Lesson plan

Mothman

In American folklore, Mothman is the name given to a humanoid cryptid that was reportedly seen around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967. Despite its name, the original sightings of the creature described avian, not lepidopteran, features. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register, dated November 16, 1966, titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something". The national press soon picked up the reports and helped spread the story across the United States. The source of the legend is believed to have originated from sightings of out-of-migration sandhill cranes or herons, or possibly the misidentification of barred owls. The creature was later popularized by John Keel in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, which claimed that there were paranormal events related to the sightings and a connection to the collapse of the Silver Bridge. This came five years after Gray Barker's The Silver Bridge, a narrative that had earlier explored similar ideas but in a "heavily fictionalized" way. The Mothman Prophecies was adapted decades later into a 2002 film starring Richard Gere. An annual festival in Point Pleasant is devoted to the Mothman legend.

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Article summary

In American folklore, Mothman is the name given to a humanoid cryptid that was reportedly seen around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967. Despite its name, the original sightings of the creature described avian, not lepidopteran, features. The first newspaper report was published in the Point Pleasant Register, dated November 16, 1966, titled "Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something". The national press soon picked up the reports and helped spread the story across the United States. The source of the legend is believed to have originated from sightings of out-of-migration sandhill cranes or herons, or possibly the misidentification of barred owls. The creature was later popularized by John Keel in his 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies, which claimed that there were paranormal events related to the sightings and a connection to the collapse of the Silver Bridge. This came five years after Gray Barker's The Silver Bridge, a narrative that had earlier explored similar ideas but in a "heavily fictionalized" way. The Mothman Prophecies was adapted decades later into a 2002 film starring Richard Gere. An annual festival in Point Pleasant is devoted to the Mothman legend.

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1966 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. publication date: 1999 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. release date: 2017 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1966". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the publication date is "1999". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the release date is "2017". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378940942

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.