Pop Culture

The Mothman and the Silver Bridge Collapse

In 1966 and 1967, people around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, reported a large winged creature with glowing red eyes, which became known as 'Mothman.' When the town's Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, the two stories were later linked. The NTSB found that the collapse was caused by a fractured eyebar in one of the bridge's suspension chains.

By The Tinfoil Tribune StaffEra: 1966–present · Verdict: Debunked
A vintage postcard of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River before its 1967 collapse.
A vintage postcard of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River before its 1967 collapse. Image: Digital Public Library of America, via Wikimedia Commons / No known restrictions

Verdict: Debunked. The weight of the evidence cited below contradicts this claim. How we rate stories

The Story

Late on 15 November 1966, two young married couples drove into a sheriff's office in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. According to folklorist David Clarke, they said a tall gray figure with glowing red eyes and 'big wings folded against its back' had appeared near an abandoned wartime munitions site known as the TNT area, and had followed their car. A deputy went back with them and found nothing unusual. One newspaper headline called the creature 'Moth Man,' and the name stuck.

The e-WV West Virginia Encyclopedia counts 26 sightings over the following year. On 15 December 1967, the Silver Bridge, which linked Point Pleasant with Ohio, collapsed at about 5 p.m. The NTSB says 46 people died and 31 of the 37 vehicles on the bridge fell with it. In The Mothman Prophecies, first published in 1975, writer John Keel tied the bridge collapse to the sightings. A 2002 film based on the book spread the idea further.

'No evidence was ever found connecting the Mothman to the failure,' the NTSB says.

The collapse was the NTSB's first significant highway accident investigation. The board determined that an eyebar in one of the bridge's suspension chains had fractured, the result of stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue that had developed over the bridge's 40-year life. As the NTSB later put it, 'no evidence was ever found connecting the Mothman to the failure.' The disaster led to national bridge inspection standards.

Skeptics at the time suggested the creature was a stray sandhill crane. Today Point Pleasant embraces the legend. The e-WV says a Mothman sculpture was installed downtown in 2003, and the town holds an annual Mothman Festival each September.

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Origins

Folklorist David Clarke writes that on the night of 15 November 1966, two young married couples reported a winged creature with glowing red eyes near a wartime munitions dump 'known locally as the TNT area' and told a sheriff's deputy. The e-WV West Virginia Encyclopedia says writer John Keel connected the sightings to the bridge collapse in The Mothman Prophecies, 'first published in 1975.'

The Claims

Key Evidence

Fact Check Debunked

The Evidence Against

  • The NTSB says it 'determined conclusively that the cause of the collapse was an eyebar fracture in one of the bridge's suspension chains,' which 'resulted from stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue that had developed over the bridge's 40-year lifespan.'
  • The NTSB adds: 'Not surprisingly, no evidence was ever found connecting the Mothman to the failure.'
  • According to the e-WV, skeptics at the time offered explanations, 'some arguing that the creature was a stray sandhill crane.'

Documents & Sources

Each link was checked for availability on Oct. 27, 2026. Links open in a new tab.

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