Episode 78: On John Keel's 'The Mothman Prophecies'

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2020

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At the time The Mothman Prophecies' was released in 1975, and again when he penned an afterword for the 2001 edition, John Keel appeared to have made up his mind about the "ultraterrestrials" that he had tracked and hunted for most of his adult life. They were unconcerned about the welfare of the people whose lives they threw into disarray, he said. They were liars, cheats, and frauds who refused to play fair. They saw good and evil as synonymous and they were dangerous. Like many other explorers of reality's uncharted waters, John Keel returned to port knowing less than he did (or thought he did) when he set out. And this led him to ponder the possibility that only thing to know about such matters is that there is nothing to know -- that the universal mind, as Charles Fort had suggested before him, was insane. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil share their thoughts on The Mothman Prophecies, focusing less on the creatures and events that haunted Point Pleasant in 1966-67 than on how these things affected the brilliant writer who was chosen to be their baffled chronicler. REFERENCES John A. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Stephanie Quick's blog Weird Studies talks to Jeffrey J. Kripal: episode 39 and episode 45 H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Neil Gaiman, American Gods Jeffrey J. Kripal, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal David Lynch's Twin Peaks David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Bob Lazar, American engineer (?) William James, American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Specter Vision Radio
0:03.3	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
0:20.8	For more episodes or to support the podcast,
0:23.3	go to weirdstud J.F. Martel.
0:52.1	In 1975, having established himself as one of the leading paranormal
0:56.5	investigators of his generation, John A. Keel released his fifth nonfiction book. Rightly hailed
1:03.5	as a classic of the genre, The Mothman Prophecies is a gripping account of Keel's investigation
1:08.8	of a 1966-67 UFO flap centered on the town of
1:13.9	Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Many of the sightings he recorded involved a tall, winged humanoid
1:19.8	with burning red eyes, which the local press christened Mothman. At points, Keel's account is so
1:26.0	out of this world that you'd be forgiven for thinking it a work of science fiction.
1:30.4	But apparently this is one case where reality either outdid fantasy or betrayed its secret alliance with it.
1:37.4	In this episode, Phil and I discuss this masterwork of weird nonfiction, focusing our energies not on mothman himself, but on keel's own
1:45.6	thoughts about what he experienced and the implications of the events and entities he witnessed.
1:51.3	Because in the end, that's what matters. You only need to let one mothman, flying saucer,
1:57.5	or man in black through the mesh of your reality filter to realize suddenly that you
2:02.8	live in a very strange world indeed. We hope you enjoy our talk. But before you do, let me just
2:09.1	inform you that in addition to a vibrant Patreon community, which continues to grow, to our
2:14.4	eternally grateful delight, weird studies now boasts its own subreddit,
2:19.0	courtesy of a very engaged and savvy listener to whom we tip our black hats. With luck,
2:24.7	our presence on Reddit will allow even more people to engage with the show. I also want to take
2:30.0	this opportunity to thank Pierre Yves Martel, my little brother, for composing the music that
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