Reece was a fisherman living in the small community of Addison, West Virginia, in the early 1970s. Most days, you could find him out on the Ohio River in his old boat, working the water for a good catch. Like everyone else, he’d heard the strange stories coming from nearby Point Pleasant back in ’66 and ’67 — tales of winged creatures, glowing eyes, and things lurking along the riverbanks. He never put much stock in any of it. He figured folks were just spooking themselves or mistaking a crane for something stranger.
That changed one night.
Reece was finishing up a long evening of fishing when he heard a strange, haunting wail echoing down the river. At first, he thought someone might be in trouble, so he pointed his boat downstream to investigate. As he approached a small trestle surrounded by thick woods, the wail grew louder. The sound came from deep in the trees near a place known locally as Bryan’s Run. A chill ran through him.
He pulled his boat onto the bank, grabbed his flashlight, and followed the eerie cries into the woods. It was around 11 p.m. when he finally found the source. At first, it looked like a huge ball of brush — tangled vegetation piled up in an odd shape. But then he realized it was breathing. The wailing was coming from inside it.
Reece stood frozen, the beam of his flashlight fixed on the strange form. Without warning, the “brush” moved. Startled by the light, the thing suddenly rose upright. The rush of air from its movement was so strong it knocked the flashlight right out of his hand. Standing before him was a tall, dark, human-like figure with glowing red eyes that caught what little light remained.
He didn’t wait to see anything more. Reece turned and ran, crashing through the brush as another wail rang out — this one higher, sharper, and almost pained. He swore he heard the creature lift off the ground behind him, as if it had taken flight. He didn’t stop running until he reached the nearby highway. A lone truck approached, and Reece flagged it down. The driver gave him a ride back into town. Reece later said he didn’t sleep at all that night.
The next morning, he tried to tell his friends what had happened. None of them believed him. He begged for help retrieving his boat, but everyone brushed him off — everyone except his fishing buddy Paulson, who agreed to go with him on Saturday.
When they reached the riverbank, Reece stopped dead. His boat had been burned to ashes. Someone — or something — had deliberately set it on fire. That was it for him. He went straight to the sheriff. The sheriff listened but didn’t say much, only that they would “look into it.”
Later that day, Reece returned home. His wife met him at the door and asked if he had spoken to the man looking for him. Reece asked what man. She said he wore a black suit, a hat, and dark glasses. He didn’t give a name. He just asked where Reece was.
That was enough. Reece told his wife to pack their things. They were leaving. And they did.
No one ever figured out what the creature was that Reece found in the woods that night. No one identified the man in black who came asking for him. And the burned boat remains a mystery.
I suspect Reece may have had a close encounter with the Mothman — and maybe, just maybe, the Men in Black as well.
Reece eventually moved back to Tennessee in 1981 and passed away in 2003. A friend told me Reece shared this story with him back in the ’90s. It makes me wonder: did Reece ever see that creature again? Or that strange man in black? And if he did… did he ever tell anyone else?
Want more stories like this Addison WV Mothman?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Spooky Appalachia
