Paranormal investigator, reporter, and author John A. Keel once stopped at a health food store to pick up some items when an unknown caller told the store employee to page Keel. Perplexed, he took the phone from the store clerk and answered. On the other end of the line a voice told him to get bottled water there was going to be a power outage and he was going to need it. John was headed for New York City with no idea that one of the most infamous power outages ever was about to happen. One in which, UFO writer Donald Keyhoe, alleged that reports of flying saucers hovering along power lines had been spotted a short time before the inexplicable collapse of the northern US and Canada electrical grid occurred.

Foreboding legacy

This was one of many disturbing coincidences that marked the life and career of John A. Keel. And so it was with the Silver Bridge collapse at Point Pleasant, West Virginia just before Christmas in 1966. Keel had been drawn to the area due to a number of mysterious events that had people in the area nervous and confused. It all began with a number of "Mothman" sightings. A pilot flying his single engine plane over the Ohio River near town reported a strange winged entity flying below him. In another incident a woman gazing out her window one night said she saw the menacing entity standing in her yard next to a tree. She was caught in a mesmerizing stare unable to take her eyes off the strange form. Then it suddenly flew away. Keel and a local sheriff interviewed the resident who showed them how tall the entity was in comparison to the tree it stood next to. It was at least 8 feet tall.

Frightening encounters

A woman leaving her house and about to enter her car was so frightened by a tall, dark, winged figure suddenly standing up from behind a nearby parked car that she dropped her infant! A teenage couple making out in the backseat of their parent's car were suddenly bathed in a fiery light and a mysterious being approached them from within the blinding veil of luminosity. When the incident was suddenly over the young man felt an irritation in his eyes. A visit to the doctor the next day due to the pain and swelling revealed he had a case of conjunctivitis. Usually associated with viewing a radioactive flash without protective goggles. An old World War II explosives depot was not far from the river in the nearby woods close to the river. There teenagers and kids hung out on Saturday Nights partying and exploring, that is until Mothman sightings occurred and a curious "Zone of Fear" emerged where people would go into hysterics if they crossed a certain invisible line in the area. Keel investigated this area with local witnesses.

More shocking incidents

In another incident some teenagers were out driving when they spotted a winged entity chasing their car! The driver pushed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor trying to evade the mysterious creature that kept up with them at over 100 mph.! All inside the car went into hysterics unable to deal with what had happened. Finally, the enigmatic intruder flew off leaving them in shock. The incident was reported to the police as were many such encounters that left local residents stunned. Among one of the more bizarre aspects of the entire ordeal was the persistence by several of the townspeople reporting dreams of floating Christmas packages on the surface of the river!

Who were they?

In the morning prior to the massive failure of the Silver Bridge unknown intruders were seen climbing about the structure of the steel beams. It was assumed that they were state or government inspectors, but later reports revealed that the inspection had already been conducted some time before. When asked to describe the men who ere there, witnesses described "Men in Black" appearances! That night in the midst of rush hour traffic as Christmas shoppers sat idling in the frigid temperatures of the winter night bumper to bumper the unthinkable happened!

Tragic fate

Tension cables began to screech and break. Steel girders started to twist giving off ominous sounds of metal failure! Those stuck in traffic on the bridge had no chance as the bridge swayed and plunged into the cold dark waters of the Ohio River below! At least 46 drivers drown while more cars and trucks sunk to the bottom of the river bed. It was the worst bridge tragedy in US history at that point due to the number of people caught in the collapse and unable to escape. John A. Keels worst fears were realized. All along he had been trying to determine what it all meant.

Summation

Haunted by the vision of Christmas packages floating on top of the darkened icy waters of the Ohio River had been a sinister warning from wherever the Mothman had come from. Was it the angel of death? Keel had studied in detail many paranormal, haunting manifestations, UFO sightings, and Forte compilations and was convinced they all came from one source that originated from planet earth and have been with us (mankind) since the very beginning while trying to convince us otherwise. Was the Mothman a harbinger of disasters yet to come? John A. Keel wrote several books on related incidents all over the world along with his journeys to uncover the unknown. He lamented the loss of many he had met along the way warning the reader not to get involved with the phenomenon. There was only one problem. Apparently he was already to intertwined with it to follow his own advice!

To this day a museum and festival commemorate the tragedy while occasional sightings of the creature still persist.