Weird Tales Paranormal Investigation Organization

The Partridge Story

Written by: Susan Sheppard

The place is Doddridge County, West Virginia. The date is November 14th, 1966. It is 10:30 at night as Merle Partridge watches television with his young son Roger. The rest of the Partridge children and Merle’s wife have turned in for the evening. Suddenly, the TV set starts to act up. The picture blanks out and interference causes the screen to develop a herringbone pattern.
            The TV set blanking out was not unusual when one lived in rural West Virginia in the 1960s. This was well before cable channels and satellite dishes. Most TV reception in farm areas came pretty much as the crows fly. Picking up favorite shows depended upon how deft you were at turning your roof top television antennae to stations in Clarksburg, Wheeling and Pittsburgh. Consider yourself lucky if you got all three.
            Otherwise, it was an ordinary night. But what happened to Merle Partridge next was very much out-of-the-ordinary. The television set whined loudly, like a generator winding up. At this point, Bandit, the Partridges’ pet dog howled eerily. As Partridge peered outside, he saw that his German Shepherd faced the hay barn -- about the length of a football field away from the house. The family dog barked at the dark doorway of the barn extremely agitated.
            Merle Partridge grabbed his flashlight and went outside. Bandit had disappeared although Partridge heard the dog wailing in the area of the barn. As he shined his light in the direction of Bandit, it caught two red circles or eyes that looked like bicycle reflectors. Merle was later to describe the red eyes in an interview with writer John Keel, “I certainly know what animal eyes look like... These were much larger ...still those eyes showed up as huge even for that distance.” (In a 2006 recent interviews, Mr. Partridge clarifies what he saw in 1966 as somewhat differently than what John Keel initially reported in his book “Mothman Prophecies” and said that to him the red orbs look more like “red, rotating lights.”)

In an attempt to describe the dread he felt, Partridge added, “It was an eerie feeling like the sort I’ve not felt before... It was as if you knew something was really wrong but couldn’t place just what it was.”
            A snarling Bandit came into focus. He bolted toward the barn. A cold chill swept over Merle Partridge. He hurried inside the house. He would sleep little that night keeping his shotgun beside his bed. The next day, he and his six-year-old searched for their pet. They went to where the dog was last seen. The barn had a dirt floor. Partridge found the dog’s tracks, but not Bandit. “Those tracks were going around in a circle” as if the dog had been chasing its tail, “But Bandit never did that,” added Partridge. And then there were no more tracks as if the dog had been lifted up and carried away by something much larger and much stronger.  Bandit, the family pet, was never seen again.
            Daughter Mary Partridge Stover, a child at the time, remembered going into the barn the next day as well and spotting the huge, clawed tracks left into the mud from their previous night visitor. When seeing the famous Mothman statue in the public square Point Pleasant years later, she remarked that the claws were not as large as the ones she saw, nor were the talons or toes spread apart as much as the ones she remembered from the prints left in their barn.
         But the weird tale did not end there for Merle Partridge. The following night Mr. Partridge was unable to sleep and was watching television around midnight when he heard a loud knocking at his door. As he opened it he found a man in obvious distress standing there. The man explained that he had just run his jeep into a ditch after something gigantic had swooped in front of his windshield (the Partridges lived in the small rural community of Center Point between West Union and Salem).

Trembling and upset, the man explained, “But this is not what I am worried about. I cannot find my six-year old boy. He has disappeared from the car.” Alarmed, Merle Partridge grabbed his flashlight and rifle and went with the father looking for the boy, to no avail. After about a 30 minute hunt, the men returned to the house and called the police. The policed arrived a short time later and began their search which took another 30 minutes. By this time, an hour and a half had elapsed and the father was frantic.

 

After another search, they suddenly saw the young boy walking up the road in an opposite direction from where the wrecked jeep was. The child was completely in a daze.            

    When asked where he had been all of that time, the boy could not remember any of it. Years later, a middle-aged man would visit Merle Partridge in his New Martinsville home to tell him that he was the small boy who was lost and how he still had no memory whatsoever of the time spent that night.

