Flatwoods monster

West Virginian folklore creature

The Flatwoods monster (also known as the Braxton County monster, Braxie, or the Phantom of Flatwoods), in West Virginia folklore, is a creature reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States, on September 12, 1952, after a bright light crossed the night sky. Over 50 years later, investigators suggest the light was a meteor and the creature was a barn owl perched in a tree with shadows making it appear to be a large humanoid.

At 7:15 p. m., on September 12, 1952, two brothers, Edward and Fred May, and their friend Tommy Hyer, said that 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 had 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 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. May described the figure as having "small, claw like hands", clothing like folds, 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 have discovered "skid marks" in the field and an "odd, gummy deposit"

After investigating the case in 2000, Joe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry concluded that the bright light in the sky reported by the witnesses on September 12 was most likely a meteor, that the pulsating red light was likely an aircraft navigation or hazard beacon, and that the creature described by witnesses closely resembled an owl. Nickell suggested that witnesses' perceptions were distorted by their heightened state of anxiety. Nickell's conclusions are shared by a number of other investigators, including those of the Air Force. The night of the September 12 sighting, a meteor had been observed across three states—Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. According to Nickell, three flashing red aircraft beacons were also visible from the area of the sightings, which could account for descriptions of a pulsating red light and red tint on the face of the supposed monster.

Officials in Flatwoods erected a welcome sign which designated the town as "Home of the Green Monster". Located in the town of Sutton, the Braxton County seat, is the Flatwoods Monster Museum, which is dedicated to the legend. The legend of the Flatwoods monster has also inspired media beyond West Virginia. The video games Fallout 76, Everybody's Golf 4, contains references to the legend. In television, the second episode of the 2019 History Channel series Project Blue Book titled "The Flatwoods Monster" is based on the Flatwoods incident.