Who Said The "Flatwoods Monster" Isn't Popular Enough To Be Made Into A Big-budget Film?

 ...Who said the "Flatwoods Monster" isn't popular enough to be made into a big-budget film?

In 1991, illustrator Frank Feschino, Jr. visited his cousin's farm in Frametown, WV. The farm was located in Braxton County, home of the Flatwoods monster, but Feschino didn't know that yet. He was there to video document the mysterious crop circle rings appearing on his cousin's property overnight. This was done as a project for a film course at his college, a one-off and throw-away project...  

He would subsequently discover that the region was a hotbed for UFO sightings and so shared his documentation with British crop circle enthusiast, Colin Andrews. During this time, almost by accident, Feschino would become aware of the 1952 "Flatwoods Monster" and "Frametown Monster," UFO close encounters occurring in that very same area. The direction of Feschino's life would take a hard turn.

Unknowingly, he would become the undisputed authority and subject matter expert on these incidents! He would launch the first full-blown investigation into the case since the original researchers and investigators covered it back in 1952-1953. Too, Feschino would get close to all the principals in these related affairs! This would include 1952's horrific "Summer of Saucers," facilitating the affair's actualities.  

Although the Flatwoods case was popular and appeared in the media throughout the years, the truth behind the Flatwoods Monster incident was not known at all! Before Feschino's attention, Flatwoods was on the way to becoming a mere folklore story in the history books, one to be ridiculed as a dismissable myth. Far from myth, Flatwoods is revealed as only the end of a much bigger story. 

Over the years, the Flatwoods case sat dormant with only rehashed stories and convoluted articles appearing in the media. It was not until Feschino started his investigation back in 1991, and then subsequently publishing his books on the "Flatwoods Monster," that the interest in the dying case was revived! Indeed, Feschino started today's interest boom into the incident!   

                                    

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        FLATWOODS MONSTER MEDIA QUOTES: 

                              1952-2023

1952. “I will file this story in my archives as one of the top stories of the day." Daniel Seymour; Master of ceremonies for NBC television talk show, We The People. (Two eyewitnesses and the original newspaper reporter appeared on this hugely popular TV show)

1953. “On September 12, 1952, the nation’s wire services crackled with the news of a 10-foot red-faced monster, which sprayed a foul, sickening gas and sent seven Flatwoods, W. Va. residents into panic." Gray Barker; FATE Magazine, January 1953.

1954. “One has the impression that here, some entity was clad in a giant spacesuit and equipped to withstand differential pressures and the gravity and atmosphere, unlike the world it came from.” Harold T. Wilkins; Flying Saucers on the Attack.

1956. “What happened to the Monster? Braxton County Woman Feels Glowing Object was Jet Ship. Discovery in 1952 stirred up nationwide ‘Martian’ debate.” Donald Seagle; The Charleston Gazette newspaper.

1959. “Those who saw the thing were terrified. Those who investigated it were convinced it had been there. But what it was and where it came from constitute the mystery of the Flatwoods Monster.” Frank Edwards; Stranger Than Science. 

1963. “The final incident in the summers panic occurred on the evening of September 12 when a family group near the town of Sutton, West Virginia, saw a flaming object flash across the sky and apparently land on a nearby hill.” Donald Menzel and Lyle Boyd; The World of Flying Saucers.

1966. “The flash had spotlighted an immense, man-like figure with a blood-red face and greenish eyes that blinked out from a pointed hood. The party was in definite agreement about one characteristic of the alien and that was the sickening odor it seemed to emit.” Brad Steiger; Strangers from the Skies.

1967. “Probably the most frightening landing incident on record, considering the physical description of what was thought to be an occupant and its actions, is the Flatwoods, West Virginia incident.” Coral and Jim Lorenzen; Flying Saucer Occupants.

1968. “During the first years of the flying saucer craze, it was mostly strange lights, discs and windowed craft, which were reported. None had proved dangerous in any way, and none had landed. But in 1952, the first of two stories about menacing space creatures appeared in newspapers and magazines. On the night of September 12, 1952, near Sutton, WV…” Dale White; Is Something Up There-The Story of Flying Saucers.

1969. “About 4-meters tall, the figure had a blood-red face and ‘floated’ toward the witnesses who fled in terror. A lingering smell and skid marks were found.” Jacques Vallee; Passport to Magonia.

1973. “The United States has something still better to offer us with the Flatwoods Monster. In September 1952 in the little West Virginia village of Flatwoods, some children swore they saw a monster.” Jacques Bergier; Extraterrestrial Visitations from Prehistoric to Present.

1975. “Actually, relatively few of the sightings of UFO occupants have created much excitement outside of the relatively narrow world of UFO enthusiasts. But there are a couple of American monsters that have become classics in their field. On September 12, 1952…” Daniel Cohen; Monsters; Giants and Little Men from Mars.

