Robot or Monster? Looking Back at a Classic Case from the Early Years of UFOs

nivek

As Above So Below
Robot or Monster? Looking Back at a Classic Case from the Early Years of UFOs
By Nick Redfern

On the night of September 12, 1952, something terrifying descended upon the small, West Virginian town of Flatwoods. Precisely what it was remains very much a mystery to this day. All that can really be said for sure is that it was hideous, fear-inducing and downright monstrous. It has, quite appropriately, become known as the Flatwoods Monster. Situated in Braxton County and dominated by a cool, picturesque, forested landscape, Flatwoods is a distinctly small town – that much is apparent from the fact that, today, its population is less than four hundred. Back in 1952, though, it was even less than that. On the night in question, however, the people of the town found themselves briefly added to by one visitor from…well…no-one really knows from where. It all began just as the sun was setting on what was a warm, still, September evening. A group of boys from Flatwoods were playing football in the town’s schoolyard when they were frozen to the spot by the sight of a brightly lit, fiery object that shot overhead, provoking amazement and wonder in the process. All that the boys could be sure of was that the object appeared to be either egg-shaped or circular. Its color fluctuated from orange to a fiery red.

flatwoods.jpg


As the stunned children watched in awe, they saw the object begin to descend – and at a high rate of speed, no less – and then appear to come down on one of Flatwood’s largest hilltops. Not surprisingly, being kids, they saw this as a big adventure looming large. The result: they, with a woman named Kathleen May and a recent U.S. Army recruit, Eugene Lemon, headed off for the scene of all the action. It wasn’t long before the group reached the hill in question – and with nightfall rapidly closing in. The first thing the group noticed, as they reached the darkened peak, was something brightly lit within the trees. What it was, no-one had a clue. But, it clearly wasn’t the lights of a farmhouse, truck, or car. Suddenly, the air was filled with a sickening odor – not unlike that of devilish brimstone. That was not a good sign. To their credit, however, they pushed on, determined to figure out the true nature of the source behind the lights. They soon found out: as the air became filled with a strange, sizzling sound, nothing less than a pair of self-illuminated red eyes could be seen getting ever closer. Kathleen May had the presence of mind to bring a flashlight with her and she quickly focused it on the eyes. In doing so, she also lit up the abominable creature that possessed those fiery eyes.

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Looming before the now-terrified band of intrepid souls was an approximately ten-feet-tall, floating monster. It appeared to be humanoid in shape and had something almost like a large, black hood-like piece behind its head – that gave the entire thing an “Ace of Spades”-type appearance. Oddly, its lower half was ice-cream cone-shaped and had wires and cables running from it. This issue of the cone-shaped lower portion led flying saucer sleuths to later suggest the monster my actually have been encased within some kind of remotely piloted vehicle. As the creature then turned its attention to the group, and wildly fired laser-like beams from its eyes, the brave band was suddenly brave no more. They didn’t wait to see what might happen next. One and all fled, screaming – possibly for their lives. Mrs. May breathlessly shouted to the boys to follow her to her home, which they all did. On arrival, and possibly as a result of exposure to the noxious odor that hung around the hill, several of the boys became violently ill, feeling nauseous and even outright vomiting.

Kathleen May quickly called the local police, who, rather intriguingly, were busy responding to reports of what was described as an “airplane crash” somewhere in the area. It turns out that no such crashed aircraft was ever found – something that suggests the “airplane” and the brightly lit UFO that descended upon the high hill that night were, almost certainly, one and the very same. As a result of the fact that Flatwoods was, and still is, a very small town, word soon got out about what had happened. The local media was quickly on the scene, and even the U.S. Air Force sat up and took careful notice. Despite intense investigations by the press and the military, the mystery of the Flatwoods Monster was never solved to the satisfaction of everyone: the creature was long gone by the time anyone else was on the scene. It is, however, decidedly interesting to note that Flatwoods is only around 125 miles from the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where, from 1966 to 1967, yet another red-eyed monster was seen. Its famous name is, of course, Mothman.


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karl 12

Noble
Or a monster in a robotic suit. :)

Always been fascinated with this case and thought Stanton made some interesting comments in this short vid.





Also, turns out there were specific metal and liquid samples which were sent to the U.S. Government (never to be seen again) and there's also a restricted government document below which states the Pentagon was also asking for a soil analysis (and instructing the Directorate of Special Investigations to give utmost priority to the lab analysis of the subject samples).


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..but the Pentagon was very interested in it nevertheless. We know this because of the above released document [actually in the Project Blue Book OSI microfilm all along.] As you can see it is a Routing and Record Sheet which is classified "Restricted" and is asking for a soil analysis.

link

Cheers.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Thanks for the link to the Peeking at Ivan's SITU files: the Flatwoods Monster blog, a very interesting read and also with one of the original drawings posted?...Never saw that drawing before, it sure does look like a robot...

flatw-b.jpg

I also liked what Stanton said, debunking the debunkers some too lol...He seems sure the incident was an alien/ufo encounter...So do I, the reports and eyewitness details are very convincing, Stanton is very convincing too lol...

