rigorousintuition.ca

http://www.eyesofthemothman.com Written and directed by "documentarian Matthew J. Pellowski."

But most importantly, this flick is currently STREAMABLE ON NETFLIX.

I stumbled on this on Netflix and just finished it. As far as I know it hasn't been mentioned on RI. I enjoyed it, but would be interested to hear the opinions of RI's resident Mothman scholars (of which I am not one).

Some impressions:

Detailed! At 2.5 hours, bordering on too thorough at times. I think the first 20 minutes of the thing was spent describing the historical circumstances in which the Chief Cornstalk curse episode occurred. But this is a good thing at times too. The flick went heavily into all the contemporaneous UFO activity in '66 and '67, and the men in black, etc.

It's shot pretty well. It's substantially interview-based, but there are historical pictures and footage of the different locations. Also, some of the reenactments are pretty downright creepy, e.g. the first appearance of Indrid Cold and the odd little fellow who appears at the courthouse that night.

One thing I don't believe they mentioned, however, was the supposed cryptic warnings about the Silver Bridge collapse given by Indrid. Isn't that part of the story? Or am I just picking that up from the Mothman Prophecies movie? I did a hasty search for some of Jeff's old posts on this topic but nothing popped up for me.

Anyway, I thought some of you might appreciate knowing about this. And if you check it out, holla back with your thoughts!

Looks interesting, though I'm not sure I buy the Native American explanation. I think the truth could be a lot more bizarre and obscured. However it's one of those cases that I feel is a true event, like the Ruwa 1994 school encounter.

I saw this really good documentary from 2002 on the Mothman; doesn't speculate on any reasoning but the evidence and interviews are startling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdCY9DA_vXY

The film definitely was more loosely based and used the Mothman events as more inspiration. It takes place in 2002, not 1966..theres no UFO or other Forteana described, no men in black.
It's too bad, as a film based on what actually was reported by witnesses would have been a lot more interesting

Just saw this last night, pretty indepth. That part with the courthouse visitor was rather unsettling, and it's interesting just how widespread and varied the Forteana was

Interesting the 77 sync: cornstalk killed in 1777, route 77 being a major part of the story

Streamed this a month or so ago and LOVED IT!!

THUMBS UP!

I don't have netflix so I'm looking for an alternate means of watching. One that might actually get the creators some money, I don't feel like pirating this one.

Luther Blissett wrote:I don't have netflix so I'm looking for an alternate means of watching. One that might actually get the creators some money, I don't feel like pirating this one.

It appears its only on netflix and dvd, though they should release it as a digital download too ofr cheaper.

I still have to recommend this the most, because theres more interviews with the actual towns folk...who still seem quite shaken by their recollections
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdCY9DA_vXY

Luther Blissett wrote:I don't have netflix

GASP! What's wrong with you, son? Yeah, you can buy the dvd but $30 is a little steep.

I just streamed this other random flick called simply "Room" about a Houston woman who one day finds herself in New York City looking for a room she started having visions of... highly recommended, especially for this crowd. I was thinking "mind control" starting halfway through the movie. Some of y'all could probably see this dimension of it more clearly.

8bit, I'll have to check out your doc. I guess it's not on netflix, eh? Le sigh.

druff wrote:

Luther Blissett wrote:I don't have netflix

GASP! What's wrong with you, son? Yeah, you can buy the dvd but $30 is a little steep.

I just streamed this other random flick called simply "Room" about a Houston woman who one day finds herself in New York City looking for a room she started having visions of... highly recommended, especially for this crowd. I was thinking "mind control" starting halfway through the movie. Some of y'all could probably see this dimension of it more clearly.

8bit, I'll have to check out your doc. I guess it's not on netflix, eh? Le sigh.

Which one? The documentary of the Mothman Prohecies from 2002 is on youtube, in 5 parts. (its a little under an hour) I also highly recommend "Touched", which is a serious documentary about the personal experiences of people claiming to have been abducted and sexually violated by aliens. It was a rare documentary, as usually it's more new age/conspiracy websites/cable channel shows who make these kinds of forteana documentaries.

