Flatwoods 1952: The Object That Fell on the Hill and the Story Reduced to a “Monster”

At about 7:15 p.m. on September 12, 1952, four boys were playing near Flatwoods Elementary School in Braxton County, West Virginia. A red-yellow streak crossed the sky and came down beyond a hill on the Bailey Fisher farm. The boys ran to tell the mother of Eddie and Freddie May. Kathleen May took a flashlight, called Eugene Lemon — a 17-year-old member of the National Guard — and walked up the hill with the boys, another child, and the family dog.

The group did not only see a light in the sky. They saw a pulsing red light close to the ground. When Eugene Lemon aimed his flashlight, the seven people said a very tall figure appeared. It had a red face, a pointed head like a spade, a dark or green body, and folds below it like a metallic garment. It did not walk like a person; it seemed to glide or float toward them with a hiss and a sickening metallic smell. The group ran. Some later reported nausea or burning eyes.