 ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third-party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. A fascinating incident from September 1952, itself taking place during a year in which waves of UFO sightings from around the world were happening, remains one of the most debated accounts of UFO activity and extraterrestrial visitation in the modern UFO era. On this particular evening, a group of children playing in the field of a local school would witness what appeared to be a UFO screeching out of the sky before landing in a farmer's field nearby. After informing one of the parents of the boys of the incident, a small group would then venture out to investigate. When they arrived, however, they would witness something strange in the darkness of the woodlands nearby, something that was not only watching them, but that would seemingly look to attack the group. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here, you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode, the early 1950s was a time of flying saucer mania, with reports coming in from all over on a regular basis. But one particular incident involving a UFO and then a monster sighting in Braxton County, West Virginia is one of the most intriguing and entertaining encounters on record. If you're new here, welcome to the show. While you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, my newsletter, Twitter contests to connect with me on social media. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights and come with me into the Weird Darkness. The incident is perhaps one of the most well-known on record and certainly generated a lot of interest at the time, even when UFO reports were coming in during some stretches almost daily throughout 1952. Over the decades that have unfolded since, there have been plenty of explanations for the strange incident. It very well may one day come to light that the incident was a crashed UFO that resulted in the encounter with a monstrous extraterrestrial being. Or it may be that the widely agreed upon belief that the incident was a case of coincidence and timing proves correct, that what the children witnessed that evening was perhaps a meteor crashing to the ground before encountering a very earthly animal upon searching for it a short time later. Perhaps on this occasion, coincidence and timing are worthy explanations. Before we examine those, though, we will turn our attention back to the autumn evening in West Virginia all those years ago. Perhaps the best place to start would be to return to the early evening of September 12, 1952 in Flatwoods Braxton County in West Virginia. It was around 7.15 p.m. when several children were playing football within the grounds of a local school when they suddenly noticed something bright and flashing screech across the sky. Once more, the object appeared to land a short distance away on the land of one of the local farmers. The children, after coming to their senses, rushed to the home of two of the boy's brothers, 14-year-old Eddie May and 13-year-old Fred May. They would excitedly tell the boy's mother, Kathleen, of what they had seen, and along with a small group of children, 10-year-old Tommy Hire and Ronnie Shaver, 14-year-old Neil Nunley and 17-year-old Jean Lemon, who was a West Virginia National Guardsman, she would accompany the boys to the spot where they claimed the strange object had crashed to the ground. Jean's dog also tagged along with the group. The initial accounts and what makes up the backbone of the incident would appear in an article in Fate Magazine, with Gray Barker arriving at the location shortly after the encounter had played out and piecing the article together after speaking to those involved and collecting recorded interviews. We will explore some of the apparent explanations of the encounter that would unfold shortly. We will first, however, turn our attention to what happened once the group arrived at the top of the hill, overlooking where the alleged flying saucer landed. This is where reports vary somewhat. In the book, Monsters of West Virginia, Mysterious Creatures on the Mountain State, it is claimed that the witnesses could most definitely see a craft of some kind either landed or sticking out of the ground. It also claimed that a machine-like whining noise filled the air and that the dog began to react strangely. In fact, according to this account, the dog was later found to have vomited near the house when it was found and would pass away a short time later. According to initial reports, though, once the group arrived at the top of the hill, they could see a red pulsating light. It is uncertain if this pulsating light was coming from the alleged landed craft, but some reports state that the craft had originally landed on the hillside before moving to a nearby valley. However, thoughts of the craft itself peeled in comparison to the frightful scene that awaited them when Lemon turned the flashlight that he was carrying toward the apparent glow. There in front of them stood a man-like figure which appeared to be surrounded by a pointed hood-like shape. What's more, the figure had a round red face with eyes that appeared to glow a greenish-orange color. They would estimate the figure to be around 10 to 12 feet tall and easily towered over the group. One witness, Mrs. May, claimed