September 12th, 1952. A bright light streaks across the sky over Flatwoods, West Virginia catching the eye of 3 boys. Being inspired to investigate the light the boys gather up one of their mothers, a few more friends, and a 17 year old West Virginia National Guard member. The party led by Eugene Lemon the National Guardsmen ventured forth to the hill where the streak landed. As they approached the site they felt a mist in the air which later caused nausea, vomiting, and throat irritation.
The creature across all depictions has some features that are agreed upon. The creature stood at 10 foot tall, had a hood that looked almost like a spade, had a glowing red face and hood with piercing yellow eyes, and had a green body with what looked like a skirt. A detail that is often mentioned but was debated among eye witnesses was if the creature had claws or not. After the party saw the creature they stated that it started to move towards them and they all fled in fear.
Lemon and the Mother of 2 of the boys went to the police immediately to report the incident however the police found nothing. A local newspaper publisher was quoted saying “Those people were the most scared people I’ve ever seen” and also said, “People don’t make up that kind of story that quickly”.
This event prompted the United States government to investigate with a program titled “Project Blue Book”. Ultimately after their investigation, the Government declared that the Flatwoods Monster was not an alien encounter. The leading theory on what the monster was is that of an Owl.
On the night of September 12th a meteor seen across multiple states with experts saying that the underlights on a plane could’ve given the creature its glowing red face. The supposed monster is said to have been an owl resting on a branch which combined with the high tensions and dark lighting could’ve appeared as something otherworldly.
However, even with the owl theory there is not explanation for the sickness felt by those that ingested the mist when searching for the monster. The “Visit Braxton” page about the Flatwoods Monster does note that the symptoms are the same as Mustard Gas but there is nothing conclusive.
The Flatwoods Monster whether it is real or fake has inspired many different things in movies, television, and video games. There have been movies made on the event, an episode of the TV show “Project Blue Book” is all about the encounter, and in Fallout 76 there exists the Flatwoods Monster as well as in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask there exists aliens based on the Flatwoods Monster.
