1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 You're not imagining this. You're not dreaming. You're fully awake right now. 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:10,840 I've missed covering hauntings and other strange occurrences in West Virginia. 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:17,880 I'm Mark Covey and this is State Haunts. I wanted to bring you an episode this week 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:23,920 because Courtney is sick and I had to tell you our next true crime case with 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:29,840 my detective bestie. So this week I want to tell you about the Flatwoods monster 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:31,840 The Flatwoods monster 7 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:08,960 It's no secret people have creative imaginations. There's always a troll in the woods, a ghost 8 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:15,680 in a hotened mansion, a monster in a closet, when in reality it's usually just a stump 9 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:24,560 in the woods, a creek of an old door, and an old jacket. However, in 1952, in Flatwoods, 10 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:30,800 West Virginia, the typical thought of it being someone's imagination was thrown out the window. 11 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:40,160 Around 7pm, right around dusk on September 12, 1952, a group of young boys were playing 12 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:45,840 football in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. That's when they saw a strange light 13 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:53,440 shoot through the sky. It flew straight overhead towards the nearby hills. At first, 14 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:59,280 they thought it could possibly be a meteor. It was round with a tail of fire following it. 15 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:06,880 Except it was flying low, like lower than you'd expect from a meteor. It's like it was almost 16 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:13,680 hovering. The boys started to tease each other, like it's a flying saucer. They started to get 17 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:20,560 quiet when they noticed the object tilting upwards, going over the hills, and then they watched it 18 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,560 suddenly drop out of sight, like it plunged straight into the ground. Based on what they 19 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:33,280 knew about the area, the boys just assumed that it landed in a flat field of a neighbor's farm, 20 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:40,080 just past the hill, especially when they see this pulsing light coming from behind the hill, 21 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:47,120 like the object was still there, waiting for something. At this point, they were curious. 22 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:54,480 A few of the boys were still joking about how it must be aliens. But 12 year old Freddie May was like, 23 00:02:54,480 --> 00:03:01,360 don't you pay attention in class? It's obviously a meteorite. Another boy was like, 24 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,800 we should go gather fragments for the state geological foundation, because that's what a 25 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:13,360 teacher at school told him you're supposed to do now. So with kid logic to the side, 26 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:21,120 the rest of the boys decided to at least go check it out. But it was getting dark, so Freddie and 27 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:27,280 his 13 year old brother Ed led the group back to their mom's house to tell her what they were going 28 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:34,400 to be doing. Their mom, Kathleen, was a beautician who was just returning home from work. She was 29 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:40,800 about to hop in the shower when the boys ran through the door and screamed that they saw a flying 30 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:47,600 saucer. Of course Kathleen wasn't buying it. She chalked up the story to the boys wild imaginations. 31 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:55,200 But the boys insisted that they saw something. But the boys insisted that they saw something, 32 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:01,040 and they drug her out onto the porch to prove it. When Kathleen looked out into the distance, 33 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,760 she didn't see anything in the sky, but she did see a bright flashing light 34 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:12,400 and a strange red glow in the heel. Exactly where the boys say they saw the saucer land. 35 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:20,240 So Kathleen changed her tune a bit. She was like, okay, you can go see it, but I'm coming with you, 36 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:27,440 and we need to be careful. She grabbed a flashlight and called a local 17 year old boy named Jean 37 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:34,320 Lemon, who just so happened to be in the National Guard. A dog even tagged along. So the whole group 38 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:41,600 headed over to check out what the mysterious object was. Jean took the lead, holding the flashlight. 39 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:47,040 The boys and Kathleen followed him up a dirt path towards the top of the hill. Through all of the 40 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:54,000 brush, they can kind of see the lights from the object. Occasionally, they would dim, then get 41 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:01,360 bright again. As they keep walking, the air becomes warm and thick with the mist, and a strange 42 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:07,920 fog rolls onto the path ahead. Kathleen turned around to look back at the town of Flatwoods, 43 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,720 but she could no longer see the street lights. They really didn't have a choice but to keep 44 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:19,200 walking forward. But the closer they got, they started to smell a horrible smell. It was like 45 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:27,680 some sort of burning metal or possibly sulfur. Freddy, the would be meteorite scientist, says 46 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:35,520 it reminded him of when their TV tubes would burn out. The boys throat started to itch. Kathleen 47 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:44,080 has a little trouble breathing, and everyone's eyes start to burn and sting. Whatever this is, 48 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:49,440 it isn't coming from any ordinary meteor. If it was me, I probably would have got out of there. 