The contractor is here, tearing complete and absolute hell out of our upstairs bathroom. Plus, he won’t stop asking me questions. He seems like a nice guy, but likes to talk. I can feel another half-assed update on the horizon…
I try. I swear I do.
Last night while driving home from my demoralizing job, I was listening to George Noory, and he was doing a full show about the Mothman.
Have you ever heard of this mythical creature? I knew nothing, and was surprised to learn that the legend is based in a town roughly fifty miles from where I grew up — Point Pleasant, WV.
Supposedly two couples were driving through a wooded area there, back in 1966, and spotted what looked like a 7ft-tall man with wings, stuck in a fence. When they stopped to check it out, this “moth man” freed himself and flew away(!).
This freaked them out, understandably, so they took off in their car. And the creature started following them, flying above their vehicle, and making all manner of terrifying noises.
After that, there were regular sightings of the Mothman in the area. And a year later a well-traveled bridge collapsed, killing dozens of people. At the time it was one of the worst disasters in the history of the United States.
After the bridge fell, nobody ever saw the Mothman again…. And I just had a full-body shiver.
How could I not know anything about this?? There was a best-selling book about it, as well as a big-budget Hollywood movie. Point Pleasant even has a Mothman statue in their town square! Here’s some Wikipedia information about it. It’s all new information to me…. And I grew up there.
Are there any legends of paranormal activity in your neck of the woods? Like Bigfoot sightings or UFO crashes, or things like that? Tell us about it, won’t you?
Also, what do you know about this West Virginia Mothbilly? Are you familiar with it? I need to know more.
And I need to go. Sorry, but I’m always about 2 minutes late at work, and I’m supposed to be setting an example. Ha!
I’ll leave you now with a video Knucklehead said I could share with you folks. If you’re a regular in the comments section, you’ll know that Knucklehead (Teri) and her husband will soon be moving to Italy.
Somehow, through a confusing series of events, they were invited to audition for the HGTV series, House Hunters International.
Producers liked their audition video, and told them it was almost a certainty they’d be picked to star in an episode. Unfortunately, however, they finally decided they’d done enough shows about that particular section of Italy, and the whole thing came crashing down.
Which really makes me sad, because I was going to try to talk Knucklehead into wearing one of the shirts…
In any case, here’s their audition tape. Pretty cool.
Have you ever been on a TV show?
See you guys tomorrow!
Has anyone ever seen Jesco and Mothman in the same place at the same time? I think they’re one and the same, like Clark Kent and Superman. In fact, I think I heard that Mothman was hoofin’ it on the bridge and that’s what made it collapse!
@ Gretchen – Now, if can just get a smile from Brynhildr.
Caption: And in the spirit of Richard Gere, Bonnie had big plans for Digger the dachshund.
Sorry, didn’t want Google sending Nostrils this way so thought I should low brow it a bit.
Don’t know anything about the Mothman really other than what the movie showed. I did have a cousin who was in line in traffic to cross that bridge on the night it fell however, kinda weird I guess…
I have got to get out more. All work and no play is making jack a very dull boy.
I am fascinated by both philosophy and religion. I have read quite a bit about both, but casually (not causually). I have come to the conclusion that they have the same purpose: to explain the unexplainable. Philosophy attempts to take the scientific approach, religion just makes stuff up and asks one to believe.
Both are flawed and yet valid.
Bunker Cam caption- “Five second rule!!”
Did you know- An early theory was Mothman was a misidentified Sandhill Crane?
On IPOD right now- “Sky Pilot”- The Animals
@ Taiwan On – Philosophy and religion are both just the rambling thoughts to bring reason to chaos and order to the masses. While one group will claim, there is no God, I can’t see him so he does not exist. Another group say god is present I see him in everything so he exist. What we are not careful of is putting to much weight on any position. The extremes are where we get into trouble. I think that Aristotle had it right. To say that a claim is rationally defensible does not necessarily mean that it is true or has been proved true. However, the reasons supporting the claim may only remove all reasonable doubt (not all doubt) from our minds; or they may be just strong enough to make it more likely than not that the claim is true (because it is supported by a “preponderance of the evidence”). Ergo, I exist, therefore, I am. But remember this to, philosophy was long in existence before any organized religion.
@ shiny rod:
That’s no joke bro. They eat things here that are, well, NOT FOOD.
Actually, the reason why there’s no Gypsies is probably because the Albularyo Association would run them off; damn foreigners taking local jobs. (Albularyo = fortune-teller, quack doctor, psychic surgeon, potion chef, etc. I know a couple.)
Bunker Cam Caption 3:
Beast In Show
In my birthland of southeastern Massachusetts we had the legendary Hockomock Swamp, which was a holy place for and one of the last holdouts of the resistant Native population, and as such is said to be riddled with ghosts, yetis, man-sized skunks, wendigos, will-o-wisps, and what have you.
So of course my dad took us into the middle of it for a picnic one weekend. We saw mosquitoes and poison ivy, but no restless spirits.
Bunker Cam Caption 4:
Dog – “Yo Shamu, you know I’m not literally a sausage dog, right?”