to see small, claw-like hands. She would later also recall that the strange figure had a head of a similar shape to the ace of spades. None of the witnesses could fully make out the torso or lower part of the entity, other than it appeared dark and colorless. Some of the witnesses would later state that there appeared to be a machine-like quality to the creature, almost as if the outer clothing was some kind of hard suit or armor. What's more, this hard exterior appeared to reflect the green of the surrounding trees and bushes. Although they couldn't make out any further details of the lower half of the creature, the general view would suggest that the middle area was almost cylindrical, while the bottom part appeared to fan outward like metallic apron of sorts. Whatever it was, it appeared to be watching them, intently. The onlookers watched back. Until that is, it made a hissing sound and appeared to move in a gliding motion toward the small group. This caused them to immediately turn and run, with lemon dropping the flashlight in shock as they did so. Mrs. May, according to some sources, claimed that the creature squirted an oily substance onto her clothing. As this was taking place, several of the witnesses would later recall how they became aware of a pungent mist creeping over the area. When some of the witnesses later reported feeling ill, particularly with nausea, it was suspected that this mist might have been an intentionally released chemical agent by the strange being that they had encountered. However, none of the witnesses, apart from Lemon's dog, if the report is accurate, would suffer any long-lasting or drastic effects, although, once more, some sources on the account state that Lemon would spend most of the evening vomiting, while two of the boys sought medical advice for a sore throat in the days following the incident. Because of reports of a crashed aircraft, it wasn't long before the sheriff and deputy arrived to investigate the site, as would several local residents of the town. However, despite the search of the area, it could see nothing out of the ordinary. Nor could they sense any sign or smell of the strange mist the witnesses claimed quickly enveloped the area as the creature headed toward them. With so many witnesses all claiming the same thing, combined with the genuine fright that was evident in each of them, it was clear that something did occur out in the woodlands that evening. What that something was, though, was far from clear. With the UFO wave of 1952 well underway, with waves of sightings stretching back to the start of the year, UFOs and alien visitors were certainly embedding themselves into the American psyche by this point. So much so, that the following day, a reporter from the Braxton Democrat, Ailey Stewart, arrived at the scene to take a look for himself. He would discover strange markings where the group had claimed to see the UFO land, although they very well might have been left by the tires of a car. He would also, however, discover an odd, gummy deposit. This detail is perhaps more interesting, as many UFO landing encounters do often leave an oily substance behind, which often fades or seeps into the ground. Whether that was the case here or not is open to debate. According to Barker's investigation and research, there were several residents of the town who witnessed the strange object overhead that evening, and all were from various different locations around the town stretching out to a 20-mile radius. Barker would conclude that this might suggest either the same object was circling the town, possibly searching for a hill or field to land in, either out of necessity or for observational purposes, or that it was the same object simply visible to multiple locations. It is worth noting that during 1952, as in 1950, many UFO sightings involved these strange objects landing in a distant field or hillside. With that in mind, Barker's conclusions have a logic of their time to them. An interest in the case seeped out of the small community. The town was descended upon by UFO investigators, both those working in a private capacity and those from many of the groups that were beginning to pop up around the United States, as well as reporters from newspapers right across America. With this interest came further investigations, theories, and explanations. According to monsters of West Virginia, the U.S. Air Force would issue orders for the state's National Guard to investigate the matter. A unit would arrive in Flatwoods, as well as in the nearby town of Frametown, so they could investigate similar UFO sightings there. Reports in local newspapers would ultimately state the UFOs were meteor-like, as it or they moved across the sky. This would ultimately be the settled-upon explanation for the UFO sighting that evening over Flatwoods. It was further theorized that the meteors must have burned up, as there were no known remains discovered at the site where the children claimed the UFO had landed. Years later, some of the residents of the town would insist that all that was witnessed overhead was a meteor, and the fact that some descriptions would even state that the UFO appeared to disintegrate would appear to back that explanation up. However, many researchers at the time would stick to their findings from speaking with local residents, some of whom claimed to have seen something clearly land near the woodland, while others claimed there was a purposeful movement to the object that was unlike a meteor or comet. There are also other reports of the bizarre, monstrous entity on record. While we will examine some of the proposed explanations for the creature at Flatwood shortly, it is those other sightings where we will turn our attention next. We'll look at some of those sightings of the Flatwoods monster when Weird Darkness returns. 