![]() |
"Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River." |
The Incident At Strange Creek!
by Alfred Lehmberg
A new year looms. I'm reminded that the now long passed 2014 iteration of the New Year got off to a fast start for "Saucer Summer of '52" researcher, Frank Feschino, Jr! Engage!
.
See, he'd received a phone call from still another witness in West Virginia who claimed, and convincingly so, that he had perhaps been an additional person to see the so-called "Flatwoods Monster" in Braxton County, way back in that very mid-century and non-apocryphal September! Verily, and some meat appears to be on that bone!
For Feschino, it was the latest first-hand witness to personally come forward and speak to him in several years. Feschino had called me almost immediately to communicate the bird's-eye on the low-down. Buckle snugly!
.
Here was where our witness is a small boy in a tiny unincorporated little township located just southwest of Frametown and Glendon, West (...by God!) Virginia. These are quaint little towns nestled along Route 4 and the Elk River in southern Braxton County, near the Clay County border. This Strange Creek townlet is about 21 miles southwest of the somewhat larger Flatwoods.
![]() |
From Flatwoods (Upper Right) To Strange Creek (Lower Left)... |
.
Feschino is informed of the caller's name from the caller ID. It comfortably matched who the caller said he was.
.
Feschino reports, "...After the first few minutes of shaking hands in our conversation, I bombarded him with a lot of additional questions to flesh or flush him out." There's a nice turn of phrase.
"The man told me that he grew up in Strange Creek and went to elementary school in Frametown. I questioned him pointedly about the Frametown area, nearby territories, several small landmarks in the mountains, and assorted territorial what-nots. I also had questions with regard to some of the people from the area, past and present residents—their historical lore—that sort of thing. I really grilled this guy and as it turned out, he knew many of the same people I did! He actually dated one woman I knew of when he was young man. Additionally, he also worked for a guy I met in Flatwoods, who has since passed away, as well.".
Cutting to the chase, did this witness know a lot of personal stuff that an outsider or stranger wouldn't likely have known! Yes, this guy seemed to be genuine and he really knew the area better than Feschino did, Feschino would report. Bona Fides seemed to pan out and musters passed! Due diligence was given its obligatory nod, reader.
.
The witness, who was a young boy at the time of the sighting, remember, had disclosed his ID, location, and experience to Feschino, but asked him not to reveal his name. He said that even his own family didn't believe him, and he had been ridiculed by his friends and classmates for decades about what he saw on that early Indian Summer morning. He didn't want to stir, inordinately, all that up for another unpleasant go with friends and family... but he had to "self-actualize," for himself, eh? Nice twist, near the end of a conjectured highly ordinary life, to find out you might be wrapped up in the history of momentous events. I'm reminded of Earl Fulford , and myself, frankly.
"It was frustrating to know that I saw 'it' and no one believed me. After all of these years, they joked about it and poked fun at me! I don't want to go through that again!".
Feschino respected the man's wishes, of course, but asked if we couldn't retell the story publicly without putting him off. The witness said he didn't mind if Feschino told the tale... as long as his name wasn't used. Posted.
.
Feschino reports to me that his conversation with the man lasted for nearly 2 hours and the guy was sincere to the high nines about what he said...
.
...Hold up a moment... A digression called for.
.
Let me take a moment to qualify these assertions. I've known Feschino for over 20 years, myself, and never observed an untruth or an uncalled for "stretch to truth" from him. He's been straight and discounted or poo-pooed by no one serious in the field currently living, this writer says true, and his few detractors at any time were ill-informed a result of a publishing betrayal and deliberate cost-cutting cock-up... completely apart from Feschino.
.
...Or imagine if you will, reader, the book that you laboriously researched and then painstakingly wrote was torpedoed by your own named West Virginia publisher, a publisher you'd chosen largely, anyway, to keep the investment in a needy West Virginia... ...is not the book submitted that is published, oh no, but is instead a book replete to FUBAR with well over a hundred disqualifying errors nearly ruining a decade's work, forgetting reputation...
.
This writer watched it happen, encountered the persons concerned, and did his own due diligence. Feschino was sorely wounded, a torpedo amidships below the waterline from a ship in his own fleet! One would presume the literal end of Frank Feschino, Jr. and the Flatwoods Monster.
.