@ Shiny Rod – See, this is the problem. The simple (it cannot be explained) becomes the ridiculous (e.g., your rambling retort). Allow me to elucidate:
“The extremes are where we get into trouble.” I agree.
“I think that Aristotle had it right. To say that a claim is rationally defensible does not necessarily mean that it is true or has been proved true.” Now you lost me. This is the kind of philosophical bullshit that drives me crazy.
“However, the reasons supporting the claim may only remove all reasonable doubt (not all doubt) from our minds; or they may be just strong enough to make it more likely than not that the claim is true (because it is supported by a “preponderance of the evidence”). Ergo, I exist, therefore, I am.” WTF? Can I buy a vowel?
“But remember this to, philosophy was long in existence before any organized religion.” I beg to differ. In the beginning, philosophy and religion were the same thing.
Here is my posit restated: Philosophy, while a fascinating intellectual excercise, fails to fulfill the void.
Religion fills the void, but in the end, comes up empty.
So here we are. As the late great George Carlin put it, a bunch of protoplasms walking around. If you need to explain that, I understand. But me, I’m just glad to be alive to see what happens next.
I loved the “Mothman Prophecies.” Totallt scared the crap out of me! The Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant had a twin upriver in St. Marys. After the collapse, they closed the bridge in St. Marys, and ran a ferry across til they built a new bridge years later.
The only weird thing that happened to me in WV was one night back in the 80s. I was parked with my girlfriend down by the power plant in Belmont. This was the one where the cooling tower scaffolding collapsed in the 1970s. Anyway, as she and I were sitting there talking, all of a sudden the car got really, really cold (yet it was a warm night). I got this weird feeling of impending doom, and my girlfriend swore that she felt spirits all around us. Totally creeped me out!
@ Taiwan On – Philosophy consist of three seperate branches: Metaphysics, Axiology and Epistemology. Otherwise, what is reality, what is good or what do you value, and what do we know or accept as true. Religion is to be taken not as something that can be proven or disproven but instead as a boundary condition or principle through which we interpret life and our experiences. So philosophy is actually the foundation and religion is the boundary. BTW, I love Carlin and Maher’s points of view when it comes to religion. So I think that makes me agnostic, either way I’ll wait to see what happens and watch the two side duke it out. I think this is what happens when you have grown up christian most of your life and some event (knowledge) changes your perception. So, I agree with you, I’m just happy to be alive. P.S. Your are right, you can’t have one without the other.
This guy shoulda just picked up a block of Velveeta –
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200907140348
@ Alice in WV – and they let him out on bond!!! I am at a lost for words for this douche bag.
@ Taiwan On – This is one of those extremes I was talking about. He totally missed the boundary.
I’ve heard all the legends about WV. in fact, a friend of Mr.Man’s swears he saw a UFO on his was down I-79 late one night. He’s a pretty serious guy but when he tells this story, his voice shakes and he trembles. He says that his car shut off and then as he sat in the dark, a UFO came up from the side of the mountain and hovered in front of him for a few minutes and then went straight up, really fast and disappeared.
He sounds very convincing when he tells it.
In Maine there are legends of hauntings, ghost ships and other sea related things. Of course there are other things as well, which Stephen King has written about in some of his novels. For example, Pet Cemetery reminds me of the legend of a tree that sits near a pet cemetery on the coast. There are faces carved into the tree and rumor has it that the spirits of the pets buried there come back to haunt their owners.
As for my own neck of the woods in Maine…
Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s there was a man who worked for a farmer near where I lived. Every day when he was finished work, he’d walk home from the farm to his house. It was several miles and normally it would be dark or close to dark. One evening he swore there was something following him in the woods next to the road.
This continued for weeks and while he’d catch a glimpse of it, he couldn’t pin point what it was. He assumed it was a moose or a bear.
Then one night when the moon was full and he could see things more clearly, it stepped into a clearing in the woods and he said it stood upright, approximately six and a half feet tall, with reddish brown fur covering it’s body. It began walking toward him and he saw it had arms, not legs.
He ran to the nearest house half a mile down the road, watching it follow behind him the entire way.
When he reached the house, he pounded on the door. Then trying the door knob, found it unlocked and went inside.
The man who lived there came out of the bathroom and found him white as a ghost, sitting behind a chair. He’d soiled himself in fear.
He began to ask him what was wrong when he looked up and saw the creature looking in the window at him.
He said it’s eyes looked human and he was captivated by them, not able to look away.
Then it moved away from the window and walked into the woods. Neither of the men saw it again, although there was a huge group of men who searched the area for it for days after the event.
Because the account came from two men well into their fifties, people treated it with more credibility, I suppose.
They never found anything except for some partial tracks and broken branches.
Who knows?
That’s really the only thing I ever heard of locally that would compare to the mothman thing here in WV.
@Ognir – As did John Keel, investigator of the Mothman and writer of The Mothman Prophecies.
Jesus Christ, I had to go up 800 posts before I found what the John Keel statement referred to.
