don't buy for a second. - No, I smelled the nonsense.

Full test, passed the Bergara smell test. - I don't trust that evidence one bit. - Yes. Because it's my test. (laughs) - Shut up. (upbeat music) - Okay, there it is. - Oh thanks. - He's looking at me right now. - Look at those small, round eyes, they look a little like yours. - Look at me now, Shane. What do you think of me? - I like this guy. I like the vibe of him. - Oh thanks. We have the wings right here. Torso, bell pepper legs. That is incredible. - If I saw this in the forest, I wouldn't necessarily be so scared. -Actually, his eyes would be quite terrifying. - Yeah, those are really creepy. -I don't know, I like it, I love it, I can't wait to eat his body. - I call one of the eyepieces. - There are only two of us here, so obviously I'm going to look for the other one. - Good. (upbeat music) - Okay.

While we were at Village Pizza, the manager sat down with us to share the story of a Mothman sighting. What's the scariest story you've heard from someone in terms of sighting the Mothman? - Danny Scarborough's mother. She said that one night she had to fight him, she had come to get Danny, she was about six months old, she was in his bed and she had to fight the Mothman while she was trying to grab the baby. She-she was trying to steal her baby. -Yes, I mean that was her story, but I mean, she was very convincing and it's sad to say, she's dead and gone now, but that was very scary. -She fought Mothman. - Well, she didn't. - Oh Lord. -She didn't actually fight him, but she fought him and took the baby from her. - Oh, wow. -That's her story. - Well, that was educational. - That was good. - I bought my souvenirs, it was good. (church bells ring) It's time.

These two strangely optimistic pilgrims are ready to embark on our menacing Mothman mission. Let's start with the main sighting that started Mothmania as we know it. Alright, this is the McClintic Wildlife Management Area. This is the main sighting area. -This looks like the kind of area you'd see a Mothman in. - A Mothman, exactly, right. Scarce. -There aren't many people around here. - Yes, there are densely forested parts. - This seems like a good way to be afraid. - During World War II, 8,000 acres of a forested area near Point Pleasant, West Virginia, were used to manufacture and house explosives.

The explosives were housed in concrete igloos scattered around the terrain. After the war, the effort was abandoned and the area was partially converted into a wildlife preserve now known as the McClintic Wildlife Management Area. In the 1980s, it was discovered that the byproducts of explosives had severely contaminated the land. And yet, to this day, the igloos and some of their hazardous materials remain. Some speculate that this pollution transformed the local birds into what would eventually become the Mothman. But that's pure speculation. - I don't think that's how those things work. - I think normally if you come into contact with something radioactive or something, you die. - Or you become Mothman.

I mean, what are the chances of this happening? They are not zero. We will park here and then go out to the Wildlife Reserve. Now it's daytime but. Dusk will come soon. And you know I always come prepared. I mean, there are hunters around here, I don't want them to shoot me. - No, I know, we don't want them to shoot you. - So I'm breaking old faithfuls. - Without a helmet this time? - No, I don't have any reports of Mothman hitting people over the head with rocks, so I don't think it's necessary this time. -I guess, you know, in a sense, you can make yourself a better target for Mothman by just flying out of the sky and grabbing hold of him. - Maybe you look a lot like Bigfoot and say, oh, what a colorful vest. - Do you think we should try to be friends with Mothman too? - Oh, yes, I didn't bring you a beer, it doesn't seem like a type of beer to me, it seems more like a type of wine to me. - It seemed to me like a kind of field mouse. - Despite the hazardous materials stored there in years past, in 1966, this area, often called the TNT zone, was a popular destination for local youth.

As such, on November 15, 1966, Steve and Mary Mallette and Roger and Linda Scarberry were enjoying a leisurely stroll through the TNT area. Unfortunately, their fun would come to a screeching halt when the two women, Linda and Mary, saw a figure near the TNT plant. The figure began to shuffle towards the entrance of the building, giving them an excellent opportunity to observe the creature. While they initially thought it looked a lot like a man, it clearly had no arms or head. It had enormous wings folded high on its back and, perhaps most notably, two glowing red eyes. So I guess the couples were somewhere around here, maybe on that road over there.

And I'm not sure of the exact location but this is where they saw him stumbling around. - Did you just see him dragging his feet a little? - Yes. - A big, wobbly man. -I don't know, maybe he was just taking a walk, I mean, what do you care? - Why would you go for a walk if you had wings? -He is a damn creature, he can do whatever he wants. After being momentarily bewitched by the creature, the couples came to their senses and drove off in their car, terrified. Any thoughts on that so far? (blows raspberry) - No.

What year is it, '66? - '66. - There are few teenagers out there, probably smoking some weird cigarettes. - You could say grass, we are in 2018. - A little grass. - As they headed toward Highway 62 in Roger Scarberry's 1957 Chevy, they saw the being appear in front of them and rise straight into the sky. The creature had a gigantic 10-foot wingspan and couples noticed that it did not need to flap its wings as it chased the car at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. Quote, "Sliding over and behind the vehicle," end of quote. The creature made a noise similar to a quote, "record playing at high speed or mouse squeaking", end of quote. (laughs) It's not exactly the scariest sound.

And that's why I think maybe these people aren't lying because if they were lying, it seems like a weird detail to make up. It seemed that he opened his mouth and the mountains moved with the force of the roar. - Yes. - And they left, no, he squealed like a little mouse. (laughs) That's what happened, I was terrified. - It was easy to make the Bigfoot call at very high volume, but it will be difficult out there. - Give me your best Mothman screech. (clears throat) - This is the noise you are going to make to try to attract another Moth person. - I'm going to try two different approaches for this. - Okay, I can't wait to hear both. - One will be an exhale and then the other will be an inhalation.

So my first one is. (screeching) That's one. The other one will be a little sharper, because it will be the inhalation. (screeching shrilly) - The first one was good, I'll give you that. The second one sounded like you were choking a dolphin. Also, your eyes got a littlecoyotes or dogs. Or a large package of something. - Shit. - Only coyotes. - Aren't you fucking alarmed right now? - Are you afraid? - Friend, what are you? This is beyond belief, it was a package of, whatever it is. - They were coyotes. - Is that our signal to leave?

I think maybe. We've been here for quite some time. - Yeah, I don't know if we'll find anything tonight. - I don't want to be in the mouth of some coyote later, so I don't want it to be the packaging of old Bergara's painting. - Very good, another good cryptid hunt. We're down two, but I think next time. - The odds were against us in this case, there is no way to catch this thing. We give up! - This time you win, Mothman. But I'll come back. - Okay, you know what's funny? - Yes. - Our Mothman call really attracted alcoyotes, so it worked for something. - Do you think it was us? - I think the call showed it, it wasn't all for show, it had value. - We are both masters of the Mothman call. - Yeah, we should basically be on Animal Planet. - We should. - I'm going to pause here for a second. - Yes. - Give it one last chance, how about that? (screeching) Last chance! - I think you have offended the Mothman. -In the end, no one really knows what Mothman is, much less if he really exists.

Some have suggested that Mothman could have demonic or angelic origins. Others believe that Mothman could actually be an alien, connecting Mothman to the bright lights seen in the sky. Some even believe that Mothman could be an alien, a creature from another dimension. As for me, I'm not quite sure what I believe, but I find the voluminous record of sightings curious for something that is not real. However, as our efforts today have shown, the existence of the Mothman continues to elude us and, for now, will remain unresolved. (creepy music)