MOTHMAN: The Facts Behind the Legend: Expanded Edition

by Donnie Sergent Jr., Jeff Wamsley

If you are looking for the truth, you will find it here.

You will now have the ability to carry with you a wealth of investigative information on your favorite ebook reader or mobile device for the first time while on location at the various locations mentioned within this book. From a brief glimpse into the history of the historic town of Point Pleasant, WV to the descriptions and detailed accounts of eyewitnesses and journalists of the time, it’s all here. This expanded edition contains seven more chapters than the original publication as it has been combined with the CD ROM edition of the book (No longer in print) and expanded on still yet from there with information, as well as photos. Also included here for the first time is the complete transcription of the exclusive interview author Sergent conducted with the late Mothman author John Keel, as well as his exclusive interview with actor Will Patton.

MOTHMAN: The Facts Behind the Legend (Expanded Edition) contains only factual information about the elusive Mothman creature of legend, and silver screen, appearing Point Pleasant, WV. The authors never try to sway your opinion and strictly offer information obtained in interviews and documented research. Both authors have lived in the area since childhood and, as such, gather information only local, trusted interviewers or researchers could. Author Sergent attended high school with Dani Scarberry, the daughter of original Mothman eyewitness Linda Scarberry. Linda sits down with author Sergent and discloses information never before heard or read about anywhere in the world in an exclusive interview. Information in this interview includes the Mothman, UFO, Men in Black firsthand accounts and much more.

Also included in this tome are scans of dozens of original newspaper clippings obtained directly from Linda Scarberry, as well as handwritten notes, dating back to 1966 containing time-sensitive glimpses into the UFO and Mothman phenomena in Point Pleasant, WV and surrounding areas at the time. These images are presented as full-sized scans for detail when viewed on a computer and may require zooming on your mobile device.

For the first time ever, the complete transcription of author Sergent’s interview with the late Mothman author John Keel can be read in print. Also found here is Sergent’s interview with actor Will Patton of The Mothman Prophecies.

Also included are:

The accounts of the historic battle of Point Pleasant.

The famed “TNT Area” where the Mothman was first sighted and sighted many times since.

The silver bridge disaster and the true, documented cause of it.

Letters from author John Keel from the time of the sightings.

Handwritten notes taken by Mabel McDaniel (Linda Scarberry's Mother) at the time of the sightings. These notes have also been transcribed into printed text for easier reading.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and discussion of the professional Mothman documentary released with a special edition of the Sony Pictures movie The Mothman Prophecies.

Photos of “The Birdhouse” give you an eerie sense of what the structure was like on the inside. This structure was torn down years ago because of safety concerns. The Birdhouse was the where original eyewitness Linda Scarberry first encountered the Mothman in 1966.

Photos of Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, the sight of the Battle of Point Pleasant.

Photos of Fort Randolph inside Krodel Park.

Photos taken at the 2003 Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, WV showing would-be investigators as well as the unveiling of the twelve-foot-tall Mothman Statue sculpted from stainless steel by the late artist Bob Roach.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cryptids, Cryptozoology, Paranormal

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2001

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

My boyfriend and I realized our road trip this year would be taking us right by Point Pleasant, WV, so it was the perfect time for me to read up on the Mothman legend. What better book to start out with than one written by locals! I especially appreciate that the authors collected the testimonies, newspaper clippings, and other facts objectively and didn’t try to convince the reader either way as to what is true.

This was definitely an informative read and a great place to start, but I did find portions of the book rather dry, especially the lengthy section of newspaper clippings. I’m finding the book “Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes” much more readable and just as fascinating.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book the claims to be a documentary on the Mothman but provides very little exclusive information. The author claims that so much of the material in this book can't be found elsewhere when over half the book is just reprinted newspaper clippings. There are two really cool parts of this book: an extended interview with one of the first witnesses of the Mothman and a collection of letters that John Keel sent to various witnesses and contacts. Almost all of this information can be easily found on the internet, but could be a cool collection piece for Mothman fans.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about Mothman

Plenty of interesting facts about the time in which Mothman was seen in WV. There are plenty of newspaper clippings which were great to read. Anyone who is interested in this subject will certainly want to read this book.

Another great book provided by my kindle unlimited subscription.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reproduces witness interviews, newspaper articles, and some supplementary information on the Mothman legend. It's interesting to contrast some of the information with Keel's book.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hoo boy...this is one of two books my local library has on Mothman, which I checked out in anticipation of being part of a podcast on the subject. Then it turned out one of the other hosts couldn't make it, so the rest of us shifted to the Jersey Devil instead; I still had the books though, so I figured I may as well read them. After finishing this one, I can only hope the other is better.

Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend is less a book in the traditional sense, and more a series of printouts of old news clippings. There is one interview (wherein the interviewee goes off the rails and starts talking about men in black after awhile--something not mentioned at all in the rest of the book), and a section or two of correspondence and diary entries, but nearly half the page count is devoted to (rather redundant) newspaper reproductions. In the midst of all this, Mothman, itself, i only the focus a fraction of the time; the rest is all the aforementioned men in black, or UFOs.

It's a short book, but so many of the diaries and articles keep hitting the same points over and over again, that it really drags. The short version is: In the mid-1960s, a lot of people in West Virginia claimed to have seen some sort of winged humanoid, and/or UFOs. Experts say the winged figure was likely a sandhill crane, and the UFOs were various types of mundane aircraft. The witnesses don't believe them.

There. I just summed up the content of this book in a paragraph. If you really want to witness a bunch of poorly-spelled (were there seriously no proofreaders in the '60s?) and factually incorrect (at least one paper confuses sandhill cranes with endangered whooping cranes), news articles from over half a century ago with your own eyes, have at it. Otherwise, there's nothing here that you can't find more quickly, and less tediously online.

[Ludor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting little book (or rather it could have been a little book, much of the text is space into the center of the pages with wide margins, but it's nice if you like to write notes). In the main portion of the book are reprints of old news articles about the Mothman and UFO sightings, which can get a little repetitive and in many cases the articles are not complete, but it makes a nice collection for the curious. I would have liked a little more explanation on why some of the people involved believed the things they did, but I supposed that wasn't really the point of the book.

[Libby Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was weird, also the formatting on my e-book page numbers was super off. It would say I would like jump ahead 100 pages and this book cannot be more than 200 pages long seriously

But the Kindle book is claiming it’s 1000 it’s very confusing


Also this book is super weird and makes a lot of sense

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Book

An excellent job of capturing the history of the town and the creature that not many know about. It reveals a lot about the town in general and what some may think the Mothman is.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of what can be found online in one physical location. While over 20 years old now, it is still enjoyable to read the accounts of Linda Scarberry who has now since passed. It would be great to see an updated text.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

to be honest, it was very poorly formatted but still had some good information and is a good collection of articles and related stuff.

[Matthew Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved being able to read the original newspaper articles.

[Terrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects interviews, newspaper clippings, and letters from individuals who lived in Point Pleasant, WV during the Mothman appearances of the 1960s. I found it to be most interesting, as these people certainly saw something in the night sky.
A creature? A bird? UFOs? We may never know. What is certain is that many townspeople witnessed something that no one has been able to explain to this day. Worth a read if you are interested in such a curiosity.
I plan to create a shadow puppet performance of the Mothman legend, and found all of the information very intriguing.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was nothing like the movie. It was "just the facts" and the facts make this story less interesting.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough, well documented collection of info on the Mothman. Very good.