The Flatwoods Monster
- Classification (Hynek): CE3.
- Witnesses: Kathleen, Eddie (13) & Fred (14) May, Gene Lemon, Neil Nunley (14), Ronnie Shaver (10), Tommy Hyer (10).
- Time & Place: 7:15pm Sept 12 1952; Flatwoods, West Virginia.
- Entity Type (Lawson): Exotic.
- Craft: Red sphere.
- Summary: A hissing monstrosity visits West Virginia.
Fire in the Sky
In Autumn 1952, an unlikely combination of a meteor and a barn owl led eight witnesses to believe they had encountered a hideous alien. So at least concluded the US Air Force after investigating reports of the entity dubbed the Flatwoods Monster.
The incident occurred on September 12, 1952 in Flatwoods, West Virginia. It began at sunset when three young boys playing football saw a bright red object pass overhead and descend behind a nearby hill.
The boys set out to investigate, wondering if a meteor or even a flying saucer had landed. On the way, they were joined by local woman Kathleen May and her two sons together with 17-yr-old national guardsman Gene Lemon.
The group reached the crest of the hill to discover a pulsating red sphere "as big as a house" hovering in mid air. It was surrounded by an acrid red mist and fizzing loudly.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Gene Lemon noticed a pair of small lights in a nearby oak tree. When he shone his torch towards them, the beam revealed a bizarre 10-ft-tall figure. It wore a pleated robe with a hood shaped like the ace of spades and had a "blood red" head with glowing green eyes.
The figure made a shrill hissing sound and glided towards the witnesses stretching out its "terrible claws". Lemon panicked and dropped his torch, and the others fled down the hill in sheer terror. They re-assembled at Mrs May's house and phoned the local sheriff.
All the witnesses felt nauseous from inhaling the strange mist. Gene Lemon was the worst affected and was up all night vomiting and convulsing. A doctor who treated the group stated that their symptoms were reminiscent of mustard gas poisoning.
Investigating the Monster
The next day, a local reporter scaled the hill to search for evidence of the encounter. He found some parallel marks on the ground, an oily deposit and patches of crushed grass. He also detected a strange odour close to the ground.
Ufologist Gray Barker arrived on the scene to interview the witnesses for Fate magazine, while the US air force dispatched a pair of investigators in civilian clothing.
Barker concluded that a flying saucer had landed on the hill so that its pilot could "make observations". The air force, however, dismissed the incident as a meteor sighting followed by a close encounter with an owl.
Csicop investigator Joe Nickell reached the same verdict after visiting Flatwoods in 2000. One local resident questioned stated that he had made the 'ground traces' himself when he drove up the hill the morning after the encounter. Others said it was common knowledge that the UFO had actually been a meteor. Nickell concluded that:
- The monster was a common barn owl perched on a branch,
- The glowing sphere was the light of a nearby aircraft beacon seen through gathering fog,
- The nauseous smell was only the natural fragrance of the grass, and:
- The physical side effects were caused by shock rather than by the odour itself.
Ingenious though it is, Nickell's hypothesis leaves one important question unanswered. If the monster was merely a barn owl, why didn't the witnesses see it unfurl its wings as it swooped towards them?
Sources
Ronald Story (ed): Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, pp234-240.
Alan Baker: Encyclopedia of Alien Encounters, pp80-81.
James R. Lewis: UFOs and Popular Culture, pp127-128.
Jenny Randles: Alien Contact, p21.