# The Mothman Prophecies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493 "2002-07-17T22:47:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maybesomeone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@maybesomeone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maybesomeone)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/1 "2002-07-17T22:47:12Z")
Has anyone ever seen this movie (a Sony movie with Richard Gere - and no, it wasn’t a sequel to the Gerbil Prophecies). Sony still has a website for the movie, in which they still record sitings of this “creature” (see [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/mothman/](http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/mothman/) ). So, is it a real creature, a folk tale, or some nut that just happens to like people’s porchlights? Thanks for the wisdom you guys provide! Scott ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/2 "2002-07-17T23:15:31Z")
Great movie (even though Gere was in it). It is based on the story of a _Washington Post_ reporter from the late 1960s, I believe. While it’s been updated in a number of ways, and the story line about his wife is, I believe, an addition, the basics, including the trip to Richmond that ended up taking him to Point Pleasant on the WV/OH border in much less time than it should have taken, the bridge collapse, and sightings of the mothman himself, were real. Well, at least the bridge collapse was. And there were lots of reported sightings… ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/3 "2002-07-17T23:17:10Z")
I meant to add that the _Post_ had an interesting article when it came out, but of course, that was more than two weeks ago, so I can’t link to it. If I’m not mistaken, the reporter wrote a book about it, maybe at some point in the early 70s, upon which the movie was based. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/4 "2002-07-17T23:33:44Z")
From the review on the IMDB - [Movie & TV News](http://us.imdb.com/SB?20020125#2) > [@](#): > > Regarding the claim that the movie is based on a true story, many critics point out that it long ago was relegated to the annals of urban legend. Rick Groen in the _Toronto Globe and Mail_ says, “It’s sort of true and it’s sort of bogus and it’s ho-hum all the way through.” ---
**Author:** ![Blueangel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@Blueangel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blueangel)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/5 "2002-07-17T23:53:05Z")
once i sent a question regarding that movie to [cecil@chicagoreader.com](mailto:cecil@chicagoreader.com) once and i got a reply from one of his people basicly stating that i was a complete moron for even considering the reallity of this film ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/6 "2002-07-18T00:52:25Z")
The sightings back in the 1960s may have been of something as prosaic as a barn owl. See [http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00317.html](http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00317.html) ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mothman-prophecies/119493/7 "2002-07-18T01:09:33Z")
[Fact **and** fiction.](http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2002/2002-01-23-mothman.htm)