1976. “They saw under trees, a creature, about 12-feet tall, which looked horrible to the witnesses: it had a sort of cowl or hood around the ‘head,’ and 2 big eyes, fixed round and luminous. The thing moved by floating and then the witnesses got scared and ran away.” Claude Mac Duff; UFOlogy-The Journal of UFO Research, Fall 1976.          

1977. “They didn't see a saucer, but did see a ‘monster’ ten feet high, four feet wide with bulging eyes a foot apart, blood-red face and glowing-green body.” Susy Smith; Strangers from Outer Space. 

1978. “Not all aliens are reported as undersized. The ‘Sutton Monster,’ nine feet tall with bulging red eyes and a bright green body, moved ominously towards onlookers in the West Virginia countryside.” Van Geloven B.V. Riel; Strip-paperback Nr. 1 UFO. Germany.   

1979. “The Flatwoods Monster in Braxton County, a foul-smelling thing that oozed evil apparently landed in a bright, shiny object in a desolate area.” Robert Robinson, Associated Press writer. 

1980. “Flatwoods: What was perhaps the most frightening case on record of an encounter with a ‘UFO creature’ allegedly occurred on the evening of September 12, 1952, near the small community of Flatwoods.” Ronald Story; The Encyclopedia of UFOs.

1982. “One of the more frightening of the early landing reports came from Flatwoods, WV. in 1952.” Editors of Readers Digest; Mysteries of the Unexplained.

1989. “Two very bizarre reports involving entity sightings, from the many on record, were the Flatwoods, West Virginia (USA) case of 1952, and the Kelly/Hopkinsville (USA) case of 1955.” Janet and Colin Bord; Unexplained Mysteries of the 20^th Century.

1991. “During the night [eyewitness] Gene Lemon became seriously ill, suffering the same inflamed throat as the other boys but also went into fits and convulsions." John Spencer; The UFO Encyclopedia.

1993. “The things they saw that night in late summer have never been fully explained. To this day the mystery is still shrouded in mystery. It’s become part of the folklore of West Virginia. It’s the tale of the Braxton County Monster.” Benjamin Caldwell; The Charleston Gazette newspaper.

1994. “The widely discussed Flatwoods incident reportedly occurred on September 12, 1952. The Flatwoods, WV. incident allegedly involved a giant humanoid monster with glowing eyes.” David Ritchie; The Definitive Guide to UFOs and Related Phenomena.

1995. “The party reached the hill but fled in terror from a hooded monster ‘worse than Frankenstein.’” Peter Brookesmith; UFO-The Complete Sightings.

1996. “It was 10 to 15 feet tall and had a blood-red face with two greenish-orange eyes that glowed like a wild animal’s.” Patrick Hughe; The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials.

1997. “The first alien encounter in the classic science fiction mold occurred on September 12, 1952, in Flatwoods, West Virginia USA. It remains highly unusual and is not easy to dismiss as a hoax.” Jenny Randle; Alien Contact-The First 50 Years.

1998. “The case of the Flatwoods Monster has become one of the most famous incidents in UFOlogy.” W. Haden Blackman; The Field Guide to North American Monsters. 

1999. “To everyone’s considerable astonishment, the beam highlighted a grotesque-looking creature.” Jerome Clark; Unexplained.

2000. "How Monsters Appear... And so a spooked barn owl in turn spooked the interlopers... and a monster was born." Joe Nickell. Skeptical Inquirer November/December 2000. 

2001. "Members of that group, who were nearly scared out of their wits by what they found on that hillside, have been the butt of many jokes and ridicule. One party, even suggested that what they saw was merely a barn owl perched on a limb." Monster Remembered. Gary Harris. Midstate Star. October 2001. 

2002. “What happened in West Virginia that night in September, with several seeming UFOs landing all over the rural countryside and unloading creatures is almost like a scene from War of the Worlds.” Loren Coleman; FATE Magazine, September 2002.

2004. “One of the objects crash-landed on a rural hilltop in Flatwoods, West Virginia. A group of schoolboys saw the object maneuver across the sky and seemingly fall to Earth. The boys and two adults headed off to look for the object. Soon a twelve-foot tall being from the downed craft terrified these innocent people.” Frank C. Feschino, Jr. The Braxton County Monster-The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed.”

2005. “On September 12, 1952, one of the strangest and most terrifying apparent extraterrestrial encounters took place near Flatwoods, a small town in West Virginia. The bizarre image of the alien creature was immediately seared into UFO folklore…Despite the media attention; the case was quickly dismissed and buried by authorities and debunkers." Rosemary Ellen Guiley; FATE Magazine, January 2005.

2007. “It was the twelfth day of September during the Indian summer of 1952. Brace yourself. It is not my intent to shock you, but perhaps as a result of an undeclared war with bona fide extraterrestrials involving the United States—let that sink in—there came to be a crash-landed alien craft with at least one occupant.” Alfred Lehmberg; UFO Magazine, November 2007.

