The Braxton County Monster & Hugh McPherson

 

The Braxton County Monster (also known as the Flatwoods Monster)  has taken on a life of it's own over the years.  Every year there is a festival in Flatwoods WV to celebrate the " Monster", it is a 3 day festival starting on a Friday and ending Sunday afternoon, a weekend of live music, the Green Monster museum and trips to the site. It is almost as popular as the Mothman Festival.  Had it not been for the Mothman movie, the Braxton County Monster would have given it a run for it's money.   The popularity of the "event" was carried on by a Charleston  Big Band leader, radio announcer and DJ.  He broadcast a show for years about UFOs , and the Braxton County Monster was one of his favorite topics.  That man was Hugh McPherson. I met Hugh officially as a very young adult, but had seen him for some time at the radio station where I used to hang around.   We struck up a conversation ( I myself was in radio by now )  and somehow the topic wound up with the Braxton County Monster.  Seems Hugh had a copy of an interview in his hands that had been recorded in 1953, and he asked if I'd like a copy.  He told me that  no copies existed, except what he was holding, and asked me not to do anything with it while he was alive.  I agreed  and kept the tape for the next  38 years.   Lucky I did, because all of Hugh's lifetime of tapes were destroyed in a fire.   Hugh rubbed elbows with the biggest stars in the business.  For instance, he once sat in an apartment on Charleston's  West Side with Nat King Cole.  Not bad for a Cabin Creek boy.   To learn more about Hugh McPherson, click HERE

THE BRAXTON COUNTY MONSTER AUDIO Here now, from the original tape is the story of the Braxton County Monster,  first aired in NYC in 1953 for Hugh, and repeated on his radio show again in Charleston around 1968.  Enjoy.... Click Here for the Braxton County Monster

Be aware that the entire program is over 30 minutes long!

SEE MORE ON HUGH McPHERSON HERE

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