The enigmatic winged creature, Mothman, observed in
the Point Pleasant area in 1966-1967 has today become a legend. There are innumerable
articles, books, web sites and documentaries devoted to what happened in this
small West Virginia town. It is now part of West Virginia folklore with a
Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant and an Annual Mothman Festival.
Behind all the legends, rumours and media hype we find the very physical and traumatic experiences of the original witnesses. My close friend, ufologist Åke Franzén (1936-1995), 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.
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. On May 19, 1973 my AFU colleague Anders Liljegren and I made an extensive interview with Åke, detailing his experiences in Point Pleasant.
The secret love affair between Linda Scarberry and Åke Franzén created a lot of problems for Linda. She was unhappily married and planned a divorce to marry Åke. But he could never find a job in the U.S. so the relationship ended. The correspondence between Linda and Åke is preserved at AFU. There are 49 very personal love letters från Linda with unfortunately very little information about Mothman.
Recently I reread all the letters to find what she
mentioned about Mothman and John Keel. These quotes have never been published
before and can be of interest to researchers. What is especially notable is
that Linda disagreed with John Keel on the nature of Mothman. She was convinced
the creature was ”flesh and blood” and had the ”instinct of a very smart animal”.
Here are the relevant quotes from various letters:
”Do you remember my cousin Jackie and her boyfriend
Larry? They were the ones that had the saucer following them about 10 feet
above the car. Some friends of there´s were in the TNT parked the other night
(they won´t say where) and the Mothman came out of the bushes right up to their
car. They were scared to death. Jackie won´t say who they were. They won´t talk
about it so I don´t know any more. See I told that thing was still up there. No
one will believe me when I tell them that.”
Dated Oct. 1969
”Mom just got up again. She said something woke her
up. You'll never guess what either. We're both sitting here listening to it.
Have you ever heard tell of a baby crying in the house when one wasn't?
(Connected with those flying saucers) That's what we're sitting here listening
to. Mr Keel says a lot of people hear it. Belva Farley has and Marcella I think. That's the first time I ever have though. I
thought it was Dani crying at first but she was sound asleep. You talk about someone being scared – we were
scared to death. I called Mary to see if she heard it but she didn't. It was
between a groan cry and whin.
You figure that out. It was really weird.”
Undated letter Oct. 1969.
”I don't agree with Mr Keels opinion about the Mothman either. He's never seen it. I've seen it enough to just about be able to tell you what it's going to do before it does and I still think it is flesh and blood. I don't believe it is a man even though it has the body of a man. It seemed to have the instinct of a very smart animal. I'm writing to Marcella. I'll ask her if she heard any noises the night she saw it. ”
October 15, 1969
”What did you think of John Keel?
It's a wonder you even got his address. He won't give it to many people. I
think Mom, Mary and I are the only ones around here who have it. He's planning
on coming to Pt Pleasant around December with Dan Drasin and I'm going to try
to figure a way to get there too if I have to take a bus and I probably will.”
November 14, 1969
”I never did tell you what Mr
Keel said. He and Dan didn't get to come down for the Bridge dedication – they
forgot it! He's got 2 books being published – one this month and one in June.
One of them is about the Mothman. He said he'd been kept pretty busy on Long
Island, New York with these saucers.”
December 6, 1969
”That was really something about those men in Finland who saw the flying saucer. I've heard about things like that happening here too. Mr Keel said the radioactive material from the saucers caused it. He said that's what caused Connie Carpenter's eyes to swollen too when she saw the Mothman so clearly.”
January 27, 1970
”Mr Keel isn't going to call her right now. He says he's afraid it would be to much of a strain for her to talk to him but he said he would later on. He says he can't come down either. I don't really think Mary is anymore but a close friend to him the way he talked in the letter. Do you think I may be wrong? He sent her a card and a note last week though.
He says his books coming out in
April and June are about the Mothman and U.F.O's in this area. That's all he
mentioned about them though. He really didn't say to much about anything and it
was a short letter.
Have you ever heard of Dr Jacques
Vallee? He sent a page from a book this man has written and in it he mentioned
Mom seeing the Mothman. The title of the book is “Passport to Magonia” I've
never heard of the man and Mom didn't appreciate him using her name in it.”
February 6, 1970
”I do believe in the little men. I've heard a lot of
stories about them. Some of them aren't very friendly according to John Keel.
I'm not sure were these things come from or sure were the UFO:s are from or the
weird things I've heard and seen.”
April 4, 1970
Håkan Blomqvist