2008. “Nothing in life had prepared them for what unfolded next — a 12-foot, metallic object, red in the chest region, topped with a medieval-like cowl, and green from the waist down, emitting a sulfuric odor.” Mannix Porterfield; West Virginia South Magazine, January 2008. 

2009. “The scare in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 could be compared to that of a horror movie of the period...The group saw a pair of ‘lights’ shining beneath a large oak tree. After shining a light in the direction of the object, the group were astonished to see a bizarre creature staring back.” Meta-Religion.com. Sept. 2009   

2010. “An amazing, gripping encounter... the “Flatwoods Monster” case. It will stand in history as one of the premiere investigations.” Team IQXS Researchers - MD, July 2010.

2011. “The entity that Freddie May and others saw came out of a UFO that had crashed during the dogfight between U.S. Air Force jets and unidentified objects... in 1952.” William J. Birnes, UFO Magazine publisher; UFO Magazine, Volume 23, No. 13.   

2012. “Researcher Frank Feschino has done such a thorough job of digging into the Flatwoods case and its secrets, it’s doubtful that even government insiders would have to say more about it.” Whitley Strieber, radio talk show host of Dreamland. November 2012.

2013. “The ‘Flatwoods Monster’ is one of the most significant alien contact incidents in modern history and Feschino proves the case beyond any argument. The ‘Flatwoods Monster’ incident should have been the ultimate wakeup call for America.” Professor Frank Thayer, Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications. New Mexico State University. January 2013. 

2014.”The Flatwoods Monster, a mysterious visitor to Earth, is an extraterrestrial reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States on September 12, 1952. One man, in particular, has taken the investigation into the Green Monster as a life’s mission to discover the truth and uncover the cover-up of the incident...Frank Feschino.” West Virginia journalist John Clise. May 2014.

2015. "The Flatwoods Monster Is The Creepiest Extraterrestrial Being of All Time. What started as a flash across the sky turned into one of the most iconic images of alien activity in the world." Writer Tim Unkenholz. June 2015.

2016. "On September 12, 1952, a small town named Flatwoods in West Virginia became the subject of an eternal mystery after a group of Flatwoods residents had a strange encounter with an unidentified creature. The creature of the alleged encounter is now known as the Flatwoods Monster." Gabrielle Pickard, Top Secret Writers. August 2016.

2017. "On the night of September 12, 1952, in the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia, there occurred one of the strangest close encounters of the third kind ever reported... a hissing, ten-foot-tall creature with a head like a spade and glowing red eyes." Counting Down the 13 Most Famous UFO Encounters of All Time. Johnny Brayson, The COMET Television Channel. July 2017.

2018. "No matter what you believe the Flatwoods Monster to be, it is pretty undeniable that its form is easily recognizable to many, in and out of the paranormal community... just recently the original drawing itself has been found!" The Braxton County Monster Drawing. Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-state. September 2018.

2019. "West Virginia folklore includes many alien and monster-like characters, such as Mothman, Big Foot, and the Yeti. One such monster has made a big resurgence in the past few years, becoming a part of the state’s pop culture...The story of the Flatwoods Monster." The W.Va. Monster that Crept Into International Pop Culture. WV Public Broadcasting. October 2019.

2020. "FLATWOODS, W.Va. – On September 12 in 1952, a family in Flatwoods said they were visited by an alien spacecraft. That mysterious night became national–and eventually international–news that put Braxton County, West Virginia on the map." Paranormal W. Va.: The Flatwoods Monster. WBOY News. October 2020.

2021. "Somewhere in between the notoriety levels of the Mothman and the Ogua lies one of the most visually iconic creatures in all of cryptid lore: the Flatwoods Monster... The attention paid to the encounter led to an investigation by the U.S. Air Force as part of Project Blue Book, the government investigation into alleged UFO sightings and alien encounters." The Bizarre True Story of the Flatwoods Monster. Benito Cereno. July 2021

2022. "Newspaper stories were carried throughout the country, radio broadcasts were carried on large networks, and hundreds of phone calls were received from all parts of the country. The national press services rated the story 'No. 11 for the year.'" In 1952, The Flatwoods Monster Appeared and Terrified People in Braxton County West Virginia. Vintage Everyday. March 2022.

2023. "The Flatwoods Monster has become a cultural icon, inspiring many works of art, literature, and film. Its eerie appearance and mysterious origins have captured people’s imaginations for decades, and the legend shows no signs of fading." The Mysterious Legend of the Flatwoods Monster. Unbookedlife.com. April 2023.

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The Universe at large is unknown and unknowable. It teases and tantalizes an abundance of the mysterious and incomprehensible but leaves us with equal parts of nameless dread and trepidacious hope... even as it satisfies neither while exacerbating both.

We are not alone, have never been alone, and we delude ourselves that we are.  Keep watching the skies... the skies are watching back!