http://iowacomicbookclub.com/wp-atom.php The last item in John’s “Mothman Casebook” is this article, cartoonishly entitled “It’s a bird.. it’s a plane… No, No, it’s ‘Mothman’ (gulp!)” It ran in Saga, November 1968, under the more sedate title of “Mothman Monster.” Here are the first three pages, beginning with previous sightings of strange creatures in West Virginia, and a history of “winged human beings.”
This is the last part of “UFOs and the Bridge Disaster,” probably John’s first article on the collapse of the Silver Bridge, and probably intended for Fate. It’s followed in the folder by a list of phone numbers of witnesses, which I won’t post here. I’ll note that one of them wasn’t mentioned in either the article or The Mothman Prophecies: “Mrs. Artis Taylor, supervisor, W. Va. Telephone Company, Pt. Pleasant.” Maybe she was a relative of Walter Taylor, who was.
We continue with John’s “Mothman Casebook,” with the next part of his article “UFOs and the Bridge Disaster.” As he mentioned in his notes to his article for Flying Saucer Review, Fate had rejected an article on the Silver Bridge Disaster, so I suspect this is that article. It was, of course, reworked for The Mothman Prophecies.
Here are the next three pages of “UFOs and the Bridge Disaster,” an article I think he wrote for Fate magazine, which rejected it. John wrote it in January 1968, a few weeks after the Silver Bridge collapsed. Much of it was reworked for The Mothman Prophecies, but this is probably his first attempt to write about the disaster.
John wrote this next article in January 1968. I haven’t found any evidence that it was published, but he said in his notes for the Flying Saucer Review article (see last post): “DREAM ARTICLE ON UFOS AND BRIDGE WILL NOT BE USED BY FATE.” I assume this is that rejected article. It covers UFO sightings and the collapse of the Silver Bridge, all material later incorporated into The Mothman Prophecies. Here’s the first part.
John adds three pages of additional notes to his article “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird.'” A couple of notes: the “Charles” addressed in the last note was Charles Bowen, the editor of Flying Saucer Review. That note also reveals that Marcella Bennett’s daughter Tina (or Teena) seemed to be remembering a past life. As Teena, she’s mentioned in Chapter 8 of The Mothman Prophecies.
John concludes his article “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird'” (later published in Flying Saucer Review) with additional sightings, arguments against identifying Mothman as a bird, and a report on the collapse of the Silver Bridge. As you’ll see, he decided to cut a caustic paragraph on the dangers of UFOs and the futility of theorizing about them. He also neglected to indicate the 14th footnote, which obviously refers to the paragraph on animal mutilations on p. 14.
There’s more to come from the “Casebook,” including additional notes to this article.
The next part of John’s “Special Report” in his “Mothman Casebook” concerns UFO activity in Point Pleasant, including his own numerous sightings, as well as local problems with phones, radios, and fires. I’ve posted the relevant footnotes at the end of the post.
A couple of notes: NANA is the North American Newspaper Alliance, and FSR is the Flying Saucer Review, where this article appeared.
The “Mothman Casebook” continues with the next section of “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird’,” detailing the experiences of Marcella Bennett. Again, I placed the relevant footnotes afterward. The #5 in the first paragraph is not a footnote; it refers to John’s list of Mothman sightings (here).
The next section of this article from John’s “Mothman Casebook” is concerned with the harassment of Connie Carpenter. I added the relevant footnotes at the end.
