Flatwoods Monster: Close Encounter of the Third Kind?
If you were in Flatwoods in Braxton Country, West Virginia around September 1952, chances are you would have been caught up in the hype surrounding the first sighting of an unknown creature. Back in 1952, the town of Flatwoods was practically unknown. Hence, the media of the time opted to name the controversial creature ‘the Braxton Country Monster’.
However, as interest in the creature grew, the media adopted the more geographically-correct name of ‘Flatwoods Monster’. It was also named ‘The Phantom of Flatwoods’ and ‘The Green Monster’.
So, What Is the Flatwoods Monster?
Depiction of the Flatwoods Monster by a New York TV show staff artist, broadcasted on national television on September 19, 1952
The Flatwoods Monster is widely claimed to be some form of extra-terrestrial, primarily because it has been sighted near a large unidentified flying object (UFO).
In fact, due to the nature of the sighting, many ufologists consider it to be a close encounter of the third kind i.e. a UFO encounter in which at least one animated creature, in the form of humanoid or robot, is the pilot or occupant of the UFO.
There are others who maintain that the Flatwoods Monster is indeed a monster per se and that it comes from another realm, despite no explanation to support this stance.
Then, there are those who weave in the element of government conspiracy and insist that the Flatwoods Monster is but another top-secret US military technology testing gone wrong.
Last but not least, there are the sceptics who dismiss the Flatwoods Monster as the figment of an overactive imagination and that it is nothing but an ordinary meteorite or barn owl. Some even downright call it a hoax.
Background: First Sighting
The Flatwoods Monster made its “debut” on the fateful day of 12 September 1952. It started out as just another ordinary day for 10 youngsters who were busy playing football when, around 7.15pm, they were distracted by a brightly-lit object moving through the sky some distance ahead of them.
Mountain top landing area
Noticing the fiery streak in the sky, the boys gave chase and saw it landing or crashing on a nearby hilltop. At the time, that piece of land was owned by a local farmer, G.B. Fisher.
The route there took them past the home of two of the boys, Freddie and Edison May, who proceeded to relay the incident to their mother, Mrs. Kathleen May.
Thinking that it was a meteorite, Mrs. May gamely agreed to accompany them to the crash site. At this juncture, some of the boys decided to return home as it was getting dark. In the end, only five boys – Neil Nunley, Teddie Neal, Robbie Shaver, and Freddie and Edison May were determined to see it all the way to the end. They were joined by Eugene Lemon, a teenage member of the West Virginia National Guard, and Tommy Hyer, the Mays’ neighbour.
Armed with a flashlight and with Lemon’s dog in tow, the group of eight set out to investigate. Their excursion turned out to be more than they bargained for.
Alien Encounter?
The first sign of something unusual was when Lemon’s dog, who was running ahead, began barking wildly before rushing back to them in a frenzy. Despite feeling slightly uneasy, the party decided to forge on.
When they arrived at the hilltop, the group was astounded to discover a pulsating “ball of fire” and a pungent mist so rancid that it made their eyes and noses burn. Then, they saw two smaller lights, peering at them from beneath an oak tree.
According to reports, either Lemon or Mrs. May instinctively shone a flashlight in that direction. Rather than the raccoon or wild animal they expected to see, they were confronted with a “man-like” figure about eight to ten feet tall with a “pointed, hood-like shape” or “spade-like” head, a red face, and round “pothole” eyes.
Its body was dark and seemingly colourless or metallic, but some would later say that it was green or, at least, wore green clothing that hung in drape-like folds from the waist down. Different reports describe the creature either as having no visible arms, or having short, stubby arms ending in long claw-like fingers. The creature had no legs and seemed to be levitating.
The Flatwoods Monster as drawn by the five boys as part of their testimony
As if its appearance was not terrifying enough, the flashlight prompted the creature to retaliate by shooting light beams from its eyes. It also started emitting a strange high pitched hiss and began gliding towards the group.
The group ran for dear life but the creature got close enough to squirt an oily substance on Mrs. May’s clothes. Later, Mrs. May also recalled that it left a trail of oil on the ground as it moved. Fortunately for them, the Flatwoods Monster had a change of heart halfway. It stopped chasing them and instead made a beeline towards the ball of flame.
Having reached the safety of her home, Mrs. May contacted the sheriff, who escalated the incident report to the State Trooper, who alerted a Mr. A. Lee Stewart, a local journalist and co-owner of the local newspaper (the Braxton Democrat).