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Weird Dark Roast Coffee is not actually knocked on your door because it doesn't have arms or hands, so if you hear knocks at the door and no one answers when you ask who it is, it's probably paranormal and you should just leave the door shut and locked. Some of the other sightings of the Flatwoods monster are perhaps not as widely known but are equally intriguing. For example, according to one report, a young couple and their younger toddler would see an almost identical creature in the town of Frantown, where the other National Guard unit would be deployed to, we might remember, the night after the encounter in Flatwood. Apparently, the couple was so traumatized by the creature that they refused to even speak about it until years later. Another couple from Queens, New York, George and Edith Snitowsky, who were passing through Braxton County on their way home from Cincinnati, Ohio, also witnessed it. It was around 8pm when their car suddenly came to a stop just outside Frantown. George would attempt to find out what the problem with the car was but was unable to restart it. As the couple stood in the open air, they noticed a strange and intense smell, an aroma that was similar to burnt sulfur. This is intriguing as many UFO and paranormal cases feature this detail in their accounts. The smell was so intense that it appeared to wake their baby causing it to cry. The couple remained with their vehicle, the light now beginning to fade rapidly. Frantown was at least 10 miles away, if not more. As George was contemplating what to do next, a sudden flash lit up the entire area. It appeared to come out of the woods. George would reach for a window in an effort to see more clearly what was taking place. As he did so, a thick mist filled the inside of the car, a mist that made him feel instantly nauseous, much like several of the witnesses in the Flatwoods incident. Even so, he opened the door and stepped outside to investigate. As soon as he straightened and stood upright, he could see a bizarre glowing sphere, similar to a giant frosted street lamp. It appeared to be floating in the air. He would estimate that it was about 300 yards away, maybe slightly less, from where he stood. As it hovered, it appeared to move back and forth as if being dangled by an invisible string. George began to head toward the strange orb, noting that as he did so, the nauseous feeling appeared to be getting worse. As he got closer, with the strange mist still swirling all around him, he suddenly began to feel a burning sensation run through him. He continued on a little further. However, the burning feeling rapidly progressed into a feeling similar to a low-grade electric shock. Realizing he was dealing with something truly bizarre, he turned around and headed straight back to the car where his wife and their young child waited. When he heard Edith scream out from the vehicle, he shook off the rubbery feel of his legs and went straight toward the sound. The sphere shape was now near the vehicle. Only now he could see a huge figure underneath the light of the glowing orb. He would claim the creature was around 9 feet tall and very much human-shaped. All that is except for the head which was almost reptilian. George would describe the body as weird and bloated in the lower half of the body as a solid mass of some sort. He reached the car as the figure was moving closer. He jumped inside and pulled his wife and child to the floor of the vehicle. It was then he reached into the glovebox and pulled out a knife that sat inside. By the time he turned his attention to the car's window, the strange creature was now directly in front. It reached forward revealing its spindly arm that ended in a bisected fork of fingers. The claw-like hand scraped across the glass of the windshield. George noticed though that this was not so much an attack but more as though it was examining the vehicle somewhat. After a few moments of this closer look of the car's exterior, the strange creature simply turned and floated into the woods. Within moments it had disappeared behind the trees and vegetation. The disturbed couple though would remain in the car, watching the area in case it was to suddenly emerge once more. After several minutes they saw the globe-like object rise upwards above the trees and moved into the air. A few moments later it would zip into the distance at incredible speed and vanish. After several moments, with the couple each still unsure of exactly what had happened, George reached down to the keys and the ignition. He turned to them, hoping against hope that the engine would somehow start. Much to his surprise, not to mention his relief, the engine ticked over and burst into life. They would drive away from the area immediately, not stopping until they reached a truck-stop