From the Loch Ness Monster to Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, the world is filled with many legendary “creatures” whose existence has never been proven.
Now, a new Netflix series of ‘Unexplained Mysteries’ will focus on one of the scariest ‘cryptids’ of all: the Chicago Mothman.
The horrifying figure, reportedly seen in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is described as a “human with wings” and huge glowing red eyes.
Linked to fatal bridge collapses, it is the subject of a 2002 film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney, but what could the monster really be?
MailOnline spoke to an academic and a ‘cryptozoologist’ (someone in the quirky pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding these fantastical beasts) to uncover the truth behind the Chicago Mothman.
Purportedly witnessed in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the hideous figure is described as a “winged human” with huge glowing red eyes (artist’s impression).
The fifth episode of the new Netflix series, which arrives on July 31, focuses on the Chicago Mothman.
In a description of the episode, Netflix says: ‘Amid disturbing sightings of a tall, winged, red-eyed humanoid creature, paranormal investigators explore the Mothman’s apparent link to great disasters.’
Richard Freeman is the zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), an eccentric cryptozoology organisation that relies on public donations to conduct “extensive research into mysterious animals” around the world.
Mr Freeman told MailOnline that the Mothman is a “paranormal manifestation” – “not a flesh and blood creature but a supernatural entity”.
But Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist and professor at Edinburgh Napier University, said he always believes in “rational explanations over irrational ones” when it comes to myths like this.
“Sightings and reports may fall into the category of ‘watchful waiting’ – the psychological effect where people see what they want or expect to see when something is difficult to see with resolution,” Dr Gilchrist told MailOnline.
People who claim to have seen the Mothman may actually have misidentified a real animal, the academic says.
A sandhill crane, a large bird found throughout North America that has red markings around its eyes, may be “the most likely explanation.”
Netflix says: ‘Amidst disturbing sightings of a tall, winged, red-eyed humanoid creature, paranormal investigators explore the Mothman’s apparent link to great disasters’
MailOnline spoke to an academic and a “cryptozoologist” (someone in the quirky pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding such fantastic beasts) to uncover the truth behind the Chicago Mothman (artist’s impression)
Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist at Edinburgh Napier University, believes the Mothman “witnesses” may have seen a sandhill crane, a large bird found throughout North America that has red markings around its eyes (pictured).
“Alternative explanations include hallucinations or a consciously constructed story to gain attention,” Dr Gilchrist added.
‘Deliberate fabrications and deceptions are also possible.’
The Mothman phenomenon dates back almost 60 years to Point Pleasant, a small town in West Virginia near the Ohio border.
In November 1966, two couples saw the “man-sized, bird-like creature” in the city around midnight (and insisted that there was not been drinking).
They told the Point Pleasant Register that the figure was about ‘six or seven feet tall’ with a 10-foot wingspan and red eyes about two inches in diameter.
Described as “a man with wings,” he was airborne, flying at “about 100 miles per hour” and even followed them in his car along Route 62.
Following the newspaper’s initial report, more people in the Point Pleasant area reported seeing it as well, including two firefighters who described it as a “large bird with red eyes.”
When the city’s Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, locals linked the event to the monster.
More recently, the creature has reportedly been spotted in Chicago, with 55 sightings in the city in 2017 alone, according to reports.
The Mothman was supposedly first seen in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the 1960s, but more recent sightings have occurred in Chicago, Illinois.
When Point Pleasant’s Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, locals linked the event to the monster.
Author John Keel published his 1975 novel ‘The Mothman Prophecies’, which was adapted into a 2002 film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney (pictured)
Now, more than half a century later, Point Pleasant hosts an annual Mothman Festival with tours, films and music, helping to boost tourism in the town.
“With all the attention, the visitors and the Mothman festival, there is now a financial reason for the myth to be perpetuated, as happened with the Loch Ness Monster,” Dr Gilchrist said.
According to the researcher, the mystery of cryptids such as Nessie, Bigfoot, Mothman and the Abominable Snowman is “self-perpetuating.”
“People want to see or find something rare or special – it’s human nature,” he told MailOnline.
‘Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 4’ premieres on Netflix on July 31.