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Have you been following the Chicago Mothman sightings? Many blogs have been writing about them, but perhaps the best coverage has come from Lon Strickler at Phantoms & Monsters.
In fact, he’s been so involved investigating the sightings, he put a book out about it at the end of 2017: Mothman Dynasty: Chicago’s Winged Humanoids.
But did you know some are calling May 7, 2018 Mothman Expectation Day?
I didn’t, until Martin R., a friend who often sends me para news, info and tidbits wrote me this:
Chicago Mothman Expectation Day—May 7, 2018
The first publicized sighting of Mothman in the area around Point Pleasant, West Virginia was on November 15, 1966.
The collapse of Silver Bridge, resulting in the deaths of 46 people, was on December 15, 1967. That was 13 months to the day from the time of that first sighting.
There was a possible sighting of Mothman on Chicago in 1951, and three in 2011. The recent cluster of dozens of Mothman sightings in the Chicago area started with a sighting in Oz Park in Chicago on April 7, 2017. If the same time line holds true, 13 months to the day later will be May 7, 2018. There is no clue as to what might occur.
However, vercalendario.info says that the first Monday in May is designated as School Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
Clues?
Martin gave me an idea. It’s a long shot, and just more speculation as to what –if anything– might come of the Chicago Mothman sightings. Hopefully it’s not a harbinger of doom.
However, I could’t help but wonder what I had listed for May 7th on the Weird Holidays & Observances calendar.
National Tourism Day.
Hmm…here’s to hoping no major Chicago area tourist attractions suffer some kind of catastrophic event.
But my curiosity wasn’t satiated.
I checked the sources I use to compile my awareness days listings. According to Days of the Year, School Bus Driver Appreciation Day fell on May 2nd. Phew.
Not to say that there still couldn’t be a tragedy involving a school bus in Chicago on May 7th, but let’s hope there isn’t. They have enough problems with youth gun violence there as it is.
Mothman: A Warning of Doom or a Bringer of It?
The Portalist published an article called, “Alleged Mothman Sightings That Preceded Disasters” and asked:
Is the Mothman a monster bent on wreaking destruction? Or a supernatural force sent to warn of impending danger?
The first Mothman sighting took place in West Virginia on November 12, 1966. After the Silver Bridge Collapse on December 15, 1967, the Mothman sightings stopped, but continued to live on and became known as the Point Pleasant incidents.
But hold up. Did you notice the dates?
Uh oh…
Dates Amiss
I know Martin meant well, but this is why I do my research.
Even the West Virginia’s Chamber of Commerce notes the first Mothman sighting as November 12, 1966. (Which is cool they acknowledge one of their most famous legends.)
So if we use Martin’s logic and adjust the math, and if Mothman’s presence indicates a disaster an exact amount of time similar to his first ever reported sightings in West Virginia, May 10th might be the target date for whatever disaster could come.
Except…
According to The Singular Fortean’s Timeline of the Chicago Flying Humanoid Sightings So Far, the first 2017 Chicago sighting actually happened on February 8, 2017.
Possibilities
I’m not sure what the people in Chicago were/are seeing in their skies. If it was Mothman, maybe he was just coming for a visit and wasn’t a harbinger of doom for a change?
Or maybe we’re all looking too hard to try and make sense out of bad things.
As my friend Sara V. from VP paRanormal says, “#DontBlameAGhost for your problems.”
Not that Mothman is a ghost, but the same principle still applies: we’re trying to make sense of chaos and seek answers when sometimes the answer is simply: chaos, just like shit, happens.
It makes no sense. There is no rhyme or reason. We just have to deal with it and carry on after as best we can.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.