West Virginians Petition to Replace Confederate Statues with Statues of Mothman
No, seriously. There is a change.org petition to replace every confederate statue in the state of West Virginia with a statue Mothman.
For all of you Fallout 76 players who didn’t know, the legend of Mothman is a very real folklore. Mothman was reportedly sighted by a couple in Point Pleasant, WV in 1966. Reported in local newspaper, Point Pleasant Register November 16, 1966, the couple claimed to have seen “Man-sized bird…creature…something”. Sightings of Mothman continued throughout 1967, including the deaths of 46 people with the collapse of Silver Bridge on December 15,1967.
The legend of Mothman continued in fiction with John Keel’s 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies. There’s even an annual Mothman festival held every year since 2002 in Point Pleasant.
Brenna, the 24-year old West Virginia native who started the petition to replace West Virginia’s statues with those of Mothman told Mel Magazine, “These monuments aren’t ‘celebrating history’; they were specifically created to intimidate Black Americans. “Statues aren’t needed to ‘remember the past’ when so many are still experiencing the repercussions today. Therefore, all monuments honoring the racist and oppressive history of the Confederacy should be removed. And who better to replace them than the Mothman?” It makes sense that Mothman, who the people of West Virginia have more of a cultural connection to, would be a better representation of West Virginia than symbols of oppression. The petition is close to meeting their 500 signatures goal.
Game devs at Bethesda did an excellent job of incorporating West Virginia cryptid folklore into Fallout 76, including the Flatwoods Monster, Sheepsquatch, and Snallygaster. Players can visit the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant where the statue of Mothman has survived the war and nuclear fallout.
