Quick Info
It was a quiet September evening in 1952 when a bright fiery object streaked across the sky over Flatwoods, West Virginia. A group of curious kids thought a plane had crashed on the hill behind the Fisher farmhouse. So they did what any adventurous bunch of kids would do, they grabbed a flashlight, rounded up Gene Lemon (the oldest at 17) and Kathleen May (one of the moms), and marched up the hill to investigate.
What they found instead was something that would haunt West Virginia folklore forever: a 10-foot-tall glowing monster with a spade-shaped head, bright red glowing eyes, and what looked like a metallic accordion skirt. It hissed at them, floated toward them, and smelled so bad that several people got physically sick. This wild encounter became known as the Flatwoods Monster, one of the most famous and terrifying Close Encounters of the Third Kind in American history.
That Fateful Night – Timeline
- September 12, 1952, ~7:15 p.m. Several local boys are playing football when they see a bright red object shoot across the sky and appear to crash on a nearby hill.
- Around 7:30 p.m. The boys run to get 17-year-old Gene Lemon and Kathleen May. The group heads up the hill with a flashlight and a dog named Rickie.
- The Encounter As they reach the top, they smell a horrible sulfur-like stench. Their flashlight beam suddenly hits two glowing red eyes about 10 feet off the ground. The creature has a black or dark green body, a spade-shaped head, and a metallic-looking pleated lower half. It hisses loudly and glides toward them.
- Aftermath The group runs screaming down the hill. Several people suffer burning eyes, nausea, and vomiting. The next day, the sheriff and a reporter investigate and find strange skid marks and an oily substance, but no monster.
- Next few days The story explodes across America. Newspapers call it the "Flatwoods Monster" or "Braxton County Monster." Gray Barker helps turn it into UFO legend.
What Did They Really See?
The creature was described as roughly 10 feet tall, with a dark body, a blood-red spade or heart-shaped head, and two piercing glowing red eyes. Its lower half looked metallic and pleated, like an old-fashioned skirt. It didn't walk, it seemed to glide or float. The smell the creature, or whatever it was, was so overpowering that it reportedly made people physically ill to the point of throwing up.
"It was horrible. Those eyes were glowing like coals. We ran so fast I don't even remember getting down the hill."
– Kathleen May, 1952
The most popular skeptical explanation is that the "monster" was actually a **barn owl** perched in a tree. The large "head" was the owl's face in silhouette, the "glowing eyes" were reflections from the flashlight, and the "skirt" was its wings spread out. The fiery object that started it all was likely a meteor, many people across the eastern U.S. reported seeing one that night. Let me know if you have any images or videos of a 10-foot tall Owl...
Great Video on the Flatwoods Monster from @BedtimeStoriesChannel
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Legacy in 2026
More than seventy years later, the Flatwoods Monster is still West Virginia’s most famous monster, and one of America’s most beloved UFO legends. Whether you believe it was an actual alien, a very angry barn owl, or something we’ll never fully understand, the story has everything: a fiery object falling from the sky, brave kids with a flashlight, a screaming mom, and a 10-foot nightmare with glowing red eyes.
It’s spooky, ridiculous, and strangely charming all at once even if I don't really believe they mistook an Owl for something else entirely. I mean Owls can be a couple of feet tall... but 10 feet tall? Come on now. What do you think it was?