diner several miles down the road. Once there they would go inside and attempt to make sense of the events of the last half hour. They would ultimately decide not to speak of the incident, lest people didn't believe them. Not wishing to drive any further, they would spend the night in a nearby hotel. They did not see the creature again and would leave the area headed for Queens early the next morning. Before setting out on the journey though, George would discover a burn mark of sorts on the exterior of the car, where the strange creature had seemingly made contact with it the previous evening. Although the young couple was not aware of it, the following evening, on September 15th, multiple residents of the town of Wheeling would bombard the local police desk with reports of a monster near Oglebay Park. The vast majority of the reports claimed the monster had been seen in a housing development. What was interesting about the reports was that they came from people who were reporting a sighting of the monster that had been given to them, either by a child, relative or neighbor. Police did attempt to locate the creature, but no actual sightings of it were made. It is surely highly coincidental though that such a rash of sightings, second hand though they might be, should be reported at the same time as other similar sightings in the area. Whether these sightings are connected to the encounters in Flatwoods or not is perhaps open to debate. It does though cast an element of doubt onto the eventual explanations for the case. Perhaps of further intrigue is the fact that the main witnesses were apparently discreetly visited by a strange group of men who simply offered that they were from the government. As well as being interviewed relatively extensively, the men would take away the clothing that was oil stained, as well as several pieces of metal that the witnesses claimed to have seized a short time after the incident. Apparently these items were not returned to the witnesses, and their whereabouts remain unknown today. At around the same time the press coverage of the witnesses changed somewhat, with them suddenly made to appear like ignorant country folk who had become scared during a meteor episode. This was the view taken by several astronomer experts in interviews with local and national papers in the weeks following the encounter. The tale would take an even stranger twist however, a month or so later, when a letter arrived with Mrs. May from Washington DC apparently offering a different explanation. It would state that the object she had witnessed was an experimental military craft which was designed for lunar travel. What's more, there were four of these craft overhead on the night in question. This is important as we will shortly examine the claims of a researcher who would state that the object was part of a formation of four alien craft. We should perhaps note also that there is a chance that a great many of the accounts became a little more inflated over time. The more reporters flocked to the area, the more neighbors and people not actually at the scene would be spoken to. All of a sudden hearsay would infiltrate the incident, at least in some reports. It's perhaps easy to see then why some of the other accounts and sightings of not just UFOs, but the creature itself have perhaps been overlooked. Not least that of the couple traveling back to Queens. Might it be possible that this information allegedly sent to Mrs. May by the government was to implant the seeds of a cover-up, even down to the mentioning of four vehicles in order to combat any witnesses who might make such a statement? As we shall see later, despite the apparent explanations, apparent new evidence the last two decades might suggest just that. For now, though, we'll turn our attention to these explanations next. Perhaps the most likely and accepted explanation, at least for the incident in Flatwoods, was that the UFO was not, in fact, a UFO at all, but simply a meteor that the children believed landed nearby but had actually disappeared a little way over the hillside. The research of Joe Nickel in the year 2000 would certainly suggest this. The pulsating light, for example, was explained as either the afterglow of the passing meteor on the land below or, more likely, from one of three nearby plane beacons which did indeed have a red glow to them. There was also an apparent explanation for the markings on the ground and the gooey substance. A local claimed it was from his pickup truck that had been there just after the incident had occurred as he had driven there out of curiosity. Not only were the markings from his tires, but the substance was oil from the car itself. This is interesting. Not so much as it explains the situation reported in the newspaper as discovered by its reporter, but it brings back to mind the claims of Mrs. May and the oily substance she claimed the entity unleashed in her direction, consequently staining her clothes. The same clothes it is claimed were recovered by government agents and not returned. It would certainly be a stretch to suggest to cover up, but it is perhaps worthy of keeping the idea that this substance may have been of importance at the back of our minds, especially when we learn that according to some researchers, there is little to substantiate the account other than the later admission report. The other aspects of the encounter were also seemingly neatly summed up. For example, the strange mist was explained away as nothing more than just normal fog or mist that settled into the area, this despite the claims of toxic or nauseous smells to it. The sickness of the witnesses was also seemingly dismissed as nothing more than shock, with the throat infections being attributed to the children screaming loudly when frightened. This is certainly possible, although these aspects are certainly not as neat a fit as those to explain the UFO and strange lights. Nor is the explanation, after a few moments' contemplation, that the strange aroma was nothing more than the type of grass that was native to the county. It would seem bizarre that so many locals who had lived their entire lives in the region should suddenly become aware of this strange smell. Indeed, with these last suggestions in mind, and let us remember that is what they are, suggestions, the watertight explanation perhaps doesn't seem so watertight after all. That then brings us to the creature and what it might have been. Nikko would also suggest, and many others would agree with him, that what the group witnessed that evening was not a robotic creature from outer space with monstrous eyes and claws, but rather nothing more than a barn owl. When sketches and drawings of the creature have been produced, there is indeed a similar shape to a common barn owl, and we should recall how all of the witnesses claimed that they couldn't see clearly the lower half of the body. They would state that all that there was was a dark form. Many who subscribed to the explanation that the alien in the trees was actually an owl offer that the reason the witnesses didn't see a lower torso is that there was nothing to see, only forest and underbrush. The owl was likely perched on the branch, and in the confusion and fright of the situation, likely appeared as a tall creature with a round head and glowing eyes, especially when the torch would have reflected off those eyes. Indeed, some reports state that Mrs. May initially stated that the eyes appeared similar to a raccoon. Upon being confronted by the group, the owl, likely itself alarmed by the sudden influx of people, flew from the branch, although likely not to attack but merely escaped the location. This would also explain, according to the argument, the gliding or floating nature of the creature. Even the hissing, whining, or squealing sounds said to be heard by those in the group of witnesses are apparently similar to sounds one might hear from a common barn owl in certain situations, and we should note that the bobbing or circular motions of the head, the shape of the head itself, even the claws, can all be explained if an owl was actually the creature they saw. With this in mind, then, we might think the Flatwoods monster case has been put to bed. However, in 2004, researcher Frank C. Fashino Jr. published a book that would later question these explanations. Up next, we'll get Fashino's version of events of what happened at Flatwood and why he questions the official explanations when Weird Darkness returns. Ever had that eerie feeling of being watched? There's no one there, at least nobody you can see anyway, but still, you can feel those ghostly eyes upon you, the watchers in the shadows waiting for their moment to scare you, haunt you, or something even worse. That is the theme for these carefully selected creepy true stories of the paranormal designed to have you wondering if you too are being watched from the shadows. This all-new collection includes stories about the hat man, black-eyed kids, shadow people, poltergeists, UFOs, the premonitions of a dying man, forest demons, and much more. All absolutely true, all chosen by the master of the paranormal himself, G. Michael Vasey. Watched from the shadows, scary true stories of the paranormal, available now on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com The book, The Braxton County Monster, the cover-up on the Flatwoods Monster Revealed by Frank C. Feschino Jr., was the result of over a decade's worth of research, interviews and witnesses, and military personnel alike, as well as accessing government and military files. One of the people he would track down was the reporter who claimed to have discovered the oil marks and markings on the ground, A. Lee Stewart. And the story he gave to Feschino was much different from the one that had become commonplace in most articles and reports in the years since the incident. He would claim to the researcher that he had been grossly misquoted in relation to the Flatwoods Monster case. He would recall that he received a call at around 9 p.m. on the night of the incident from a state trooper who he named as Ted Trebet. After speaking with him, Stewart got in his car and headed to the May Residence to investigate. As he made his way there, he passed a store where a friend worked and stopped briefly to allow him to get in and join him. When they arrived at the May Residence, panic and turmoil was the scene they found. What was already proving to be an extraordinary night was about to get even stranger. Stewart would organize a makeshift search party of around 12 people. Between them they had a 12-gauge shotgun and several handguns. Then they set out to the