The Hartville OH Mothman- CGI or the real deal?

Saw this clip recently on Syfy's Fact or Faked/Paranormal Files and had to investigate it further, seeing as they concluded it was CGI because it "looked" fake. I do not know how indepth they studied the analysis so I thought I would bring it to ATS's attention. Certainly the members on here can really put it to the test.

So here is the footage, taken from a teenagers documentary about the mothman legend of Pontius Rd. in their hometown of Hartville Ohio.



What makes the footage suspect-
1. This footage was apparantly taken while shooting their documentary on thier local mothman legend. They put in a decent amount of effort with the documentary, perhaps they also doctored it with CGI
2. The "mothman" does not have any movement or animation as normall associated with fight. This could be a "glide" however it is unlikely.
3. Alot of people speculate that it could be an owl, bat, heron or eagle. However IMO it clearly has human-like legs, which could not be confused with any of the above animals.

Seeing is believing and Ive seen too much in this life to quickly dismiss such interesting evidence. As much as I would like to believe its real, I really think its CGI due to its movement. A detailed analysis proving that it is CGI has not come forth, and I thought maybe you guys would like to take a wack at it.

The short documentary

It doesn't move at all. No life to it. CGI

CGI... The "night vision" version sealed it for me
2nd

the mothman seems to be transparent. you can see the two telephone poles through him as he passes them.
and, if you watch right before it leaves the screen(on the left)
its disappearing again before it leaves the screen
.what do you guys think ?

the BrainGarden.

I don't see a "him" or even an "it"... I see a what?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c6eeba6d656d.jpg[/atsimg]

How is this supposed to be interpreted as a "mothman" or anything else of a paranormal nature?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8085281494dc.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1aecd7dbbd99.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c82d9b6dbc85.png[/atsimg]

In these three stills, you can see that the object does, indeed, change shape as it draws closer, which is indicative of three-dimensionality. This is not a static image overlayed on the video.

— Zesko Whirligan

Now, I might go as far as saying it was a great horned owl carrying a prey item, and I've seen things like that up here in the Smoky Mountains on some backroads late at night. Not uncommon.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/963b3ab3837d.gif[/atsimg]

We've seen many large raptors in the woods up here, day and night, and they are stunning when caught by car headlights. Huge, usually gliding...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f7c051ce16a9.jpg[/atsimg]

..and a raptor carrying a large prey item is always a startling sight. Given that the hawks and eagles don't hunt at night, I give this one to the Great Horned Owl.

— Zesko Whirligan

reply to post by Zesko Whirligan


I agree, looks to be an owl. Judging from the size of the legs and all and compared to the size of the hood of the car, this "thing" wasn't as big as it might first appear. The legs are quite short.

My first thought is that it's just a large bat flitting by, but when I saw the green enhanced version, it was pretty clearly just some bad CGI.

The normal vid looked convincing, the night vision 1 didn't... can you film normal and night vision at the same time? if not then the night vision 1 was probably doctored with brightness, contrast, and night vision effects, as well as extra cgi, and seems doctored especially when compared to the original shot. That's my first impressions, don't fancy going any deeper personally, but looking forward to any conclusions ;-)

Peace ..v,

Originally posted by LifeInDeath
My first thought is that it's just a large bat flitting by, but when I saw the green enhanced version, it was pretty clearly just some bad CGI.

I'm not a CGI expert, and the "mothman" seems to be transparent at one point, as pointed out. Wouldn't it be easier using CGI to make it appear in front of the background?

Maybe it's transparent at that point for the same reason ghosts appear that way?

the one thing that no one has mentioned, why did this person just happen to have a video camera on while drive at night? Ya right

If it was Mothman, wouldn't it have red glowing eyes?

You can even see the shape of the creature when he leaves the illuminated area, which is impossible. It's black, plain black, while the background that also lacks of light (and even less light than the creature) is grey.

Also, yeah, it is transparent in some frames, and, yes, it doesn't move; just as if it was a bitmap pasted over the video. Making it bigger in every frame isn't difficult, and that does not mean it was a third dimensional object.

Originally posted by Zesko Whirligan
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8085281494dc.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1aecd7dbbd99.png[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c82d9b6dbc85.png[/atsimg]

See that the brightness of the creature body changes to fit the background colour? That's why the wings get darker, getting a impossible black colour. Impossible cause, as I stated, the background already lacks of light so the background colour represents the darkest colour of all the video.

But, no, the object isn't just "getting bigger" as it approaches, its apparent shape is changing, also — just as it would if it was a three-dimensional object. That doesn't mean it IS a three-dimensional object, it just means it could be a more sophisticated piece of CGI, rather than a static bitmap image.

Now the question of contrast against an already-dark background is a fair and pertinent observation. If anything, the entire object should be uniformly brighter against the background as it approaches, given that night vision (such as starlight snooper scopes) react to any available light.

— Zesko Whirligan

reply to post by Zesko Whirligan


Sorry, I read your post wrong. Anyway, I have seen it again, and I still don't see the shape changing. All I see is the layer getting bigger in every frame, but nothing more.

And now that I'm looking the video again, it lacks of movement between frames when it leaves the illuminated area. I mean, it's like it was moving every two frames and not every frame. Also, I do not see any motion blur, which is impossible as well.

I live about 20 miles from Hartville in neighboring Portage County, Ohio. I have never heard of Mothman being there until now. I'm suspicious at best.

by the way mothman is flying, he must be wearing rocket boots or something.
i'm not wasting my time watching again, but bad cgi or model on a wire.
also why would someone film driving down a dark road, slow down then bump into mothman?

Wereaver nocturnal bird is ,seems like it change flying pattern due to the ligths of the car or traffic.

Wow! Good thing they happened to be taping the empty, dark road they were driving on at that moment for some reason, huh?

Holy Smokes I grew up in Hartville Ohio haha! Never heard of the H-Ville Mothman !! I am a huge Mothman fan visiting Point Pleasent several times as well as Kittannig PA where they filmed the movie ! Cool find thanks for the info!

I have seen many owls, as a hunter I have had quite a few fly straight toward me right at dusk while sitting in a tree.
This video reminds me a lot of what an owl looks like when gliding at night. However, I am suspect as to whether it is even so real as to be an owl. First it appears to me as if the lights on the car should have illuminated the thing a little sooner than it did, judging by how far the light extends up the side of th road and in front of the car. Also the apparent lack of motion whatsoever of the creature. It is harder for a bird like an owl to glide that close to the ground, seems it would have had at least a little bit of a downward angle to it but it's perfectly straight in the video. Also, would not the airflow being disturbed by the car going past have made some sort of difference in the flight of the creature? In my opinion CG.