Flatwoods Monster

In this week's episode, we're heading over to West Virginia in the US for an extra-terrestrial monster, The Flatwoods Monster! How many times has this been spotted in the wilds of Appalachia? Why do we even think it's extra-terrestrial? Find out this week!

Transcript

INTRO:
Hello and welcome to Myth Monsters, my name is Erin and I’ll be your host for these little snack bite size podcasts on folklore and mythical monsters from around the world. 

These podcasts focus on the actual cryptids, folklore and mythic monsters from global mythology, rather than focusing on full stories of heroes and their big adventures.

I’ll also be dropping in some references that they have to recent culture and where you can see these represented in modern day content so you can learn more, and get as obsessed as I am about these absolute legends of the mythological world.

I’ve finally recovered from the horrendous cold I had last week and amazingly was on the radio this week! I had such a great time with BBC Essex and am excited to go back at Halloween for some more monster stories for my local community. 

DESCRIPTION:

Speaking of monster stories, let’s just get straight into this one - this week, we’re heading over to the US to a specific state we’ve been to before with cryptids, West Virginia, for a bizarre and locally-beloved creature, the Flatwoods Monster!

The Flatwoods Monster is described as a 10-12 feet tall cryptid, with an ace of spades shaped head, with glowing orange orb-like eyes, long black spindly arms with four long fingers and an almost dress going down to the floor, where it hovers above the ground. It is sometimes depicted with an orange, red, green or purple glow to it - however, these reports are few and far between. 

It’s generally considered to be wearing metallic armour, however, no one knows what is going on underneath it and what the monster itself actually looks like. There are arguments that the Flatwoods Monster is a reptilian creature underneath the armour, but I’m not too sure on that based on the research. The wider thought is that this monster is actually extraterrestrial, and that’s definitely something new that we’ve not touched upon on the podcast yet. 

This monster is based in the Flatwoods area of West Virginia, where it lives in the deep forests. West Virginia is the mountain state and is well within Appalachia - where a whole load of monsters and cryptids come from within the US. It generally avoids all human contact, actively shrilling and hissing at them but isn’t known for attacking people, however it can hurt them accidentally. 

This comes down to its powers - whilst they are able to levitate which in itself is a pretty cool power, they are also able to emit a strange gas, which smells like metallic sulphur but is widely considered to be mustard gas. Mustard gas is incredibly dangerous for us humans and was used in the wars to blind, suffocate and kill soldiers - with symptoms like throat irritation, vomiting and nausea that can last for several days after exposure. 

The monster is also able to move incredibly quickly through the forest canopy, mainly because of its ability to hover, but it tends to use this to get away from us, rather than chase - which is a bonus I suppose.

It’s widely believed that there is only one Flatwoods Monster and realistically, we don’t know very much about it. We don’t know what it really is under the armour, and so can’t make any guesses either. Therefore, we don’t know what it eats or how you could possibly kill it, although it seems pretty peaceful so why would you want to I suppose. We also don’t know how long it lives for or how it survives within the harsh environment of the Appalachian mountains - but the legend still lives on. 

ORIGIN:

So let’s get onto etymology and I bet you’ve already guessed this one. Flatwoods is where the monster is from in West Virginia, although it does have a couple of other names. It’s also known as the Braxton County Monster or Braxie - as Braxton is specifically the place it was seen. Or it’s also called the Phantom of the Flatwoods or Green Monster - so there are a few nicknames, but they all come to the same origin using the location of the sightings. 

The history of this monster is interesting, but SUPER short. The Flatwoods Monster was only first discovered in the 1950’s, specifically 1952. 

A group of 3 kids were playing football on September 12th, 1952 and they saw a bright light fly across the evening sky and land in a local farmer’s field. They went and told their mums that they’d seen a UFO crash and some locals went with the kids to check it out. 

