by Charles Lear

Much has been written about the 1952 Flatwoods Monster encounter in Braxton County, West Virginia. It is a bizarre tale that received national press coverage at the time and it is still celebrated today as part of West Virginia’s weird history. You can have your picture taken in one of five giant Flatwoods Monster chairs located in various areas around Braxton County and you can visit the Flatwoods Monster Museum in the town of Sutton. With all of the focus on the monster itself, certain aspects of the case tend to be overlooked. For one thing, this was the very first report of a creature associated with a U.F.O. For another, the case was looked into by some of UFOlogy’s very first private investigators.

On Sept. 12, 1952, reports of fireballs flying through the air came into newspaper offices and police stations from all over the southeastern United States. Searches were made for the most likely suspects, downed planes and fallen meteors, and none were found. Then, in Braxton County, West Virginia, in the town of Flatwoods, a group consisting of six boys ranging in age from 10 to 17, were playing football in the fading hours of daylight. One of the younger boys caught sight of a fiery object in the sky and alerted the others.

They watched as it flew over them and then seemed to land in a nearby farmer’s field. They were eager to investigate and ran to the home of Kathleen May, mother to two of the boys, Eddie, 13, and Freddie, 12. The group of boys excitedly told her what they had seen and one of them, 17 year-old Eugene Lemon, found a flashlight. Mrs. May joined them as they went up the hill that led to the farm.

The following account comes mostly from one witness, 14 year-old Neil Nunley. According to Nunley, he and Lemon were ahead of the others. As they went up the hill, they saw a reddish, pulsating light. They passed through a gate in the fence around the field and dutifully closed it behind them. As they got closer, they encountered a fog that had a “pungent, irritating odor.” The fog became thicker as they approached the light. Nunley described the light saying, “It was just like a big ball of fire.” He said he couldn’t estimate the size of the light, but others described that it was “as big as a house.”

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