     The period of November 1966 leading into 1967 marked a peculiar time for West Virginians. During these days, the state was swept up by numerous sightings of a pale, gray, flying creature that was reported by witnesses as close to seven feet tall. Motorists told stories of driving along country roads late at night and hearing a whooshing sound above their vehicle. As the drivers slowed down to look, they saw a large gray creature with glowing, red eyes and a wingspan of about ten feet. Even more strangely the creature seemed to want to race people’s cars by flying parallel to the vehicle. Other witnesses who encountered the Mothman claimed that if you made the awful mistake of locking eyes with the creature, you would become paralyzed for seconds or even minutes.

Reports of the Mothman, alone, were bizarre enough to make state and national news. However, during the time of Mothman sightings, there were also hundreds of eyewitness accounts of UFOs and Men in Black throughout the state and the Ohio Valley region.  Although descriptions differed, and witnesses all thought at first the Mothman's eyes actually looked like "lights" most agreed he was a creature of some sort, if not from our own earth, then one from some alternate realm of existence.

The Legend Begins

Written by: Timothy Elliott

Tuesday night November 15th, 1966 the night after Merle Partridge's dog disappeared forever. Point Pleasant, West Virginia, miles away from Centerpoint/Salem, West Virgnia where Mr.Partridge had his strange encounter with this "red-eyed" creature.

Two young Point Pleasant couples went to a famous teen hangout for partying,parking and just having a good time. But this time would be the last time for anyone to have a good time at the famous teen hangout known as the TNT area. It was call that because a TNT plant was beilt during World War II, to make wepons for the US army. But it was closed down for years, so thats why all the teenagers in the area named it a "teen hangout".

The two young merried couples Mr. and Mrs.Mallette, and Mr. and Mrs.Scarberry were riding around between 11:30 and 12:00 o' clock. When they came up to the old TNT plant they saw in horror this thing along the side of the road. It then ran to the plant. It was about six or seven feet tall, having a wing span of 10 feet and red eyes aout two inchs in diameter and six inches apart. The couples drove away as fast as they could.

They got to Route 62. Suddently they saw the winged man standing on a bank but they did not see a head on it. Then as there car lights hit the bank they could see it's eyes plainly and it seemed to take off upward vey fast. Frightened the couples speeded down the road about 100 or 105 miles pure hour, but it didn't take long for the creature to catch up with them. It glided over top of there car back and forth untill they reached the lights by the National Guard Armory. It seemed to be afraid of the lights.

They drove through town and stopped in the lights at the Dairyland to discuss what happened. Linda Scarberry sudggested, they should go to the police, but they didn't.

They all decided to go back to make sure the thing was still there. They made it as far as the C.C. Lewis' gate, because they were really not up for going back there. As there car turned around, the lights beamed on a large dead dog, that was along the side of the road. The dead dog fited the same discription of the Partridge's family dog, Bandit. That went messing after Mr.Partridge had his encounter with a red-eyed creature.

As the couples turned in there car, they saw something run from behind a tree and jumped over top the back of there car and ran out through the field.

They decided they needed to tell someone about this. They headed down to Tiny's Drive-In and one of there friends and a few others came walking out of the door.

They told them there frighting story, and even though they were shaking from fear, the frist thing there firends said to them was, "Have you guys been drinking?" But they weren't drinking at all. They asked there friend to call the police and he did.

They all waited for the police. When they got there, the four of them went ahead of everyone up the road. As they were going up the road they saw it again in the field, it came up behind them and when there friend's lights could be seen behind them the thing left again and they turned at the traffic circle and went back. There friend searched the tree tops with his search lights and the others went back to Tiny's with there other friend in the car. On the way there, one of the girls said she saw two red eyes in a dark area on the left side of the road, she burst into tears at the sight of them. But none of the other four seen anything. They turned at the traffic circle again and went back into town, one of them told there friend of there frightening experience. They went into the car with there friend and went back to the TNT plant. Once there they stood still inside of the car with the doors locked and lights off.