Illustration of the encounter based on reports
When Sheriff Carr and his deputy Burnell Long searched the area, as did Stewart and Lemon, all four reported a “sickening, burnt metallic odour still prevailing.” However, apart from the odour, no further evidence was found. The investigating officers also reported that the police dogs on-site were very agitated. Essentially, the night investigation had to be cut short.
Stewart returned alone to the site the next morning and not only did he find the mysterious oil, but he also found a small oddly shaped shard of silvery metal. He further observed that there was a large area of recently matted grass, which seemed to indicate that a large object had rested there.
Investigating officers also discovered a thirty-foot-long skid mark but later deduced it to be from the vehicle of a local man who had driven there to take a look at the landing site.
Picture marking the relevant locations based on reports
Hazardous Side Effect?
The only casualty of this incident was Lemon’s dog, who was found dead the next day surrounded by its vomit. The rest of the group survived, although they were sick at varying degrees. They had similar symptoms, attributed to exposure to the rancid mist, which persisted for some time.
Interestingly, the doctor who treated a few of the witnesses noted a close resemblance to the after effects of mustard gas exposure. However, the same doctor was quick to add that such symptoms were not uncommon in those who have been traumatised by a shocking event.
When he reached the May-Lemon household roughly half an hour after the group’s encounter with the Flatwoods Monster, Stewart observed that some of the witnesses were still trembling and barely able to speak. Thus, he was inclined to believe that they had genuinely seen something and were not attention seekers making things up.
Newspaper clipping about the first reported sighting of the Flatwoods Monster
Similar Encounters
After Stewart ran the news of the Flatwoods Monster, many people from UFO enthusiasts to curious lay folks turned up in Flatwoods looking for evidence, souvenirs or even hoping to make a quick buck by catching a photograph of the monster. In fact, quite a number of people did pick up more bits of metal, plastic-like substances as well as traces of the mysterious oil.
The news also prompted a flurry of reported UFO sightings in the region, including;
- Bailey Frame, a resident of nearby Birch River, claimed to have seen a bright orange ball circling over the area where the monster was spotted. It remained visible for close to 15 minutes before veering off towards the airport at Sutton. Interestingly, there was also another report of the object being sighted at Sutton, although not much detail was provided.
- A woman and her mother in Weston reported an encounter with a similar looking creature that emitted a rancid odour, one week before the sighting in Flatwoods. The younger woman had to be hospitalised following the traumatic event.
Case of Mistaken Interpretation?
Although the possibility of a hoax cannot be dismissed entirely, circumstantial logic seems to indicate that sightings of the Flatwoods Monster were likely to have been mirages fuelled by overactive imaginations. It has to be kept in mind that the 1950s (and 60s) produced an abundance of UFO sightings and extra-terrestrials were the “in” thing then. It was also a time when many alleged UFO sightings were revealed to be ordinary light sources.
Thus, it is no surprise that many sceptics believed that the ball of fire may have been a meteor and the creature sheltering beneath the tree, a barn owl. The entire party including Mrs. May was deduced to have misconstrued the barn owl as something otherworldly, in their terror and borderline hysterical state. The ‘light beam of retaliation’ from the Flatwoods Monster was also theorised to be the reflection of the barn owl’s large eyes.
That being said, what is undeniable is that when interviewed shortly after the incident, the witnesses told a story that investigators found strikingly consistent. It would be unlikely that the entire group could have made the same mistake simultaneously. Nonetheless, even the two plainclothes investigators dispatched by the United States Air Force to investigate the Flatwoods Monster sighting were inclined to chalk it up as the result of hysteria inflamed by a barn owl and a meteor.
Or a Different Thing Altogether?
The size differential between the Flatwoods Monster and a barn owl
There are also those who subscribe to the theory that the Flatwoods Monster is a result of top secret US military technology testing gone awry and have sought to hold the American government responsible.
The strongest evidence put forward to support this stance lies in Mrs. May’s testimony of having received a letter from Washington admitting that the “creature” she saw was actually an experimental vehicle designed for lunar travel. This position was further corroborated by the publication of an article about moon rockets in Collier’s magazine around the same time.
Another piece of evidence to support the government conspiracy theory can be found in a declassified RAND Corporation file which divulged various implements of psychological warfare. The document revealed the creation of a 12-foot tall “scarecrow” that would emit various loud noises and other illuminated visual effects, which could confuse or frighten the enemy during the Second World War by British Army officials.
