Braxie
Britannica.com defines “paranormal” as very strange. Not able to be explained by what scientists know about nature and the world..
We have had several things in the mountain state that would fall under that category. Usually, when people hear “paranormal”, they think of ghosts, but you can’t forget the cryptids. “Cryptid” is usually defined as an animal that is said to exist but isn’t proven to.
We have had at least a couple of those over the years, but one is unique to West Virginia. I’m of course talking about the Flatwoods monster AKA the Braxton County monster AKA Braxxie.
Back in 1952, in the small West Virginia Village of Flatwoods, something terrified six kids, a mother and a dog. The story goes two young brothers had been playing in their school yard on September 12th, 1952, the boys were 12 and 13 years old. They were playing there with their friend, who was ten years old. The three boys saw a red light streak across the sky and it appeared to land on a nearby farm, so the three boys ran to get the brother’s mother and go check it out. They were joined by four other boys, one of which had a dog with him. They quickly ran back down the hill in terror. The dog ran with his tail between his legs. They saw a man like creature with a red face and green clothes. His head was shaped like an ace of spades, he had a sickening metallic odor emanating from his body and they estimated that he was twelve feet tall and four feet wide.
“Seven Braxton County residents on Saturday reported seeing a 10-foot Frankenstein-like monster in the hills above Flatwoods” a local newspaper reports
The boy that was leading the others up the hill that night was seventeen year old, national guard member Gene Lemon.
The newspaper went on to say the Lemon fell backwards “when he saw a ten foot monster with a blood-red body and green face that seemed to glow” but it wasn’t just local newspapers that covered the story. The story got picked up by national radio and national newspapers. The two young brother’s mother and Lemon went to New York to do an interview with CBS. It even prompted the US. Air Force to get involved, inquiring as part of project blue book- a project that sent investigators around the country to look into claims such as this.
For a story from the 1950’s, it gets a lot of attention. People are obsessed with it, the story gets told and retold, there's a Flatwoods monster museum, and hell, here I am writing a blog post about it seven decades later. It's just that interesting, not just for West Virginia, but for anywhere, I think
Whether or not you believe this is up to you. I, myself, do. Especially with the Air Force recently confirming what we already knew. Besides, lets look at this from a skeptic's point of view for a second- why do you think people would make something like this up? It seems like theres not a lot to gain other than people thinking you’re crazy. Just remember, we (humans) don’t know everything- there's a lot that happens that can’t be explained. So, try and keep an open mind.
Update 12/15/23
There were a few other reports of strange goings on at the approximate time of the crash and another about a week before the Flatwoods sighting where a girl was so freaked out and disturbed, she had to spend time in a hospital.Most notably, though, was the next night (September 13th, 1952) A couple, George and Edith Snitowsky and their baby were on a leisurely drive through the mountains of Frametown (still in Braxton county) when their car stalled and wouldn't start. George got out to check the engine when he smelled a smell he described as sulfurous, and the baby began to cry. A light lit up the dark road and revealed a tall creature in front of their car. The description was similar to the sighting in Flatwoods but this time he didn't have the spade shaped head, maybe that was just a hood? They described it as reptilian. It is believed to be the same creature, but if not, it must be very closely related. The creature hovered off into the woods and the second it was out of sight their car started. I'm sure they high tailed it out of there then! These sightings aren't as well known as the Flatwoods sighting. I guess Braxton county monster is a more accurate name than Flatwoods monster since it showed up in Heaters, Frametown and Flatwoods.
Sources-
R. Wenzl, July 20th, 2018, in 1952, the flatwoods monster terrified 6 kids, a mom, a dog- and a nation, history.com
Visit the Flatwoods monster museum, braxtonwv.org
The Flatwoods Monster, wvencyclopedia.org
Strangeology, December, 2022, the frametown monster, [video], youtube.com
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