| ID | #1508925696 |
| Added | Wed, 25/10/2017 |
| Author | July N. |
| Sources | |
| Phenomena | |
| Status | Investigation
|
Initial data
"Flatwoods monster," also known as the "Braxton County monster" and "the phantom of Flatwoods," the unknown creature, perhaps cryptid or alien that was reportedly spotted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, USA, 12 September 1952.
It began on the afternoon of September 12, 1952, when the office of Sheriff Robert Carr and his Deputy long Burnell received a call from a witness of the strange phenomenon. Eyewitnesses claimed that they saw the sky flying fiery object, which then fell to the ground in the area of the river the elk river.
After receiving the message, the Sheriff decided that the plane fell (later it was found that any aircraft in this place do not fall). However, late in the evening, we received another strange message, this time from a group of children who were playing football on the school yard. The children saw a falling object that disappeared behind the hill on land owned by farmer Bailey Fisher. They decided to go in search of the object. Along the way, they went into the house to Kathleen may, and she and her two sons joined the group. She later said that when they reached the hill, the evening mist appeared a strong metal smell, which burned eyes and noses. In front of a group of people fled the dog, but at some point she is suddenly back with a scared look and turn tail.
From the top of the hill the men saw a glowing and hissing object about three meters in diameter in less than a hundred meters ahead. Night had already fallen, and coming closer, they saw two small lights arranged next to each other. One of the boys had a flashlight and when he turned it toward the lights to to see them closer, the light drew a very high creature growth of about three meters, who "had a bright red face, bright green clothing, a head was similar to the card symbol ACE of spades; his clothes hung down to the bottom and was in great folds".
Suddenly, the creature floated through the air towards a group of people, forcing them into a panic to escape from the hill down. They ran to the house and it was then called the Sheriff's office. By the time when he and his men arrived to a call place there has been a lot of local people, which are called children. Together with the Sheriff arrived reporter A. Lee Stewart from "Brestansky Democrat", which began interviewing witnesses of the incident. Later, he noted that everyone who saw the creature was very scared. Stuart also visited the hill accompanied by one of the sons of Catherine may and he felt a strange unpleasant smell, but saw nothing. However, returning to the hill the next morning, he saw mysterious footprints.
According to Sheriff Carr, witnesses saw the fall of the meteorite, and on the hill have all seen some kind of animal, whose eyes shone in the dark and was able to scare everybody. However this version could not explain many details in the eyewitness testimony. And the next night brought even more questions.
A local resident, whose house is by the river, Birch River, said that he saw a bright orange object that hovered in the sky above the city of Flatfoot. And another local resident and her mother claimed that she saw a huge creature approximately 11 miles from hill, where he saw the first eyewitnesses. Later, researcher John keel found one more couple who had seen the monster. The place also came famous in those days researcher of anomalous phenomena Ivan Sanderson, who carefully inspected the scene, took soil samples and interviewed eyewitnesses. After the meeting, being September 12, several members of the group reported that they had manifested feelings similar to those which they felt in the mist: irritation of nose and throat swelling.
17-year-old Eugene lemon suffered from vomiting and convulsions throughout the night and had problems with my throat for another few weeks. A doctor who treated some of the witnesses described their symptoms as similar to damage observed in victims of mustard gas. These symptoms are also common in people suffering from hysteria after a traumatic or shocking event.
In 2000, 48 years after the events, Joe Nickel, a member of the investigative group of the organization CSI, then known as CSICOP engaged in a skeptical explanation of paranormal phenomena, concluded that bright light in the sky reported by the witnesses on September 12 was most likely a meteor, pulsating red light came from the aircraft or lighthouse, and the creature described by witnesses, reminded him of the owl. Nickel argues that the last two images were distorted due to the state of heightened anxiety experienced by witnesses of a meteorite.
Conclusions Nickel is shared by several other researchers, including from the air force. On the night of 12 September the fall of the meteorite was observed in three States: Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It was also fixed erroneous message stating that the flaming aircraft crashed into a hillside in elk river, approximately 11 miles (18 km) South-West of the proposed location of the mysterious tall beings.
