Flatwoods is a small town in West Virginia that was relatively unknown and not talked about in the mainstream until the early 50s. During the 50s, Flatwoods quickly became a popular topic in the media because of the sighting of a creature that would become one of the most famous cryptids in modern folklore. The sighting of the Flatwoods Monster was one that none of the locals forgot.
The incident began with a group of boys at school playing football in the evening. The sighting of a bright ball of fire that flew across the sky similar to a meteorite had interrupted their typical evening. The burning ball crash landed on top of the hill with a thunderous sound, attracting the attention of the boys and a couple of adults that supervised them. Curiosity got the best of them, and they climbed up the hill to see what crashed. At first, they probably thought it was a meteorite or, in a worse case, a tragic plane accident.
As they got closer to the top of the hill, the smell of rotten eggs became more potent. Their eyes became red rimmed and watery because of a burning sensation caused by the strange gas. This didn’t discourage them from reaching the top because when they stepped on top of the hill, they saw a creature that terrified them. They saw a green creature with a red head staring at them. The creature had glowing eyes and claws. It was spraying smoke into the air. It hovered a few inches off the ground. The Flatwoods Monster started hissing. Naturally, the group ran away from the creature.
Evidence of the Flatwoods Monster
This encounter was only the time that the Flatwoods Monster was spotted, and when people went on top of the hill, the creature was nowhere to be found. Right after the encounter, the two adults contacted the police and informed them about the terrifying experience. The police investigated the area of the encounter to find nothing out of the ordinary. The only evidence that they found to support their claim was the lingering stench. Not too long after that, the smell of rotten eggs cleared. Despite this cryptid being so popular in folklore, it is rarely spotted and hasn’t been seen again.
Critics believe that the group really saw a barn owl. They believe that the anticipation and lack of light caused their mind to distort the image of the barn owl into a monster. They write the ball of fire off as a meteorite. At first, this might seem like a logical explanation, but there are a few problems with this theory. First, the average height of a barn owl is a little over a foot. The Flatwoods Monster was reported to be around 10 feet tall. While it is true that anticipation and darkness often cause the human mind to distort objects, making them look worse and more horrifying than they appear, the problem is that the vast difference between the size of a barn owl and the Flatwoods Monster is too extreme. The only way that the group could make such a massive error in judgment is if they purposely lie. The ball of fire couldn’t have been a meteorite because of the lack of fragments found. It isn’t possible for no remains of a meteorite that size to be found. The critics also failed to come up with an explanation for the stench.
What is the Flatwoods Monster?
The people that believe the group came up with their own theory. Many people that believe in this encounter don’t actually think of the Flatwoods Monster as a cryptid, but an extraterrestrial. The ball of fire was the spacecraft that it used to travel to Earth. The smoke that it emitted into the air was a defense mechanism used to ward off potential predators similar to a skunk. There was no evidence because after the group fled, the alien went back into the spacecraft and left the earth. There were no footprints because of its ability to levitate. Why did this extraterrestrial decide to visit the earth? Unfortunately, no one knows. The only thing that we can do is speculate.
What do you think the Flatwoods Monster was? Do you believe the creature was a hoax made up by the group? Do you believe that they really saw a barn owl? If not, do you believe that they really saw some other creature? Do you believe that the Flatwoods Monster isn’t a cryptid, but an extraterrestrial? If you have any answers, let me know in the comments below.