science

The Mothman Prophecies

The Mothman Prophecies is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Mothman Prophecies rather than just read about it. In short: The Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by John Keel. Synopsis The book relates Keel's accounts of his investigation into alleged sightings of a large, winged creature known as Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967.

Key takeaways

The Mothman Prophecies belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Mothman Prophecies to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Mothman Prophecies from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by John Keel.

Synopsis The book relates Keel's accounts of his investigation into alleged sightings of a large, winged creature known as Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967. It combines these accounts with his theories about UFOs and various supernatural phenomena, ultimately connecting them to the collapse of the Silver Bridge across the Ohio River on December 15, 1967.

Reception Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book featured Keel's theories that "ultraterrestrials" use some form of psychic power to create hallucinations such as Mothman and UFOs. Official investigations in 1971 determined the bridge collapse was caused by stress corrosion cracking in an eyebar in a suspension chain. In the May/June 2002 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, journalist John C. Sherwood, a former business associate of UFO researcher Gray Barker, published an analysis of private letters between Keel and Barker during the period of Keel's investigation. In the article, "Gray Barker's Book of Bunk", Sherwood reported finding significant differences between what Keel wrote at the time of his investigation and what he wrote in his first book about the Mothman reports, raising questions about the book's accuracy. Sherwood also reported that Keel, who was well known for writing humorous and outrageous letters to friends and associates, would not assist him in clarifying the differences.

Film

The Mothman Prophecies was the inspiration for the 2002 film of the same name, starring Richard Gere.

References

External links Invasion of the Doll People by Colin Bennett, in Fortean Times 156 (2002) Dunning, Brian (June 23, 2009). "Skeptoid #159: The Mothman Cometh". Skeptoid.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Mothman Prophecies

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Mothman Prophecies claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Mothman Prophecies before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Mothman Prophecies ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Mothman Prophecies

In research: The Mothman Prophecies appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Mothman Prophecies in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Mothman Prophecies is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1967 in West Virginia, 1970s science fiction novel stubs, 1975 non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Mothman Prophecies outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Mothman Prophecies in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Mothman Prophecies means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Mothman Prophecies out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Mothman Prophecies in simple terms?

The Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by John Keel. Synopsis The book relates Keel's accounts of his investigation into alleged sightings of a large, winged creature known as Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967.

Why does The Mothman Prophecies matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Mothman Prophecies?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Mothman Prophecies.