That reminds me of this short film I saw at a film fest back in '16.
Only tangentially UFO-related, but this seemed the best thread to put it in.
I’m not really a believer in aliens-on-Earth, or in paranormal activity as such. However, I remain fascinated by it all, primarily because I wonder about the possible or probable psychological origins of these things. Thus, from time to time, I like to watch a documentary or two. Some have been pretty good, but most are getting astonishingly predictable in their methods.
This one, I thought, was the best one I’ve seen in a long time. It focused just as much on town and the people involved as it did on the phenomena, and the stories told in interviews are augmented with very nicely done animations that manage to capture the fear they were feeling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7_3n5Z2SDs
Mothman is definitely an interesting phenomenon. In one of my classes a group of students researched the origin and history of this cryptid, and it makes a nice case study in the intersection of mythology, culture, psychology, and even economics.
As my anthropologist colleagues like to say, whether or not such things as Mothman or UFOs or ghosts or whatever are objectively true is not really important. The important thing is that people act as if they believe they are true, and we can definitely study those actions.
Skipper
2037
This reminds me of the story (I don’t remember if true or fiction) of multiple people who saw a monster roaming a specific road at night. This turned out to be just a normal person with physical deformities who wanted to get outside but was reclusive due to their deformities.
I know there is a lot more to mothman, but for sure it makes you wonder how many beast stories through time were just people with horrible disfigurement. The same for disfigured animals and myths like the Chupacabra, etc.
I mean, between that and dinosaur bones, 100% of them. (Unless you mean “as opposed to made up out of thin air.”)
Well, science and scientific thinking cannot corroborate these sightings, for sure. It also cannot definitely rule them out. Belief in these things is not scientific because the hypotheses (‘these things are true’) cannot be tested, and therefore, cannot be rule out by science. I mean, in practical terms, well, you do the math, but at the level of theory that’s the case.
Skipper
2040
I mean, I know there are also creatures still discovered within 100ish years that were thought to be fantastical or otherwise, like the giant squid (1877) or even one of the great apes, the bonobo (1928.) We’ve also got more cameras in more places these days and get pictures of diseased or deformed actual creatures, like I believe small bears with mange that look human-like or the strange coyote in Texas that was assumed part of Chupacabra talk within the US.
I guess it’s not without merit that we COULD find the source of things like this as something we don’t know, but just generally, it’s doubtful. I follow too many science discoveries to ever say ANYTHING is, “100%,” however.
I read this book at the beginning of the month while on a plane. It’s an account of the government’s AAWSAP program written by the DIA guy who instigated it and the lead scientist who ran it.
AAWSAP was the program that investigated those 3 UFO videos that were leaked a few years back.
One of the theories that came out of the study is that all these paranormal phenomena, UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, psychic shit, they’re all the same thing. What that thing is, that is the elusive part. “Full of shit” is perhaps viable, like people just hallucinate and see weird things. Except people being full of shit doesn’t turn up radar hits and gun-cam footage and other physical traces.
The only hard conclusion they came up with was medical in nature. Basically people who came into physical contact with the phenomena all got sick. Generally cancer or abnormal cell growth (I’m botching this because I’m not a dr) wherever on their body they “touched” a UFO or ghost-like thing.
The book has all the reports and stuff they delivered so you can look them up.
Anyway the cryptid discussion reminded me of the book. According to some government contractors, Mothman and UFOs are definitely related. They keep using the word “ultraterrestrials”, which I suppose means 4d people living on earth?
RichVR
2042
I remember reading a convincing article that said that Mothman was most likely owl sightings.
Edit: I think this was it.
KevinC
2043
That’s what Mothman propaganda wants you to think. Wake up, Rich!
I’ve seen it suggested that Mothman was a sandhill crane.
Skipper
2045
I finished that a couple of months ago and enjoyed the read, though there were a lot of repeat mentions of things throughout the book. The index of things presented as well as the knowing that we’ll never see the full data was a bit depressing. For those here who don’t know this was a US government funded, -scientific- deep dive on a lot of data and investigations.
One of the things that struck me was the mention of follow-on effects after sightings or events, especially as related to Skinwalker Ranch but others as well. The effects are visualizations of orbs, paranormal activity, even mythical beast sightings. And the fact that they affect not just those who had the original sightin or event, but those living with them as family as well as even non-family (roomates, spouses, etc.) They postulated but did not have time to confirm that there might actually be a disease/virus/infection related cause of these, real or not and that would certainly jive with why it affects some people long after the contact. In other words, what if the recurring visitations or orbs or whatever wasn’t a physical reality in the true sense, but the effect of some sort of body infection, disease or otherwise, that carries from human host to others in close contact?
At any rate, the book was pretty eye opening, I just wish we got to see more of the fully presented data.
RichVR
2046
Maybe? They can get big. And they are afraid of nothing. Here they are seen inquiring about my auto insurance.
That’s a fair point, I forget how the range of cryptids runs from “obviously impossible” to “not unreasonable, just extremely impractical to verify”. It’s the supernatural ones that tend to stick in my mind.
I am also fascinated by the ideas upthread that how these things manifest constitute a sort of examination into the collective psyche of the time. For example, in 1896-97 there were a bunch of airship sightings–they weren’t extraterrestrial spaceships flown by little grey dudes, but Thomas Edison’s top-secret next great invention.
This jives with the idea that the UFO phenomenon is some kind of collective manipulation or hallucination, which is what the Skinwalker book alludes to. Lue Elizondo (the guy who ran AAWSAP for the Pentagon) keeps saying to stop thinking of the phenomenon as extraterrestrial.
The ultraterrestrial idea is weird and scary and I don’t like it. It basically means angels/demons/gods whatever are real. What does that even mean, like are there really 4D people just chillin and fucking with us with their 4D magic? Like how the Sphere fucks with A Square in Flatland? I’d rather they just be dudes from Zeta Reticuli in a space ship.
I mean, it’s certainly far more likely than extraterrestrials. We have real, actual evidence of things like dancing plagues and epidemics of compulsive wandering, and generally speaking, all kinds of bizarre (and transient!) psychological maladies, and no evidence of, say, anything going faster than the speed of light.
Scott123
2050
I really disagree. The objective truth is very important. There are no magical shape-shifter monsters, or aliens in the sky, or ghosts in the closet, or witches in Salem. To me, right-minded people as few remain, need to be clear on this. Allowing these beliefs to flourish leads to people dying, and people killing. The UFO phenomena has reached religion status in the USA. People think the government is actively lying, conspiring, hiding. There are a few on this forum, thankfully still in the friendly-harmless-believer stage rather than the harmful stage. The media isn’t helping, because just in the last two years the media has realized that there is money to be made off of treating the subject seriously. It’s getting worse, not better, and getting worse fast.
I don’t have the patience to engage, and I’m also sensitive to losing friendships or in my case, my crazy uncle. Thankfully some do. It really should be our duty to shut it down and not let it slide, it’s not just a ‘interesting anthropologist study’.
Every day now. Every 15 minutes, seemingly, for goodness sake.
Yup. We have real fucking problem here.
marxeil
2051
Holy shit, I can see it. It looks like some giant airborne wheeled vehicle, so I’m not sure what’s the point your’e trying to make.
There was a little light that zoomed in, stopped, and vanished in the video. Weird but nothing crazy. Could be a bug.
Scott123
2053
Ah, sorry all. Internet rants seem a bit harsh on re-read. Guess I was triggered by the ‘it doesn’t matter’ statement. I am concerned, obviously, but I also realize that it’s just a passing interest for the vast majority of people
