Of course, researching anything within the paranormal on the internet means going to at least one, if not several, shiteous websites maintained via mom's basement or the prison library. I can't lie - my research could be more thorough, but I can usually only slog through the horrible graphics of one of these sites. In terms of myth and folklore, usually it's all you need anyway. And I'm not writing a thesis; it's a fucking blog, and a fucking blog about nerd things, for Christ's sakes.
I started my search with the trusty Google (search: "mothman;" Yeah, I'm not kidding when I say I don't fuck around). One of the first clicks was for the domain MothmanLives.com. Strangely, when you actually start to surf around, the domain shifts to MothmanMuseum.com. I realize that in the 'net world, it's not uncommon to snatch up any random domain name having to do with your cause in order to completely dominate, but I hadn't realized nerds were so competitive. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter anyway, considering the website is horrible.
Upon clicking on the "history" section, I am greeted by a text box merely quoting blurbs about John Keel's The Mothman Prophecies. (After the movie came out, I tried to read it, but it was weird. I mean, the subject was weird of course, but I expected that; the writing seemed to be trying to prove that Keel himself was touched in a bad way by the Mothman.) One of the blurbs said that Keel is a "famed journalist," so I head over to Wiki and realize that, with his work centering entirely around paranormal activity, "famed" was an astute choice in lieu of "acclaimed" or even "infamous." Rather than reporting on Indian economics in the aftermath of Nehru's leadership, for example, Keel's research into a country rich with culture and history is to report on fakirs or as I like to call them, The David Blaines of India's Past.
Clicking past the initial page, I am met with even more heinous lay-out to sift through. Or shall I say . . .
I found myself . . . faced . . . with so much text . . .
that was separated for no apparent reason . . . by both breaks and ellipses . . .
and sometimes ended statements . . . like this.
See it for yourself.
Uggghhh.
Naturally, the information itself comes in exciting, fun varieties. The first thing I noticed was that in one statement, they place the word "partying" in quotes, as in
"Parking" and "partying" became the norm at the T.N.T. plant.This furthers my belief, and reaffirms the point of this blog, that people involved in paranormal research have no sense of humor or social lives whatsoever. Isn't it funny how we place in quotes words we find foreign to our own existence? As if it were some term an other-worldly creature uses to refer to a concept so beyond our comprehension that even to use it in normal conversational words is far from our capabilities? No, paranormal nerds do not get laid. Nope.
Anyways, so I sifted through all of the horrific emphases on random words in order to find some coherence for the three people who read this blog, and here's what you need to know about the Mothman. ("The T.N.T. Plant" is just that, some place they stored T.N.T. in Point Pleasant, where all the "partying" went on, and where the Mothman has been seen the most.)
- On November 14th, 1966, a lady was watching TV when the set went all crazy and had a “herringbone pattern” appear on it (few are aware of Mothman’s penchant for simulating beautiful patterns in nature, earning him a guest spot on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.) Long story short, there were red, glowing eyes (Trademark Mothman, 1966, renewed 1997), and her dog disappeared after chasing after them. Ewww.
- The next night, two couples go to the TNT area, presumably to swing, and see a giant creature with bat-wings and those red, glowing eyes. When they ran away, the thing could keep up with their car going 100 mph.
- When the Associated Press caught wind of the story and christened the creature with the name “Mothman,” media descended on the town and the TNT area, which suddenly started losing its dogs. (Ewww, again.)
- The infamous Silver Bridge collapse, as depicted as the climax for “The Mothman Prophecies,” seems actually to have absolutely fucking nothing to do with Mothman, except that when shitty things happen, he gets blamed. Though they cite that some people say it protected them. Or something. Whatever. As we'll see in Part 2 of this series, West Virginians seem to be a bit clueless about whether they like the hideous, red-eyed, winged creature harassing them and eating their dogs, or whether they actually think he might be okay.
As a final postscript, New Haven farmer Ernest Adkins reported something very odd indeed in April of 1969. He found his eleven-week-old beagle lying dead in his front yard. "There was no evidence the dog died in a fight," Adkins said. What made it strange was the fact that the dog's chest was chewed open, and its heart was lying outside.
Oh, absolutely. No evidence at all . . except that his chest was chewed open. I mean, I’m no expert on canine fighting techniques, but I’m willing to bet that any wild animal worth its salt would at least attempt to eat whatever it killed. That’s sort of the point, isn’t it? Though the heart just laying there is a bit weird.
In addition, the site also lists things that have happened to people who have seen the Mothman. AND THEY PUT IT IN A CAPITALIZED BULLETED LIST, most likely in order to make things like divorce, the death of old people, and conjunctivitis seem more dramatic than they actually are. And yes, seeing the Mothman is believed to cause pink eye in its victims. So not only does it kill your dog, but it throws its poop in your eyes? That sucks.
That's all I can bear for now. Next up are some "conclusions" (besides the glaring conclusion that, "You know, for people who can sit around and listen to EVPs all day, you sure have little patience for web design") . . . with neat pictures!
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