Nickel came to the conclusion that the form, movement and sounds of the creatures reported by witnesses, correspond with the silhouette, flight pattern and sounds of the barn owl sitting on a tree branch. This has led researchers to the idea that foliage beneath the owl may have created the illusion of a lower part of the creature described by witnesses as "a pleated green skirt." The researchers also concluded that the lack of consent of the witnesses on the question of whether the creature the weapon, combined with the story of Kathleen may that he had "a small, grasping hands", which "were stretched out before him," also fits the description of the barn owl with talons gripping a tree branch.
Alternative explanations put forward by the local media, include the version that the September 12 group had witnessed the fall of the meteorite, which created a cloud of steam in the form of man, and that they allegedly saw some sort of secret plane.
Decades later, mystery remains completely unsolved. Every year at the Flatwoods festival in honor of the "green monster" and excursions to the place of the alleged surveillance.
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
Original news
At 7:15 p.m. on September 12, 1952, two brothers, Edward and Fred May, and their friend Tommy Hyer said they saw a bright object cross the sky and land on the property of local farmer G. Bailey Fisher. The boys went to the home of Kathleen May, where they told their story. May, accompanied by the three boys, local children Neil Nunley and Ronnie Shaver, and West Virginia National Guardsman Eugene Lemon, went to the Fisher farm in an effort to locate whatever it was that the boys said they had seen. The group reached the top of a hill, where Nunley said they saw a pulsing red light. Lemon said he aimed a flashlight in that direction and momentarily saw a tall "man-like figure with a round, red face surrounded by a pointed, hood-like shape".
Descriptions varied. In an article for Fate Magazine based on his tape-recorded interviews, UFO writer Gray Barker described the figure as approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, with a round blood-red face, a large pointed "hood-like shape" around the face, eye-like shapes which emitted greenish-orange light, and a dark black or green body. Kathleen May described the figure as having "small, claw-like hands", clothing-like folds, and "a head that resembled the ace of spades". According to the story, when the figure made a hissing sound and "glided toward the group", Lemon screamed and dropped his flashlight, causing the group to run away.
The group said they had smelled a "pungent mist" and some later said they were nauseated. The local sheriff and a deputy had been investigating reports of a crashed aircraft in the area. They searched the site of the reported monster but "saw, heard and smelled nothing". According to Barker's account, the next day, A. Lee Stewart, Jr. of the Braxton Democrat claimed to discover "skid marks" in the field and an "odd, gummy deposit" which were subsequently attributed by UFO enthusiast groups as evidence of a "saucer" landing.
According to former news editor Holt Byrne, "newspaper stories were carried throughout the country, radio broadcasts were carried on large networks, and hundreds of phone calls were received from all parts of the country". The national press services rated the story "#11 for the year". A minister from Brooklyn came to question the May family. A Pittsburgh paper sent a special reporter. UFO and Fortean writers like Gray Barker and Ivan T. Sanderson arrived to investigate.
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On September 12, 1952, a small group of boys spotted a pulsating, reddish sphere float around a hill, hover briefly and then drop behind the crest of another in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia (population 300). From the far side of the hill a bright glow shone, as if from a landed object. On their way to see what had landed the boys were joined by others that had witnessed the flying spectacle, including beautician Kathleen May, her two sons and their friend Tommy Hyer, seventeen-year-old Eugene Lemon and his dog. The dog ran ahead of the group and was briefly out of sight as it ran around the hill. Suddenly it was heard barking furiously and then came running back, fleeing with its tail between its legs, apparently in fear. A foul smelling mist covered the ground making the searchers eyes water. The two leading the group, Lemon and Neil Nunley, got to the top of the hill first and observed a “big ball of fire” fifty feet to their right. Others in the group said it was the size of a house.
To the groups left, on the hilltop just under the branches of a large oak tree, were two small, blue lights. At Mrs. May’s suggestion, Lemon pointed his flashlight in their direction. To everybody’s horror, the flashlight highlighted a grotesque looking creature with a head shaped like the “ace of spades,” as several of the witnesses independently described it. Inside the head was a circular “window,” dark except for the two lights from which pale blue beams extended straight ahead. In their quick observation of the being, they could see nothing that resembled arms or legs. The creature, which seemed to be over six feet tall, moved towards the witnesses. It seemed to be gliding rather than walking. Seconds later, it changed direction and began heading for the glowing sphere from which it apparently had come from.