I remember seeing Room(not to be confused with THE Room, the much lauded cult film hailed as the worst film ever) from Netflix a few years ago. It reminded me of people who had visions of 9/11 before it happened. In fact the film starts off firmly rooted in the post 9/11 Bushian war on terror climate at the time. I liked the premise, but ultimately felt the film didn't deliver. I would have made the film really descend into some deep stuff and not be as open ended without resolution. Woulda been interesting if the film was set slightly before 9/11

I recommend the 2009 film Knowing, at least the first 2/3rds. The whole film is about esoteric numerology embedded into events like 9/11, Oklahoma City, and future events that dovetail with end time scenarios, aliens, men in black, etc. I found however, the movie "The Fourth Kind" quite a big letdown however

druff wrote:

Luther Blissett wrote:I don't have netflix

GASP! What's wrong with you, son? Yeah, you can buy the dvd but $30 is a little steep.

I just streamed this other random flick called simply "Room" about a Houston woman who one day finds herself in New York City looking for a room she started having visions of... highly recommended, especially for this crowd. I was thinking "mind control" starting halfway through the movie. Some of y'all could probably see this dimension of it more clearly.

8bit, I'll have to check out your doc. I guess it's not on netflix, eh? Le sigh.

My computer is the pre-Intel processor Mac Pro, and you need the Intel processor to stream Netflix. Most stuff I just torrent (most recently: The Troll Hunter. Excellent), but I don't want to do that for this small documentary which I'd like to support. Maybe it's available on iTunes for a few dollars.

The video rental stores here used to be REALLY high quality (like I could find anything - even Cassavetes' Husbands which was impossible to locate before its re-release), so that's why I never signed up for Netflix when it was first starting out and had a small library.

I remember seeing Room(not to be confused with THE Room, the much lauded cult film hailed as the worst film ever) from Netflix a few years ago. It reminded me of people who had visions of 9/11 before it happened. In fact the film starts off firmly rooted in the post 9/11 Bushian war on terror climate at the time. I liked the premise, but ultimately felt the film didn't deliver. I would have made the film really descend into some deep stuff and not be as open ended without resolution. Woulda been interesting if the film was set slightly before 9/11

Interesting. Yeah I got the war on terror climate thing. A lot of movies like this seem to end in a manner that's almost frustratingly anticlimactic, but I think the ambiguity is probably an important part of the "message" in many of these. I need to rewatch Room, but I tend to look for a more existential message to things like this than, say, a parapolitical one. Not to say there can't be significant overlap. I mean, what do you think she's contemplating in the last scene, right before the credits?

I recommend the 2009 film Knowing, at least the first 2/3rds. The whole film is about esoteric numerology embedded into events like 9/11, Oklahoma City, and future events that dovetail with end time scenarios, aliens, men in black, etc.

Ah yes, I've been meaning to see this. I'll have to check if it's on Netflix.

My computer is the pre-Intel processor Mac Pro, and you need the Intel processor to stream Netflix. Most stuff I just torrent (most recently: The Troll Hunter. Excellent), but I don't want to do that for this small documentary which I'd like to support. Maybe it's available on iTunes for a few dollars.

I stream Netflix through my roommate's Xbox, which is AWESOMMME but yeah. Googled Troll Hunter just now and now I have to watch THAT too. So much to do!

druff wrote:

I remember seeing Room(not to be confused with THE Room, the much lauded cult film hailed as the worst film ever) from Netflix a few years ago. It reminded me of people who had visions of 9/11 before it happened. In fact the film starts off firmly rooted in the post 9/11 Bushian war on terror climate at the time. I liked the premise, but ultimately felt the film didn't deliver. I would have made the film really descend into some deep stuff and not be as open ended without resolution. Woulda been interesting if the film was set slightly before 9/11

Interesting. Yeah I got the war on terror climate thing. A lot of movies like this seem to end in a manner that's almost frustratingly anticlimactic, but I think the ambiguity is probably an important part of the "message" in many of these. I need to rewatch Room, but I tend to look for a more existential message to things like this than, say, a parapolitical one. Not to say there can't be significant overlap. I mean, what do you think she's contemplating in the last scene, right before the credits?