Soon after wards they all saw shadows on the plant and one of the girls said she could see the red eyes again. There friend shot the spot lights right on them. They all seen something looking like dust or smoke twice when they when back and got there friend's car. And they all went to the trailer.

They decided to stay with them that night. So frightened they locked the doors and turned on all the lights and stayed up all night. The next day they all went back to the old TNT plant with another friend of their's. The men took their guns and went through the old plant. The others heard one of the men inside yell. And he clamed he saw something moving upwards inside, one of the boiler doors. They all were looking around the place and found prints that looked like a double hoof prints of a horse. Latter they all finally returned home. They all stayed together most of the time. At 9:30 that evening they heard that the creature was seen at their friend's home. They went directly up there, the men took their guns once again. But all they could find was the same looking tracks and they went back home about 12:30.

The next day they went back up there with T.V. reporters, the men went inside of the building to investigate a clanging sound that they heard. They found one of the boiler doors had been open.

That evening they went back to the plant once again with more reporters. While they were there, Linda Scarberry saw eyes in the field and Mrs. Mary Hyre saw them as well.

On the way home that night, right before they got to Point Pleasant resort. One of the girls saw the creature perfectly clear then anyone saw it during those other nights. She said she saw the complete outline of it and the eyes, but she could not see any head. That time was the most frightning, she had ever saw it.

After that not one of them forgot there encounter with this red-eyed, winged creature. In fact they live everyday wondering where the creature is and if it well attack them.

And every time they go out into a crowd they feel and hear people judging them and making fun of them.

some of them can't even have a good night sleep anymore cause of fears of the red-eyed creature coming in their wendow or something.

  

  

HAUNTED WEST VIRGINIA
THE CORNSTALK CURSE

Almost two centuries before the shadow of the Mothman reared its head in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the land around the Ohio River ran red with blood. As the inhabitants of the American colonies began to push their way to the west, and later fought for their independence from Britain, they entered into deadly combat with the Native American inhabitants of the land. Perhaps their greatest foe in these early Indian wars was Chief Cornstalk, who later became a friend to the Americans. But treachery, deception and murder would bring an end to the chief’s life and a curse that he placed on Point Pleasant would linger for 200 years, bringing tragedy, death and disaster....

There is no denying that the southeastern corner of Ohio, and the surrounding area of West Virginia, is considered by many to be one of the most haunted areas of the country. West Virginia has long been thought of as one of the strangest parts of the country in regards to ghosts, legends and strange happenings. This part of the country, which was originally a part of Virginia, was regarded by the Native Americans as a “haunted” spot, plagued with ghost lights, phantoms and strange creatures. The town of Parkersburg, just north on the river from Point Pleasant, has more than its share of ghosts and nearby is Athens County, Ohio, home to the most haunted city in the entire state.

But how did this region gain such a reputation? Why are many people not surprised to find stories of the Mothman, phantom inhabitants and mysterious creatures roaming this part of the country? There have been a number of theories to explain the large number of haunted happenings here, including that this area may be some sort of “window” between dimensions. This would, according to the theories, allow paranormal phenomenon to come and go and vanish at will, just as the Mothman did after 13 months of appearing around Point Pleasant.

Those researchers with a historical bent have offered their own solutions though. They have traced the supernatural roots of the region back to a bloody event from the days of the American Revolution.. and a great curse.

As the American frontiersmen began to move west in the 1770’s, seven nations of Indians (the Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Mingo, Miami, Ottawa and Illinois) formed a powerful confederacy to keep the white men from infringing on their territory. The Shawnee were the most powerful of the tribes and were led by a feared and respected chieftain called “Keigh-tugh-gua”, which translates to mean “Cornstalk”. In 1774, when the white settlers were moving down into the Kanawha and Ohio River valleys, the Indian Confederacy prepared to protect their lands by any means necessary. The nations began to mass in a rough line across the point from the Ohio River to the Kanawha River, numbering about 1200 warriors. They began to make preparations to attack the white settlers near an area called Point Pleasant on the Virginia side of the Ohio River. As word reached the colonial military leaders of the impending attack, troops were sent in and faced off against the Indians. While the numbers of fighters were fairly even on both sides, the Native Americans were no match for the muskets of the white soldiers. The battle ended with about 140 colonials killed and more than twice that number of Indians. The tribes retreated westward into the wilds of what is now Ohio and in order to keep them from returning, a fort was constructed at the junction of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.

