Hide Article Text (OCR)
THE PARADISF TOU/M tuat u * p» «»/IOir pnAmi uri IAll ourlives changed in somePAGE 5THE SAN ANTONIO STAR—February 16, 1975ClickingTHE HAUNTLONNIE McDANIEL stands outside powerhouse where Mothman was frequently spotted. Star’s reporter found it eerily cold.THE MONSTERbleeping sounds Eerie, frightening phone calls were received by those who talked openly about the sightings.Little by little, the inhabitants who sighted UFOs patrolling the evening skies above Point Pleasant began to get together to recount their experiences, to compare notes, make tape recordings of what they hadwitnessedWhen this happened, the “Enforcers” arrived.The Enforcers, as they were dubbed by the groups of UFO witnesses, came to the town after the get-together meetings started. They were three men, dark skinned, dressed in dark suits in the style of the twenties, “with ties with tiny knots.” They drove a black limousineThey visited people who had reported sightings to warn them off They attempted twice to drive the car of a woman journalist, deeply involved in collecting data on the UFOs, off the road.Faced by the terror of the “Enforcers,” the groups gradually broke up and stopped their meetings.But one man, John A. Keel, an authority on and author of books on UFOs, was there, and believed what the people of Point Pleasant told him. In March his book, The Mothman Prophecies (Saturday Review Press $7.95) appears, detailing the weird and chilling events that befell the people of this West Virginia town.Park McDaniel and his wife Mabel,-parents of Linda Scarberrv. one of the first Mothman witnesses, told me this week:“The most frightening thing was that the people who had seen Mothman were the ones who were later terrorized by the thing,” said Mr. McDaniel. “No matter how farTHE BRIDGEfORTY-six died when town’s bridge collapsed. Some say it was Mothman’s retribution.away from home we saw it, it was able to track us down to where we lived and kept appearing around ourhomes.”Their son, Lonnie, now 20, told me about farm animals found dead in fields.“In all cases, some internal organs had been removed — but never was there ancision, scar or injury.No heartA dog was handed into the police station. It had been found dead but with no injuries When it was examined, its heart was found to be missing — but there was no incision, no sign of surgery. Its heart was just gone.”It was about this time that the UFOs - we called them spaceships — began to appear,” Lonnie said By talking to other people who hadseen them, we began to see some sort of planThey seemed to be examining us carefully — first the people, then the houses, finally the vegetation. We also began to get the impression that Mothman was either one of their creatures or a robot sent down to find out all about us.”The McDaniels’ story was corroborated by Willard Halstead, 47, who was chief deputy sheriff at the time.I investigated the UFO reports,” he said. “Once when one of my policemen went off to investigate a reported spaceship landing, his radio went dead as he approached the area. Later it was found to be in perfect working order.When I later went to the scene of the sighting, I found the ground all scuffed up. Something had been there.”The McDaniels told me of the firstROGER Scarberry’s eyewitnesssketch of Mothman, verified byothers.widely-seen arrival of the spaceships One evening, about 100 people saw a huge craft, “seven stories high,” emerging from the waters of the Ohio RiverIt drifted slowly high above the river, then from the craft sped a dozen smaller vessels. They hovered motionless for half an hour, then moved away and disappeared. We called it the mother-ship and its scouts.At least one person had a Polaroid camera and used it. But every picture turned out completely black.”The strange craft, with lights blazing, were seen patrolling the skies for months.Staring eyes“The lives of everyone who saw it were changed in some way,” said Linda.“I was divorced. The Malletes who first saw it with us refuse to even discuss it and live strictly on their own. A leading businessman turned to drink A woman had a miscarriage. People who had never been ill in their lives began to pick up every ailment going.”It was when the UFO eyewitnesses began to get together to talk about it that the strange things began to happen. I got the stories of people, who now refuse to give their names or to be interviewed, who were stalked by the men in black and white, and red and white, checkered shirts.These strangers, singly or in pairs, would be seen emerging from a garage just as the owners returned home.Chidren who knew nothing about the UFOs or Mothman, reported walking during the night and finding the strangers in the room, just staring at them. , 4 , ,The dialing tone had gone for several rings. Then there was silence, then a loud clicking began. Mrs. McDaniel, from the other end of the room, held up the phone.I could distinctly hear the sounds — loud pings and clicks. They continued for five minutes, then the phone went dead.It was not until the next day that I was able to get in touch with the woman, Mrs. Marcella Bennet, 34.Mrs. Bennet was visiting her sister when she met Mothman.I walked to the back of the car and suddenly it was in front of me. It was about six feet tall, and in the little light there was, I could see its body covered in gray feathers.lt washunched over, looking at me. but I saw no red eyes.”But somehow she got inside the house, and Mothman went after her. Her nephew Ricky slammed the glass door shut and pushed a table against it while the creature battered against the door. Then he grabbed a flashlight and shone it on the thing. Mothman turned and vanished.Mrs. Bennet had a miscarriage.One woman who kept on delving into the mysterious UFOs was Mary Hyre. a local journalist.One day she told friends of a phone call and a strange male voice telling her: “Soon you'll be in some other place.”A few weeks later, on February 15,1970. she died suddenly, aged 54.WHATEVER the truth about the Mothman, it has the whole area worried. A few hours after our investigation started Reporter Scott and Photographer Ranns were stopped bypolice and told to leave the State. They dd — and returned next day to continue tiesrcbc.ADVERTISEMENTCONFIDENTIALL Y SPEAKING...Can you use an “out-of-town address? Do you need a phone away from Home? Do you have a business, social or personal desire for a 24-Hour communications center where you can be reached, but not traced? Send $3 for full confidential particularsPERSONAL SERVICESP.O. Box C-26924 Tucson. Arizona 85726Lonnie McDaniel told of his own experience.I was in a friend’s house, both ol us watching TV. Suddenly the set went black and a voice said, We’re not finished with you yet.” Then the film came back on again.”On December 15, 1967. a year after the first arrival of Mothman, tragedy and horror struck Point Pleasant. The 700-foot long Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River collapsed without warning, taking 31 vehicles and carrying 46 people to death in the icy waters.Author Keel is of the opinion that the tragedy was somehow connected to the UFO presence, and so are many of the townspeople.It was when Mrs. McDaniel tried to contact a woman who had seen Mothman that I experienced for myself the eerie phenomenom of the telephone interference.
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Express News
San Antonio, Texas, US
Sun, Feb 16, 1975
Page 125
Full Page
Clipped by
Badgerlink
WI, USA 05 May 2018
Other Publications Near San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio Gazette
San Antonio Express
San Antonio Daily Express
San Antonio Light
San Antonio Evening Light
