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From John Keel’s Mothman Diary: “Scared – Damn it.”

By Gregon

Over at JohnKeel.com – a tribute site to the legendary Fortean investigator who died in 2009 – John’s friend Doug Skinner has posted scans of John Keel’s notebook from his investigation into the infamous ‘Mothman’ sightings near Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Above is just one page, giving a wonderful insight both into the investigation, and the man caught in the middle of some very high strangeness.

April 3, 1967

1:35 A.M. Observed descent of red and green object into ravine a few yards north of position. Object was clearly defined saucer shape glowing red with greenish upper surface. Unable to determine size but it appeared small. At first thought it descended over hill in background but inspection of terrain with searchlight indicates it landed directly behind trees only a short distance away. Awaiting developments (1:45). Scared – damn it.

2:00 A.M. Drove to turn-around point, turned and returned to original parking position – unable to see anything in ravine – no lights or sign of activity. Still scared – not anxious to get out of car. Feel object is in ravine.

2:25 A.M. Observed orange UFO manuever (sic) and descend in northwest in distance. Suddenly disappeared. No sight of Moon which was supposed to rise at 1:59 A.M.

2:35 – Aware of what seemed to be a flash of pale pink light behind me. Similar flash seemed to occur a few minutes ago but I decided it was my imagination. No sounds or movements outside. Still trying to muster courage to leave car and look around. I feel “They” are very nearby.

See the full post for the complete set of scans – and other fascinating insights into the life of John Keel – at JohnKeel.com.

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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13 Comments

  2. Keel’s penmanship
    Interesting. But I find this method of printing letters to be the slowest way of recording events. I’m often called on to take a record of meetings and, though I don’t use shorthand, I keep up very well with cursive. It doesn’t look pretty, but it’s clearly readable to me as I’m typing up my notes afterward.

    These must be after-the-fact recollections. Done in the “heat of the moment” as events are unfolding, these notes would never be so perfectly legible.

    1. Once a hoaxster…
      Considering the MiB began with a hoax created by Keel and Gray Barker, it’s bewildering that many paranormal researchers aren’t a little more skeptical of his research.

      1. I prefer block printing over
        I prefer block printing over cursive because it looks more like typed print, and therefore more closely approximates the way the writing will look on the page.

        So, what is the verdict on Keel these days? I did not know he had been summarily debunked.

        1. Depends who you ask

          So, what is the verdict on Keel these days?

          Depends who you ask. Some people think Keel is right about everything and quote him as gospel, while debunkers claim Keel’s a fake or the phenomena is all bunk and he deluded himself. I’m somewhere in between, an open-minded skeptic. If only the believers would be a little more skeptical, and the skeptics a little more open-minded!

          As for Keel’s handwriting, at least it’s legible… you should see my handwriting! If Giorgio Tsoukalos saw it, he’d think it was an alien script. Actually, it very well may be… unless it’s a demonic possession. I should hold it up to a mirror.

          I wonder what a graphologist would make of Keel’s handwriting?

          1. Handwriting
            The printing is just too perfect to have been done in real time is my point.

            I don’t believe that these notes were taken on the spot. I think they were written later. That doesn’t means the events didn’t happen, it just means the notes were either copied from a more illegible real time original or were written from recollection.

          2. Perfect?
            We have varying concepts of what ‘perfect’ means :3

            I can write in block lettering faster than most in cursive. And I also see a lot of errors and typos. The thing that’s a bit suspicious is the amount of pressure in each letter —which might just be to compensate for lacking proper support at the moment of writing.

            Or it might be an indication of Keel’s fright.

          3. Handwriting
            It takes time to form letters so perfectly. The penmanship is simply too good.

            I also print very quickly in block letters, but am just a skosh faster in cursive so it’s my choice. However, when taking notes in real time in either format what comes out is sloppy and often illegible to others.

            Misspellings (not typos in handwritten documents) prove nothing about how the notes were done. All they really show is a spelling mistake. Nothing more can be inferred from them.

            I’m just not buying that these notes were done as the events were unfolding. Again, I’m not drawing any conclusions as to the events themselves.

  3. That handwriting
    I have to jump in here to say that John’s handwriting always looked like that; it was always tiny and crabbed. And yes, he was left-handed. He made these notes while sitting in the car “awaiting developments” and “trying to muster courage,” so he probably had plenty of time to write a couple of legible pages.

    2. Thanks
      [quote=Doug Skinner]I have to jump in here to say that John’s handwriting always looked like that; it was always tiny and crabbed. And yes, he was left-handed. He made these notes while sitting in the car “awaiting developments” and “trying to muster courage,” so he probably had plenty of time to write a couple of legible pages.[/quote]

      Thanks for chipping in with that info Doug, and thanks also for the wonderful John Keel site.

      (BTW, I’ve added your username to the ‘trusted users’ list, so you shouldn’t have to jump through any anti-spam hoops with future comments).

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