This source talks about an encounter with the so called mythical Mothman. An encounter described from Linda Scarberry states “We were doing between 100 and 105 mph down that straight stretch and that thing was just gliding back and forth over the back end of the car...To me it just looks like a man with wings.”
This encounter seems very real and that Linda and the person she was with actually did encounter a true Mothman. A key factoid from the article states there are no bars in Point Pleasant, West Virginia where everyone in the car claims they see a Mothman. Everyone in the car claims they were sober when they had an encounter with this creature, and I think that is important to add. I think that that is worth noting because based on previous encounters I have had with people under the influence, they tend to exaggerate the truth or simply make stuff up. A story as far fetched as Mothman does not seem like a made up tale, and the encounters of Mothman tend to agree with this. Another quote from Linda states “I know people are laughing at us but it’s no laughing matter. We’ll never forget this thing... When it gets dark I feel the fear creeping over me. When I go anyplace I automatically look up and out the windows. I am afraid to sleep at night so I lay awake sometimes crying with fear ... Even in daylight I’m afraid to be by myself. I walk around in my own house expecting to see that thing ... Every little noise scares me to death”. These symptoms seem similar to people who have PTSD, and with Linda seemingly having PTSD from Mothman, this
Another quote from a passenger in the car, Mrs Steve Mallette states:
“At night you wonder where this man-like creature is and if it will harm you and is all I seem to think about. And when we go somewhere I can feel someone laughing at me. And I can be in a crowd and hear people say, ‘Well they were all liquored up,’ and God only knows we were not.”
This shows how real of an encounter this was with Mothman with not only one person saying this, but two. In addition to this, Steve Mallette’s was a testimony which would make one think that it would be only the truth during a testimony. Statements like this make one believe that this is a true encounter and that these people encountered the Mothman deep in the heart of West Virginia. I think I would be a bit skeptical if there was only one encounter, but due to the fact that there are two encounters from this article alone and how vivid the descriptions were, this article carries some credibility.
Researcher John Keel drove down from his home in New York to Point Pleasant West Virginia to do his own investigation on Mothman. While Keel was doing his research he stayed at the Scarberry home for several weeks. Eventually Keel wrote in his autobiography that he was sure Mothman is real based on eye witnesses that saw the Mothman. Keel has stated he knew Mothman was real because of the way people would describe the creature. Keel has stated that people described Mothman with such certainty he was real, there was almost no way to not believe their brief meeting with him.
Based on encounters people have had with Mothmen and they way they describe their encounters in the article, this is most definitely a credible source. The encounters people have had with Mothman are described as very frightening and surreal. I think what makes the source so credible is with how traumatic the encounters are described which would make me think there is no way people are making this up, nor is there an incentive for them to make these encounters up. Everything within the article adds up to these encounters being real with Mothman which would make the source more credible.
To counter this as an non credible source, one could say that they all are making this story or encounters up to get a couple of minutes of fame. This is common now in 2018 and they simply could have been ahead of the time. In addition to this, I think it is completely believable that the researcher John Keel could have been under pressure from his bosses and been told to find something out no matter what. With that being said I do think there could have been some tampering with the stories or encounters with Mothman. Another valid point to rebuttal this could be that there are only a few people who saw this creature and if he is indeed such a large gigantic creature, why have only a few people seen him? I think these are all valid points in terms of this not being a credible source. When looking at this from the outside, there are no sources that deem it to be valid such as a major news station or even actual proof that these encounters were real. Establishing this, these people could have came together and tried to receive their personal 15 minutes of fame and be on with their lives like we are so accustomed to seeing today. Another knack against its credibility is the information is rather vague, with a quote from Mrs Steve Mallette states “At night you wonder where this man-like creature is and if it will harm you and is all I seem to think about. And when we go somewhere I can feel someone laughing at me. And I can be in a crowd and hear people say, ‘Well they were all liquored up,’ and God only knows we were not.” This quote does not show credibility on her part or show anything that had happened, just an unusual experience. I think a quote like this is too vague and does not show enough detail to the situation at hand which would lack credibility on her part.
Dixon, D. (2007). A benevolent and sceptical inquiry: exploring “Fortean Geographies” with the Mothman. Cultural Geographies, 14(2), 189–210. Retrieved from http://libproxy.shepherd.edu:
Picture found at; https://allthatsinteresting.com/mothman
Picture found at; https://allthatsinteresting.com/mothman
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