What is the Flatwoods monster?
The Flatwoods monster is a creature sighted on the night of September 12, 1952, in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. In Japan it is also called “the 3-meter alien,” and it is famous as a UFO and alien encounter.
The monster that was seen
That night, boys who saw a glowing object cross the sky and fall on a nearby hilltop headed up the hill with a mother and other adults. In the darkness stood something huge, about 3 meters tall, wearing a spade-shaped hood, it is said. Witnesses said it had glowing eyes, and that a pungent smell drifted from its green body along with a hissing sound. The group fled in terror, and some witnesses later complained of nausea and sore throats.
What was the Flatwoods monster really?
Later investigations suggest the light that crossed the sky was a meteor, and the leading theory is that the monster on the hill was an owl (a great horned owl) perched on a tree branch, mistaken in the beam of a flashlight. The glowing eyes are thought to have been the owl’s eyes, and the hood-like shape tree branches and shadows. Today it is the symbol of the town of Flatwoods, where chairs and goods shaped like the monster welcome tourists.
