[ OPTIK’S NOTE ]

Another post by our friend over at spooksfield.com! Enjoy.

The Mothman may be homeless. This celebrity monster was not a victim of the
sub-prime housing market, but possibly of a much older concern. The Curse of Chief
Cornstalk. On May 17th, 2010 around 1:13 am an explosion rocked the “TNT area” once
thought to be the home of the creature. Witness Adam Frazier described the event
saying “it was so bright it turned night to day” and that he “didn’t hear an
explosion, but I saw the light.” The official story is that some of the munitions
stored in the grass covered igloos ignited causing the explosion. No cause has yet
been determined.

Gary Sharp of the “Division of Natural Resources” highlighted the damage “The
steel doors were thrown off and the ceiling is made of 6 inch concrete that lifted
up and then caved in, the blast was pretty extensive.” So is this just another dark
co-incidence? A foreseeable consequence after 40 years of storing explosives? Or
something more? Before deciding this we must get into the strange history of the
Mothman’s stomping grounds.
 
  In the late 1700’s Chief Cornstalk was a leader of the Shawnee people of the
region. He had his share of scrapes with the early colonial settlers but had made a
tentative peace in his later years. His unjust death occurred in November of 1777
when the Chief learned a rogue band of Shawnee were planning an attack on some
near-by colonists. The Chief and his son Elinipsico rode to warn the settlers of
Point Pleasant.
 
  Unfortunately, after the pair arrived news came of the attack that had resulted in
the death of a prominent American solider. The settlers exacted revenge by killing
the Shawnee Chief and his son. With his dying breath the Chief uttered this curse.
 
“I came to your fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my
side, my young son…..For this may the Curse of the Great Spirit  rest upon this
land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in it’s hopes. May the
strength of it’s people be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.”
 
  The executed Chief was buried near the bend of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.
This region has sustained many “accidents” that do have the feel of a curse. Here is
a short list of the most significant.
 
December, 6th 1907 – Worst coal mine disaster in American history 310 killed in
neighboring Monongah, WV.
 
June 1944 – Tornado kills 150 people in the tri-state region
 
December 5th, 1967 – Collapse of the Silver Bridge into Ohio river 46 casualties
(Point Pleasant)
 
August 1968 – 35 people died when a plane crashed near Kanawha airport.
 
November 4th, 1970 – Plane crashes into Mountains of nearby Huntington, WV.
 
March 2nd, 1976 – Mason County jail exploded as a man with a suitcase full of
explosives visited his wife who had killed his infant daughter. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Sisk and 3 agents of Law Enforcement lost thier lives.
 
January 1978 – A freight train carrying chemical toxins derailed contaminating the
water supply of Point Pleasant ruining all the local wells.
 
April 1978 – 51 laborers were killed in the neighboring town of St.Mary’s when a
scaffold collapsed at the Willow Island Power Plant.
 
  672 deaths in tragic accidents in a span of 75 years. And then things get weird.
The 1966-67, 13 month flap in West Virginia was and still is one of the most
prominent cases of high strangeness in our field. Over 100 witnesses encountered the
winged creature in the 13 months preceding the Silver Bridge tragedy. At least 7
of these encounters involved the “TNT area”, more than any other single locale.
 
  Originally designated as the “Mclintoc Wildlife Refuge”(fittingly enough as a bird
sanctuary) the area was converted into a WWII munitions dump. It’s subterreanean
tunnels, earth covered igloos and seclusion made it an excellent dump site. It also
doubled as a popular spot for interpid teens to do what it is teens do. And this was
were the Mothman flap began in earnest.
 
  Across the world winged creatures of enormous size have been reported for
centuries. There seem to be 3 primary creatures sighted in this category.

1) A huge bird (sometimes considered to be a Pterdactyl or Thunderbird)
2) A humanoid creature with wings (the classic Mothman)
3) A Man with wings and often a mechanical apparatus on his chest (ala
Future-Man)
  
    In one of the more dramatic and well known encounters 4 teenagers were pursued
from the TNT area by the creature in thier car, at speeds topping 100 mph. The group
reported their sighting to the Mason County Sherriff and a Deputy Millard Halstead
followed the group who he knew “all of their lives”  and whom “he took seriously”.
Arriving at the TNT area the police radio in his car “emitted a strange sound like a
speeded-up phonographic record”*. The creature was not seen but the next day a press
conference was held in the county courthouse and local reporter and beloved spitfire
Mary Hyre entered the fray.
 
  She was the local authority collecting reports not only of Mothman but of the near
nightly UFO’s. And following the UFO’s was, of course, the ultra enigmatic, Jello
drinking Men-In-Black whom she personally encountered on several occassions. In
seeming response to the barrage of UFO’s, homes throughout the area that were never
“paranormally active” had sudden outbreaks of Poltergeist like activity. In several
of the cases the almost always present teenage catalyst was suspicously absent. This
paranormal activity may have been the result of  a “psychological spillover” effect.
 
  Since this classic case we have seen other regions come under investigation that
also defy contemporary theories. Multiple creatures or phenomena manifesting within
a “window” area. The Skinwalker Ranch with it’s invisible cryptids, death squad of
orbs and interdimensional rips in the skies above the ranch. Contact Ranch with it’s
controlled Bigfoots, disappearing trees and the mechanical voice from an unknown
source. Mystery Farm X with it’s Poltergeist activity, firework watching Bigfoot and
Camel headed entity. Not to mention the mysteries of the San Luis Valley, the
disturbing allegations surrounding Dulce, NM and the persistent strangeness of the
Yakima Reservation.
 
  All these cases seem to follow a new model where an underlying intelligence
evolves with our perceptions. Each supernatural event/entity reinforces the belief
(Moth-Mania in this case)in the persisting strangeness which in turn aids in the
manifestation process. An interactive intelligence with it’s own agenda. Was the
Chief’s curse an element in the high strangeness that has plagued this desolate
corned of West Virginia? We don’t know. But we would do well to observe the wise
words of John Keel “When it comes to the paranormal world, nothing is what it seems
to be.”

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  Recently John Keel passed away. Since he was madly influential in my instigative
research and writing style, I wanted to drop a few lines of dedication.
 
  John Keel possessed a uniquely singular mind, which is a true rarity these days.
He did the research of an unpaid intern, had the personal insight of a professor and
the observational skills of an anthropologist. His insatiable curiosity reflects the
human experience, searching for answers to the mysteries of existence, reality and
the bottomless well of the mind.
 
  Keel always left you with the impression that he knew much more than he would say,
and his insight was so subtle that you could almost believe that you drew the
inference on your own. We would do well to follow Keel’s example, shining the torch
of knowledge into the dark corners of our minds and beyond.
 

S.M. Belekurov
Field Investigator, Paranormal Profiler, author”2012:The Paranormal
Cookbook(Convergenceof Reality and the Supernatural)” Contributor to “Paranormal
Underground” magazine, epicparanormal.com, perception9.com,thespiritseekers.org, APA
charter member (Cryptozoology).