Flatwoods, West Virginia — FBI Documented Encounter

On September 12, 1952, following a reported fireball crash, local resident Kathleen May and six others including National Guardsman Gene Lemon approached a hilltop in Flatwoods, West Virginia. They observed a pulsating craft approximately 10–20 feet in diameter resting or hovering low to the ground, and a tall entity (estimated 10 feet) with a glowing reddish face, claw-like appendages, and a large cowled head. Upon approaching, the entity emitted a hissing noise and the witnesses fled. Several reported nausea, convulsions, and irritated eyes and throats lasting for days. The local sheriff filed an official incident report. The USAF Project Blue Book team investigated and collected witness statements. FBI Field Office documents — available through the FBI Vault — confirm a formal inquiry was opened. A contemporary investigator from the West Virginia Geological Survey examined the site and found an oil ring in the grass consistent with a landed craft. USAF investigators attributed the entity sighting to an owl and the craft to a meteor, but did not explain the physical symptoms or the oil ring. The FBI files released under the Freedom of Information Act include field agent correspondence referencing the witnesses' consistent accounts.