Explanations for Mothman

[JannTosh]

I have no doubt Mothman sightings are real. Unlike Bigfoot where you only had sporadic sightings, a whole town made claims of a winged figure known as the Mothman. I was wondering though what "credible" explanations there were on what it could be.

[PKB]

These things comes in flaps much like the Flatwoods Monster, Dover Demon, Loveland Frog, etc.

Personally I believe it was an owl. Amped up frightened people fill in the gaps and I think more than a little embellishment occurred.

[ezpkns34]

There are countless sites/reports/articles that detail a myriad of potential explanations:

- Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand

- Paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford

- Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell

- Reporter John C Sherwood (more of a look at the people that profited from the Mothman legend)

- Writer Ed Grabianowski (like Sherwood, also looks at the men who profited from the legend)

[TracyLynnS]

I think the mothman is probably sandhill cranes:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...4&postcount=70

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

I think the mothman is probably sandhill cranes:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...4&postcount=70

That's actually the best theory I've seen so far. Are they confirmed to be in the PA area?

[ezpkns34]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Are they confirmed to be in the PA area?

No, but Mothman is in WV (near OH), not PA. They're not found in WV or OH either

[SageSlowdive]

I'm from West Virginia.

The Mothman story is

[TheCars1986]

Watched the new UM episode about this (kind of cool that they show clips from the original segment) and the "supernatural investigator" mentions (incorrectly) that some of the sightings might be people mistaken herons for the Mothman...but virtually all of the sightings never mention a neck (which obviously would be the case if it were in fact a heron) or red eyes. A barred owl, at nighttime, has the distinct red eye color reflection that most of the witnesses claim to have seen and accounts for no reports about the neck. They also have various creepy calls. Most people cannot accurately measure height/weight from a distance...especially at night. I'd be willing to bet that these sightings are nothing more than large barred owls. It also would make sense as to why these sightings happened in West Virginia as well as Chicago. Barred owls can be found there year round.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Explanation? Contrived bulls hit. This has wasted enough time.

[Omar the Satanist]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Watched the new UM episode about this (kind of cool that they show clips from the original segment) and the "supernatural investigator" mentions (incorrectly) that some of the sightings might be people mistaken herons for the Mothman...but virtually all of the sightings never mention a neck (which obviously would be the case if it were in fact a heron) or red eyes. A barred owl, at nighttime, has the distinct red eye color reflection that most of the witnesses claim to have seen and accounts for no reports about the neck. They also have various creepy calls. Most people cannot accurately measure height/weight from a distance...especially at night. I'd be willing to bet that these sightings are nothing more than large barred owls. It also would make sense as to why these sightings happened in West Virginia as well as Chicago. Barred owls can be found there year round.

That’s got to be the answer.

[ogapogadots]

Originally Posted by JannTosh

I have no doubt Mothman sightings are real. Unlike Bigfoot where you only had sporadic sightings, a whole town made claims of a winged figure known as the Mothman. I was wondering though what "credible" explanations there were on what it could be.

During the Florida Gulf Breeze UFO segment it seemed like 'the whole town' claimed to have seen the same exact UFO at night despite it later being proved that the gentleman lied and made the whole thing up. Even after Ed Walters was "found out" every single person (usually old women & old men lol) still insisted 100% what they saw was indeed a real UFO. lol.

So how come that UFO never landed that night or the following week?! Did you gather any future searches together? No. Hire any detectives to ask other neighbors if they saw something too or to find any UFO tracks or footprints in the sand or dirt? No. How come you, retired elderly people, never saw a skinny, big headed, shy, green alien? If it was a UFO shouldn't it have landed and YOUR city would have made history by allowing a new form of life to visit with you in Gulf Breeze? It would shock the world! Many would not only come to Florida to visit but your city's tourism would skyrocket through the roof!