As time passed, the Shawnee leader, Cornstalk, made peace with the white men. He would carry word to his new friends in 1777 when the British began coaxing the Indians into attacking the rebellious colonies. Soon, the tribes again began massing along the Ohio River, intent on attacking the fort. Cornstalk and Red Hawk, a Delaware chief, had no taste for war with the Americans and they went to the fort on November 7 to try and negotiate a peace before fighting began. Cornstalk told Captain Arbuckle, who commanded the garrison, that he was opposed to war with the colonists but that only he and his tribe were holding back from joining on the side of the British. He was afraid that he would be forced to go along by the rest of the Confederacy.

When he admitted to Arbuckle that he would allow his men to fight if the other tribes did, Cornstalk, Red Hawk and another Indian were taken as hostages. The Americans believed that they could use him to keep the other tribes from attacking. They forced the Native Americans into a standoff for none of them wanted to risk the life of their leader. Cornstalk’s name not only stuck fear into hearts of the white settlers up and down the frontier, but it also garnered respect from the other Indian tribes. He was gifted with great oratory skills, fighting ability and military genius. In fact, it was said that when his fighting tactics were adopted by the Americans, they were able to defeat the British in a number of battles where they had been both outnumbered and outgunned.

Although taken as hostage, Cornstalk and the other Indians were treated well and were given comfortable quarters, leading many to wonder if the chief’s hostage status may have been voluntary in the beginning. Cornstalk even assisted his captors in plotting maps of the Ohio River Valley during his imprisonment. On November 9, Cornstalk’s son, Ellinipisco, came to the fort to see his father and he was also detained.

The following day, gunfire was heard from outside the walls of the fort, coming from the direction of the Kanawha River. When men went out to investigate, they discovered that two soldiers who had left the stockade to hunt deer had been ambushed by Indians. One of them had escaped but the other man had been killed.

When his bloody corpse was returned to the fort, the soldiers in the garrison were enraged. Acting against orders, they broke into the quarters were Cornstalk and the other Indians were being held. Even though the men had nothing to do with the crime, they decided to execute the prisoners as revenge. As the soldiers burst through the doorway, Cornstalk rose to meet them. It was said that he stood facing the soldiers with such bravery that they paused momentarily in their attack. It wasn’t enough though and the soldiers opened fire with their muskets. Red Hawk tried to escape up through the chimney but was pulled back down and slaughtered. Ellinipisico was shot where he had been sitting on a stool and the other unknown Indian was strangled to death. As for Cornstalk, he was shot eight times before he fell to the floor.

And as he lay their dying in the smoke-filled room, he was said to have pronounced his now legendary curse. The stories say that he looked upon his assassins and spoke to them: “I was the border man’s friend. Many times I have saved him and his people from harm. I never warred with you, but only to protect our wigwams and lands. I refused to join your paleface enemies with the red coats. I came to the fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side, my young son.... For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted in its hopes. May the strength of its peoples be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.”

He spoke these words, so says the legend, and then he died. The bodies of the other Indians were then taken and dumped into the Kanawha River but Cornstalk’s corpse was buried near the fort on Point Pleasant, overlooking the junction of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. Here he remained in many years, but he would not rest in peace.

In 1794, the town of Point Pleasant was established near the site of the old fort. For many years after, the Indian’s grave lay undisturbed but in 1840 his bones were removed to the grounds of the Mason County Court House where, in 1899, a monument was erected in Cornstalk’s memory. In the late 1950’s, a new court house was built in Point Pleasant and the chief’s remains (which now consisted of three teeth and about 15 pieces of bone) were placed in an aluminum box and reinterred in a corner of the town’s Tu-Endie-Wei Park, next to the grave of a Virginia frontiersman that Cornstalk once fought and later befriended. A twelve foot monument was then erected in his honor.

