There are supposedly few ufologists and Forteans
aware of the very special relationship between Mothman and Sweden. In 1969
Swedish ufologist Åke Franzén (1936-1995) travelled to Point Pleasant, West
Virginia and spent five weeks interviewing around 30 Mothman witnesses and visiting
observation sites. But his trip proved to be more than just an ordinary field
investigation as Åke fell deeply in love with the first Mothman witness Linda
Scarberry. Because of this relation he got a unique personal insight in the
events 1966-1967. Åke entertained plans to emigrate to the U.S. but he couldn´t
find a job so this dream had to be abandoned. The many letters exchanged
between Åke and Linda are now preserved at AFU but contain very little data on
Mothman. They are essentially personal love letters. Åke Franzén was a close
friend, a dedicated ufologist and an early AFU board member, 1980-1983.
Åke Franzén, October 22, 1977
None of these data can be found in the latest book
by cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, Mothman Evil Incarnate. It is not a
comprehensive study of the famous winged creature but a useful companion volume
intended for aficionados of John Keel and especially his classic The Mothman
Prophecies, published in 1975. When Loren Coleman journeyed to Point Pleasant in 2001 it
was a sleepy little town with no Home of Mothman signs. All this was to change
after 2002, when Hollywood´s version of Keel´s book appeared, starring Richard
Gere. I was never particularly impressed by this movie. It could have been made
into a real nail-biter, like the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
But it changed the town of Point Pleasant for ever, which is now a tourist
attraction, with bus tours to observation sites, an annual Mothman Festival and
the Mothman Museum and Research Center.
Loren Coleman´s small book, 149 pages, presents useful
basic facts in chapters like: The Writer, The Book, The Movie, The Aftermath,
The Town, The Documentaries. The first chapter, Breaking News – Chicago 2017,
is a summary of some of the intriguing, recent ”Mothman” sightings in Chicago. The
creature is described as a 6-7 feet tall, half man, half bird with bat-like
wings 10 feet across and glowing eyes: ”It rose into the air like a bullet and
I heard it screech once more before losing it from my view” (pp. 10-11). The
title of Coleman´s book hint that this is a manifestation of evil. A theme that
becomes somewhat unnecessary conspiratorical in quotes like these: ”Is it a
coincidence that Chicago is seeing the highest murder rate in decades?” (p. 9).
During his later years when Keel´s health
deteriorated he isolated himself and avoided media interviews. Increasing signs
of paranoia made contact even with old friends problematic. Coleman presents
some sad details of Keel´s lonely last days. But he had health problems already
in 1976 when he visited Sweden. I will never forget when he reach for his
pocket, which was full of pills of various colors, some of which he quickly
swallowed.
John Keel with girlfriend, eating a UFO cake at the home of Åke Franzén, Sweden, October 17, 1976
More than half the book consists of two large appendix.
The first comprise detailed annotations to The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel,
compiled by Michael D. Winkle. The page numbers refer to the Tor Books edition
but follow closely other editions and is therefore a useful tool for follow-up
of various claims, ideas and cases in the book. Appendix B: Mothman Death List,
gives one hundred names of people who have died, more or less mysteriously, in
connection with Mothman. The first 46 are the names of those who lost their
lives when the Silver Bridge collapsed on December 15, 1967. With this list it
would be easy to come to the conclusion that there was something evil or a
curse associated with Mothman. Whatever the truth several witnesses developed stress
symptoms after their encounters. In his list Michael D. Winkle mention that ”Marcella
Bennett was so traumatized that she eventually sought medical attention.” (p.
140).
Åke Franzén reading The Mothman Prophecies, 1978
This was also noticed by Åke Franzén when he visited Point Pleasant. Linda
Scarberry showed him the scars she had on arms and legs. She suffered from
chock after the Mothman encounter and was hospitalized. One morning she woke up
at the hospital with arms and legs badly scratched. When my AFU colleague
Anders Liljegren and I interviewed Åke Franzén on May 19, 1973 he told us how he
perceived the witnesses: ”I noticed their great nervousness in how much they
smoked. My God how they smoked… One witness, Marcella Bennett, could not be
still. Most of the people who had seen the ”bird” had these kind of symptoms.
One witness started crying when she told me of her observation.”
Anders Liljegren and I interviewing Åke Franzén, May 19, 1973
What interpretation or theories could be advanced to
account for Mothman and his kin? As there are very few ufologists and cryptozoologists
who are connoisseurs of The Esoteric Tradition they have probably missed a very
fascinating account by the clairvoyant theosophist Geoffrey Hodson. In
April 1922 he observed several sylphs or air-spirits: ”Watching the approach
across the valley of some dense storm-clouds, the presence was observed of a
number of bird-like air-spirits travelling swiftly in front of the approaching
clouds. Many of them are dark and unpleasant to look upon – slightly reminiscent
of bats… Their faces are human and well formed, their expression is unpleasant;
the rest of the body is not fully formed, and they rather resemble birds with
human faces… They utter a weird shrieking noise, and occasionally shoot almost
vertically upwards into and beyond the clouds… It is evident that there are
many different species of storm-sylphs, varying in size, power, and
evolutionary position.” (Geoffrey Hodson, Fairies at Work and at Play, pp.
84-85). Anyone studying the original Mothman encounters most notice that this
is an almost exact description of what was observed in West Virginia 1966-1967.
In his last book, The Eighth Tower (1975), John Keel
wrote: "Today many scientific disciplines are moving in the same
direction, not realizing they are mapping a very old country. In a few years,
perhaps even in our own lifetime, all sciences will suddenly converge at a
single point, and the mysteries of the superspectrum will unravel in our
hands." (p. 216). To me it is obvious that the ufologists, Forteans and
cryptozoologists of our generation really are ”mapping a very old country”. A
country studied and investigated for ages by custodians of The Esoteric
Tradition – The Science of the Multiverse.
