The Mothman Prophecies

Mothman sightings at the collapse of the Silver Bridge, December 1967

On the evening of December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge, which crossed the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, collapsed in rush-hour traffic. 46 Cars plunged into the Ohio River, killing many people. There had been a number of sightings of the Mothman on the bridge by drivers just before it collapsed.

The Silver Bridge, so named for its aluminum paint, was an eyebar chain suspension bridge that connected the cities of Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga over the Ohio River. The bridge was built in 1928. Investigation of the bridge wreckage pointed to the failure of a single eye-bar in a suspension chain due to a small manufacturing flaw.

Sightings continued to pour in. Certain features remained consistent - the creature's size, build and hypnotic eyes. Also, malfunctioning radios and televisions featured in many of the reports. Another consistent feature was the fear - people were terrified of the Mothman. Also, a sudden increase of dog disappearances and animal mutilations were reported - and the Mothman was thought to be responsible for those as well.

As one would expect with this kind of media coverage, thousands of people poured into the T.N.T. area, hoping for a sighting. Television crews set up at the generator plant, hoping to catch Mothman on film.

It was the biggest disaster ever to hit Point Pleasant and it seemed to mark the end of the flurry of Mothman sightings. People began to speculate that the Mothman was somehow responsible for the bridge's collapse. The severity of the accident seemed to turn public attention away from the Mothman and only scattered reports of him have surfaced since then.