49 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:57,360 Because who knows, it could have been a gas leak. But this was the 50s, so they coughed it up, 50 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:03,280 and just kept walking. When they reached the top of the hill, they see the object was still there. 51 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:11,440 It's about 50 feet away in the middle of a neighbor's farm. A large glowing mass that 52 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:17,440 definitely wasn't a meteor or a plane. It's still dark out, and it seems like the group 53 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:23,760 really can't see the object that well. Later, when they would describe it, their accounts all differ. 54 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:30,000 Some would say it's kind of flat on the top, or that they could hear a low thump. 55 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:36,880 Kind of like someone beating on a drum. Others would say that it hissed like a jet plane. 56 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:44,560 And while the size does vary from witness to witness, a few of the boys say it's as big as a house. 57 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:53,360 However, Neil, a 14 year old boy, described it as a big ball of fire that didn't make any noise. 58 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:59,920 And while he's standing out on the edge of the hill looking at it, he's so fascinated that he 59 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:06,640 didn't even notice something creeping up to his left. That is, until Jean looked over and screams. 60 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:15,760 The boys all turned around. 15 feet away, just in front of a massive oak tree, there's a tall, 61 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:24,960 dark towering figure just floating. It was human shaped, but maybe twice as tall as a normal person 62 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:32,080 with something dark and pointy on top, almost like it had a hood. It's got a round, reddish face. 63 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:41,360 There's no nose or mouth, but it did have eyes, or at least what they thought were eyes. They were 64 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,600 more like holes projecting beams of greenish orange light. Jean's National Guard training 65 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:55,040 kicked in. He pulled out the flashlight and turned it on. He pointed it at the creature, 66 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:03,360 only to see that it was translucent. It looked like there was a light glowing inside the monster. 67 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:10,960 A few of the boys saw folds of clothing around its body and strange claw-like hands. 68 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:16,960 Kathleen thinks it's encased in metal and said the hands almost look like antennas. 69 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:24,160 One of the boys thought the eyes looked like portholes, almost like it's part beast, part machine. 70 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:33,120 From the boys' position, they can't see below the torso, but it didn't appear to have legs or feet, 71 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:41,360 or to honestly be moving at all. It seemed like it was just floating there, perfectly steel, 72 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:46,800 until the monster squirted out some sort of oil and started to move towards them. 73 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:54,720 You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries, West Virginia's true crime podcast that digs 74 00:08:54,720 --> 00:09:00,960 into the missing persons, homicide cases, survival stories, and the mysteries of the Mountain State 75 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:07,280 and beyond. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget to follow the show, 76 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,560 download, and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. 77 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:19,520 It helps others find good West Virginia true crime podcasts. 78 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,480 Gene was so shocked that he collapsed to the ground and dropped the flashlight. 79 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:36,400 The dog took off running out of sight. Gene got up and they all sprinted away so fast 80 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:42,080 that when they reached the wooden fence, they didn't even open the gate. They just jumped over it 81 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:48,880 and ran home. When they got back, they found the dog shaking under the porch. The group gathers in 82 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:55,840 the living room to regroup, but it's complete chaos. The boys all have trouble breathing from 83 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:03,920 the odor on the heel. They're coughing, gagging, and tearing up. Gene was so sick that he ran to 84 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:09,760 the bathroom to vomit. The other boys' throats are so swollen that they are having trouble drinking 85 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:17,120 water. Some were bruised or bleeding and the monster's oil got on a few of their faces. 