Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130506 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Synopsis
A new Hollywood blockbuster, an amazing documentary, and thousands of web pages in its honor. What's the fuss? In a word--Mothman! A famous investigator examines the reports of this huge, red-eyed creature with wings seen over Point Pleasant, West Virginia on November 15, 1966? and the spawn of Mothman seen before and after that date.

Customer Reviews

The most comprehensive and balanced overview of the Mothman.
Reknowned cryptozoologist Loren Coleman brings a genuine scientific approach to this investigation of the classic case of 'high weirdness' - the Mothman encounters in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the 1960s. Several witnesses at the time reported sightings of this strange humanoid creature; at the same time, Point Pleasant became a focal point for bizarre UFO sightings and numerous 'Men in Black' encounters. Veteran investigator John Keel produced his classic 'The Mothman Prophecies' about the case, an eyewitness account of the state of this small West Virginian town in the grip of inexplicable events. Coleman brings the perspective of time to his investigation, allowing him to evaluate eyewitness reports objectively, and he also brings his cryptozoological experience to open up the possibility that the spectral Mothman may very well have been a flesh and blood animal, perhaps related to the legendary 'Thunderbirds' of Native American myth that have also been reported around this part of the United States. Coleman is also a superb writer and his account is extremely readable, at once vigorous and scientific, while at the same time imparting a sense of the Mothman case's genuine mystery. All in all, this is an exceptionally good book from one of the best writers in the field. And the cover's terrifying!

Interesting research, confusingly laid out
In this book, Loren Coleman tackles the Mothman phenomenon by linking it to, or at least putting it in context with, other unexplained phenomena from the more closely related cryptoid encounters such as Bigfoot, to UFOs and earthlights.

The book begins with the Mothman case specifically, but after that I found it became somewhat piece-meal; "Mothman" rather moth-like itself, flits and flutters around all sorts of subjects as if Coleman was putting down a constant flow of thoughts on paper, and that's how it ended up. If that's the case, it would also explain the lack of proof-reading; letters missing out of words, incorrect punctuation and spelling and other typographical errors stand out in a work that should be of a good academic calibre. His many references to fellow investigator Keel (the main investigator of Mothman, who features heavily in the book) also seem to wander away from journalistic appreciation into the realm of starry-eyed fandom.

Coleman briefly adopts Keel's style of reading significance and correspondences (not unlike Crowley's occult correspondences) into everything, and on numerous occasions - particularly in playing with the significance of numbers and dates - veers into questionable realms of "Keelian" excitement. For me, learning that June 24th was not only the day that Kenneth Arnold spotted the first recorded "Flying Saucer", but it was also the day that the Spanish Inquisition released Galileo ... wasn't much of a revelation. I am sure one could pick any date and follow it through history, finding weird stuff that happened on that same day of the year.

Nevertheless, Coleman has amassed a veritable library of anecdotes and stories of fortean and anomalous events and occurences. Many of them are indeed anecdotal, but there are plenty of them which have multiple witnesses or were otherwise recorded and appear to be genuine. Despite the chaos and the love of coincidences there is also a rich seam of cryptozoological v paranormal skepticism on display. Coleman takes a good look at erroneous prophecies, as well as being a clear advocate of wanting to bring some sightings out of the realm of the supernatural, and into the arena of "undiscovered creatures".

"Mothman" also boasts an excellent appendix of the "weird sightings/events" hotspots of America, a state-by-state guide to areas of fortean interest; next time I visit the USA, I'll be taking it with me.

All in all, Mothman & Other Curious Encounters is a good read and an interesting delve into the widespread sightings of the mothman around the time of the Silver Bridge disaster. It is spoiled slightly by a patchy flow of chapters and information and irritating typos. But it's a worthwhile and enjoyable read.