Unravelling the mystery of the Chicago Mothman: Experts reveal the truth behind the creepy red-eyed flying monster – as Netflix releases trailer for Unsolved Mysteries
From the Loch Ness Monster to Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, the world is full of legendary “creatures” whose existence has never been proven.
Now, a new series from Netflix’s ‘Unexplained Mysteries’ takes a look at one of the most terrifying ‘cryptids’ ever: the Chicago Mothman.
The terrifying figure has reportedly been sighted in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The figure is described as looking like a “man with wings” and huge, glowing red eyes.
It has been linked to deadly bridge collapses and is the subject of a 2002 film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney. But what could this monster actually be?
MailOnline spoke to an academic and a ‘cryptozoologist’ – someone in the strange pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding such fantastical beasts – to uncover the truth behind the Chicago Mothman.
The terrifying figure has reportedly been seen in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He is described as looking like a “man with wings” and has enormous glowing red eyes (artist’s impression)
Episode five of the new Netflix series – debuting July 31 – focuses on the Chicago Mothman.
Netflix describes the episode as follows: “Amid eerie sightings of a large, winged, humanoid creature with red eyes, paranormal investigators investigate the apparent link between the Mothman and major disasters.”
Richard Freeman is the zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), an eccentric cryptozoological organisation that relies on public donations to conduct “extensive research into mysterious animals” around the world.
Mr Freeman told MailOnline that Mothman is a ‘paranormal manifestation’ – ‘not a flesh and blood creature, but a supernatural being’.
But Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist and lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, says he always believes in “rational over irrational explanations” when it comes to myths like this.
‘Observations and reports may fall into the category of ‘expectant attention’ – the psychological effect where people see what they want or expect to see, where something is difficult to see with any resolution,’ Dr Gilchrist told MailOnline.
According to the academic, people who claim to have seen the Mothman may have misidentified the animal.
A crane, a large bird found throughout North America that has red spots around its eyes, is perhaps “the most likely explanation.”
Netflix says: ‘Amid eerie sightings of a large, winged, humanoid creature with red eyes, paranormal investigators investigate the Mothman’s apparent link to major disasters’
MailOnline spoke to an academic and a ‘cryptozoologist’ – someone in the strange pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding such fantastic beasts – to find out the truth behind the Chicago Mothman (artist’s impression)
Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist at Edinburgh Napier University, believes Mothman ‘witnesses’ may have seen a crane – a large bird found across North America with red markings around its eyes (pictured)
“Alternative explanations include hallucinations or a deliberately constructed story to gain attention,” Dr. Gilchrist added.
‘Deliberate fabrications and hoaxes are also possible.’
The Mothman phenomenon originated nearly 60 years ago in Point Pleasant, a small town in West Virginia near the Ohio border.
In November 1966, two couples spotted the “human-sized, bird-like creature” around midnight in the city (and they insisted they did not have (have drunk).
She told the Point Pleasant Register that the statue was approximately ‘two or three meters tall’, with a wingspan of three meters and red eyes about two inches in diameter.
The craft was described as “a man with wings” and was flying at “approximately 100 miles per hour.” It even followed residents in their cars along Route 62.
After the initial report in the newspaper, more people in the Point Pleasant area reported seeing the animal, including two firefighters who described it as a “large bird with red eyes.”
When the Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, residents associated the event with the monster.
The creature has also been spotted in Chicago recently, with 55 sightings reported in 2017 alone, sources say.
The Mothman was reportedly first seen in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in the 1960s, but more recent sightings have occurred in Chicago, Illinois
When the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, local residents associated the event with the monster
Author John Keel published his novel ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ in 1975, which was made into a film in 2002 starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney (pictured)
Now, more than half a century later, Point Pleasant hosts an annual Mothman Festival featuring tours, films and music, boosting tourism to the town.
“With all the attention, visitors and the Mothman Festival, there is now an economic rationale for keeping the myth alive, just like with the Loch Ness Monster,” Dr Gilchrist said.
According to the researcher, the mystery surrounding cryptids such as Nessie, Bigfoot, Mothman and the Abominable Snowman is ‘self-perpetuating’.
‘People want to see or find something rare or special – that’s part of human nature,’ he told MailOnline.
‘Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 4’ comes to Netflix on July 31.