The Flatwoods Monster

In 1952, five children were playing football in a small town called Flatwoods, West Virginia, when a strange object appeared above them. Streaking across the sky, they watched it crest a nearby hill, slow and then descend just over the top of the ridge. What followed after their sighting has become one of the most infamous local legends ever recorded. That night, seven area residents encountered a hovering, mechanical monstrosity that was described by area newspapers as “glowing,” “Frankenstein-like” and breathing fire. The event helped shepherd in the 50’s obsession with flying saucers and alien lifeforms and the “Green Monster” (one of three named given to the creature) has become a pop-culture figure in the decades to follow.