I recommend the 2009 film Knowing, at least the first 2/3rds. The whole film is about esoteric numerology embedded into events like 9/11, Oklahoma City, and future events that dovetail with end time scenarios, aliens, men in black, etc.

Ah yes, I've been meaning to see this. I'll have to check if it's on Netflix.

My computer is the pre-Intel processor Mac Pro, and you need the Intel processor to stream Netflix. Most stuff I just torrent (most recently: The Troll Hunter. Excellent), but I don't want to do that for this small documentary which I'd like to support. Maybe it's available on iTunes for a few dollars.

I stream Netflix through my roommate's Xbox, which is AWESOMMME but yeah. Googled Troll Hunter just now and now I have to watch THAT too. So much to do!

Oh absolutely, I think a more existential or metaphysical interpretation of films is ultimately more rewarding...as often a political conspiracy entwined can serve as allegory for other things.
I mean, while research labs could be devoted toward pouring through Kubrick's films...which could be seen both as political and metaphysical.

Troll hunter looks entertaining, though I wish it had been more reality based than giant cgi trolls...tho I still want to check it out. They should make a docudrama shaky cam film based on Mexican witch creatures or South American lawn gnome lore

Got around to watching this last night (rented: itunes: $4) and it was amazing. While I had definitely done my fair share of Mothman research years ago, seeing this gave me new understanding of some aspects of the case or helped me to add visual contextualization. I'll have to admit that the Mothman Prophecies film starring Richard Gere helped to muddy the waters on what exactly the difference was between the Men In Black and Indrid Cold, as I had forgotten that Indrid Cold appeared primarily to Woodrow Derenberger and his family (though also to at least two other motorists on Route 77 the same night as Derenberger's initial meeting).

Interesting to note the the aspects of this case that take on "Grinning Man" mythos appear to the eyewitnesses by different means. To Derenberger, his initial encounter with Cold has Cold grinning at his passenger's side window and communicating telepathically. To the Lilly family in Point Pleasant, the Grinning Man was a huge home intruder. To Mary Hyre, the Point Pleasant journalist covering many of the Mothman reports, the grinning man was a short Asian man with a bowl haircut, dark tan, thick glasses, black suit, and a halting accent.
I didn't know that the one classic "Grinning Man" case, that in Elizabeth NJ, was from October 1966, one month before Derenberger's encounter with Cold - though the account from the two boys doesn't necessarily sound like Cold as he's wearing a cheesy, 60's sci-fi-sounding glittering green spacesuit.

The Mary Hyre men in black cases are interesting beyond the grinning Asian man who stole her pen. I was a little disappointed that the documentary didn't go as in-depth into those - their behavior towards almost all witnesses was so outlandish and the questions so absurd - maybe it would have taken away from the film but I find that kind of high weirdness testimony to be almost more compelling than anything else.

Very interesting to note that a pair of hunters spying on Derenberger saw Men in Black visiting him - and who were apparently there to warn Derenberger to stop talking about Cold to the press and the authorities.

Does anyone have an account from Derenberger of his missing six months when he supposedly left the planet with Cold?

Luther Blissett wrote:Got around to watching this last night (rented: itunes: $4) and it was amazing. While I had definitely done my fair share of Mothman research years ago, seeing this gave me new understanding of some aspects of the case or helped me to add visual contextualization. I'll have to admit that the Mothman Prophecies film starring Richard Gere helped to muddy the waters on what exactly the difference was between the Men In Black and Indrid Cold, as I had forgotten that Indrid Cold appeared primarily to Woodrow Derenberger and his family (though also to at least two other motorists on Route 77 the same night as Derenberger's initial meeting).

Interesting to note the the aspects of this case that take on "Grinning Man" mythos appear to the eyewitnesses by different means. To Derenberger, his initial encounter with Cold has Cold grinning at his passenger's side window and communicating telepathically. To the Lilly family in Point Pleasant, the Grinning Man was a huge home intruder. To Mary Hyre, the Point Pleasant journalist covering many of the Mothman reports, the grinning man was a short Asian man with a bowl haircut, dark tan, thick glasses, black suit, and a halting accent.
I didn't know that the one classic "Grinning Man" case, that in Elizabeth NJ, was from October 1966, one month before Derenberger's encounter with Cold - though the account from the two boys doesn't necessarily sound like Cold as he's wearing a cheesy, 60's sci-fi-sounding glittering green spacesuit.