86 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:24,880 Kathleen was trying her best to hold it together, but she is convinced that whatever they saw was 87 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:33,920 not normal. The only thing she can think to do is to call the sheriff. Around 815, Kathleen got a hold 88 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:39,760 of the station and reported a mysterious flying object in the heels. She added that a group of 89 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:46,560 boys needed immediate medical help, but the station said that the sheriff isn't available. He was 90 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:52,880 actually nearby a frame town investigating the site of a different crash where a plane had just 91 00:10:52,880 --> 00:11:02,560 disappeared without a trace. On September 12, 1952, at almost the exact same time, as the UFO 92 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:09,360 siding in Flatwoods Braxton County Sheriff Robert Carr got a pretty serious phone call. 93 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:18,000 It's from a local hitchhiker and his story went like this. He was getting a ride when he spotted 94 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:24,080 what he thought was a piper club in the sky. That's one of those small two-seater planes 95 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:31,280 that are usually painted bright yellow. When all of a sudden, it burns up and crashed into the hill 96 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:37,920 near Elk River. He asked the driver to pull over at the nearest telephone, calls it in, 97 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:44,160 and continued on his way. By the time Carr arrived to the site, there was no evidence of 98 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:52,320 any sort of plane crash at all. No metal, no flames, no smoke, absolutely nothing. 99 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:59,920 So Carr was like, well, this is a waste of my time and thought it was just a hoax. He headed 100 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:06,080 back to the sheriff's office where they're still trying to find someone to head over to the May House. 101 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:12,480 Since everyone was out, they asked a photojournalist, an Air Force veteran, 102 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:18,720 A. Lee Stewart to step in. Stewart was no stranger to accidents and crime scenes. 103 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:26,160 The West Virginia State Police actually called him often, and I know what you're thinking. 104 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:34,800 This seems weird, but you need to remember this is a very small town, so I guess in the 50s, 105 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:42,720 this wasn't that odd. Stewart arrived at the May House about half an hour after the sighting, and 106 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:52,320 at the time it was still pure chaos. Gene and two other boys were throwing up. Everyone was coughing. 107 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:59,680 Kathleen had that mysterious oil splattered all over her still, but what's worse is that all of 108 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:07,600 the boys in Kathleen are scared out of their minds, so much so that they can barely even tell Stewart 109 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:15,840 what or even where the monster was. It took some time and well some coaxing, but eventually 110 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:24,400 Stewart convinces the two oldest boys, Gene and Neil, to take him up to the hill. He grabbed a 111 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:32,080 shotgun just in case, but when they got to the spot, Stewart doesn't see anything. The craft 112 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:38,800 and the flashing lights are gone, and well the monster was gone too. It's like the boys made 113 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:47,120 everything up, that is, until he smells the ground. There are still traces of that sickening odor. 114 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:54,080 Stewart said it was something like mustard gas, but possibly different. Nothing like 115 00:13:54,080 --> 00:14:02,800 he's ever encountered, even when he was in the war. But Stewart is a reasonable man with journalistic 116 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:10,320 integrity. He doesn't want to publish anything until he's examined the site in broad daylight, 117 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,320 so he visits the scene again first thing in the morning. 118 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:22,480 You're listening to Mountain State Mysteries, West Virginia's true crime podcast that digs 119 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:28,800 into the missing persons, homicide cases, survival stories, and the mysteries of the Mountain State 120 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:35,120 and beyond. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget to follow the show, 121 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:41,840 download, and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others find good West Virginia 122 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:56,400 true crime podcasts. Sure enough, right there where the monster stood the night before, there are 123 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:03,600 skid marks about eight feet apart. Stewart traces the marks from the oak tree all the way down to 124 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:11,360 where the flying saucer allegedly landed. It's as if the monster got on a set of skis and slid 125 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:17,120 down the hill to get back in a craft. While there's still no trace of any sort of flying saucer, 126 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:26,960 there is oil residue on a huge patch of grass that's been flattened down. Since the spot where the UFO 127 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:33,840 was spotted was farmland, it could have been assumed that it was from a vehicle or a tractor, 128 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:39,440 and a few people did admit they were in the area that night. One person with a tractor, 129 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:46,320 another with their pickup truck, but they actually didn't go down the hill. The slope was too steep 130 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:53,680 and rough, so it's highly unlikely these marks came from anything men made. The same day, 131 00:15:53,680 --> 00:16:00,240 Kathleen got a knock on her door from an odd pair of visitors. It was two men claiming to be 132 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:06,480 journalists from the town of Clarksburg, which is about 55 minutes away from Flatwoods. 