The description of the “scarecrow”, particularly the distinct spade-shaped head, bears a very close resemblance to the Flatwoods Monster. There was even a notation which suggested the use of an ace of spades as a means of psychological warfare due to the bad omens associated with it. However, apart from speculations and inferences, there are no further direct associations between Flatwoods Town or the Flatwoods Monster and the psychological warfare projects listed in the RAND Corporation file.
Conclusion
Regardless of the answer, there is undoubtedly no question that something weird transpired on the night of 12 September 1952. The Flatwoods Monster remains one of the weirdest incidents involving a close encounter with an unidentified creature in the small town of Flatwoods. Whilst this story has been widely retold in popular books and magazines over the years, it remains an enigma that defies simple classification, whether or not its subject was indeed from out of this world.
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatwoods_monster
- http://www.csicop.org/si/show/flatwoods_ufo_monster
- http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case535.htm
- http://magoniamagazine.blogspot.my/2014/01/flatwoods.html
- Feschino, Frank C (2004) – The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed. Quarrier Press
- Joe Nickell – Real-Life X-Files: Investigating the Paranormal
- Paul Sagan – Ball Lightning: Theory of Everything, Defying Gravity, Flatwoods
- Patricia D. Netzley – Alien Encounters
- Chris A. Rutkowski – I Saw It Too!: Real UFO Sightings
- Frank Feschino, Jr – The Braxton County Monster Updated & Revised Edition
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
I do think, that the direction taken by the human species, is influenced by aliens, in many cases there are certain directions that humans have been guided to go towards. In a conversation with someone who is also a believer that Aliens do exist and lives amongst us, it was mentioned movies are being used to prepare humans for what to expect in the future.
I think the question that is remaining is, why human governments will not reveal the existences of alien to the rest of humanity?
It was spine chilling to read this article. It is true that there might be life from another planet or galaxy i believe that this monster of some sort is indeed real. We should try not to encounter beings like this. this might be the third kind of alien seen.
Thank you for sharing_/\_
In those days, due to lack of knowledge and exposure, what they see may or may not be real, they saw a flatwood monster, but its only them encounter it, no other person saw it or any other incident that encounter it.
You may call it Alien, but what is Alien? it is something or someone that is stranger to us, hence, we call it alien, from the many documentaries, it was mentioned that human was evolved from the animal and it became human, there is even drawings on how human evolved, but I don’t quite buy this explanations, and who knows, maybe human was descended from another planet and was stuck here, since then, human started to live and grow on the planet earth and population grows till today, since there are millions and millions of planets in this universe, this is also possible?
So since human can be possibly come from another planet, I believe there are many more beings on earth that also come from another planet which they stuck here， to me, this also possible. Lol.. well, whatever reason it is, no one knows, whether they are alein, monsters, or spirits, no one can proof it, so all these encounters remains as mysteries till today. I wonder will science with a more advance technologies discover all these mysteries encounters.
I found people at America are fasinating UFO and alien and monsters all the time. I do believe alien from outer place do existance but just like others Interesting how they look like. In Asia countries, we counter more spirits rather then alien. I guess different country experience dufferently. Well is Interesting read through this article and nothing conclude about flatwood monsters so far.
There is a conflict between the police’s result and the witness’s description. It may be the Fleetwood monsters hide the spacecraft, but one thing to say, if there is really then the search should not be the police, but the military, don’t you think so? Anyway the day of September 1952 has no doubt become a mystery.
I have read another sighting of the day after the Flatwoods incident, a couple taking a leisurely drive through the mountains of Frametown, West Virginia, at dusk were met with a similarly horrific experience. Their car came to a sudden stop and refused to start again. Shortly thereafter, a putrid sulfiric odor filled the air. The couple, circling the vehicle in hopes of spotting the culprit, spotted something far worse than they could have imagined. From the waist down it was similar to the Flatwoods Monster, but from the waist up was a reptilian humanoid. This creature, thought to be the same creature sighted in Flatwoods, is known as the Frametown Monster.
There are many theories of this sighting and whether this sighting is real, I personally believe in extra-terrestrial. I believe there are many beings that exist in our world and beyond our planet. What important is respect and have compassion for each others. We may see other unfamiliar species of living being as weird but it could be the same as them when looking at us. So what important for me is to show humility.
