The Mothman/Owlman story started with a November 1966 sighting in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, when two young couples reported a red-eyed winged creature chasing their car near an abandoned WWII munitions site[3]. The wave of sightings ended a year later, days after the Silver Bridge collapse killed 46 people, seeding decades of cryptid folklore that spawned a British cousin called the Owlman and a devoted online fan community[1].
Origin
The first newspaper story ran in the Point Pleasant Register on November 16, 1966, under the headline "Couples See Man-Sized Bird...Creature...Something"[2]. Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette told police they saw a large white winged figure with glowing red eyes near the TNT area, an abandoned World War II munitions plant outside town[3]. More sightings followed over the next thirteen months, with witnesses including volunteer firemen and contractor Newell Partridge, whose German Shepherd went missing the same night[1].
- Platform: Local news (viral folklore)
- Creator: Unknown
- Date: 1966
Overview
Mothman/Owlman works online as a cryptid pair that fans treat like a shared mythology rather than a single template. Discussion clusters around eyewitness accounts, disaster prophecies, and the visual shorthand of a tall figure with red eyes and huge wings[3]. Artists on DeviantArt built out a large body of fan illustrations[5], and the Point Pleasant Mothman Museum keeps the local tourist economy going with statues, festivals, and merchandise[1].
The Owlman side of the pair came out of a 1976 sighting in Mawnan, Cornwall, and is often paired with Mothman in cryptid roundups as a British counterpart[2]. Together they anchor jokes, artwork, and horror edits that frame winged humanoids as omens of disaster.
How It Spread
Sightings tapered off after the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River collapsed on December 15, 1967, killing 46 people, and locals tied the two events together into a curse narrative traced back to the Shawnee chief Cornstalk[1]. Nine years later, Cornwall residents reported the winged Owlman near Mawnan church, giving the folklore an international sibling[2]. The story picked up mainstream reach through the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies and a run of documentary videos, including archival footage still circulating on YouTube[4].
Online, the pair became a fixture on cryptid discussion boards and fan art communities, with the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant working as a real-world anchor for fan pilgrimages and an annual festival[1].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mothman/Owlman?
Mothman is the red-eyed winged cryptid first reported in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966, and Owlman is its British counterpart sighted in Cornwall a decade later[3].
Where did Mothman/Owlman come from?
The Mothman story started with a November 15, 1966 sighting by two Point Pleasant couples near an abandoned munitions site called the TNT area[2]. Owlman came from 1976 sightings around Mawnan church in Cornwall[1].
What does Mothman/Owlman mean?
The pair works as shorthand for winged humanoid cryptids that appear before disasters, tied especially to the Silver Bridge collapse of December 1967[1].
How do you use Mothman/Owlman?
Fans use both figures in cryptid fan art, disaster prophecy jokes, and horror edits, often paired together as American and British cousins[5].
Is Mothman/Owlman still popular?
Both figures still anchor cryptid communities online and support an annual Mothman Festival and museum in Point Pleasant[1].
