The Mothman of Point Pleasant

Wildlife authorities initially attributed the sightings to a sandhill crane that had wandered off its migration route. Dr. Robert L. Smith, associate professor of wildlife biology at West Virginia University, stated in December 1966 that descriptions matched the crane, which stands nearly as tall as a man with a seven-foot wingspan and features red fleshy areas around its eyes. The Mason County Sheriff's Department investigated initial reports but found no physical evidence. Following the Silver Bridge collapse, official interest in the creature waned, with investigators focusing on the bridge's structural failure. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the collapse was caused by stress corrosion cracking in a single eyebar, not supernatural intervention.