The MothMan Encounter

Chapter 1

This is going to be an odd story. I don't expect you to believe me but I would only ask that you listen and form your opinion after I finish telling you my story. This is a recounting of my experience with the Cryptid known as, The MothMan.

My name is Anthony Grizzle, this was during the 1960's, I was a boy of 12 years old in the small sized town of Point Pleasant located in West Virginia. I felt that my life was great the way it was. One of the many things I liked was animals, particularly bugs. They were so small and yet they were so complex. They lived almost anywhere; they ate very little, and when examined up close their faces where of nightmares.

In my free time I would inspect the bugs around the outside of my house and read up on bugs at the local library. People were always kinda weirded out by my interest, sometimes calling me "Bug Boy", but I wasn't offended, it was accurate.

At least my friends were okay with it. Brian tried to take an interest but really only liked them for their grossness. Lisa on the other hand was mainly disgusted by bugs, except for Ladybugs and Rolly Pollies. She thought of them as harmless but she would never touch a spider.

Me, Brian & Lisa were good buddies, we were pretty much the best friend squad. We tended to always be together at school and around town, climbing trees, riding bikes, and listening to music groups like The Beach Boys, my favorite group. My life was just fine the way it was, nothing could mess it up, but that started to change slowly.

It was a school day, third day of the week, Wednesday, November 16, 1966. My alarm went and I had gotten out of bed and put on some clothes before heading to the kitchen. A pair of khakis with a belt, a dark blue turtleneck and my brown leather jacket that I carried and would put on once I walk outside to school.

As I walked out of my room I heard a bicycle bell, likely the newspaper boy cycling by and dropping off my family's newspaper, as was his job. I walked into the kitchen where my mom was making breakfast for me.

"Good Morning Anthony. How did you sleep?" She asked. "I slept okay Mom. Is Dad getting the paper?" As soon as I asked Dad walked in with the paper. "Yes he is and he's reading nonsense." He had said in the third person. "What's the matter Honey?" Mom asked. "The front page is talking about some teenagers last night who saw some giant bird thing which they claimed to have chased them. It's idiotic."

"What do you mean giant bird thing?" I asked. "Well from what the paper says, two couples were in the TNT area, you know the ones with the cement igloos. The paper claims that the two couples were hanging out there at midnight and were then disturbed by some creature, then leaving the area in their car and were pursued by the bird like creature which they described to be about six to seven feet in height with a ten feet wing span and red glowing eyes. It sounds stupid, they were likely pranked."

Dad made a good point there. No bird in the world is that big, yet alone has glowing red eyes. But it was an thing to wonder on. I then sat down, had my breakfast that mom made me (toast with jelly and scrambled eggs), got my stuff for school and headed out the door.

As I walked to school I kept thinking about the newspaper article. A creature with an enormous wingspan, just about seven feet in height, and red glowing eyes. They only animal I know with red eyes are alligators, but their eyes aren't really red, when light reflects off of them they appear red and that's only at night, and they can't fly. It's such a strange description but also really specific. Could those teenagers really be making it up?

I eventually met up with Brian & Lisa outside of school. "Hey there Grizzle! Good morning to you!" Brian tends to call me by my last name for whatever reason. "Good to see you too Brian, good morning. Good morning to you as well Lisa." "Morning Anthony."

We then walked into the school building. We were walking mostly silently until Brian asked a question. "So did either of you here about what happened yesterday in the newspaper?" Lisa responded first. "You mean the report about a giant freaky creature? Yes, I have, gives me goose bumps." "I also heard about it, but based on the article a creature of that size and description shouldn't exist." Brian responded. "Well maybe, yeah, but it would be amazing if something like that actually existed right? Just try to tell me I'm wrong." "If you're trying to give me nightmares then stop." Lisa said. "I don't want to even think about the possibility of such a thing existing." "Well okay, sorry. What about you Grizzle? You're into weird stuff. Thoughts?"

"It's weird to say the least. A giant flying creature with glowing eyes. It would be strange for such a thing to exist. Yet there is the possibility of the four teens making it up for fun. We all know how teens can be right?" At the same time Brian & Lisa both said yes to that. Then Brian spoke. "Well even if it's fake, it's a pretty cool thing to grab people's attention." Then Lisa spoke. "And also to repulse people." "That's also true."

After our interactions we went on with our normal school day. Through out the day I kept hearing other students talk about the creature. Some thought it was fake but some thought it was true and that they would remain home at night to keep safe. Even the teachers talked about it. Crazy to think that something that could not be real could actually scare people.

Even after that day people kept talking about it, even went on after three weeks. Some people actually went looking for the thing. They formed parties of folks and went searching with flashlights, traps, and even weapons like hunting rifles. As people kept searching other reports were made about the creature. Some tried to say it was a crane bird, but those aren't native around here. Some said a weather balloon but that was just stupid. As these reports went on the creature was given a few names. Some just referred to it as "The Creature" or "The Bird".

Early on though the Huntington Herald-Dispatch article gave it a name that, although not accurate, started to stick with people. Soon enough everyone called the creature, The Mothman.