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SouthwestRanger
B.V. Info Seeker
Joined: Jun 07, 2006
Posts: 2125
Location: Several Miles North of Rob & JRZGRL
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 Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:41 am Post subject: MOTHMAN LIVES ON ! |
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40th anniversary of bridge collapse stirs recollections
Survivors, residents understand shock after I-35 collapse
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va.
It took less than 30 seconds for the Silver Bridge to tumble into the Ohio River, killing 46 people and leaving towns on either side stunned and bereft. Stephen Darst, who saw it happen 40 years ago yesterday, has relived that half-minute countless times.
“It sounded like a jet airplane,” he recalled, looking out at the river. “I had nightmares for a long time after that.”
Like most Point Pleasant residents old enough to remember that day, Darst, 70, has vivid recollections of Dec. 15, 1967. He not only saw the bridge fall but had driven across it hours before, and he remembers a feeling of unease.
A traffic light had been malfunctioning all day, causing cars and trucks to back up on the bridge, which had linked Point Pleasant and Kanauga, Ohio, since 1928. Darst said he felt anxious waiting in traffic and eventually pulled out and sped off the bridge by driving in the opposite lane.
“I could feel something was wrong. Something was in the air,” he said.
Of the 46 who died in the collapse, 22 were from Ohio and 19 were from West Virginia, including 15 from Point Pleasant. The others were from Virginia and North Carolina.
Today, there’s almost nothing to indicate where the bridge once stood. A small plaque marks the spot on Main Street where a ramp brought motorists onto the bridge, but the ramp itself is long gone.
The Point Pleasant River Museum, a few blocks from the old bridge, is working to make sure that absence doesn’t extend to the town’s collective memory.
The museum is trying to persuade everyone who remembers the collapse, one of the country’s worst-ever bridge disasters, to share their recollections in videotaped interviews that will be archived for residents and historians.
“We’re kind of the focus for the remembrance of it,” said Jack Fowler, the executive director of the museum. “We decided we really needed to have these archived at the museum.”
This month, the museum is exhibiting rare photographs of the disaster, along with debris from the collapse. Among the stark images and pieces of gnarled metal, a steady stream of residents have been interviewed about their memories.
Bob Rimmey was at a cab stand in front of the Mason County Courthouse, about 250 feet from the bridge.
“I heard a real loud screeching noise, and then it just disappeared,” he said. “Then everybody was screaming. All you could hear was screaming.”
Rimmey and a state trooper helped a pregnant woman from her car, which was precariously close to the edge of the fallen bridge. One of his close friends, cabdriver Leo “Doc” Sanders, died in the collapse.
This year the memories are especially sharp.
On Aug. 1, for reasons that remain under investigation, the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 and injuring about 100.
Even after 40 years, residents here understood too well the shock felt around the country.
“That brought it all back,” said Rimmey, 68.
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mr_headshot
B.V. Info Seeker
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Posts: 1453
Location: ur base
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| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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The Mothman
This was a favorite of mine when I was a kid.
It's one of those great TRUE mysteries. I doubt any light will ever be shed on it.
Really a great story, the movie did it no justice. |
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Blackdaisies
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Joined: Mar 02, 2007
Posts: 1034
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Who is the mothman? Is it the survivors of the bridge crash in or is it ghost of those killed in the disaster? I am lost. |
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mr_headshot
B.V. Info Seeker
Joined: Oct 10, 2006
Posts: 1453
Location: ur base
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 1:20 am Post subject: |
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The mothman was a thing that residents of the town saw continuously for many weeks leading up to the bridge collapse. It was described as human size but with wings and red glowing eyes, somewhat simalar looking to a moth; hence the name. People would often see it in the woods outside thier house or in thier yards. I believe one witness saw it flying directly above his car as he was driving. It's a very small town, and most of the poeple seeing this thing were in most respects pretty credible.
In the weeks after the collapse the sightings died down, but didn't disappear completely. It is occasionally still seen to this day.
They made a movie out of it as well, it didn't really do the story justice. |
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Blackdaisies
B.V. Info Seeker
Joined: Mar 02, 2007
Posts: 1034
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh. That is weird. I'll look that up. I wonder why they didn't bring it up in the article. Thanks. |
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broaf
B.V. Lurker
Joined: Oct 05, 2007
Posts: 53
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| The show "Paranormal State" on A&E did an episode on Mothman. One of the clairvoyants made contact with "something" that we were supposed to believe was Mothman, and this entity claimed it had nothing to do with the bridge collapse. |
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