On the Trail of the Mothman

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. Amanda McGowan: Every small town has that one spot where people sneak off to at night. In Point Pleasant, West Virginia, back in the 1960s, that place was the McClintic Wildlife Management Area. The locals called it the TNT area. During World War II, this had been a giant munitions factory that produced explosives, but after the war, the factory closed, the land was open to the public, and you could wander around the crumbling remains of all the buildings there. Sherri Brake: There’s an old power plant there, lots of woods, just acres and acres of gravel and dirt roads, and it’s really easy to get turned around while you’re up there in the TNT area. People would go up there and have parties. People would go up there parking, you know, sweethearts would go up there and watch the full moon, etc., etc. And that’s basically, you know, what these two young married couples did, the Mallettes and the Scarberrys. Amanda: Two young couples, the Mallettes and the Scarberrys, headed to the TNT area on the evening of November 15, 1966. What happened next would be immortalized in town lore forever. They were hanging out in the Scarberrys’ car parked near the old power plant, and just around midnight they saw something. Sherri: And it was Linda Scarberry that first saw this creature and of course all four of them saw it and panicked. I mean, what would you do if you saw something 8-foot-tall with black wings and, you know, crouching up in a tree with red glowing eyes. You’re going to get your car, you’re going to start your car, and you’re going to get the heck out of there. Amanda: Roger Scarborough, who was driving, peeled out of the park, but the creature followed them. Sherri: This creature, this “birdman,” as they first called it, was able to keep pace with the car. Amanda: The couple’s report of their sighting was published the next day in the “Point Pleasant Register” under the headline, “Couples