Flatwoods, West Virginia: Replica Space Monsters for Sale

Imagine my delight when I walked into the Sunoco at 312 N. Court St. and found, amongst WV souvenir shirts, one lonely space monster. No sign, no explanation.

With a smile, I strode to the counter and said "I'll take two sodas and a space monster, please." What they don't tell you is what a great luminary this odd fellow makes! Stick a candle in there and you're good to go.

Sure, the Mothman has a life-sized statue and a museum, but does he have clean bathrooms and free Sunoco bumper stickers? I think not.

The replica space monsters for sale in Flatwoods at the Sunoco station are known as "The Flatwoods Monster" or "The Braxton County Monster." They are representations of a 11-12 foot tall space monster that crash landed its UFO on a hillside in 1952. The statues are roughly 20 inches tall and made of pottery painted red and green. They cost around $28 when I bought mine a few years ago.

There is also a sign at the entrance to Flatwoods that states, "Flatwoods, WV: Home of the Green Monster" The "green monster" is another name for the alien that crashed that has now become known as the Braxton County/Flatwoods monster.

Flatwoods now holds an annual festival in honor of crash called "The Braxton County Monsterfest." It is a small affair, sure to get larger as years and interest increase.

We picked up two space monsters at the Sonoco. Inside the Space Monster is a detailed unbiased newspaper article providing a factual summary of the events.

"If we are to be logical about this affair -- something went wrong and [a flight of aerial machines] began to go out of control, the one that reached Flatwoods landed, rather than crashed, and its pilot managed to get out before it disintegrated."

Worth every penny.

We were disappointed to discover there's no permanent Space Monster Museum in the small town of Flatwoods, site of an annual UFO festival. According to a local policeman, the gas station next to the Shoney's sells replicas of the space monster that visited Flatwoods in 1952 for $25 apiece.