Once they got there, one of the local dogs ran ahead and started barking and then came back with its tail between its legs, absolutely terrified. The group travelled a little further and found a pulsating ball of fire and smelt the mustard gas, which made their eyes and noses run. Then one of the farmers saw two small lights next to the fire and shone a torch on the monster, revealing it to the rest of the group. It hissed before gliding at them and ran off into the night. 

The next morning, the locals told the local newspapers and police, who went and investigated, but only found a sickening, burnt metallic odour still prevailing. They did also find tracks on a second visit, as well as thick black unidentified liquid. In their investigation, they found that a number of other people from the area had had an experience over the previous week with the same monster, including one where a 21 year old woman was in the hospital for three weeks after. Some reports from locals said that a UFO crashed into the field during that week and radio had cut out for 45 minutes when it did and when it took off on September 13th at 6:30 in the morning.

On September 13th itself, a couple saw another monster with the same putrid smell and metallic armour, which was believed to be the Flatwoods Monster again. However, they reported that the creature had a reptilian body on the top half instead of the tell-tale ace of spades style helmet. It was concluded that they were two different monsters, and this was called the Frametown Monster instead. I probably won’t cover it separately as there’s not much else about it - but it’s an interesting one to put alongside this as a close cousin of this one.

The funny bit about this monster’s history is that it stops here - it’s never been sighted again. However, this monster sits between the term monster and the term alien, which is a whole different kettle of fish in the folklore space. It’s not usually something cryptozoologists will look into, as aliens are generally not considered cryptids but a whole other race off-planet, but this one is elusive and renowned enough to get away with it. 

Alien folklore, which is definitely not the word for interest and study into aliens - is incredibly close to cryptozoology in theory. And it definitely isn’t a surprise with this being a US monster, where belief in aliens is particularly accepted, and sometimes embraced or feared. I mean, Area 51 is in the US and it’s also the hot spot for conspiracy theorists - which does fit with the cryptid space, because they, in theory, are conspiracies too sometimes. 

General belief in aliens worldwide started in around the middle ages, but even went back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans who studied the stars and planets for the first time. However, wider belief didn’t start until the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when science fiction kicked off the interest with Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Alongside the moon landings in 1969, which propelled interest in space and aliens into the homes of normal working people and Area 51 being acquired in 1955 and rumours of alien activity in the facility in the 1960’s - and alas the first alien conspiracies were truly born.

However, does the Flatwood Monster technically earn the monster name? Sure - it’s monstrous and we don’t actually know if it is an alien, that is the mystery to it.

Of course, a really close creature to the Flatwoods Monster is Mothman - and this is geographically and descriptively. Mothman is described as being massive with those scary glow in the dark eyes who flies over Point Pleasant in West Virginia, only 2 hours away and around 130 miles in the same state. However, there’s not really another cryptid or myth monster to compare the Flatwoods Monster to, due to the alien-like appearance of it and the frankly, elusive nature of it only being seen one time.

But if we debunk all of this with some real life comparisons, it is also very similar to the explanation behind Mothman - barn owls. Barn owls are really common within the Appalachian forests and when you shine a light on their eyes, they can glow back in a red or orange colour and obviously fly over your head. Their wingspans certainly don’t make them feel 10-12 feet tall, but if you don’t see their bodies, the floating red eyes might give you those vibes. 

Even with all of this scepticism and lack of sightings, the Flatwoods Monster is still massively important to the Flatwoods area. Flatwoods is known as the home of the Green Monster, and even has a Flatwoods Monster Museum, where you can buy a lamp in the shape of the creature to take home with you. There’s also a few crafted wooden chairs around the area it was first spotted in, painted to look like the monster - and they advise you go to them instead of trying to get to the actual sighting place, as this is now private property. But either way, the monster is still embraced by the locals and I absolutely love it.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: 

Now onto modern media, we actually have specific media on the Flatwoods Monster! The only thing we don’t have is movies - so we have an empty category this week which hasn’t happened for a while, but nothing really matches this monster.