And this is not the only monument dedicated to the period in Point Pleasant. Another stands 86-feet tall and was dedicated in August 1909, one month behind schedule. Originally, the dedication ceremony had been set for July 22 but on the night before the event, the clear overhead sky erupted with lightning and struck the upper part of a crane that was supposed to put the monument into place. The machine was badly damaged and it took nearly a month to repair it. The monument was finally dedicated and stood for years, until July 4, 1921. On that day, another bolt of lightning struck the monument, damaging the capstone and some granite blocks. They were replaced and the monument still stands today. But what is this bedeviled obelisk that seems to attract inexplicable lightning on otherwise clear evenings? It is a monument to the men who died in the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant, when Cornstalk and his allies were defeated.

Could the freak lightning strikes have been acts of vengeance tied to Cornstalk’s fabled curse? Many believed so and for years, residents of the triangular area made up of western West Virginia, southwest Pennsylvania and southeastern Ohio spoke of strange happenings, river tragedies and fires as part of the curse. Of course, many laughed and said that the curse was nothing more than overactive imaginations, ignoring the death toll and eerie coincidences that seemed to plague the region for 200 years after the death of Chief Cornstalk.

Many tragedies and disasters were blamed on the curse:

1907: The worst coal mine disaster in American history took place in Monongah, West Virginia on December 6, when 310 miners were killed.

1944: In June of this year, 150 people were killed when a tornado ripped through the tri-state triangular area.

1967: The devastating Silver Bridge disaster sent 46 people hurtling to their death in the Ohio River on December 15. Many have also connected this tragedy to the eerie sightings of the Mothman, strange lights in the sky and odd paranormal happenings.

1968: A Piedmont Airlines plane crashed in August near the Kanawha Airport, killing 35 people on board.

1970: On November 14, a Southern Airways DC-10 crashed into a mountain near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75 people on board.

1976: In March of that year, the town of Point Pleasant was rocked in the middle of the night be an explosion at the Mason County Jail. Housed in the jail was a woman named Harriet Sisk, who had been arrested for the murder of her infant daughter. On March 2, her husband came to the jail with a suitcase full of explosives to kill himself and his wife and to destroy the building. Both of the Sisk’s were killed, along with three law enforcement officers.

1978: In January, a freight train derailed at Point Pleasant and dumped thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals. The chemicals contaminated the town’s water supply and the wells had to be abandoned.

1978: In April of that same year, the town of St. Mary’s (north of Point Pleasant) was struck with tragedy when 51 men who were working on the Willow Island power plant were killed when their construction scaffolding collapsed.

And there have been many other strange occurrences, fires and floods. Most would say however that floods are a natural part of living on the river, although Point Pleasant was almost obliterated in 1913 and 1937. It might be hard to tie such natural occurrences into a curse, but what about the barge explosion that killed six men from town just before Christmas 1953? Or the fire that destroyed an entire downtown city block in the late 1880’s? Some have even gone as far as to blame the curse for the death of Point Pleasant’s local economy, an event linked to the passing of river travel and commerce.

So how real is the “curse”? Is it simply a string of bloody and tragic coincidences, culled from two centuries of sadness in the region? Can it be used to explain why the area seems to attract strange happenings and eerie tales? Or is the area somehow “blighted”, separate from any curse, and attractive to the strangeness that seems to lurk in the shadowy corners of America?

The reader is asked to judge the validity of such curses for himself. For the most part, the deaths and tragedies seem to have waned over the years, perhaps dying out at the bicentennial of Chief Cornstalk’s death. Largely, the curse has been forgotten over time and today, Point Pleasant is better known for its connection to otherworldly visitors like Mothman than for Indian curses and bloody frontier battles.

Fact or coincidence? Who can say... but I know that I hope, for the sake of the people of the Ohio River valley, that Chief Cornstalk will finally rest in peace!