Creature Feature Friday: The Flatwoods Monster
Today’s Creature Feature Friday takes us to Braxton County, West Virginia, where a mysterious being appeared one September evening in 1952 — and has haunted UFO and cryptid lore ever since!
1) The Flatwoods Monster was first sighted on September 12, 1952, when a group of local boys saw what they thought was a meteor streak across the night sky and land on a nearby hill. Curious, they rounded up an adult and went to investigate — and what they found was far stranger than any fallen star.
2) Witnesses described the creature as standing 10 to 12 feet tall, with a strange spade-shaped hood or cowl around its head, glowing eyes, and long claw-like hands. Its body appeared metallic or mechanical, with some describing it as a “hovering machine” rather than a flesh-and-blood creature. Others said it hissed and released a noxious mist that burned their throats and eyes (not exactly the welcome wagon.)
3) The monster was reportedly seen multiple times that same night by different townspeople who rushed to the site after the initial sighting. Each account varied slightly, but all agreed on its unnerving glowing eyes, strange head shape, and the suffocating stench that lingered in the air after it vanished. Despite a search by law enforcement, nothing tangible was found — no meteor, no wreckage, no footprints. Just shaken locals and a chilling legend.
4) In the decades since, the Flatwoods Monster has become one of the most famous cryptid-meets-UFO encounters in American history. Some skeptics claim it was nothing more than a barn owl perched on a tree branch, its shadow distorted by flashlights. Others believe it was tied to UFO activity that was heavily reported in the early 1950s. Either way, the mystery has never been solved, and the Flatwoods encounter remains one of the strangest close encounters on record.
5) Today, the Flatwoods Monster is a full-blown folk icon in West Virginia. Known locally as “Braxxie,” the creature is celebrated with festivals, roadside signs, and even merchandise. Visitors can grab a selfie with the Flatwoods Monster chairs that sit proudly in town or stop by the museum dedicated to the encounter.
Whether an alien, a cryptid, or just an unlucky owl, the Flatwoods Monster’s September debut has secured its place in the pantheon of America’s most legendary mysteries.
