The Mothman of Point Pleasant

Record summary

The Mothman legend developed around reports of a large winged figure near Point Pleasant, West Virginia, beginning in November 1966, followed by newspaper coverage, interviews, and later association with the Silver Bridge collapse of December 1967. It is useful for comparing rumor formation, disaster linkage, tourism, and retrospective narrative consolidation. The story’s chronology and witness details vary across local reporting and later books. No paranormal conclusion follows from the existence of the reports, and some accounts may reflect misidentification, hoaxing, or subsequent embellishment.