So let’s see… I watched The Mothman Prophecies the other night — the blurbs on the DVD case promised me a “creepy” and “unsettling” film, but the blurbs lied, stupid, stupid blurbs — and, though Richard Gere was decent and Laura Linney passable (though just barely so — not my favorite actress, Ms. Linney; Congo sealed her fate as far as I’m concerned), the movie itself was a disappointment. Debra Messing hadn’t much to do, and Will Patton hadn’t much to work with. A shame, really.
Based on the true story of events in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966-67, the film takes place in the present day — presumably so that the filmmakers could save money on costumes and vintage car rentals, and so Richard Gere could carry a state-of-the-art cell phone. A few eerie moments here and there, but overall, not much going on, I fear.
What pissed me off the most, though, was the lack of extras on the DVD. I mean, here was a story screaming for a supplemental documentary about the “real” Mothman myth. Instead, we get a music video by some band no one will remember in a year (hell, it’s been 20 hours for me, and I’ve already forgotten ’em) and the theatrical trailer. Which only served to remind me how I was tricked into renting this mess in the first place.
But never fear. I went out and did my homework. And so I’m able to present you with this — the true story of the Mothman, “Mothman: The Enigma of Point Pleasant“
The weird events connected to the Mothman began on November 12, 1966 near Clendenin, West Virginia. Five men were in the local cemetery that day, preparing a grave for a burial, when something that looked like a ‘brown human being’ lifted off from some nearby trees and flew over their heads. The men were baffled. It did not appear to be a bird, but more like a man with wings. A few days later, more sightings would take place, electrifying the entire region.
Late in the evening of November 15, two young married couples had a very strange encounter as they drove past an abandoned TNT plant near Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The couples spotted two large eyes that were attached to something that was ‘shaped like a man, but bigger, maybe six or seven feet tall. And it had big wings folded against its back’. When the creature moved toward the plant door, the couples panicked and sped away. Moments later, they saw the same creature on a hillside near the road. It spread its wings and rose into the air, following with their car, which by now was traveling at over 100 miles per hour. ‘That bird kept right up with us,’ said one of the group. They told Deputy Sheriff Millard Halstead that it followed them down Highway 62 and right to the Point Pleasant city limits. And they would not be the only ones to report the creature that night. Another group of four witnesses claimed to see the ‘bird’ three different times!
[…] Another sighting had more bizarre results. At about 10:30 on that same evening, Newell Partridge, a local building contractor who lived in Salem (about 90 miles from Point Pleasant), was watching television when the screen suddenly went dark. He stated that a weird pattern filled the screen and then he heard a loud, whining sounds from outside that raised in pitch and then ceased.
One Reply to “Into the Bright Light”
Joe Nickell did an article for the Skeptical Inquirer about <i>Mothman</i>; they rushed it to the Internet because it was pretty clear the movie wouldn’t be in theaters long.
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