Because of the renewed interest in Mothman and John
Keel I have decided to translate the original interview Anders Liljegren and I
made with Åke Franzén on May 19, 1973. It was published in our Swedish magazine
Ufologen no 12, Nov-Dec 1973. I have written some blog entries on Åke Franzén
before but here is the complete interview as transcribed from our tape
recording. Åke travelled to West Virginia in the Summer of 1969 and spent five
weeks in the area around Point Pleasant and also a few days in New York where
he met John Keel. From a research point of view it is interesting that this interview was published before Keel´s classic The Mothman Prophecies, 1975.
Anders Liljegren and I interviewing Åke Franzén, May 19, 1973
What was planned as an ordinary field investigation
proved to be much more. Åke fell deeply in love with Mothman witness Linda
Scarberry and soon became a close friend with several people in Point Pleasant,
including journalist Mary Hyre who was his chauffeur during these weeks,
visiting witnesses and observation sites.
Åke Franzén, October 22, 1977
Åke Franzén: ”I was surprised by the openness I met
from these people. Whether this was because they felt I believed them and
wanted to listen to what they told me, or if it is an American characteristic I
don´t know. Anyhow there were no closed doors.”
We asked Åke if there was any connection between
Mothman and UFOs:
Åke Franzén: ”To my knowledge there is only one case where saucers have been observed together with ´the bird´. I have promised not to reveal the names of the people who witnessed this but they were out cruising late at night and observed a saucer and a ´birdman´ with the characteristic luminous eyes, melting into one object and disappearing in the sky.”
Åke Franzén: ”To my knowledge there is only one case where saucers have been observed together with ´the bird´. I have promised not to reveal the names of the people who witnessed this but they were out cruising late at night and observed a saucer and a ´birdman´ with the characteristic luminous eyes, melting into one object and disappearing in the sky.”
Åke then related some of the encounters with Mothman:
Åke Franzén: ”One of the main witnesses, Linda Scarberry, had moved from Ohio when I came to Point Pleasant, but 2-3 weeks later she moved back to her parents home. I asked Mary Hyre to contact her and she drove me there. Linda Scarberry told that she and her husband, and another young couple, had gone to the TNT-area one evening. This place is a sort of nature reserve and ´lovers lane´. They were about to park their car behind a ruin of a closed power plant when one of them suddenly shouted ´look there in the corner´. They watched a creature, about seven feet tall, with glowing eyes or rings.
Linda´s husband, who was driving, tried to start the
car real quick to get away from this horrible sight but because of excitement
gave too much gas. The two young girls were hysterical and shouted ´drive´. They
finally succeeded in getting away and when looking back they noticed how the
creature turned around wobbling, and went towards the building like a clumsy
duck. They reached the road, route 2. Halfway home one of them happened to look
behind the car. Above them they could see the creature flying and its wing tips
on either side of the car. The wings didn´t flutter, but were completely still.
It was so low above them that the frightened witnesses could observe its legs
hanging and dangling right above the windshield. I especially remember Linda
saying she could see ´veins´, thick as rope, around the legs. They didn´t see
any feet.
When they saw the first lights from Point Pleasant
the ´bird´ made a turn and went in the opposite direction. The couples went
straight to the police station where the chief of police listened to their
story. He believed them as these young people were considered well-behaved and
reliable. In spite of their fear they immediately returned to the spot
accompanied by the policeman. On arrival there was nothing to see but the
communication radio in the policar was turned up like listening to a 45 rpm
record at 78 rpm. According to rumors a senior police officer made an
investigation of the observation area and got a glimpse of the creature. After
this encounter he refused to talk about this event. If anyone mention ´the
birdman´ he withdraws from the conversation.
Linda Scarberry had to seek medical help because of
the psychological trauma caused by the encounter. None of those traumatized by
close encounters with this creature have recovered completely. Previously they
were calm and harmonious which has changed to nervousness. Linda Scarberry woke
up at the hospital one morning with her arms and legs badly scratched. She had large
scars after this. The witnesses nervousness was above all evident in how much
they smoked. My God, how they smoked. Even I who was a non-smoker when I
arrived started. 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.
It was like they watched a movie when they told of
their observations, talked like they experienced it again. I told them ´you
don´t need to recount what happened of you don´t want to´ but they insisted on
relating the event anyway. Maybe they noticed I believed them and felt
confidence in me. I think it is important to the witnesses to behave in such a
manner. It was fascinating but made me ill at ease listening to their
encounters. When I talked to relatives they always said ´it is not the same old…´
and then the name of the witness.
Åke Franzén reading John Keel´s the Mothman Prophecies 1978
Marcella Bennett didn´t want to relate her
experience to anyone else but John Keel and me. She said she had confidence in
me. The night after Linda Scarberry´s encounter Marcella and some of her acquaintances were planning to visit friends living near the TNT-area. Because
of what had happened the night before they decided to spook their friends by
knocking on the window. They parked their cars on a slope and walked towards
the house. Mrs. Bennett was just about to take her two year old daughter out of
the car when she heard a sound like a wet sack had fallen behind the car. She
turned around and noticed something gray rise up behind the car. What she
especially saw was the shining red ´circles´. She felt like paralyzed by them.
Håkan Blomqvist: Was this some kind of eyes?
Åke Franzén: Yes, that´s the theory, but they are
placed very low, shining with a hypnotic glow. The witnesses often talked more
about these ´circles´ than the creature. Mrs. Benneett was unable to move when
she saw the ´bird´ coming between the cars. Her arms were sort of straightened
out and she dropped the little girl on the ground. Not until the child began
crying did Marcella ´wake up´. She picked up the girl and together with the
others started running towards the house. They were hysterical when they
knocked on the door and rushed in. Only three of the children were at home.
Their parents had gone to Point Pleasant on an errand. They locked the door.
Mrs. Bennett was speechless from fear and the others hysterical. Suddenly they
heard something moving on the porch and how the ´bird´s´ wings hit against the
logs holding the porch. Someone picked up the phone and called the police but
when they arrived there were no traces, nothing. Only some hysterical
witnesses. They were five grown up people so it could hardly be a
misinterpretation.
Håkan Blomqvist: Could they observe how it disappeared?
Åke Franzén: No, it´s understandable that after the chock of having seen the creature and hearing it hit the logs with its wings. They crouched, didn´t want to see. The girl Tina, who was only two years when her mother dropped her, was five when I met her. We became good friends and in spite of her age she was better in giving a clear and coherent picture of what had happened than her mother.”
