Silver Bridge Collapse: Ep 1

Deadly bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia - 1967

This is the story of the deadliest bridge collapse in modern history.

Photo credit: Harvey Eugene Smith/AP, left; Corbis, right.

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This first episode introduces you to the small town of Point Pleasant in 1967.

Sources for this series:

• Survivor recalls plunge from SIlver Bridge into the river 

• Silver Bridge Disaster

• How The Silver Bridge Collapse Changed West Virginia 

• Silver Bridge Collapse - 40 years later

• Point Pleasant: Land of History and Mystery

• The Silver Bridge: Why Whenever I'm on a Bridge, I Just Want to Get to the Other Side

• The Silver Bridge Collapse

• Mothman Mysteries

• Couple Sees Man Size Bird... Creature... Something

• Wikipedia - Mothman

• Wikipedia - John Keel

• ​​An Ode to A Hometown Creature: The Mothman

• How UFO Sightings Became an American Obsession

• National Geographic - Area 51 Facts & Fiction

• USPS Employee Reports Seven-Foot-Tall, Red-Eyed Creature at O'Hare International Airport

• Behold the Mothman

Point Pleasant

By Charles Johnson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual LibraryImage pageImage description, Public Domain

Point Pleasant is a small town in West Virginia that sits right on the Ohio River, around 25 miles southeast of Cincinnati. 

Steeped in history - Point Pleasant is the birthplace of the 18th president of the United States - Ulysses S. Grant. And legend has it that just prior to the Revolutionary War, George Washington was surveying the region and referred to this area as a “pleasant point.” Later, the town officially became known as Point Pleasant.

However, not all of this town’s history is quite as sweet. There is a longstanding myth that a curse has been placed on the unsuspecting town that traces back to the Revolutionary War which some locals point to as the culprit for tragic events that befall the quaint town. 

In 1967, the town has a population of around 6,000 people and sits directly across the Ohio river from another small town called Gallipolis, Ohio. The Silver Bridge (given that name as it was one of the earliest bridges to use aluminum paint) spans the mighty Ohio River and has connected the two towns since it was built in 1928. The bridge is a vital lifeline between the towns as they function more as a single community where friends and family might live on either side of the river. 

Mothman

The Mothman Sightings (Travel Channel, 2020)

I’m going to share with you some stories of some strange sightings that happened in this small West Virginia town leading up to the collapse.

November 1966. 

Two couples are out on a late night drive around midnight in the “TNT Area”, the site of a former WWII munitions plant,  about 5 miles north of Point Pleasant.  

As they drive, they spot something strange - some sort of eerie figure is standing near the old and vacant power plant. In the darkness of night, they see what looks like a man, except he’s standing tall - at least 6 or 7 feet. But this isn’t a man - it has giant wings spanning around 10 feet. When the car lights hit the creature, there are two red glowing eyes looking back at them.

The four adults race away in their car but the creature follows them in pursuit, gliding above the vehicle. Finally they hear what sounds like wings flapping and look up to see the creature rise straight up into the sky. They report the sighting to the local sheriff.

Within days of the story being printed, many folks from around town made their way to the old power plant building with their guns to hunt it down. They didn’t find it, but they did spark a legend.

While this is the first reported incident, it isn’t the last in Point Pleasant and the surrounding areas. Over the next year, leading up to December, 1967 and the bridge collapse, reports were rampant about this creature, from lurking outside people’s homes, chasing cars and even possibly stealing pet dogs. 

There’s also an influx of UFO sightings and tales of Men in Black - strange but sharply dressed men in town questioning people about their experience and warning them to keep quiet about their creature sightings. 

Remember to kiss, squeeze, hug your loved ones. And stay tuned for the next episode as I share witness and survivor stories from the Silver Bridge collapse.