All of this took place in the matter of a few moments, during which time Lemon fainted. The others dragged him with them as they ran from the scene. When interviewed about a half an hour later, by A. Lee Stewart Jr., a reporter for the Braxton Democrat, the witnesses were barely able to speak. Some sought first aid. Stewart felt that there was no question that they had seen something that had badly frightened them.Soon afterwards, after Lemon had recovered, Stewart and Lemon went to the spot where they had seen the creature and the strange craft. Stewart also noted that there was an acrid odor in the air that irritated his nose and throat. He returned alone to the site first thing the next morning. He found “skid marks” going down the hill towards a large area of recently matted grass, which seemed to indicated that a large object had rested there.
The encounter, which the newspapers quickly dubbed “The Flatwoods Monster” sighting. It took place during a flurry of sightings of unusual flying objects in the region. Bailey Frame, a resident of nearby Birch River, reported seeing a bright orange ball circling over the area where the monster was spotted. It was visible for around fifteen minutes before veering off towards the airport at Sutton, where the object was also reported. According to an account, one week before the Flatwoods event, a Weston woman and her mother encountered the same or similar creature. The younger woman was so frightened that she needed hospitilization after the event. Both also reported the noxious odor.
Years later, writer John Keel interviewed a couple who claimed that on the evening following the original sighting, and ten to fifteen miles to the southwest of it, they encountered a ten foot tall creature emitting a foul odor. It approached their stalled car then returned to the woods. Moments later, a luminous, pulsating sphere arose from the trees and ascended into the sky.
Many skeptics have claimed that what May and her companions had seen a meteor and an owl, and had mistaken these for the strange things that they reported. Nonetheless, when interviewed shortly after the incident, the witnesses told a story that investigators found strikingly consistent. When interviewed in the early part of the 1990’s, Kathleen May Horner recalled that two men, first identifying themselves as reporters, then acknowledging they were employees of the government, interviewed her. This is not hard to believe; it is a fact that the U.S. Air Force dispatched two plainclothes investigators to the scene. Like the skeptics, they laid the incident down to hysteria inflamed by an owl and a meteor.
In his 1953 book, “Flying Saucers from Outer Space,” pioneer UFO researcher Donald Keyhoe wrote about his January 1953 telephone conversation with Albert Chop, USAF public liaison. The topic of the conversation was the “Braxton County Monster.”
Mr. Chop told Mr. Keyhoe the Air Force’s explanation for the “monster,” which was purely speculative. Chop stated:
“The group did see two glowing eyes, PROBABLY those of a large owl perched on a limb.”
“Underbrush below MAY HAVE GIVEN the impression of a giant figure.”
“In their excitement they IMAGINED the rest.”
“I believe this generic solution is correct…Several elements in the witnesses descriptions help identify the Flatwoods creature specifically ‘Tyto alba’, the common barn owl, known almost worldwide.”
“Considering all the characteristics of the described monster, and making allowances for misinterpretations and other distorting factors, we may conclude (adapting an old adage) that if it looks like a barn owl, acted like a barn owl, and hissed, then it most likely was a barn owl,””And so a spooked barn owl in turn spooked the interlopers and a monster was born.”In Joe Nickell’s “investigative” article on the Flatwoods case, he writes the following about the Air Force’s explanation and then adds his “opinion”:
Now, let us go back to the first article to appear in the WV press, where the witnesses described the so-called “Monster.” This article appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on Sunday, Sept. 14, 1952, “Braxton Co. Residents Faint Become Ill After Run-In with 10-Foot Monster.” Information states: .
“They said it had a black shield affair in the shape of an ace of spades behind it and wore what looked like a pleated metallic shirt (sic) skirt.”
Here, the black shield affair was actually an outer helmet covering the red head, which was actually an inner helmet. The pleated metallic skirt was in reality the lower torso of the figure that was surrounded by thick pipes.
