Flatwoods monster
- Date
- 12 Sep 1952
- Place
- Bailey Fisher farm hilltop, Flatwoods, Braxton County, West Virginia, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Explained
- Evidence strength
What was reported
At about 7:15 p.m. on 12 September 1952 three boys saw a bright object cross the sky and apparently come down on a nearby farm. A group of seven, including Kathleen May and National Guardsman Eugene Lemon, went up the hill, saw a pulsing red light, and in Lemon's flashlight beam briefly saw a tall figure with a round red face and a hood-like shape, before fleeing; they reported a pungent mist, and some later had nausea and swollen throats for which a doctor found no cause. Descriptions of the figure varied between witnesses and grew in later retellings. Joe Nickell's 2000 reconstruction attributed the light to that meteor, the pulsing red light to an aircraft beacon and the figure to a barn owl in a tree.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
A fireball meteor, an aircraft beacon and a barn owl, seen by a frightened group at night (Nickell 2000)
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- Yes: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- Yes: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Flatwoods monsteren.wikipedia.org
On the map
38.72° N, 80.65° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map