Usually, the bunker cam, further evidence and Classic have been changed by now if there was going to be an update, so here’s a question, should you be obliged to comment to (which no one ever does). What were you doing 40 years ago today when the moon landing was on TV? I was planning my future as an astronaut, until real life set in. The weird images did not seem real, as some try to disclaim any of the moon landings. Where were you?
Did you know- The new space shuttle astronauts may not make it back?
On IPOD right now- “Something I Can Never Have” – Nine Inch nails
Yeah, I know the launch was today and the landing was on the 20th. No need to correct me.
@ Shiny Rod. Your meta-clarification on boundry condition physicsamology has cleared everything up. Thanks.
AWG – I wasn’t alive 40 years ago. I know, not an interesting answer, but true.
Hey, over here in East Virginia (I actually had someone ask if I was from East or West VA) we have the West Point Ghost. The story goes that a railroad worker was killed on the tracks at a crossing at West Point VA and that if you go there at night you can sometimes see the ghost waving a red lantern. It was a real drinking hang out when I was a teenager but i never so anything but friends of mine claimed that they did.
I can’t decide if I believe what I know or if I know what I believe.
Also I might be agnostic, but I’m not sure.
Sorry, Angry White Guy, I was roughly three years, two months, and five days from being born. Which strangely enough still makes me feel old.
@ AngryWhiteGuy – Sorry for those loooooong post. Had to get something off my chest. I hate it when I get stuck in philosophy. Only way out is to rationalize it.
Thanks for answering, at least, mountie. I know a lot of people here are over 40, though.
Did you know- Jerry Springer is in the building where I work right now?
On IPOD right now- “Salt on a Slug”- Black Flag
@ AngryWhiteGuy – Running for my life because I was the nerdy kid in the neighborhood. Sorry, no pocket protectors here, just brains.
Now playing on the iPod – “Vivaldi’s Song” Michael Franks
@ Laserboy – Just for you so you can be sure. Agnosticism admits to the middle ground of uncertainty between a belief in a God or some ultimate reality and a rejection of belief in a God or some ultimate reality.
Now playing on the iPod – “Stay Awhile” – Special EFX
I also wasn’t alive 40 years ago. Sorry.
AWG — I had just turned 2 years old and was doing whatever a toddler does — probably still soiling myself, breaking things, messing up the house, picking my nose, eating the dog’s food, sucking my thumb, pulling my sisters’ hair, throwing tantrums, gnawing on lead paint, and the like. Of course, during the actual broadcast, there’s a fair chance I was sleeping. Or maybe not. We lived in Alaska then. Dunno.
AWG…the launch was yesterday….http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html…They have repair knowlegde and can wait out a rescue.
I have a crush on Julie Payette…
There’s always a chance anyone of us might not survive the night’s asleep. I’ll take my chances always putting both feet in….that’s my Philosophy and a religion, if one must cling to one. I’m a Karma, Zen kinda guy without the incence. Cool is the rule.
Huh?……http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
Don’t know why that won’t link…crap….anyway….it was the 15th.
-d
I don’t know- the NASA track record isn’t very good when noticeable shit is flying off the capsule before they come back. Good luck to them all.
Did you know- a Space Shuttle must reach speeds of about 17,500 miles per hour to remain in orbit?
On IPOD right now- “In the Flesh”- Pink Floyd
I find it very interesting and a bit sad to see the ramblings on here about religion, philosophy, agnosticism, etc….. I am a Christian. I believe this to be the way to go. I am an Air Force Veteran who spent many years underground at the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Of this I am certain, because I have experienced it first hand. There are things in this world that we cannot explain. They happen daily and be thankful there are those looking out for us. Christianity is always the religion that is attacked. You never see so called “intelligences” speak out against Bhuddism, Hinduism, Shamanism, etc…. They all want you to believe that we are all good and all paths lead to the same place. Haven’t you ever wondered why Christ is always attacked? Think about it boys and girls. The greatest scam Satan ever pulled on the world was convincing it that he doesn’t exist.
I was 10 1/2 Months old- Probably screaming at the top of my lungs!
Feeling sorry for the poor girl stuck in the bathroom with a cow…
Now playing on the iPod – “Sweet Miracle” – Rush
@ Jerry in WV – As much as I would enjoy the debate, satan wasn’t the lone culprit in the conspiracy. The Jewish Sanhedrin had a big hand in the crucifiction. But lets leave it on a philosophical level and try not to dance around those religious borders. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable about their beliefs. But you do bring up a valid point.
here’s MY point to all the closed minded creationists, evolutionists, spiritual and atheist out there. Why don’t you respect other peoples beliefs and opinions. You might be right, you might be a little right, or you might be dead wrong.
I think Asimov posed an interesting question: http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
I was 2 and 1/2 when Mr. Armstrong stepped out of the Lunar module. I’m guessing my Mom would have had it on and had all us kids watching but to young to remember. I’ll have to ask my sister.
Shiny Rod – Just kidding. I already knew what an Agnostic is I just like to play with words. I certainly don’t mean to offend. Just ellicit a smile.