133 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:13,760 They told her that they heard about the monster and wanted to check out the field where it was 134 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:22,240 spotted. Now, Kathleen was a little suspicious. They were both wearing nice suits, apparently way 135 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:28,880 too nice to be too random journalist at her door, but she's willing to take them up to the hill. 136 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:35,840 They see the skid marks in the oil. They actually touched the oil so much that it got all over 137 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:42,000 their suits, and they kept saying something to each other like, what do you think Ed's going to 138 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:48,160 think of this? Kathleen was baffled, but they just thanked her and left covered in the oil. 139 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:55,920 But the next day, the two men came back. Only this time, they freely admitted that they aren't 140 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:02,480 from Clarksburg, and they even aren't reporters. They're officials from Washington, D.C. Of course, 141 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:09,280 Kathleen is like, why didn't you tell me this like yesterday? The two men said they were worried 142 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:17,280 that if they did, she wouldn't tell them anything. Then they started to ask her all sorts of questions 143 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:25,120 about the oil, like what was it, how much did it spray? And most importantly, what did she do with 144 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:33,520 her uniform? Luckily, Kathleen hasn't washed it yet, so she hands it over to the men. They take a 145 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:40,640 sample, and that's it. About a month later, she received a letter from the Pentagon. It contains 146 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:47,600 a five by seven picture of something that looks exactly like the monster and an explanation. 147 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:54,160 They said on the night of the sightings, they sent out four experimental rocket ships, 148 00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:01,440 one of which went missing, and that was probably the flying saucer the boys and Kathleen saw. 149 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:10,080 It had been having oil trouble and had two men in it. The letter doesn't make it clear what 150 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:16,560 actually happened to the passengers. I assume that the Pentagon just thinks one of the men 151 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:24,160 in the ship was the supposed Flatwoods monster, or maybe both of them just died in the crash. 152 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:30,640 However, something about the response just didn't sit right with Kathleen. They even allegedly asked 153 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:38,240 Kathleen to keep this all a secret. And well, she did. She didn't tell anyone about the letter for 154 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:46,240 many years, mostly because she doesn't believe it. Like, there are so many things about the Pentagon 155 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:53,680 story that seems off to her. But really, it wouldn't matter if she did talk about it or not, 156 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:59,520 because word got out about the monster and it had already spread far and wide. 157 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:06,560 Do you remember how the Sheriff's Office sent a journalist to the house instead of an officer? 158 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:13,280 Well, you shouldn't be shocked that local newspapers, TV, radio stations reported on 159 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:20,320 the sightings immediately. Pretty soon, a writer from a Pittsburgh paper came to Flatwoods to cover 160 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:27,520 the story. A minister in Brooklyn, New York called Kathleen thinking the monster was similar 161 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:35,520 to one he saw in a dream. A scientist from Newfoundland called for a description. It's enough 162 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:43,200 to attract the attention of a famous paranormal investigator named Ivan Sanderson. Within a few 163 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:49,440 days of the incident, him and his colleagues arrived in Flatwoods and interviewed the boys. 164 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:57,360 After a number of conversations, Ivan and the other investigators find out that many locals saw 165 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:03,600 something in the sky that night. A nearby farmer said he saw a giant ball of fire traveling through 166 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:10,560 the sky. He said he didn't see it land, but he did watch a piece of it break off. This was roughly 167 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:17,600 the same area. In the same time, the boys saw their object. A five-year-old girl said she was 168 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:24,480 returning a bull to her grandparents when she also saw a bright orb in the sky. She was so terrified 169 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:31,680 that she ran to their house, dripped up the stairs, and broke the bull on the porch. A third resident 170 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:39,680 of Flatwoods claimed he saw a large orange craft immediately after the incident. It was flat on the 171 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:46,880 top with jets of fire shooting out of the sides. It circled the hilltop for about 15 minutes, 172 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:54,720 then took off towards a nearby airport. All of the sightings start to pile up and not just in 173 00:20:54,720 --> 00:21:02,480 Braxton County. There are reports of mysterious flying objects in Maryland, Washington, D.C., 174 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:10,240 Pennsylvania, and there's even one in California, not to mention the plane crash that was seen, 175 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:18,800 but has never been explained. So this got Ivan thinking. After mapping out each of the sightings, 176 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:24,320 this is the story he put together. On the evening of September 12, 1952, 177 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:35,120 there are five unidentified objects over Braxton County. One spotted by the May boys lands in Flatwoods. 