10 Sci-Fi Movies You Didn't Know Were Based On Real Life Events

4. The Mothman Prophecies

Phoenix Forgotten
Mothman

Between 1966 and 1967, parapsychologist and UFO enthusiast, John Keel, stated he had several encounters in Point Pleasant, West Virginia with a mysterious winged entity. The creature was originally described as a feathered bird/human hybrid but it quickly became known to the public as the Mothman.

These alleged encounters developed such a stir, this entity became the basis of the 2002 drama, The Mothman Prophecies. In the film, the creature, which calls itself Ingrid Cold, warns a reporter called John Klein about impending disasters happening in the not-too-distant future.

During one of these discussions, Cold claims a great tragedy will occur on the Ohio River. Soon after, the Silver Bridge collapses across the Ohio River, resulting in the death of dozens of people - an event that did actually happen on December 15th 1967.

Even though the epilogue claims no one knows what caused the bridge's collapse, investigations determined it was due to a bar in the suspension chain suffering from corrosion cracking. Nevertheless, Keel believed the bridge's cave-in was a supernatural incident that was directly tied to the supposed Mothman.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows