The Flatwoods Monster
Also known as: Braxton County Monster, The Green Monster, Phantom of Flatwoods
- First known report
- Flatwoods, West Virginia, September 12, 1952 — minutes after a fireball crossed three states, a group including six boys and Kathleen May climbed a hill to find a pulsing red light and the figure waiting near the treeline.
- Relative frequency
- singular — one night, one place; but iconically permanent (it is on West Virginia license plates and in videogames)
Reconstruction based on witness descriptions
Physical description
A singular apparition: 3 m tall, a spade- or ace-of-spades-shaped cowl around a red-glowing face, a dark metallic green 'dress' or casing, small claw-like hands, gliding motion, a hissing sound, and a nauseating metallic mist that reportedly left several witnesses with irritated throats and eyes for days. Seen once, by seven witnesses, for a matter of seconds.
Skeptical reading
Joe Nickell's reconstruction is one of skepticism's cleanest wins: the fireball was a documented meteor, the pulsing light was an aircraft beacon, and the monster was a barn owl perched on a limb — its heart-shaped facial disc read as a 'cowl,' its talons as 'claws,' its silent glide as levitation — all inflated by darkness, drifting mist, and genuine terror. The case remains a masterclass in how a real 90-second perception becomes a permanent legend.
Famous cases
- flatwoods-1952