Mothman is not the only unusual creature associated with West Virginia. Less than two hours east of Point Pleasant lies the town of Sutton, home of the Flatwoods Monster Museum. Incidentally, the Flatwoods Monster Museum sits just around the corner from the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum. West Virginia is home to a lot of monsters.

Unlike Mothman and Bigfoot, both of whom have been seen on many occasions, the Flatwoods Monster was seen exactly once. On September 12, 1952, a group of young boys saw an object streaking across the evening sky, followed by a tail of fire. The boys ran home and got their mother, who returned to the crash site along with two more children and a member of the West Virginia National Guard. Back at the crash site, the group followed a flashing red light until they stumbled upon one of the strangest looking creatures ever reported.

According to the witnesses, the being they came face to face with was 10′ tall, with a head shaped like a spade (possibly a hood) and glowing red eyes. The creature was wearing a green cloak underneath what they described as a metal dress. It had long, skinny arms with lizard-like claws. The creature hovered in midair, and when the group shined their flashlight at it, it began to hiss and float toward them, causing them — understandably — to run in the opposite direction, all the way back into town.

The entire group ran directly to the sheriff’s office to report what they had seen. The sheriff and his deputy returned to the site, but found nothing. Based on the eyewitness reports, a sketch artist came up with the following drawing, which appeared on the front page of the town’s newspaper the following morning.

Just look at that ridiculous thing! Imagine running into anything that remotely looked like that creature out in the woods!

The Flatwoods Monster sighting was a one-and-done incident, and even though nobody ever saw the monster again, that didn’t stop the fine folks of Sutton (located next to Flatwoods) to establish the world’s only Flatwoods Monster Museum.

The museum, which doubles as the town’s welcome center, is free to enter. Due to the lack of sightings, there isn’t a whole lot to see in the museum. I guess a more positive way to put it is, everything you could ever want to see about the Flatwoods Monster is located there under one roof. Copies of the original newspaper article and handwritten eyewitness accounts are on display. Most everything else are things people have made that are dedicated to the monster. There are costumes, toys, dolls, and even a piece of the tree the monster supposedly emerged from behind.

On the same night of the Flatwoods Monster sighting, multiple people across at least three counties reported seeing something in the sky. It is generally accepted that a meteor did in fact land in Flatwoods that evening. Most investigators today agree that what the group most likely saw was a barn own. When frightened, barn owls lower their heads, stick up their tail feathers and spread their wings, creating a shape very similar to the Flatwood Monster’s head. Also, an owl’s eyes will reflect red when a flashlight is pointed at them. The creature’s skinny arms and claw-like hands certainly sound like a bird’s legs and claws. Finally, barn owls hiss when threatened, the same sound reported by the witnesses. An owl perched above eye level would, especially in the dark, give the impression of being a much larger creature.

Let’s hope it was an owl, because the thought of 10′ tall floating alien monsters with glowing eyes and sharp claws should terrify everyone.