Ep 314: The Green Monster of Flatwoods
“It made a hissing sound like frying bacon. Gene dropped the flashlight and screamed. He screamed so loud and fell back and stumbled over one of my boys, and took off running. It was a hideous sight and I wished I had not seen it.”
Description:
On September 12th, 1952, in Flatwoods, West Virginia, five boys witnessed a fiery object slowly descend from the sky and land nearby, seemingly under intelligent control. What followed became one of the strangest UFO encounters in American history. Joined by a 32-year-old mother and a National Guard member, the group was allegedly pursued by a towering, mist-shrouded, humanoid figure that emitted strange lights and sounds. And with seven direct witnesses and reports from several states, this was no isolated event. With some eyewitnesses still speaking up as recently as 2018. Misunderstood and mythologized for decades, the Flatwoods Monster deserves a closer, more accurate look—and that’s exactly what we’re here to do.
Reference Links:
The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear - FULL MOVIE on the Small Town Monsters YouTube channel
Rent or buy “The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear” on Amazon
The Flatwoods Monster website, www.flatwoodsmonster.com, by Frank C. Feschino, Jr.
“Investigative Files – The Flatwoods UFO Monster” by Joe Nickell from SkepticalInquirer.org
The Flatwoods monster page from the Braxton County website: braxtonwv.org
“UFO sighting at Burning Man, 1999 - a true story” from the AtwaterPub YouTube channel
West Virginia and Pittsburgh reference source from the Flatwoods Wikipedia page
Website for the band (and our friends), Hans Gruber and the Die Hards www.hgdhband.com
Suggested Listening:
The Disturbing History podcast
If you love stories that are strange, unsettling, and almost too bizarre to be true, then you must check out a podcast called Disturbing History. It’s hosted by Brian King-Sharp—author, investigator, and former police officer—who you might know from the Sasquatch Odyssey podcast. But this time, he’s not in the woods chasing Bigfoot… he’s digging deep into the shadows of the past. Each week, Brian explores the parts of history they don’t teach in school. From JFK’s lost prophecy files to secret tunnels under New York City, secret government experiments, creepy cults, and the mysterious D.B. Cooper hijacking—this show brings you the forgotten, the forbidden, and the flat-out disturbing. If you're into true crime, hidden history, or stories that make you question everything, this is your kind of podcast. Follow Disturbing History now wherever you’re listening, or click the link in the show notes here to jump into an episode. Because sometimes, history is disturbing… And sometimes we have to disturb history to get to the truth.
The Crime Salad podcast
If you’re a fan of true crime that’s both compelling and respectfully told, you need to check out Crime Salad. Each week, husband-and-wife duo Ashley and Ricky dive deep into both well-known and lesser-covered cases, bringing you well-researched, thoughtfully narrated stories, driven by a mission to uncover truth, amplify victims’ voices, and advocate for justice. One recent case they covered? A desperate 32-year-old man who risked everything to escape the nightmare he'd been trapped in for years. His prison: a locked room inside a quiet house in Waterbury, Connecticut. Starved, abused, and neglected, he weighed just 68 pounds—less than the average 10-year-old. With no way out and no hope left, he made a final, desperate choice: he set his room on fire. Using only a lighter, hand sanitizer, and paper, he sparked the blaze that could either end his life or save it. It triggered a race against time as firefighters rushed to a home no one suspected was hiding a horror story. Kimberly Sullivan, his stepmother, is now charged with imprisoning him for over two decades—but she denies everything. Her attorneys claim there’s no real evidence tying her to the abuse. This man lost decades of his life, hidden from the world, voiceless. But now, his story is being told. Listen to the full episode, The Fire That Freed Him: Kimberly Sullivan’s House of Horror, and explore more powerful cases like this one by searching Crime Salad wherever you get your podcasts.
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CREDITS:
Episode 314: The Green Monster of Flatwoods. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess. Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Music and Sound Design by Allen Carrescia. Tess Pfeifle, Producer and Lead Researcher. Ed Voccola, Technical Producer. Research Support from The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2025 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.