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Le 12 Septembre 1952, en Virginie Occidentale, la petite ville de Flatwoods dans le comté de Braxton est le cadre d'une histoire très mystérieuse....
En cet aprés-midi, le shérif Robert Carr et son adjoint John Burnell Long furent appelés pour enquêter sur un bolide enflammé qui serait tombé sur terre près de Flatwoods sur la rivière Elk.
Le soir, trois garçons de Flatwoods virent une sphére rougeoyante disparaitre derrière une colline qui se prit un aspect incandescent...
Comme les garçons commencèrent à grimper sur la colline pour voir ce qui était arrivé, Kethleen May Horner avec ses deux fils Tommy et Eugene, accompagnés de leur chien, les rejoignirent....
Très vite, le chien qui avait pris de l'avance revint sur ses pas, la queue entre les jambes, ayant l'air terrorisé.
Un brouillard épais accompagné d'une forte odeur très désagréable noya bientôt le petit groupe.
Arrivé sur le sommet de la colline, le groupe vit une sphère enflammée de la taille d'une maison qui était posée sur le sol. La sphère émettait une espèce de sifflement...
A la gauche de l'engin, le groupe aperçu alors une étrange créature haute de deux mètres, qui planait au-dessus du sol. Elle avait une tête en forme d'as de pique, un visage rond avec deux yeux ronds brillants d'une couleur bleue, et tendait deux maigres bras aux doigts griffus. Les membres inférieurs n'étaient pas apparents. Un habit plissé et brillant pendait à sa taille, et la créature semblait porter une espèce de pectoral. Selon les témoignages, la couleur de la créature aurait été noire ou vert foncé.
La créature de Flatwoods.
La créature s'avançant vers le petit groupe, tous les témoins s'enfuirent terrorisés en courant, dévalèrent la colline, et et se réfugièrent dans la maison des May, et appelèrent aussitôt le shérif.
D'autres témoins aperçurent la créature : une femme et sa mère se rendant à l'Eglise à une vingtaine de kilométres du lieu de la permière apparition décrivirent la même créature.
The scare in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 could be compared to that of a horror movie of the period.
The small town, with a population of a neat three hundred, was filled with speculation after three boys saw a red sphere slowly glide around a hill before it dropped from sight and caused the entire side of the hill to become illuminated. As the boys went to search the area, Kathleen May Horner, her two sons Tommy Hyer and Eugene Lemon and Lemon's dog accompanied them. Lemon's dog quickly ran ahead of the group and disappeared around the hill for several seconds before it came running back with its tail between its legs.
A fog, accompanied by a wicked stench, rolled along the ground and met the investigators as they neared the crest. The group then saw a ball of flames as large as a house lying on the ground.
Looking to their left, the group saw a pair of "lights" shining beneath a large oak tree. After shining a light in the direction of the object, the group was astonished to see a bizarre creature staring back. Standing over six feet tall, the creature's head was in the shape of an ace of spades and included a circular "window" which was dark except for the apparent eyes that shone blue. No arms or legs were visible.
The creature of Flatwoods.
The beast glided towards the group before turning towards the ball of flame. Lemon quickly fainted as the rest of the group dragged him to safety. Half an hour later, when interviewed by A. Lee Stewart Jr. of the Braxton Democrat, most of the group was unable to speak. Stewart guaranteed that each had seen something strange that had badly frightened them.
Later that night, Stewart went back to the scene with Lemon to investigate. Although he noticed a strange smell, he could not find any other clues that would prove the sighting. At about 7 AM the next morning, Stewart found skid marks leading up to the landing area.
Bailey Frame, of nearby Birch River, claimed to see a bright orange sphere circling over the area where the monster had been seen. Frame claimed he saw the object for about fifteen minutes before it flew away.
About eleven miles way, a woman and her mother were on route to their church when they claimed to see the creature. Years later, writer John A. Keel spoke with a couple that claimed to see the same creature the night after the initial report. About fifteen miles from the first sighting, the duo saw a ten-foot tall beast with a horrible stench approach their vehicle that had stalled moments earlier. Several minutes later, a sphere glided from the woods into the sky.
Some investigators suggest the witnesses saw an owl and a meteor and created the rest using their imagination. Later,
Kathleen May Horner claimed to receive a letter from several government officials that revealed a photograph of the
monster. Horner claimed the letter detailed the creature and how it was in reality a spaceship that had malfunctioned
due to an oil difficulty.