The Mary Hyre men in black cases are interesting beyond the grinning Asian man who stole her pen. I was a little disappointed that the documentary didn't go as in-depth into those - their behavior towards almost all witnesses was so outlandish and the questions so absurd - maybe it would have taken away from the film but I find that kind of high weirdness testimony to be almost more compelling than anything else.

Very interesting to note that a pair of hunters spying on Derenberger saw Men in Black visiting him - and who were apparently there to warn Derenberger to stop talking about Cold to the press and the authorities.

Does anyone have an account from Derenberger of his missing six months when he supposedly left the planet with Cold?

I had never even heard of the grinning man aspect. And it sounds like, there was a whole buffet of bizarre Forteana going on in that area beyond mothman/UFOs/men in black.

It's interesting how it's the late 1960's, yet witnesses say the men and their vehicles took on a slightly anachronistic aesthetic. It's like these non corporeal projections, while manifesting as physical, change to reflect the times but often miss the mark. I'm reminded of the phantom airships people used to write about in the late 19th century

But the whole men in black phenomenon reminds me of this, probably one of the most bizarre blogs Jeff ever wrote
http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2 ... nders.html

I'm reading ENCOUNTERS AT INDIAN HEAD about the Betty and Barney Hill case and during the discussion of Barney's hypnosis:

"They won't talk to me," Barney said. "Only the eyes are talking to me. I - I - I - I don't understand that. Oh - the eyes don't have a body. They're just eyes." He talked to himself, as if trying to make sense of the scene he was seeing, and eventually explained, "[i]I know what it is. It's a wildcat. A wildcat up a tree. No. No. I know what it is. It's the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Ah, I don't have to be afraid of that. It disappeared, too, and only the eyes remained. That's all right. I'm not afraid."[/i]

- pg 48

BTW - Nick Redfern has a new book out soon:

Luther Blissett wrote:
Interesting to note the the aspects of this case that take on "Grinning Man" mythos appear to the eyewitnesses by different means. To Derenberger, his initial encounter with Cold has Cold grinning at his passenger's side window and communicating telepathically. To the Lilly family in Point Pleasant, the Grinning Man was a huge home intruder. To Mary Hyre, the Point Pleasant journalist covering many of the Mothman reports, the grinning man was a short Asian man with a bowl haircut, dark tan, thick glasses, black suit, and a halting accent.
I didn't know that the one classic "Grinning Man" case, that in Elizabeth NJ, was from October 1966, one month before Derenberger's encounter with Cold - though the account from the two boys doesn't necessarily sound like Cold as he's wearing a cheesy, 60's sci-fi-sounding glittering green spacesuit.

The Mary Hyre men in black cases are interesting beyond the grinning Asian man who stole her pen. I was a little disappointed that the documentary didn't go as in-depth into those - their behavior towards almost all witnesses was so outlandish and the questions so absurd - maybe it would have taken away from the film but I find that kind of high weirdness testimony to be almost more compelling than anything else.

Very interesting to note that a pair of hunters spying on Derenberger saw Men in Black visiting him - and who were apparently there to warn Derenberger to stop talking about Cold to the press and the authorities.

Does anyone have an account from Derenberger of his missing six months when he supposedly left the planet with Cold?

8bitagent wrote:

Luther Blissett wrote:Got around to watching this last night (rented: itunes: $4) and it was amazing. While I had definitely done my fair share of Mothman research years ago, seeing this gave me new understanding of some aspects of the case or helped me to add visual contextualization. I'll have to admit that the Mothman Prophecies film starring Richard Gere helped to muddy the waters on what exactly the difference was between the Men In Black and Indrid Cold, as I had forgotten that Indrid Cold appeared primarily to Woodrow Derenberger and his family (though also to at least two other motorists on Route 77 the same night as Derenberger's initial meeting).