178 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:42,480 Another, the plane report to the sheriff, flies into the hill of Frametown. One goes east towards 179 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:50,000 the nearby airport. A fourth flying over Sugar Creek. The fifth heads for Charleston and disintegrates 180 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:57,520 in the air. But what were they? Irvin isn't sure, but he comes up with a theory about where they 181 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:05,680 came from. The fleet of objects must have came from the Atlantic, passed over Baltimore, and then 182 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:12,000 veered towards West Virginia, where something went wrong and they all veered off in different 183 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:18,480 directions. One of the crafts managed to land in Flatwoods and its pilot, the monster, 184 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:24,640 got out just in time. But when the monster realized it had been spotted by a group of humans, 185 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:31,520 it ran back to its ship and panicked. That was a bad decision because the craft was burning up from 186 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:38,720 friction from entering the Earth's atmosphere. Once it hit the ground, it slowly disintegrated, 187 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:46,560 leaving no trace except for an awful smell. As an alternative, a few other residents of Flatwoods 188 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:55,360 put together their own more reasonable theories. A local scientist said the object was one meteor 189 00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:03,920 that broke into several pieces. When a piece landed in Flatwoods, its gases created a bunch of weird 190 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:12,480 shadows in the fog, which Kathleen and the boys mistook for a monster. It's possible that they 191 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:20,400 knew their sighting wasn't totally credible, but once the story got out, they doubled down for 192 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:29,440 publicity sake. Now, decades later, Braxton County decided to market itself as home of the Flatwoods 193 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:37,200 monster. I mean, I did go to the Flatwoods Monster Museum this week, and I may have picked up a shirt 194 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:45,040 and jacket, but to me, after visiting the museum and after seeing everything, there are a few 195 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:52,160 details about this gas explanation that doesn't entirely add up. I mean, for one, if the object 196 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:59,280 was a meteor, why couldn't anyone find a trace of it? Like, there was nothing on the ground, 197 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:07,920 even a meteor pit? Second, if there was nothing unusual about this event, why did the US government 198 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:14,640 come and do their own research? Why did they even send Kathleen the letter? I know Project Bluebook 199 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:21,840 was going on at the time, but there's no documentation on the incident in the Air Force's Project 200 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:29,840 Bluebook files, which to me means the government was interested in something at Flatwoods. 201 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:38,160 Another theory is one that we've heard before. Just like Mothman, people believe the Flatwoods 202 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:44,960 monster could be just a barn owl. I mean, it kind of makes sense. Barn owls have creepy, 203 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:52,800 deep eyes, round faces, and coloring that makes it look like they have a hood on. The owl would 204 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:58,800 have looked tall perched up in a tree, and the witnesses did say the Flatwoods monster was 205 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:07,440 hovering in front of a tree. I mean, it was dark and everyone was already on edge, so this somewhat 206 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:15,200 makes sense to me. I mean owls don't squirt oil, and as far as the UFO itself, I don't see how it 207 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:22,080 could just be a meteor or something. Meteors don't have glowing with pulsing lights or a smell like 208 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:29,840 burning metal, and it doesn't disappear without a trace. And what really gets me is how all of these 209 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:36,960 theories came out, but the witnesses involved still can't get over what they saw. I mean, 210 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:45,440 it's been 72 years. The May boys honestly want to believe the Flatwoods monster was just an owl, 211 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:52,560 that it was just their imagination, but they can't. Whatever they saw that night, 212 00:25:53,280 --> 00:26:00,400 terrify them for decades. The story still attracts people to this day. People come from 213 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:07,120 all over the world to visit the Flatwoods monster museum, every single week to see the evidence 214 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:14,640 with their own eyes, because seeing it is believing. Sadly, the land where this happened 215 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:20,320 is now private property, but I'm sure if you get talking to some people in Flatwoods, 216 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:29,680 you may end up there waiting for the Flatwoods monster to return. Thank you so much for joining 217 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:36,160 me for the State Horns episode. We will be back next week with a brand new episode. 218 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,520 If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow, 219 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,800 download, and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others find good 220 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:54,080 West Virginia True Crime podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, 221 00:26:54,080 --> 00:27:00,080 all at Mountain State Mysteries. For the show notes, visit our blog, 222 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:26,080 mountaintmistriespodcast.com.