The ChillX Zone

From a Graveyard Sighting to a Town-Wide Panic — How Three Dates in November 1966 Sparked One of America’s Most Enduring Paranormal Mysteries

November 16, 2025

In mid-November 1966, a quiet stretch of West Virginia farmland and river towns found itself at the center of one of the strangest series of sightings ever recorded in American folklore. Three separate events, happening over just four days, would give rise to the entity now known around the world as the Mothman. These are the verified dates, the verified witnesses, and the sequence that gave shape to the legend.

The First Night: November 12, 1966 — The Gravediggers of Clendenin

It began just after sunset on November 12, when five men working in a rural cemetery near Clendenin reported seeing a figure rise vertically from the treeline. They described it not as a bird, but as a man-shaped form with enormous dark wings, lifting itself without a sound. One witness claimed the movement was “smooth, too smooth for anything natural.” The figure glided above the trees and vanished into the early evening sky. The men completed their work, but the sighting spread quickly through the small community.

The Second Night: November 15, 1966 — The Couples at the TNT Plant

Three days later, two young couples driving near the abandoned TNT plant outside Point Pleasant encountered something far more frightening. According to their statement, a tall, grey figure with glowing red eyes approached their car, then pursued them down the road at what they estimated to be over 90 miles per hour. The glowing eyes were the detail all four witnesses insisted on, claiming they reflected light “like bicycle reflectors,” but appeared biologically alive. The couples reported the event to police the same night, sparking patrols around the area and the first hint of local panic.

The Third Night: November 16, 1966 — The Newspaper Warning

By the next morning, the story had already reached the Point Pleasant Register. On November 16, the paper ran what would become the most famous headline of the case: “Couples See Man-Sized Bird…Creature…Something.” With that front-page article, the sightings became public knowledge. Locals began reporting strange sounds, shadowy shapes, and unexplained lights along the riverfront and in the forests near the old wartime facility. The creature now had attention, a name, and a foothold in American folklore.

The Pattern That Emerged

Though the sightings differed in location and witness type—gravediggers, couples, patrol officers—the descriptions overlapped in three critical ways:
• A man-like body, larger than any known bird
• Wings spanning ten feet or more
• Red, luminous eyes that appeared to watch and react

This consistency across unrelated witnesses is what transformed the incident from rumor into a regional mystery.

Legacy and Continuing Mystery

The events of November 12, 15, and 16 created a ripple that lasted long after the initial panic subsided. Dozens more sightings followed into 1967, culminating in the tragic Silver Bridge collapse—a connection some locals still believe was a warning. Whether viewed as cryptid, omen, or misunderstood animal, the Mothman remains one of the most iconic unexplained figures ever documented.