West Virginia residents report the first sighting of the Flatwoods Monster - September 12th, 1952

On this day in 1952, seven people encountered a mysterious creature on a farm in Flatwoods, West Virginia.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that demystifies history every day of the week. I'm
Gabe Lueesier, and today we're doing some monster hunting in

(00:20):
the hills of Braxton County to see if we can
uncover the truth behind one of the world's most notorious cryptids.
After the day was September twelfth, nineteen fifty two, seven
people encountered a mysterious creature on a farm in Flatwoods,

(00:42):
West Virginia. What they saw that late summer evening quickly
became the subject of regional folklore and is now known
as the Flatwoods Monster, the Green Monster, or the Phantom
of Flatwoods. It's one of several cryptids or animals whose
egg distance is unproven that's rumored to reside in the

(01:03):
rural hillsides of West Virginia. It was described by those
who saw it as a ten foot tall monster with
a blood red body, a head shaped like the ace
of spades, and a green face that seemed to glow.
The creature was also said to have twisted, claw like
arms and was draped in what looked like a metal dress.

(01:25):
Or cloak, which seemed to hover above the ground. That
other worldly appearance, coupled with the presence of a meteor
that night, led many to speculate that the flat Woods
Monster was actually an alien whose ship had crashed somewhere
near by. However, more than seventy years later, paranormal investigators

(01:46):
now have a theory that's much more down to earth.
The first reported sighting of the flat Woods Monster was
on the evening of September twelfth, nineteen fifty two, just
around dusk. Three young boys, brothers Fred and Edward May,
and their friend Tommy Hyer, were playing in the schoolyard
of Flatwood's elementary when they spotted a bright red light

(02:08):
streaking across the sky overhead. A moment later, the light
appeared to crash into a hillside on a nearby farm,
so the boys decided to trek over and see what
it was. Along the way, they stopped off at the
May's house and told the brother's mom, Kathleen May, what
they had seen in the sky. Her curiosity peaked, Kathleen

(02:29):
decided to accompany the boys to the supposed crash site,
but first she called on a seventeen year old national
guardsman named Eugene Lemon to assist them. They were quickly
joined by two other local children, Neil Nunley and Ronnie Shaver,
as well as by the May family dog, Ritchie. It
was pitch black by the time the group reached the hillside,

(02:52):
but near the top they could see a pulsing red light.
Eugene Lemon pointed as flashlight in that direction, and that's
when when they saw it, a towering creature with orange
glowing eyes. Suddenly, a sickening mist filled the air, and
the creature hissed and glided toward them with its claws outstretched.

(03:12):
Lemon screamed understandably and dropped his flashlight, at which point
the whole group turned and fled in terror. Later on,
some members of the group reported strange symptoms, including throat irritation, nausea,
and vomiting, which they said lasted for several days. Most
people wrote off these illnesses as side effects of hysteria,

(03:34):
but the witnesses insisted it was due to their exposure
to the pungent mist produced either by the creature or
by its spacecraft. Kathleen May and Eugene Lemon reported the
incident to the local police and a search of the
area was conducted the same night of the sighting, though
nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. According to a

(03:55):
local newspaper, the state police quote laughed off the reports
as hysteria, but others took it more seriously, especially when
multiple other residents began reporting similar encounters around the same time. Eventually,
national newspapers began reporting on the September twelfth sighting, and
Missus May and Guardsman Lemon even gave a TV interview

(04:18):
on CBS. The mainstream coverage ultimately caught the attention of
the US Air Force, which sent a team of investigators
to look into the residents claims. That inquiry was part
of Project Blue Book, an ongoing study of unidentified flying
objects conducted by the Air Force from nineteen fifty two
to nineteen sixty nine. In the case of the Flatwoods sighting,

(04:42):
the agency concluded that the bright light the boys had
seen that night was from a meteor, not a spaceship.
Residents in three states, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia had
observed the same medior shooting across the sky that night,
and while the May brothers and their friends thought they
had seen it, crash into the hillside. It likely just

(05:03):
passed out of their view beyond the hill and kept
on going. As for the pulsing red lights they saw
near the area of the sighting, those were likely from
a passing airplane or from a nearby navigation beacon meant
to keep planes from flying too low. The sickly mist
they reported was also explained relatively easily. The sheriff's deputies

(05:24):
had observed a fog settling over the hillside that night,
and there was a strong smelling type of grass that
was known to grow all over Braxton County. The witnesses,
who were already on edge that night, likely connected the
odor to the fog and then had a particularly strong
reaction to it due to all their fear and adrenaline.
But assuming all that's true, what about the monster itself,

(05:48):
the one with a large, pointed, hoodlike face and small
claws for hands. Surely seven people didn't just imagine such
a creature hissing and flying straight at them. No, the
group absolutely saw something that night, They just didn't know
what it was and immediately jumped to one of the
most far fetched conclusions in reality. Based on the shape, movement,

(06:12):
and noises reported by the witnesses, they most likely encountered
nothing but a startled barn owl. Lemon's flashlight likely spooked
the bird and caused its eyes to glow. Then it
leapt from the tree branch it had been perched on
and flew toward them with its talons outstretched. Later investigations
came to the same conclusions as the air force, but

(06:33):
the seven witnesses remained unconvinced, maintaining that what they had
seen that night defied explanation. That may be true, but
it's worth noting that the flat Woods Monster has not
been seen again since nineteen fifty two. Of course, that
hasn't stopped the tiny town of Flatwoods and the surrounding
communities from cashing in on their colorful local legend. Today,

(06:57):
thousands of tourists visit the Appalachian Hills hoping to catch
a glimpse of the Green Monster from space. So far,
none of them seem to have found it, though the
many painted photo ops, bumper stickers, and T shirts surely
make for fine consolation prices. I'm Gabe Lucier, and hopefully

(07:17):
you now know a little more about history today than
you did yesterday. If you enjoyed Today's show. Consider keeping
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(07:39):
at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing
the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see
you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class.