News of the Mothman Kind

Andy Colvin - author of the Mothman's Photographer series of books - updates us on his ongoing research into one of the world's strangest creatures:

Hi folks:

FYI, I just got back from a field trip to New Mexico, where I met with two West Virginia Mothman experiencers who recently moved there, Sharon and Jordan Rogers. Sharon is one of three experiencers (the others being Harriet Plumbrook and John Frick) who seemed to consistently attract paranormal phenomena whenever I met or corresponded with them.

This trip was no exception. Sharon and Jordan and I visited several paranormal areas in Albuquerque, such as Rancho de Corrales, Jemez Pueblo, Petroglyph National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, and the haunted hill at the end of Menaul Ave. in Albuquerque, which we visited around midnight on Feb. 1st.

When we got to the haunted hill, which is fronted by large grass fields on the plateau above Albuquerque, Sharon and Jordan both stated that an area to the left, where an enormous shadow hovered on the cliffs, was active with tricksterish "elementals." Both tried to walk in that direction, but were stymied by fears that something "wasn't right."

After we meditated for some time in absolutely freezing wind, I decided to press forward because I figured we would have to go back to the car soon. After walking about a hundred yards towards the base of the cliffs on the right, I saw what appeared to be a fire burning underneath the shadow area to the left. It appeared to be inside of a cave of some sort. The fire could only be seen by walking into the zone that Sharon and Jordan had previously identified as "off limits."

After I told them about the fire, they walked forward in order to see it. As we watched over a period of a few minutes, the fire died down to nothing. After another minute or two, it mysteriously came back. At that point, our Mothy senses were tingling...

We had to decide whether or not to walk to the fire, which was a couple hundred yards away over iffy terrain. Knowing that the legend of haunted hill featured a serial killer who used a cave to dismember victims (like in WV during Mothman), we decided to leave and come back when it was light - to see if there was any evidence of fire.

Interestingly, when we went back to comb the area, there was absolutely no evidence of any fire, or the covering up of any fire. And, no evidence of any cave... It seems that we may have witnessed an actual "ghost fire" in a "ghost cave." One wonders if these fires might somehow be related to sightings of the Firebird, or Phoenix...

Sharon and Jordan's experiences in WV and NM will be featured in my fourth book in The Mothman's Photographer series, due out this year, tentatively called The Magical Mechanisms of the Mothman Code: The Unified Field Connecting UFOs, ESP, Angels, Demons, Conspiracies, Cryptids, Ghosts, Prophecies, and Spiritual Awakening.

The book will also feature writings and interviews with several other witnesses and experts, such as John Keel, conspiracy author Adam Gorightly, Penn State professor Dennis Day, ritual magician Allen Greenfield, ufologist Sandy Nichols, paranormal investigator David Scott, geologist Robert Denton, Jr., and psychic healer Mina Bast Marinkov. Also included will be interviews 25 through 38 of my Grassy Knoll series with Vyz.

The book will tie a lot of strings together, effectively providing what I feel is a strong framework for understanding why we see Mothman and other "cryptids." While it may not have all of the answers, it will have many of them. Thanks to all who contributed their experiences to this collaboration. Hopefully it will provide some meaningful signposts for future researchers.

Btw, Vyz has just posted show #38 to his Beyond the Grassy Knoll site, and it is a good one. Vyz, Robert Denton, and I get into many of the strange truths regarding mounds, dinosaur bones, and hybrid creature sightings, like the glowing Garuda seen in New Guinea and the Thunderbird seen on the Navajo Reservation, which burned the tops of trees.

Robert is a trained scientist who also happens to have found significant dinosaur fossil sites using only his intuition. One of the things we figured out after the show is that the Shenandoah Valley, whose name origin is shrouded in mystery, may actually be named after "Shen" (spirit) and "duah," which is one of the names the Garuda is called by natives in New Guinea.

Interestingly, one of the other names for the glowing Garuda in New Guinea is "Indava," reminiscent of Orinda (the Thunderbird's energy), Indra (the god of fire), and Indrid Cold. Yet another name for the Garuda in New Guinea is "Ropen," reminiscent of those ropes that seem to fall mysteriously from the sky in Mothman and UFO sighting areas.

Pack a lunch and scroll down to Feb. 17:
http://www.beyondthegrassyknoll.com/

FYI, I am honored to be the first Washington Bureau Chief for The League of Western Fortean Intermediatists (LOWFI). LOWFI provides online news and commentary on all things Fortean, paranormal, or downright weird.

As one might expect, I have already begun a crusade to include West Virginia in the confederation, since it has "West" in its name and hosts more paranormal activity than a pterosaur's ghost in a interdimensional hamster vortex:

http://forteanswest.com/wordpress-mu/washingtonlowfi/

In all seriousness, LOWFI, with its emphasis on looking at all data regarding the supernatural, is a long overdue breath of fresh air in the paranormal research community. It should provide at least some sort of balance to a debate that has long been dominated by cryptozoology, which generally promotes a more linear view of reality.

Thanks to Skylaire Alfvegren for her leadership in getting the media interested in what we are doing. LOWFI puts the super back in supernatural!

For your visual entertainment, below is a picture of a rock formation I took at Bandelier Nat. Mon., which looks a bit like a Garuda in meditation posture. The rock is right outside of several cliff dwellings, and overlooks ceremonial ruins such as the sipapu, or place in the earth from which the Natives claim to have initially emerged.

Below that is a picture of an "ice heart" taken at a remote waterfall near that famous Haunted A-Frame in Tornado, WV where various groups of ghosts have been seen. A little late for Valentine's Day, but still cool. (And no, I didn't chip away any pieces, even though it looks like it.)

Yours in airness,
Andy