Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Flatwoods Monster

Since I was asked about this case, I thought that I would review it and see where we are on it today. I will tell you that the first thing I found was a web site promoting a book about the case (or the follow on book that is an outgrowth of this case as seen here) that I hadn’t read, though I knew about it. I wouldn’t have mentioned this, but the first thing I saw was a quote, from me, endorsing the book, using language that I wouldn’t use and failing to identify me as a retired Army officer.

Given this, I’m more than a little concerned about the validity of anything that appears in the book, or the research that produced it. Using me to endorse the book when I did no such thing suggests someone who is less than candid in other areas of research. The only question is who is responsible for the quote and why was it even put up. I’ll have more on this in a later post.


20 comments:

Alfred Lehmberg said...

Ouch...

I handle the Flatwoods Monster site in question and am aware of said quote...

The attribution for same has gotten fuzzy over the years and I am at this point unable to provide provenance for it. Mea Culpa has been declared and the quote has been taken down with prejudice as a result.

I'm getting together with Frank Feschino today and pains will be taken to get to the bottom of it, I assure you.

That said, and presuming a mistake has been made? All apologies are extended, no qualifications are offered, and sincere regrets are regretfully tendered.

alienview@roadrunner.com
> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
>>> U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

Nick Redfern said...

Kevin
Most people think my take on Flatwoods is crazy, but here it is anyway:

http://monsterusa.blogspot.com/2010/09/is-this-flatwoods-monster.html

Nick

Alfred Lehmberg said...

My mea culpa is appropriate... and the error is _entirely_ mine.

It is based on a March 2010 thread at UFO UpDates:

"Willingham And The Del Rio Crash"

...The thread of which was prosecuted by Greg Boone, Kevin Randle, and myself.

The offending comment was _mine_ actually, and falsely attributed to Kevin Randle. I say again: Kevin Randle did _not_ make said quote.

I regret any confusion that this may have caused, my part in it, and the offended sensibilities of Kevin Randle.

All this said, Mr. Randle, Frank Feschino deeply regrets this incident also, and as a way of making amends offers you a free copy of his, still landmark, book so you might yet find a way to think something complementary about it, still.

Please E-mail me if _remotely_ interested...

All regrets and apologies, again,

alienview@roadrunner.com
> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
>>> U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

cda said...

Wasn't Frank Feschino the one who wrote about an aerial battle the USAF had with ET craft off the east coast at about the time of the Flatwoods affair? A 'landmark' book indeed.

Alfred Lehmberg said...

Quite.

http://paratopiary.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post.html

~
alienview@roadrunner.com
> www.AlienView.net
>> AVG Blog -- http://alienviewgroup.blogspot.com/
>>> U F O M a g a z i n e -- www.ufomag.com

starman said...

Kevin, what do you mean by "eyes that glowed in the light of their flashlights"? The account made it clear that they weren't sure if the creature or thing had eyes.
It wouldn't be surprising if Nick's take is crazy--what else is new, lol? I just heard he now thinks the "mars face" is real.

Nick Redfern said...

Starman:

Personally, I don't think the theory in my post is crazy - or some certainly do. And yep, I do think the Face on Mars is artificial. I don't care in the slightest if people think I'm crazy or not! Far too many people in Ufology worry about what people think of them!

cda said...

It was established long ago that the 'face on Mars' is that of the guy who built the Martian canals.

But I digress from the main topic.

Lance said...

Alfred Lehmberg's (unintentional) celebration of the high standards of UFO journalism provided much amusement.

Lance

KRandle said...

There was some discussion among the witnesses if the creature had eyes or if the eyes were hidden behind a plate of glass... In a helmet?

I thought of all those nature programs filmed at night with the glow in the lights of the film makers... or those hunting crocs using lights to highlight the eyes because they glow.

So, yes, there was discussion of eyes in the material.

Paul Kimball said...

You know what's really amusing, Lance - your complete lack of empathy. So the guy made a mistake. It happens. He owned up to it, and apologized, when it was brought to his attention. What more could one ask for in the circumstances?

