Legend of the Flatwoods Monster
Strange things were brewing in Flatwoods, West Virginia on the night of September 12, 1952. Several Citizens of this small town reported seeing an alien space craft land in the area. There were sightings of a large monster like creature and reports of strange smells, weird sounds and odd marks on the ground. The people who saw the creature became known as the September 12 group and tales of their Encounter with the Flatwoods monster still stir up fear and controversy decades after it happened
It all began when 2 brothers Edward, age 13, and Fred May, age 12 and their friend Tommy Hyer, 11 saw a very bright object streak across the night sky. It seemed to land on farm land belonging to a man named G. Bailey Fisher. They ran to the May’s family home and told Mrs. May that they’d seen a UFO crash into the hills. Mrs. May decided to look into things and went to the site with the three boys. 2 other boys and a 17 year old West Virgina National guardsman named Gene Lemon went to the farm with them.
SKetch of Flatwoods Monster
Gene Lemon took his dog along and it ran ahead of the group, barking wildly. It immediately returned to them with it’s tail between it’s legs, a sure sign of fear in a dog. After walking for nearly 1/4 of a mile the group stopped on top of a hill and saw what they thought was a pulsing red ball of fire and also noticed a thick mist surrounding them that made their noses and eyes water and burn. Lemon had a flashlight aimed at two lights he’d noticed off to the side and shined his light into the woods, leading to his first Encounter with the Flatwoods monster. He saw a creature that’s been described as at least 10 feet tall with a heart or ace of spades shaped head, a red face with bulging eyes and a man shaped body. Some accounts have the creature without arms while others said it had short stubby arms with claw like fingers that stuck out from the front of it’s body.
The group fled the scene, returned home and called the local sheriff Robert Carr and the owner of the local news paper, Mr. A. Lee Stewart. Stewart conducted a few interviews around town and went to the site of the “crash” himself. He said he could still smell a burning metallic like scent in the air. Carr and his deputy did a search of the area but found nothing to support the claims of those who’d seen the alien like creature or a space ship. Stewart did go back a day later and found traces of black liquid and some deep tracks in the mud.
Hearing of the event, William and Donna Smith, investigators from LA who were associated with the Civilian Saucer Investigation, came to interview several people in the area. They found a woman who said her 21 year old daughter had had her own Encounter with the Flatwoods monster only a week before. It affected her so badly she spent 3 weeks in the hospital. And the mother of Gene Lemon said that her home had been rocked violently that night and she’d lost radio reception for nearly an hour at the exact moment the boys saw the “crash”.
All of these events have since been explained in one way or another. There was a known meteor sighting that night. The monster was probably an owl, 3 flashing aircraft beacons were the pulsating red lights the group had seen and any illnesses the group had were contributed to nerves. And yet, the legend of the Flatwoods Monster still lives on.
