The phenomena revolve around reports of a 'winged humanoid' known as the 'Mothman', described as being 6-7' tall, with gray skin, red glowing eyes, wings tucked behind its back and shuffling on sturdy legs . . . and it wasn't afraid of chasing cars . . .

Mothman was mostly seen near the disused dormant North Power Plant, part of the West Virginia Ordnance Works. The area was used as a shooting range, a 'lovers lane', and an unofficial common.

Hundreds of alleged witnesses made reports of some kind - some people claimed 'contact' with various extraterrestrial - or as Fortean investigator and writer John Keel posits in his book The Mothman Prophecies - ultra-terrestrial entities, or creatures from some other dimension.Keel, who had arrived from New York to investigate the reports, was no exception to these contacts - before long, he too was experienced disconcerting sychronicities. Many of his 'contactee' friends knew of his future actions before he had himself decided on them. His phone line became almost unusable with untraceable interference, tapping, line cutting, crossed lines, harassments, hoax phone calls and dark photographers trailing him round Manhattan . . . "Between the IRS, the phone company . . . and flying saucers I was fast becoming a candidate for the funny farm."

Throughout the thirteen month 'flap', Keel received constant precise predictions of forthcoming events throughout the thirteen months, presumably 'channeled' by various contactees. These 'Mothman prophesies' had a nasty habit of being almost right - but not right enough. The predicted assassination attempt on the pope - followed by "days of darkness" didn't happen, instead the pontiff escaped eradication in the Philippines three years later.

Eventually, things came to a head: during rush hour on Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge, which spanned the Ohio River. Keel's contactees warned of a nation-wide power outage for December 15th. Instead, the Silver Bridge crumpled into the river, taking 31 vehicles and 67 people with it. There were 46 deaths.

The difference between The Mothman Prophecies (New York: Tor Books, 2002) and other 'casebooks' of this ilk is illustrated by Keels' good humor (how he kept it I don't know), his modesty, and his apparent realization that he was not in a position to assume an objective role in documenting the goings-on in Point Pleasant. He knew that he was too close.

Keel is known for having coined the term 'window area', denoting an area of multi-phenomenal weirdness, with UFOs being reported in the same vicinity of ghosts etc. It is also the case however, that comparative entities are reported worldwide - such as the The Owlman of Mawnan, in Cornwall, England.

As Hilary Evans points out in Fortean Times Magazine (issue 53:54), "Insofar as Keel has encouraged serious and thoughtful researchers to extend their notions of the possible, he can have done nothing but good. Insofar as has encouraged flightier minds to espouse dubious notions for which the evidence is less than adequate, he may have done more harm than good."

Was the thirteen months of Point Pleasant weirdness merely a massive bout of mass hysteria, or was it somehow routed in something more 'real'? Either way, if Fortean study ever becomes an accepted academic science, The Mothman Prophecies (2002) should be a prerequisite of the reading list.

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.