Mysteries Decoded: Why do people believe the Mothman is real?

In Mysteries Decoded Episode 2, Jennifer Marshall took us inside the legend of the Mothman to find out if he could be real. Why is it that people believe in this hybrid?

Jennifer Marshall took us inside the legend that is the Mothman in Mysteries Decoded Episode 2. While she found evidence to suggest this hybrid is actually an animal, she did look into just why people believe that the Mothman could be real.

There’s no doubt that people believe they’ve seen the half-bird, half-human creature. Sightings have been recorded since the first in 1967. Of course, that doesn’t mean the creature exists. It means that people believe it does, and more people are claiming that it’s real.

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To the outside world, the people of Point Pleasant could be viewed as crazy. But that doesn’t matter when they’re in their small town, a town that has become more of a tourist place because of it. It’s the tourist element that keeps people believing, according to Marshall.

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During the episode, she shared her theory that by people saying they’d seen the Mothman, the legend remains alive. They feel part of this special piece of the town history and keep people talking about the place.

There’s also an element of making a tragic accident make sense. Just recently, I looked at whether the Japanese would have believed in spirits as they do in The Terror: Infamy, and the Mothman story is similar.

People get scared. They want to know that there’s something larger at play than a freak accident or just humans being humans. Because of that, they see what they want to see and believe in superstitions and rumors.

And they certainly don’t want to feel left out in their own town. If everyone else is sure they had a sighting, there must be this humanoid. This is why people believe in the Mothman.

During Mysteries Decoded, Marshall believes that the Mothman is nothing more than a bird. However, author MJ Banias believes that the creature could be real, that there’s evidence that shows it’s certainly possible.

We never got to the bottom of whether Mothman is real or not, but I’m not sure it matters. People believe in Mothman, and now we have an idea of why.

Do you believe the Mothman legend? What did you think of Mysteries Decoded Episode 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Mysteries Decoded airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.