On September 15, 1952, the next article that described the “Monster” appeared in The Charleston Gazette. The article headline read, “Braxton Monster Left Skid Tracks Where He Landed. (Special to the Gazette).”
The source information for this article came from A. Lee Stewart, Jr. who was a photojournalist and co-owner of the “Braxton Democrat” newspaper in Sutton. He was the very first person to talk to and interview all of the eyewitnesses. The article stated the following:
.
“SUTTON. Sept 14-The phantom of Flatwoods:Left tracks from six to eight feet apart. Wore a suit of green armor…looked like a mechanical man…Was 10 feet tall, four feet wide. Had a blood-red face. Sported a black, spade-like cowl, which extended a foot or more above its head. It had claw-like ‘toy’ hands too, and orange-green eyes the size of half-dollars, according to Mrs. Kathleen May…’It lit up like a Christmas tree,’ Mrs. May said, with some sort of interior lighting system.”
Later that week, on September 19, 1952, the inaccurate drawing of the “Monster” appeared on the TV show “WE THE PEOPLE.” The figure was portrayed as a cloth-cloaked, skirt-wearing being with long arms and claws.
During his 20-year investigation into this case, Frank Feschino interviewed and taped many of the eyewitnesses involved in the incident. Here are some of the quotes from those interviews:
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Mrs. May:“We got close enough to it so I could see exactly what it was…I was as close to it as the length of a small car. I was close enough that it squirted oil out all over my uniform”“The thing lit up fom the inside.”“It looked more metallic.””Now, it didn’t have arms…It looked like, something like antennae sticking out from it, between the body and the head.”“The head was a red color. Now right around the neck it looked like the neck would rotate.”“It was just kind of floating. It was about a foot to a foot and a half off the ground.”Fred May: “It was mechanical; it was not alive. Maybe inside the thing – there could have been something that was alive. What I saw was either a small spaceship or suit of some of kind. Something it was wearing. It was mechanical.”Fred May: “Over the head was a big ace- of-spades covering, it was something that looked like a helmet, and I think it was.”Fred May: “What mother described as the pleats of hanging drapes, were actually tubes running vertically…They were metal, they were actually metal pipes…They were as thick as my arm.”Fred May: “The eyes were portholes.”
Feschino, a school trained illustrator and painter actually worked with these witnesses on numerous occasions and did police-style renderings of the so-called “Monster.”
He also interviewed Fred May at the site of the encounter near the oak tree and was told additional details.
21 years of intrepid research and cogent scholarship on the part of Frank Feschino are not impugned by the likes of the less than salient Joe Nickell… Giant Owls? Not before the incident… not after. Hallucinatory Gas? Not before the incident… not after. Oil-oozing Pick-ups? Not before the incident… not after. Combine the “White-House-Overflying Summer Of Saucers” in 1952 with the freshly minted Military “Shoot *Them* Down” orders… and you get Flatwoods on September 12th, 1952!
The reader might consider, too, that persons living for generations in a locale become abundantly familiar with the flora and fauna of their environment. Roc sized barn owls are remarkably absent from the local lore.
September 14, 1952 news clip from the Charleston Daily Mail.
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
On the left, four of the Flatwoods boys who witnessed the monster.
From left to right: Tommy Hayer, Freddie Mae, Edison, Mae (front) and Neil Nunley (rear).
Eleven-year-old Freddie drew a picture of the monster (right), shortly after the incident.
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
Hypotheses
Famous creatures
There are a huge number of different living organisms on our planet. According to recent estimates, the number of species of organisms on our planet is approximately 7-10 million. However, only 15% of the data are described today.
According to the calculations of Canadians, 2.2 million species live in the world's oceans, 6.5 million on land. There are only about 7.8 million species of animals on the planet, 611 thousand fungi, and 300 thousand plants.
Investigation
It can really be an owl. The appearance of the alien figure very similar to the appearance of an owl, trying to scare a perceived enemy. For example here is a frame from the famous video with the transformation of owls:
Translated by «Yandex.Translator»
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