I think it could be alien from outer space. I don’t think it is monster. It only appeared once and it only happened in Flatwoods. It could be some local tour company fake it out. Just like one of the local folks told me when I was in Scotland, that a local tour company fake out Nessy, the Lochness monster, due to that company wanted to arouse the curiosity of outsiders, in order to increase the popularity of Lochness to attract more tourist, scientist, to come to view the monster, so that they can have better business.
Whatever it is, it’s hard to believe that it is monster.
To me, I guess it is either alien or UFO landed the area. This is because the kids saw fiery streak in the sky. There were also similar encounters of such incident with other places too.
Hmm..I wonder why there’re only 5 drawings of what they saw when there’ re 8 of them in total..?
This is a very unique encounter. The Flatwoods Monster was only seen on that particular day when the “ball of fire” crashed on the land of Mr. Fischer. We can only guess what happened and if it was a UFO and aliens who had an “accident” or if it was a meteorite which fall there and the rest was imagination.
Anyways it was a good publicity for the place and area.
I think that it is quite interesting that such a appearance was never seen again. It would be interesting to know if the Native Americans spoke about such a being as it would give more credibility to it.
Based on the accounts of the residents in Flatwoods, I come to a conclusion of them probably seeing a spirit instead of a so called monster. Well in the West not many will believe the existence of spirits due to popular beliefs. In this case, there are no concrete evidence to support claims by the five boys and more over there were no so called spaceships or body of the monster that will be solid proof. Well from what I see, it does look like a spirit.
In my opinion, Flatwoods Monster may not be real. There is not much proof that this creature appeared in only one occasion.
I came across a documentary regarding this and I found that it might be true, logically.
http://youtu.be/QE9pEBEZk4Q
Those folks in Flatwoods, Braxton Country could have possibly seen something but without any evidence it is hard to convince other people of their strange encounter. It could have been an animal, a barn owl, a ghost, an extraterrestrial or whatever, no one knows for sure. This and other sightings were confined to the surrounding areas and were not reported in other county or state that suggests that if it was an extraterrestrial, it could be its spacecraft landed due to some mechanical problem. Or the spacecraft and its crew were there to recce that area. Good material for the fictitious FBI special agent Mulder and fellow agent and M.D. Scully of the X Files.
Something weird definitely happened on that day but whether it was a monster or alien, I am not sure. Could be some men in suits that were doing some experiments and those people accidentally stumbled upon them. And if it were some experiments, I am sure they would think twice to do it in public to avoid further chaos and probably that’s also why it was only seen once.
If indeed it was an alien then how come there are no more sightings of them anywhere else. Perhaps like what the post said, it was some scouting robot sent to survey the area and not the real aliens themselves.
I guess we will never know until the next sighting. ?
At my point of view : Flatwoods monster, maybe is the spirit of the Tree? Or maybe is a deity? Or a guardian god in the jungle? And why Flatwoods Monster only appeared at the year of 1952?
Interesting…… the Braxton County Monster or Flatwoods Monster is a thought to be an unidentified creature or machine. The legend of the Flatwoods Monster arose near dusk when a group of local youths were startled with several eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a monster in the hills outside of Flatwoods. Sound scary. To this day the case to proof of its existing is still
unsolved homicide. Its the mysterious tale of a burning craft which fell from the sky or a mysterious being or Us military was doing some research. Something unknown had crashed on ground ,the eyewitnesses claimed the air had a metallic smell which burned our eyes and noses. A dog was reported to have ran ahead of the eyewitnesses only to return frightened by something which was out there..
Thank you Rinpoche and Cindy Hew for sharing these interesting post.
The features of Flatwood Monsters, as described from this article, seems mechanical. Hence, I am inclined to believe that this monster is not organic. In addition, the letter from Washington to Mrs Kathleen May that admit the monster being an object of government experience leaves me convinced that Flatwood Monster is a manmade figure, accidentally stumbled upon by Mrs Kathleen May and her family. Thank you, Cindy, for this sharing.
The Flatwoods Monster; this is the first Monsters that have close encounter with Alien existence and lab test, which to me is quite rare. Whether it is an Alien or the result from the lab test, those peoples must have seen it. It is impossible to draw or to describe the same shape and form if people not sighting it. There are strange oil left on the sighting, I wonder is there any lab result on the oil.
Thanks Cindy for this story
Aliens comes in many forms and sizes.
Have no doubt on it.
Just wonder in what situation will be born as aliens and aliens is consider what realms?
How are we connected to them?