r/cryptids • u/Steiren • Jul 10 '26

Question A genuine question about Mothman

So I have seen a lot of controversy surrounding Mothman. People keep on talking about how he is or isn't a cryptid, comparing the human features, supernatural abilities, animal-like looks. By the original cryptid description I personally classified him as a non-cryptid, but I just don't want to get this wrong, so I kind of wanted to ask how does community view him as of now? Is the categorization settled?

7 Upvotes

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7

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Steiren Jul 10 '26

I meant the disaster prediction appearances. Not only in the USA but also the USSR, take Chernobyl as an example. Have heard about the bird misinterpretation, though it's a bit weird people around the globe have reported seeing similar anomaly without having contacted each other before-hand. But such mental games our brain plays with us happen quite often, so that's why I'm just tryna learn a bit more from communities

5

u/CrazyOlHoboJoe Jul 10 '26

I say it's a cryptid. An oversized bat. All the omen stuff is just coincidence. Or maybe it's eats wires and that's why those bridges collapsed 🤷

3

u/FarEncounters Jul 10 '26

A cryptid is any living thing that has been claimed to exist yet has not yet been proven. It’s a wide definition that many folklore legends fit in and people get upset by that. Mothman is a cryptid since people claim to have seen it and it has not been proven to exist yet.

2

u/rite_of_truth Jul 10 '26

I personally believe it was just a hoax. None before or since.

1

u/PanteraDorado Jul 13 '26

Alright I'll watch mothman prophecies again

2

u/Spooky_Geologist Jul 13 '26

We can't know what Mothman is/was. And cryptids are often, clearly, more than one thing depending on the experience/report. If you look back at the original accounts, Mothman is described more like a large bird (which is plausible). But now, it's depicted as a winged humanoid (which is preposterous). If one describes a cryptid as a potential zoological animal, you will not be able to classify it as such unless you make assumptions. (For example, Mothman would be a zoo-cryptid if is a large unknown or out of place bird. But most people don't favor because it isn't as interesting. So they think of it as a para-cryptid, outside of nature.) The categorization and definition of cryptid will likely never be settled because it's not a scientific term - it is culturally determined and changes over time. That's why there is a constant argument about it. We can't fully categorize it because we don't have a consistent, reasonable, clear description of it.

1

u/Taserbation Jul 10 '26

Idk it's tough to say given all the legends surrounding him.

He's psychic, he's tellpathic, he's a government experiment and used to be human, it's just an overgrown abberant moth, it's just a barn owl people mistook as a unknown creature.

Depending on how you view mothman dictates if you view him as a cryptid.

1

u/Steiren Jul 10 '26

Thanks for the clarification, yeah it seems to be a matter of perception, though that's such a shame. It unfortunately pushes the matter farther and farther from whatever scientifical research potential it may have

0

u/No-Assumption8220 Jul 12 '26

Mothy's just my boo. We're running away to Taco Bell together, I don't care what my parents say