The Flatwoods Monster 

Here is an astonishing tale of an object that falls from the heavens one dark September night, prompting a group of townsfolk to trek up to it's drop zone to investigate. There, along with many other witnesses they experience something that frightens them to their core, many flee in panic. The thing that frightened them was said to be a ten-foot tall being with a “blood red” face and glowing eyes – It became known as “The Flatwood Monster”

The Beginning

The year is 1952, the place is Flatwoods, West Virginia/ It was September 12th and the early autumn nights were already drawing in. Sherriff Robert Carr, and Deputy Burnell long took a call from a concerned witness who had seen a ball of fire fall to earth towards the river Elk, to the south of Gassaway. It was presumed that this must be a crashing aircraft.

A group of schoolboys from Flatwoods school were playing football in the failing evening light when they saw an object “like a meteor” land on a hill. Although at first frightened, as they talked about it, their fear turned to excitement, and they decided to investigate – but not alone.



Having first reported what they saw to a neighbour, Kathleen May, they then set off up the hill in the company of the neighbour, her two sons and National Guardsman Gene Lemon. Mrs. May recalled that the night was foggy with a mist in the air.

As they approached the site, they could detect a “metallic” smell which burned their nose and eyes. Some found the odour so overpowering that it made them vomit or faint. After regaining their composure they pushed on. As they crested the hill, all the witnessed claimed that they saw a “glowing hissing” object, as large as a house, emitting a throbbing hissing sound.

Reporters Investigate

Word spread like wild-fire, and by the time the Sherrif arrived, the hill-side was crowded with locals who had come to investigate the area for themselves.

Braxton Democrat reporter A.Lee Stewart, was sent to cover the event and arrived at the May household and noticed that every witness had been extremely frightened by their experience, commenting that "those people were the most scared people I've ever seen".

National Guardsman Gene Lemon and one of Kathleen May's sons agreed to escort the reporter back to the scene of the incident. They took shotguns with them for protection. Returning to the hillside, nothing unusual could be discerned in the enveloping darkness, but the overwhelming odour remained. Stewart decided to call it a night, he would return the following day and examine the scene in daylight

The Monster Disappears

On returning the next day, the hill grassy side revealed a parallel set of lines “skid marks” , leading to a large circle of flattened grass, suggesting that “something” had landed – and departed. Despite a number of investigations, the events at Flatwoods have never been satisfactorily explained and remain a mystery.

Newspaper report of the Flatwood Monster Incident