UFO believers might be looney at times, but it's generally speaking a good natured looniness. Disbelievers, however, seem to positively revel in being petty and mean-spirited.

Alfred Lehmberg said...

I don't "believe" in UFO's, and I'm not splitting hairs, but *something* haunts the skies above, and shames us _well_ down here.

Lance said...

I think Paul is probably right to chide me for my comment. I should have celebrated Alfred for his admission and correction.

Alfred, I offer my apology.

Lance

Steve Sawyer said...

@Kevin:

Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to detail your findings and review the case of the Braxton County "Flatwoods Monster."

It's always interesting to read your take on the overall picture of such "high strangeness" cases like this one, and the Hopkinsville case, and the little-known details thereof.

Much appreciated. I guess, like the "goblins" case, this too should be put into either the gray basket, or perhaps left to rest quietly, as so much time has passed, and little new is likely to be revealed of significance at this late date about either case other than that perhaps they did not happen as originally portrayed, and may have more to do with human reactions and memory affect when confronted with the stressful, imagined unknown.

Randel Smith said...

a late comment that no one may ever see, from me . .

A favorite case of mine, but some further investigation would be good. I've read Feschino's book and Barker's too. The name 'Snitowski' sounds a bit like a joke, i.e., being in a 'snit'. Hmm. And published in an adventure magazine, too. I wonder if it is possible to find some record of the couple and child, now grown and getting old. Phone books in the reference department of local libraries, genealogical records, marriage, death, etc... are available. I just did all that on my own folks in Oklahoma and found the local volunteer genealogical society staff incredibly helpful. The would-be witnesses story is a great one. I've seen tellings of it that say the hood of their car was burned by the touch of the monster's hand. So he got into the car and had to pass real close to the thing to do that? And he's a local and didn't have a gun in the car like everyone else in them thar parts?? Hmm.

I draw the line at the gal that has a three (!) week hospital stay on account of Mr. Alien. THAT is expensive; coulda been the state/county mental ward; if true the patient might have been a known person with mental problems so severe they required long stays... I would think that if some one showed up so severely shocked by an event that they would provoke some investigation or other, by some one. It is also hard to imagine anyone being quite so shook up that they really needed three whole weeks in a hospital to recover from it. Sounds like a script for a horror movie, not real life.

Isn't it frustrating how witnesses to such events go and run away in a hurry? I wish I had been there as I am not the runaway type. I might back off and take cover, and not try to touch something that could hurt you, but just up and run off at the site of something scary? Nope. And I usually have a good camera and other means of persuasion too . . .

Randel Smith
Texas

Kevin has done a good job of comparing the various writings on the case. It's a great story.

lady said...
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qwadro_fx said...
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Melly said...

I think that the "witnesses" that saw the "alien" made up the entire story. I have read and read about the Braxton county monster for years. I live in WV and have been hearing these stories since I was a child in the 70s. A bunch of lies and nonsense. But fun to read about anyway.:)

Alfred Lehmberg said...

Well, 1952 saw the biggest UFO flap is US History (fact). Given repeated incursions by multi-observed and bona fide UFOs into critical and so restricted airspaces in the Washington area that summer (fact!), orders to shoot down these intruders WERE issued (fact!). Furious UFO and Military air activity occurred in and around West Virginia on September 12, 1952 subsequent to these orders of deadly force (fact!), and a heavy, loaded-to-the-gills-battalion of Army infantry led by Colonel Dale Leavitt of boots, boats, and bazookas was dispatched to look for _something_ peculiar in the Flatwoods and Frametown WV area that night, NOT barn owls or cross-dressing space ghosts seen by impressionable hillbilly kids. Fact. Flatwoods is the end of the story. What you may fail to take into account is all that had factually occurred beforehand. Too much, perhaps, for mere "lies and nonsense."

Alfred Lehmberg said...

More on the story...

http://paratopiary.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-flatwoods-monster-incident-and-ufo.html