foreign
1952 Brothers Eddie and Freddie May and their friends Neil Nunley and Tommy hyer
all residents of the small town of Flatwoods located in Braxton County West Virginia
are playing on the lawn of the Flatwoods Elementary School just before dusk suddenly bright light
streaks across the sky and appears to crash into a hillside on Fisher's Farm
the boys can't believe their eyes then proceed to run towards the crash
to see what it was they saw in the sky the may's home was on the way to the crash site
so they stopped to tell their mother Kathleen May what they had seen Kathleen grabs pee paw's shotgun
off the fireplace mantle then gets their neighbor a national Guardsmen Eugene lemon and the boys and
make their way towards the crash site according to their accounts what happens next is extraordinary
so what did they actually see was it just a meteor or something else and was it covered
up by the government let's try and find out hello I'm Mike droberg Marine Corps veteran
and filmmaker and we will try to answer these questions on today's episode of Forgotten history
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after trekking through the forest and upon reaching the crash site
the group sees a pulsing red light lemon shines his flashlight up the hill
and that's when the group Witnesses a terrifying site a ten foot tall creature
with a head shaped like a spade and what appeared to be a dark metal dress
creatures hands were twisted and clawed at what seemed to be its eyes glowed in Eerie orange color
it appeared to levitate off the ground in a strange foul Mist hung in the air
creature hisses and Glides towards the group terrifying them is they flee
this creature will be later dubbed the Flatwoods Monster
later some of the groups suffer from throat irritation vomiting and nausea which persisted
for days these symptoms were passed off as side effects of Hysteria but it's worth noting that
these are also telltale signs of exposure to toxic gas May and lemon reported the incident
to local authorities who searched the area that night but saw heard and smelled nothing
according to UFO writer gray Barker's account the next day A. Lee Stewart Jr of the Braxton Democrat
claimed to have discovered skid marks in a field in an odd gummy deposit which were subsequently
attributed by UFO Enthusiast groups as evidence of a flying saucer another sighting of the creature
was reported by Miss Audra Harper not long before the infamous sighting on Fisher's farm
Harper claims to have seen the monster while walking through the woods near her home in the
town of heaters which is about five miles north of Flatwoods Harper and her friend were walking
to a nearby store they took a shortcut through the forest about a half mile into their trip
they noticeable fire on one of the hills they were passing at first Harper dismissed it assuming that
one of her neighbors was Fox chasing however when she glanced back she saw something unbelievable
a dark silhouette of a man-shaped figure fitting the same descriptions of the Flatwood monster
terrified Harper and her friend rain escaping what they believed would have been their deaths
the day after the September 12th incident in Flatwoods another strange sighting occurred
near Strange Creek about 20 miles south of Flatwoods reportedly George and Edith
Snitowski and their 18 month old son were driving through the rural area between clay and Braxton
County on Route 4 when their car suddenly died Mr Snitowski attempted to restart the car to no avail
it was night time and the road was deserted while the Snitowski's were trying to decide what to do
a foul sulfuric smell filled the air and their baby began to cry strange bright light filled
the darkness and the couple witnessed a 10-foot tall creature hovering in front of the car the
description is similar to that of the original sightings except the monster was not wearing
what is presumed to be its spade-shaped Hood instead its head was reportedly reptilian and bony
creature dragged its lizard-like hand across the hood of the car before drifting away
Into the Woods as soon as the monster was out of sight the car restarted and the couple sped away
almost 50 years later after investigating the case in the year 2000
Joel nickell of the committee for skeptical inquiry concluded that the bright light in the sky
reported by the Witnesses on September 12th was most likely a meteor because reports of a meteor
had been observed across three states that night including Maryland Pennsylvania and West Virginia
three flashing red aircraft beacons were also visible from the area of the sighting which could
account for descriptions of a pulsating red light and a red tint on the face of the supposed monster
nickel concluded that the shape movement and sounds reported by Witnesses were also consistent
with the silhouette flight pattern and call of a startled barn owl parts on the tree limb leading
researchers to conclude that the foliage beneath the owl may have created the illusion of the lower
portion of the creature researchers also concluded that the witnesses inability to agree on whether
creature had arms combined with maze report of having small claw-like hands which extended in
front of it also matched the description of a born owl with its Talons gripping a tree
branch whatever your thoughts on the matter these stories have become an eerie folk tale
creating a fascinating culture in small towns around the county an ice cream shop called The
Spot opened in Flatwoods offering a photo op with a painted iteration of the monster
also a museum dedicated to the monster story operates in the town of Sutton a few miles south
of Flatwoods five huge chairs built and painted in the monster's image have been erected around
the county although the monster has not been seen since the original incident in 1952 its impact on
the rural community has been huge so were these sightings just Hysteria or did they really happen
I don't know about you but I wouldn't confuse a 10-foot alien with a barn owl however let
us know your thoughts in the comments thank you for watching forgotten history please like share
and subscribe if you have any comments or show ideas we'd love to hear from you thanks again
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