location of the incident. Although they discovered the markings on the ground and claimed the intense and unpleasant aroma was still present, there was no sign of the creature. They would head back to the May house. After speaking briefly to the witnesses involved, Stewart would then take his friend home and return to his office. He went through his notes before telephoning a friend to ask if he could arrange to borrow a reel-to-reel tape recorder the following day so that he could return to tape record his interviews with the witnesses. With that arranged, he telephoned Olin Berry, his attorney, seeking advice on how best to allow the story into publication. Although it was now well after midnight, Berry would tell him to come to his house and from there they would contact the Charleston Gazette to negotiate such a release. These were far from the only discrepancies. Perhaps the biggest of these was the claim which would come from interviews with witnesses and military documents that the meteors were actually part of four formations of unknown spacecraft, each in a set of four that had entered the air space from the Gulf of Mexico during a military exercise. If that wasn't an outrageous enough claim, the United States military would launch several fighters to engage the unknown aircraft. One of these was seemingly damaged in the exchange and would eventually land in Flatwoods, close to where the group of children were playing. Then the account takes an even stranger and more intriguing twist, at least according to the research of Fashino. Whether the object had an emergency landing or crashed, we might recall one of the witnesses initially expressed they had seen an object sticking out of the ground. It was Fashino's findings that the occupant survived the impact and escaped into the trees in Woodland. Only by pure chance did the group stop right opposite where the marooned creature was hiding out. We might also recall that the witnesses also claimed that the lower portion of the creature appeared to be metallic, or as if it was inside a metal case. This crops up again in a moment. The next sightings of the creature were on the night after in the nearby town of Frametown. It isn't clear whether there were more than one survivor or occupants in the craft, but it is Fashino's suggestion that within 24 hours and using the cover of the Woodland, the creature had made it as far as Frametown. Following its encounter with the Snotowskis, it would appear that it was essentially rescued, as witnessed by the married couple who saw the globe-like object rise into the air and disappear. Further, according to Fashino's research, another craft from the formation that appeared during the military exercise, possibly looking to recover its lost colleague, came down in the town of Wheeling. It is possible that on this occasion the creature was recovered by authorities. It is not known if it was dead or alive, but according to the documents the researcher viewed, a burned woman's corpse was substituted at the site and the wreckage made to resemble something more earthly. The cover story was then released into the press and all efforts successfully diverted attention away from the incident. From there, a discrete effort was put in place to discredit the witnesses. We might recall how they were seemingly lured into wider press coverage only to be mocked and set up as country folk with little perspective for their actual surroundings. It might be easy to dismiss Fashino's findings as nonsense and speculative sensationalism. If that is, it wasn't for the apparent endorsement of widely respected UFO researcher, the late Stanton Friedman. Friedman would write a foreword for the book, in which he would state that the evidence presented by the author points to a conspiracy and a cover-up of a truly outstanding and important event. Perhaps of even more intrigue and even concern is the fact that Fashino has also collected numerous similar accounts of strange fireballs overhead, followed by sightings of strange, monstrous creatures, usually in woodland. He also states that even now, more than a half century later, people remember how the witnesses to the Flatwoods monster incident were treated and almost shunned. Consequently, the vast majority of people don't wish to speak of their encounters, and if they do, it isn't until years later. Maybe the most intriguing aspect to Fashino's claims, however, revolves around the creature itself and the intriguing and seemingly controversial lower half, which was seemingly a metallic casing of some kind. And the connections these apparent creatures have to one of the most intriguing alleged alien races on record. If we recall the account of the Snotowskis for a moment, we'll recall that George would claim that the creature had a reptilian head and that the lower body was in some kind of metallic casing. Fashino believes that the creature was likely more snake-like than not, with the metallic casing being a body that allowed it to move around. He would further theorize that the rest of the creature's body was coiled inside the casing. While such theories sound as though they come straight out of the science fiction section of your local DVD marketplace, they are perhaps further intriguing when we discover information the researcher learned from Gray Barker and Ivan