Interesting to note the the aspects of this case that take on "Grinning Man" mythos appear to the eyewitnesses by different means. To Derenberger, his initial encounter with Cold has Cold grinning at his passenger's side window and communicating telepathically. To the Lilly family in Point Pleasant, the Grinning Man was a huge home intruder. To Mary Hyre, the Point Pleasant journalist covering many of the Mothman reports, the grinning man was a short Asian man with a bowl haircut, dark tan, thick glasses, black suit, and a halting accent.
I didn't know that the one classic "Grinning Man" case, that in Elizabeth NJ, was from October 1966, one month before Derenberger's encounter with Cold - though the account from the two boys doesn't necessarily sound like Cold as he's wearing a cheesy, 60's sci-fi-sounding glittering green spacesuit.

The Mary Hyre men in black cases are interesting beyond the grinning Asian man who stole her pen. I was a little disappointed that the documentary didn't go as in-depth into those - their behavior towards almost all witnesses was so outlandish and the questions so absurd - maybe it would have taken away from the film but I find that kind of high weirdness testimony to be almost more compelling than anything else.

Very interesting to note that a pair of hunters spying on Derenberger saw Men in Black visiting him - and who were apparently there to warn Derenberger to stop talking about Cold to the press and the authorities.

Does anyone have an account from Derenberger of his missing six months when he supposedly left the planet with Cold?

I had never even heard of the grinning man aspect. And it sounds like, there was a whole buffet of bizarre Forteana going on in that area beyond mothman/UFOs/men in black.

It's interesting how it's the late 1960's, yet witnesses say the men and their vehicles took on a slightly anachronistic aesthetic. It's like these non corporeal projections, while manifesting as physical, change to reflect the times but often miss the mark. I'm reminded of the phantom airships people used to write about in the late 19th century

But the whole men in black phenomenon reminds me of this, probably one of the most bizarre blogs Jeff ever wrote
http://rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2 ... nders.html

Contactee and witness reports have always run a pretty wide gamut as far as the aesthetics of craft and their occupants are concerned. It is HIGHLY entertaining to imagine extraterrestrials sitting down to think about how to project themselves to humankind - in antiquity, they settled on angels, then devils, then hair-covered hominids in 16th-century Asia onward, then fairies, then little people, then fat michelin men in 19th and 20th century France, then little green men, then robots, then greys, then reptilians, etc etc. Or on the flipside, through Hugh's lens, it is also highly entertaining to imagine intelligence agencies deciding how to project these psychonauts onto unwitting civilian victims. But the reality of contactee lore show that while a lot of these trends come and go, possibly based on culture, there are a few constants unchanged throughout the years. I like the outlier aesthetics and find some of those cases to be the most frightening and interesting (like Jeff's post here: If you go out in the woods or the Sherman Ranch or Bibendum). I can't ever imagine having an experience like this in general - and trying to imagine a "Michelin Man" contact in my bedroom in the middle of the night is just beyond dissonant. I think when we read contactee reports that sound mysteriously like a lobster humanoid in 1983, or a hammerhead shark humanoid in 1977, we need to take those with a grain of salt, because while the costume designers for the Star Wars trilogy were highly creative folks, I don't know that any one of them were basing their designs off of personal experience with the weird. But hey, maybe!

The men in black mythos is remarkably consistent throughout history, when threatening, authoritarian, black-garbed men were going around warning people to keep their mouths shut about various events that had befallen them, through the pre-internet 20th century when a person would have had to have a lot of wherewithal to research the legends and cases to know the details that well.

I have to put this question to the board because my stance is biased - in the 80's and 90's, before the movie, was "men in black" a household phrase? "Men in black" have been a part of my family's history since the 60's because they were the ones who broke into my mother's childhood home (twice), ransacked my grandfather's office, and stole his reports and models of their experience. Though these guys were always presumed by my family to have been agents of the FAA, my grandfather's employer.

I'd love to see a South American Lawn Gnome documentary. Damn.

p.s. 8bit, gmail stopped automatically logging AIM usernames into their service and I was too busy at work to notice for like two weeks. Starting Tuesday I should be back online though.