The Mothman Prophecies

Annotated by; Madison Brock

While doing research on the Mothman, an article titled “The Real Story of the Mothman Prophecies,” posted on ign.com, provided insight of the backstory context of this myth. The article is written by Scott B, who introduces the topic by explaining the movie, “The Mothman Prophecies.” It states how there is always the warning of “based on true events.” The article explains what exactly those true events are. Although the website may seem untrusting as the construction of it is based around video games and movies, it can be considered credible due to the reliable sources and statistics provided in the article.

Mothman is a creature that has the body shape of a human yet also has huge wings and heating eyes, something that has never been seen before. This article is told through an interview with Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist: one who studies unknown animals. Coleman explains the happenings of the first main sighting of the Mothman. On November 15, 1966, two married couples were in Point Pleasant, West Virginia – the two giant red eyes locked with theirs and they were scared, unsure of what to make of it. This was considered the first reported sighting of the "Mothman." Coleman states, “The creature "came toward them. They took off and the creature followed them right up to the city limits of Point Pleasant."” The incident was reported to the local sheriff, who went there and only results in there being a puff of smoke nearby. Once reported, more people started seeing this creature. Over 200 individuals had some interaction with some strange phenomena – and about a hundred of those said they actually saw Mothman.  

“The Mothman Prophecies,” John Keel, was assigned to go to Point Pleasant to gather information and construct a report- what he experienced seemed surreal. He immersed himself into his project, yet in doing so he claims that entities were talking to him on the phone. Coleman states that an entity explained to Keel that a blackout was going to occur- that it did. On December 15th, 67 people fell into the river when the bridge collapsed: the bridge that crosses from Ohio to that spot of the sighting in West Virginia. The article claims that this was the end of the sightings but follows with an opinion from Coleman, ““I don't think it stopped. What I think is that it has continued on but people did not report it.”” Keel publishes his book in 1975, the only book on the creature at the time. This article recaps the story of Mothman and then discusses the release of the film and how Mothman is simply described and not shown. A question would arise: why would he not be shown? 

This article could be deemed not credible for various reasons. If you (the reader) look at the top of the page, you will notice it was published December 6th, 2001. That is almost a 19 year difference. More sources have been published within those times, such as books, documentaries, and endless articles. I’m sure more sightings have taken place as well, whether they have been reported or not. Another thing that would deem this article uncredible would be website itself- it was posted on ign.com- also known as the imagine games network, an entertainment website. All around the border of the website there are sections which you could click such as “shows”, “PS4”, “XBOX”, “movies”, and more. Most of these things are made up, therefore it could lead the audience to think that the Mothman myth is made up as well. Was this article only posted to give some background knowledge on the movie that was being released at the time of publishing? 
This article could be deemed credible because the author used an immensely credible person to use as an interview subject: Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist. A creature like Mothman, never before seen, could definitely be put under the unknown category.  Interviewing someone with this background provides credibility to the article due to having an immense amount of knowledge on this subject. This article also discusses the number growth of those who have claimed to be seeing Mothman, providing a form of statistics, which is an extremely valuable quality to have in a credible article. Lastly, the writer of the article gives the audience Coleman’s actual website and link’s the film’s website as well. 

This source can be deemed either credible or not, but it just depends how you look at it. Overall, the source provides great background information and gives the audience a deeper understanding of the Mothman myth.  

Work Cited 

Scott B. “The Real Story of The Mothman Prophecies.” ign.com. https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/12/06/the-real-story-of-the-mothman-prophecies. 22 Oct 2018. 

Picture found at; https://www.yelp.com/biz/mothman-museum-point-pleasant