For art, I would really recommend looking at independent art this week because there are some really cool pieces on this one. They are a little creepy, but could also be a little cute - but go have a look at what people are making.

In movies, we have; realistically, an empty category - but I did find a documentary on Amazon Prime called The Flatwoods Monster, so there’s that!

For TV, we have loads in contrast but mostly in anime; Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Adventure Time, Transformers, Mountain Monsters, The X-Files, Lost Tapes, InCryptid, Negima!?, Yokai Watch, Space Dandy, Sgt Frog, Project Blue Book & The Legend of Koizumi.

In video games, we have ones such as; Shadowverse, Happy Wars, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Point Blank, Scribblenauts, Tomodachi Life, The Wonderful 101, Viewtiful Joe 2, Space Harrier, Fallout 76, Cassette Beasts, Everybody’s Golf 4, Ghostbusters World, Amagon, Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban, Gaia Attack 4, Keio Flying Squadron, Moshi Monsters, Valkyrie Crusade, Wild ARMs, Siren: Blood Curse, Space Bomber, TumblePop, Taiko no Tatsujin: Dokodon! Mystery Adventure & UFOA Day In The Life. 

My book recommendation this week is Flying Saucers & Monsters: West Virginia's Flatwoods Monster by Melisa Kennedy and Gray Barker or The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-up of the Flatwoods Monster by Frank Feschino for more of you conspiracy theorists out there. If you’re interested in more monsters from the Mountain State, check out The West Virginia Book of Monsters by George & John Dudding.

DO I THINK THEY EXISTED? 

Now it’s time for, do I think they existed?

Immediate no for this one and I’m sorry for any die-hard believers out there. I think this one crosses too far into the extraterrestrial space for it to be believable for me at least. However, I also think that this one depends on your stance on aliens being on Earth, and for me - it’s just not something I’m massively in on. 

Whilst I totally believe aliens are out there - the idea that they would be chilling on Earth in a forest in West Virginia out of any place, makes no sense to me. However, if this was more of a mythical monster style monster, I think the Appalachian forests would be the perfect place to find something like that and we could definitely throw in some ‘we don’t know much about the deep forests of Appalachia to say a definitive yes’. 

It’s also strange that we’ve only seen this monster one time as a cryptid, usually there are some sightings within the last 50 years and we don’t even have that, it’s been 70 years since a sighting and that makes it so much more interesting to me from that cryptid perspective too. 

I do really like this monster though, and I’m thrilled that the locals love the idea of it too. It really reminds me of the Hodag and Mothman in terms of the community that they come from and the embracing of these monsters in their local culture, with museums, events, architecture and just a deep appreciation for their history and culture that I don’t think is as common anymore, which makes me incredibly sad, but so happy to see people embrace their local monster.

But what do you think? Did the Flatwoods Monster roam the forests of West Virginia? Let me know on Twitter!

OUTRO: 

A great monster this week, and one that tipped us into the realm of extraterrestrial beings which we don’t cover much and maybe this might convince me to look at aliens at some point - but probably as a gimmick episode in the future.

Next week, I’m having my annual June break for a week - just to not have to worry about scripts and researching for a little bit and enjoy my free time. But we’re back the week after on Thursday 3rd July, when we’re heading to Central America for a duo-dog spirit, the Cadejo! Keep an eye out for the black and white hounds whilst you’re drinking when we come back!

For now, thank you so much for listening, it’s been an absolute pleasure. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give it a rating on the service you’re listening on - I’ve got the twitter for any questions, or suggestions on what monsters to cover next and I’d love to hear from you. The social media handles for Tiktok, Youtube, Threads and Instagram are mythmonsterspodcast, and twitter is mythmonsterspod. But all of our content can be found at mythmonsters.co.uk, including some very cool merchandise - you can also find us on Goodpods, Buymeacoffee and Patreon if you want to help me fund the podcast too.

Come join the fun though and share this with your pals, they might love me as much as you do.

But for now, stay spooky and I’ll see you later babes.