Mothman Photos Repost

Ok, I swear, this is the last time that I’m going to post these pictures and the story, but since I “wiped out” our site and database a couple of weeks ago, I’ve already had more requests for the pictures. So just a few updates to some questions that have been asked:
1. Yes, the story is true.
2. No, Ray and Shelia aren’t their real names.
3. No, I personally did not know Ray and Shelia.
4. I’ve heard that Ray and Shelia live in Fort Gay, WV. now.

Click on the pictures below for a full view. Only the first has been altered to paste a close-up insert of the creature. Other than that, neither have been altered in any way. You can do a search and find that these photos have been analyzed by numerous people and organizations and concluded to be genuine.

Here’s the story:
These pictures were sent to me by a family that moved away from here just after Xmas 2003. They were taken in Russell, Ky. looking towards Ironton, Oh. They claim that they were taking some pictures of their dog(s) during their evening walk just after dusk. As always, they stopped along the river walk to admire boats, animals, birds, traffic, etc. On this particular night, they made their usual stop at the picnic area and noticed this “thing” walking across the beam of the bridge, stop, then look directly in their direction, then fly away. Since it was common for them to bring along their digital camera to take pictures of their dog(s), Ray tried to take a quick snap of the “thing”. Both had been non-believers and was hoping to hear of other local encounters before making a big deal of it. Unfortunately, nothing else had been noted by local residents and they kept the encounter to themselves. Thought you may enjoy the pics just the same. Interestingly enough, this bridge is(was) set for demolition in 2008. It has been retrofitted by the state of Ohio to help prolong it’s life. Many people in the area refuse to cross it because they feel it’s not safe.

It was a cool November evening, unusually warm for November. Thursday was Rays day off and as with most evenings that he and his wife Sheila shared off together, they walked their two dogs along Russells river front drive. Also typical were the pictures taken of the two dogs. Sheila and Ray loved their two poodles and taking pictures of them during their evening walks wasn’t out of the ordinary. On this particular evening, it was getting darker earlier than usual. The overcast had quickly hidden the light of the sun and the cool breeze of Winter could be felt in the air. As with all of their evening walks, Sheila and Ray stopped at the picnic area at the foot of the Ironton/Russell bridge. There they would sit, let the dogs rest and watch the river traffic. Though no traffic was apparent on the river this night, they still sat and watched cars travel across the bridge and speak to the occasional passerby. Ray snapped a few pics of the dogs, but was hesitant to take any more because of the poor lighting conditions. Sheila was the first to notice the sound coming from the Ironton direction. She later described it as a “hammer sliding across metal”. Their attention was drawn towards the bridge as the sound became more apparent. Only between the sound of the occasional car speeding across the bridge could the sound be heard, but it wasn’t normal and it was strange enough to make them both wonder about it’s source. As quickly as the sound had grabbed their attention, their eyes followed the length of the bridge and at about the same time, they were both fixated toward the Ironton side of the bridge. There, perched upon the steel framework of the bridge was a huge figure with wings and brilliant red eyes. Even from that distance, the bright red eyes were apparent. Not glowing, but reflecting the lights from the surrounding area. Without speaking a word to each other, Ray raised his camera and took a picture. Only then did they realize that the creature appeared to be looking in their direction. As Ray raised his camera to take another photo, the creature jumped from atop the bridge and guided toward the surface of the river. Before another picture could be taken, the creature faded into the darkness of the surrounding landscape. The two pictures above are the exact photos that Ray took. Both are sure that what they saw and heard that night was in fact, the Mothman.