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karl 12

Noble
Thanks for the link to the Peeking at Ivan's SITU files: the Flatwoods Monster blog, a very interesting read and also with one of the original drawings posted?...Never saw that drawing before, it sure does look like a robot...


It's a great site mate and the Professor certainly knows his stuff - there's also this pic based on eyewitness descriptions.


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Frank Feschino goes into quite some detail below about the incoming flight path of the unidentified flying object, the 100 page Bluebook report on the case and the on scene investigations by Ivan Sanderson and Grey Barker.


From 24:00




I also liked what Stanton said..


He was always bringing up some great discussion points mate and really did enjoy it when he exposed arch debunker Donald Menzel as being NSA.

Think this is one of my favourites where he discusses the findings of the largest ever UFO study done for the USAF (and how the USAF Sec lied about it).




Cheers.
 

karl 12

Noble
Weren't there also UFOs captured on radar around Washington DC that night?


Yo Rick think you might be referring to the July /August incidents mate but an extremely busy year for UFO activity nonetheless.


ufo - UFOs at close sight: The US UFO flap of 1952


'Coast-to-coast UFO sightings':


1952: UFO DOGFIGHT IN FLATWOODS

Author says UFO-Air Force dogfight ended in Flatwoods

In 1952, just five years after the famed Roswell, New Mexico incident, the American military engaged a convoy of alien aircraft with orders to destroy them in a pitched air battle right off the Atlantic Coast, says Frank Feschino, author of "The Flatwoods Monster," a phenomenon that rocked a tiny Braxton County community.

An illustrator and writer, Feschino has produced another book, this one titled "Shoot Them Down," he says after years of painstaking research of the U.S. Air Force's once-classified files on unidentified flying saucers and digesting countless magazine articles on the matter.

Years of exhaustive study have convinced Feschino that American jet fighters did indeed make contact - at the point of their guns.

"Shoot Them Down'' draws its name from orders Feschino says President Truman gave military commanders while an American public was growing increasingly jittery over coast-to-coast UFO sightings, including many in West Virginia.

Two years earlier, Truman had remarked at a news conference, "I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth."

"There are tons of documents right there, intelligence reports, talking about pilots chasing these things, going after them," Feschino said, citing the once-hidden reports on the Air Force's so-called Project Blue Book.

"That's when it hit the fan, and the government stepped up. That is when they had to simmer the whole country down. The whole country was in an uproar. Everybody was panicking. The job of the government is to keep things under control, and they couldn't let the country panic."

UFOs were buzzing the entire country that year, "and a good chunk of them were over military installations, and power plants, like Oak Ridge,'' the author says.

1952: UFO DOGFIGHT IN FLATWOODS


According to the author there were other UFO reports around the same time and area of the Flatwoods incident - also some great research on the US's 'shoot them down' policy regarding UFOs.






Cheers.
 

karl 12

Noble
Makes sense, I read a really good book about the Washington flap awhile back.


Yes indeed mate, saw you were posting on this thread about Al Chop and the second vid has some really good info on the Washington National Sightings.

Know I keep saying it but pretty disheartening just how much credible UFO research material has been removed from the internet - here's some more info about the 1952 UFO wave.


"The summer 1952 UFO sighting wave was one of the largest of all time, and arguably the most significant of all time in terms of the credible reports and hardcore scientific data obtained. Electromagnetic (EM) effects and physical trace evidence were more prominent in other waves, but 1952 (and 1953) featured recurring radar detection of UFOs, often from both ground and airborne radar, visual sightings by jet interceptor pilots sent up to pursue the mysterious objects, and cat-and-mouse chases in which the UFOs seemed to toy with the interceptors. Further, Air Force investigators who plotted the sightings noticed that they were concentrated around strategic military bases, and this clearly posed a threat to national security since their origin was unknown".

Richard Hall

new1952


Numbers:

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1952 started out as the previous one had begun, with fewer than one ufo sighting per day in the first three months. In April and May, the flow increased to 3 per day, and this rate doubled in June. For the first half of the year, there had been 300 unexplained observations reports, 4 times the previous annual rate, and still the peak was not reached.

The first 3 weeks of July show an average of 8 reports per day, many of them coming from Air Force jet interceptor pilots scrambled in response to radar or visual sightings from the ground. Starting on the 22nd and lasting through the 29th, reports jumped to an average of 27 per day. At the end of that very busy month, almost 400 reports had been recorded, which was more than in any previous full year.

Cheers.
 
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