To the contrary, Sir and Madam. Feschino would struggle back to legitimacy and reputation buoyed by the facts of history as witnessed and recorded. He would be redeemed. For reference, his luminary celebrators now include Dolan, Friedman, Hastings, Robbins, Strieber, Schmidt, Birnes N & Birnes B, Salas, Guiley, Andrews... and a list goes on... I've no reputation as a liar, for my part. One can do the math. Feschino has his bona fides, and he can bestow them.
.
We come to the end of this qualifying digression. ...Back at the ranch...
![]() |
What Was Seen In Flatwoods |
Feschino added, "To complicate matters for the witness, the 'thing' he saw in Strange Creek didn't look much like the original drawing depicted by the days later television coverage via the We the People artist's rendering... which was, of course, drawn all wrong."
Feschino added, "...See, nobody believed him because his sighting in Strange Creek didn't fit the pattern or report of what was publicly known at that time."
![]() |
Inaccurate "We The People" rendering for TV... |
.
From Flatwoods, Feschino was able to establish the craft's flight path trajectory as it flew southwest over Braxton County, flew along the Elk River and eventually crashed in Frametown, about 17 miles away, atop of James Knob Hill ["Flatwoods to Strange Creek" map view above].
![]() |
Snitowsky Affair In Frametown... |
Upon reading this article years ago, Feschino located, phoned, and then talked extensively to George Snitowsky, himself. Feschino tells the entire story about George's own alien encounter in his Braxton County Monster book. Feschino states, "The Snitowsky incident was a lost part of the aggregate Ufology and was forgotten by most. The story was told one time in Lieb's article and only edited pieces of it appeared in print later... until I wrote about it in 2004."
.
According to Feschino, during the September 13, 1952 Snitowsky encounter, the being was also only partially clad in its hovering metallic-like mechanical spacesuit, the upper torso portion and helmet conjectured as removed.
.
Feschino said, "He'd wanted to talk to me to see if I might have the same takeaway as he did, which is that some connection concerning the new witness' encounter was falling into the timeline of events as those other Braxton County UFO cases." It's no real stretch and a reasonable one, if so.
"The witness said the family house was a two-story affair set far off of the road from the Elk River. There was a long driveway leading up to the house which was bordered by trees on the left side but cleared on the other. A wood fence bordered the right of way, and there was a car-port at the end of the driveway, near the house."
.
.
Subject reports, "It looked like a machine—it was metallic-looking." He also said it was, "gray in color, like metal." Feschino asked, "What makes you think it was a machine?" The subject answered, "It's like seeing a car, you just know it was something that was made or manufactured, and it looked like some type of metal."
.
Subject reports that the upper torso area was cylindrical and fluted, "...like a garbage can, but the lower area flared out." Subject reports that the bottom, "Had to be at least four feet across."
..
Feschino asked the witness, "How did you see it so clearly at night?" Subject answered, "'The front porch light was on and I could see it pretty good, but the thing was also luminous. It was glowing and had an aura of light around it." As an adult, he explained how he had worked in the electrical field. He fully understood what an "aura" was.
.
Feschino asked the guy if he'd been scared and inquired how long it was that he'd watched it. Subject reports, "A few minutes... I was looking down on it from above the porch and I felt safe being on the second floor of the house... but as it got closer to the house, I got more scared." The witness told Feschino, "I saw it float and move up the driveway for about 15 more feet before I stepped back from the window."
.
So, in other words, it continued up the driveway and was getting closer to the house when the subject stepped back away for a few moments, to which subject replied "yes."
.
He also said, "It wasn't moving that fast and I would have seen it moving away from the house. The way our property was laid out, I would have seen it moving away in the other directions." Then he said, "I ran out of my room and into my parent's room and yelled and woke them up. I told them what I saw and they said, You must be dreaming—go back to bed." Heavy sigh, eh?
.
In closing, Feschino told me the witness stated to him, "Frank, you nailed it—you are right on!" He's kept me interested, this writer reports. Verily, unlike some other UFO events which tend to evaporate the closer one gets to same or farther away in time from same, Flatwoods only gets more substantial and fleshed out. No flush. here.
.
What's the bird's eye lowdown on this caper... Feschino's still looking and will keep us informed. Read on!
1 comments:
WOW!! Thank you Alfred for this! Please relay a HUGE kudos to Frank for the due diligence he always brings to this investigation. I'll be spreading the word as well!!!
Post a Comment