T. Sanderson, both of whom would investigate the region on several occasions as part of their own research in the 1950s and 60s. On one occasion, while inspecting the location of a little-known crash site, as well as discovering a huge indentation in the ground, they would also find several strange pieces of a coiled substance. They would have this strange find analyzed, which would result in some strange findings. Perhaps most bizarre, when this substance was placed in water, it would suddenly uncoil. According to the information given to Fashino, the substance was like a giant piece of snake skin, although it was much harder like turtle shell. Is this more evidence of a reptilian extraterrestrial? Does this explain the strange and unpleasant smell which, bizarrely or not, often surfaces in claims of encounters with reptilian creatures? And what about the oily substance discovered at the Flatwood site, as well as that that was apparently squirted onto the clothing of Mrs. May? Perhaps it is worth noting the comments of Mrs. May who would state that the government just tells you what they want you to believe. While it seems then quite apparent that the more rational explanations are indeed credible and almost certainly accurate, we must perhaps resist the temptation to match all such cases to the rational explanation in a blanket way. On this occasion, the explanations offered are not only well backed up but do not leave that many holes to expose. That is certainly not the case with every such case, as we well know. And as we have also discovered, there is most definitely another side to this story. Might it be possible that the United States military and government would spend so much effort in covering up such an incident because it was of such importance? At the time, the government had an active and overt interest in such matters, and while it might seem an unlikely suggestion, it is certainly not that much of a stretch of the imagination to think that such deviousness would take place in order to ridicule and ultimately suppress such an event. Perhaps it is also worth noting the comments of some of the locals to those who have persistently researched the case and consequently the area over the years. Many of them speak of a lingering atmosphere of fear and dread that permeates the area, as well as patches of barren dirt and skimpy vegetation scattered around the woodlands and wilderness, perhaps the result of other similar landings. What is more, there are seemingly many reports of strange, beastly and often supernatural creatures each year. These are rarely seen but often heard. Maybe the region itself is some kind of entry point between the world of these potential reptilian creatures and ours. Perhaps that is why the sightings and strange activity persist. It is perhaps possible that the final chapter in the Flatwoods Monster case might not yet be written. While there might be the tiniest window open for speculation regarding the Flatwoods Monster incident, then at least in terms of what exactly was seen heading out of the sky at great speed, there is still room for debate. The group, understandably already spooked and perhaps hyper-alert given the multiple UFO reports that would have surfaced in the several months leading up to the incident, had gone to investigate just such a landed object and found themselves confronted with this equally bemused owl. Remember, the credibility and genuineness of the witnesses were not at any point in question and in the heat of the moment of such an encounter, it is easy to understand why the brain would put together what it very much believes to be two and two and come up with five. That being said, we have also examined a distinctly different version of events, one that tells a completely different story. This, of course, creates doubt, sufficient enough for other researchers to examine the case with a new mindset. The case remains of interest to UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike, with the latter often using it as proof that all UFOs are likely the result of similar circumstances and the former looking to it as a demonstration of UFO researcher's ability to lean towards the most likely scenario. It only takes, though, the slightest element of doubt to maintain such interest. Thanks for listening. If you liked the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. WeirdDarkness.com is also where you can find all of my social media, listen to free audiobooks I have narrated, visit the store for Weird Darkness t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases and more merchandise, sign up for monthly contests, find other podcasts that I host and find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or dark thoughts. Also on the website, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on Tell Your Story. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. The Flatwoods Monster Event was written by Marcus Louth for UFO Insight. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions and now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Proverbs 5, verses 22 and 23. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, let astray by his own great folly. And a final thought, never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Barbara Johnson I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.